Ask the Doctor
Question: Should I accept a trade of Alex McKinnon for Kevin Gordon?
At first glance, I hate this trade. Kevin Gordon is a legitimate try-scoring threat on the Titans flank with his blistering speed. In 2013, he managed to cross the stripe 15 times, which if memory serves is 6 more than the Eels managed as an entire squad. This differs starkly from my view of Alex McKinnon. Alex McKinnon is the definition of an NRLCEO nobody. In 2013, he managed to rack up a measly 32 points. Saying that, let’s have a deeper look to see if there can be reason for accepting this trade.
Kevin Gordon – Titans
Position: Winger/Fullback
Ppg 2013: 3.45
Positives:
• Versatile: dual position players hold extra value in NRLCEO
• Durable: Gordon played 22 from a possible 24 games in 2013
Negatives:
• Inconsistent: Gordon crossed the stripe on 10/22 games last year. He also netted coaches a duck egg in 10 games last year. Wingers can be notoriously fickle in NRLCEO, but as a bloke not renowned for breaking the line, Gordon can be dead weight as often as he can be a positive for your squad.
Alex McKinnon – Knights
Position: Centre/Back Row
Ppg 2013: 2.00
Positives:
• Backrow players are at a premium in most leagues, as are centres. Alex McKinnon can be a good end-of-the-bench guy who you can slot in if injury strikes and around bye and representative rounds.
• In the last two matches the Knights played last year (finals v Storm and Roosters) McKinnon managed to nab workhorses. These matches had the Knights at close to full strength in terms of their back row, with Beau Scott, Jeremy Smith, Chris Houston and Robbie Rochow all playing. If Bennett is willing to trust McKinnon with big minutes in the playoffs, can McKinnon expect more minutes in 2014?
Negatives:
• Versatility: if injury strikes Gagai or Leilua, McKinnon’s versatility can see him shifted to centre. Whilst this might increase chances of a try, it essentially makes a player useless for workhorses.
• Depth: The Knights have a lot of back rowers. Bennett teams are dour teams who do a lot of tackling, but if McKinnon isn’t getting a regular 45+ minutes his ability to be a consistent scorer for your team is virtually nil
Accept the trade only if:
• You have a lot of depth at wing/fullback and Gordon isn’t in your top squad
AND
• You really need more depth at centre/back row
OR
• You are willing to gamble on the workhorses McKinnon got in the 2013 playoffs carrying over to regular season in 2014
Verdict: You’d definitely be downgrading your talent in this trade. If you are looking to get some depth at Back Row you should probably start negotiations aiming a little higher or expanding the trade to a multi-player deal and trying to score an upgrade at another position as well.
If you have a question for the Trade Doctor, tweet @aussiepiston or ask in the comments
Ryan
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A friend is offering a double trade of Liam Fulton/Justin O\’Neill for my players Jake Friend/Keith Galloway. Thoughts?
I’d lean towards rejecting this one. I love the guaranteed four points of Fulton, but O’Neill is missing 4-6 weeks to start the year after undergoing surgery. Friend is a top four hooker and Galloway is good for a workhorse at least every other game if he stays fit. Unless you are rocking really strong replacements for Friend and Galloway, you are giving up too much here IMO.
And what if they make another offer where the just want Jake Friend and allow me to keep Galloway?
Friend scored more points per game last year (5.125 v 4.57) but is less consistent. In blowout Roosters wins, he often gets subbed off and doesn’t play the minutes for a workhorse, leaving you hoping he crosses the stripe.
If you have a backup hooker you think could consistently get a workhorse each week, but lack quality back row depth, you could start to look at it more.
Perhaps the Trade Doctor might like to take a look at an old trade. In April 2012 a rival asked if I’d be prepared to trade Cherry-Evans or Pearce and who would I want for one of them.
I said to him there was no one in his squad that could help me out and if he wanted one of my halfbacks it was gonna cost him. With nothing to lose, I told him I’d take Farah.
After some to-ing and fro-ing he agreed to give me Farah provided he got Cherry-Evans. We made the deal and as we are all mates in our comp and have a rule where we can retain 10 players the following year we still have those players in our squad.
With the benefit of hindsight, what is the doctor’s expert opinion on who came out better?
I would have to say you did Geoff. I am a Manly fan and think DCE was the best player in the NRL over the last half a season. But you didn’t make that trade as an NRL GM. It was done as an NRLCEO coach, and in this domain Farah is golden. I am of the view Farah ends this season as the top pointscorer in NRLCEO and DCE takes home the Dally M. DCE gets too many ‘hockey-assists’ through Stewart/Lyon to maximise his NRLCEO value and i think you can ride Farah and his increased responsibility in attack this year to the finals and beyond! (Hell, it’s what i’m trying to do!)