EACH week, Dr Dream Team answers your questions and queries about the Toyota AFL Dream Team competition. Drop him a line at dreamteam@afl.com.au and don't forget to include bank and trade details.

I have Sam Butler and Dayne Beams sitting as useless as an ashtray on a motorbike on my midfield bench. Perhaps I don’t surf the net enough, or is it because in Adelaide you don’t hear anything other than what night Chad Cornes puts his bin out and how many wheatgrass shots Nathan van Berlo has for afternoon tea? Anyway, I can’t find out why Woosha and Malthouse aren’t playing these guys. Should I trade them? – Mark (nine trades, $10,200)

The word form the west, Mark, is that Butler needs to find confidence in the WAFL. (Hopefully he's not an avid reader, because I don't reckon your analogy is going to give him any of that!)

Like you, I jumped on the talented Croweater at the start of this season thinking he would finally get over his groin injuries, and he seems to have done that. But we forget he's only just played his 50th match.

He's definitely struggled when given chances this season, but he's still really highly thought of at West Coast. Definitely keep him in mind for a downgrade later in the year, but right now I'd part ways with Beams.

The young Queenslander had DT scores of 35 and 37 in his last two games, meaning he's set for a drop in price if he's recalled this season.

The problem is I don't reckon there are any standout downgrade targets in the midfield for you. The best I can offer is one of Tom Swift (West Coast), Michael Walters (Fremantle) or Nathan Djerrkura (Geelong), but I don't reckon any of those three will hold their spot for more than a few weeks.

Choose Swifty if you must, but I'd wait and see what presents once teams start turning to youth in earnest.

G'day doc. Dilemma, I would love to upgrade either Stephen Hill or Andrew Raines for Luke Hodge, but he looks like dropping in price one more time. Should I go with it this week and who for? – Adi (nine trades, $166,000)

It's a tough one, Adi, especially if you're playing a rival this week. But let's take a big picture approach. If you play Hill instead of getting Hodge in, the likelihood is you'll lose roughly 30 points. I reckon you can take that on the chin in return for an extra $10-15K.

But let's not get Hill tangled up in this. The player you need to be shelving is Raines. It's a shame the guy hasn't fired a shot this year – and I'm not going to make any assumptions on what a new coach means for him – but Hill is definitely a safer bet for bench cover to see the year out.

Hi Doc. When is the right time to start upgrading my middle-tier players such as Courtenay Dempsey, John Anthony and Chance Bateman, as well as first-timers Daniel Rich and Stephen Hill? – Dan (eight trades, $128,700)  

Think more along the lines of timing, Dan, rather than time. You want to make your trade when the player you are getting rid of is peaking in price and the player you are drafting in is bottoming out. This isn't always easy to read, but you should always be able to make the trade at roughly the right time.

For example, if Jimmy Bartel was to fall $57,000 and Rich was to rise $172,800 after six rounds that would be the ideal time to make a trade. That's not going to happen, but after 11 rounds, that is the scenario we're in.

Now you're $16,700 off making that trade, so if you follow my advice you're in for a very nerve-wracking split round.

I reckon hold on the trade for this week. If Jimmy makes his average (115.91) against West Coast at Subiaco he'll go up in price marginally. However, thanks to a DT score of 116 sitting in Rich's three-week cycle, if the young Lion makes a similar score he should make up that $16,700.

Risky, but it'll put hairs on your chest.

Hey Doc, I'm in need of your help. I have to trade Cyril Rioli (hamstring) and I want your thoughts on a good player that will score well but will also free up some cash. I have a very young and inconsistent backline and I've just lost my first game. – Tyson (four trades, $14,100)

Well, Tyson, we can't have you losing any more games can we? Let's see what we can muster. Your request is great, and it comes at a time when forward line value is hard to pin down. 

I have two players that you can bring in, but given Rioli's humble $323,400 price tag, they're not going to make you a wad. They're risky, too.      

First up is teammate Jarryd Roughead. He'll only free up $6,600, but he's good for about 70 a week and he has scores of 142 and 106 on the 2009 resume.

Need a bigger wad? How about Justin Koschitzke ($285,000)? The big Saint played a blinder last week and scored 113 DT points. He's had a lean year, but when he's injury-free he's prone to getting some good DT form up for a period. He could be on the verge. 

Captains
To be honest with you, I'm really not all that touched that the Matthew Pavlich gets to unwind and quaff a good shiraz over a rare weekend off – the split round is a nightmare.

In terms of your captains, there are long-held theories, from well before my time, that suggest your skipper should play in the first week to avoid injuries on the track. Now these theories came about before the time of the vice-captain, and luckily there's a gun vice-captain running out for West Coast on Saturday night.

You've all got him, so lock big Coxy into the VC, and get on one of the big three for the main job – they're all in action in week two.

The Little Master quietly went about racking up 43 possessions last week, and he's back at Subiaco to face Fremantle in the second half of the split round.

Creepy Crowley has done a number on him the last two times the sides have met – with scores of 64 and 76 testament to that – but the Fremantle tagger is out for the season. Freo coach Mark Harvey has taken to throwing big jobs to young players in an effort to educate them, so Ablett is every chance of taking these kids to school.

This week's top three:
Gary Ablett (155 last week)
Dane Swan (133)
Jimmy Bartel (111)

Good luck over the split round dream-teamers.

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.