Sam Walsh in action during Carlton's clash against Adelaide in round five, 2024. Picture: Getty Images

THE EARLY byes have ended and round seven has begun.

The biggest news to drop this week is that young gun Harley Reid (MID/FWD, $498,000) appears be rested as the Eagles travel to the Gold Coast to play the Suns. Reid carries a breakeven of 21 and is the most owned player in AFL Fantasy. If he isn’t named tonight, he should be benched if you have reliable cover.

With the round already underway, lets dig deeper into the round ahead.

FANTASY LATEST Tips, strategy, draft, podcasts, more

Melbourne 13.7.85 def Richmond 5.12.42

Round seven has already started and last night we saw Max Gawn lead the way once again. He was a very popular VC option and got the round off to great start for many coaches.

Max Gawn (RUC, $1,012,000) 134
Trent Rivers (DEF, $672,000) 107
Ed Langdon (MID, $628,000) 103
Sam May (DEF, $648,000) 102
Jake Lever (DEF, $504,000) 96

06:45

Trap or treat?

How will you use your two trades this week? Here are some traps to avoid and some treats worth considering.

Adam Treloar (MID, $956,000) TREAT
If you are looking for a player that no one else has, then Treloar is your man. He is currently in less than one per cent of teams and his average of 110 puts him inside the top 10 players in the game.

Tom Green (MID, $955,000) TRAP
Green averaged 127 in his first three games. However, since then he has averaged 87 and now has a breakeven of 151. He'll be under $900k very soon and a bargain waiting to be selected.

Sam Walsh (MID, $911,000) TREAT
Walsh backed up his 145 with a solid 101 last week. He has now gone up $57k and has a breakeven of 88. The value that Walsh presents right now will be gone in a matter of weeks.

Nick Daicos (DEF/MID, $886,000) TREAT
Even though Daicos is averaging 98, now is the time to pounce. His tricky draw is behind him, but you better get moving … he plays this afternoon and scored 140 in the ANZAC Day game last year.

Bailey Dale (DEF, $710,000) TRAP
How can someone go from being the substitute to then scoring 160 the following week? This is what can happen at the Bulldogs, which makes them a team we need to be cautious of moving forward.

Live Teams Show

The Traders will be live tonight to cover all the important ins and outs as teams are announced. They break down the popular trades, discuss captains and answer all your burning questions. Watch the Live Teams Show every Thursday night via AFL.com.au and the AFL Live Official App and ask your questions in the comments. 

Listen to the AFL Fantasy Podcast with The Traders at Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts.

Most traded in

  • Hugo Garcia (MID/FWD, $271,000)
  • Jack Macrae (MID/FWD, $715,000)
  • Sam Walsh (MID, $911,000)
  • Nick Daicos (DEF/MID, $886,000)
  • Sam Flanders (MID/FWD, $910,000)

The most traded in player this week is clearly Hugo Garcia (MID/FWD, $271,000). Garcia was a tackling machine is his first full game last week that saw him score a very solid 71. His match-up this week is considerably harder, considering the Power have given up less points this year than any other team.

Who's brave? Who is backing in Jack Macrae (MID/FWD, $715,000)? Macrae was awesome last week with 129 and looked to be back to his best. It was a high-scoring game though with three of his team mates also scoring over 125. Brave or not… it's hard to look past the star at this price.

Jack Macrae evades a tackles in the Western Bulldogs' win over St Kilda in R6, 2024. Picture: AFL Photos

Most traded out

  • Zac Williams (DEF, $552,000)
  • Ryley Sanders (MID/FWD, $501,000)
  • Massimo D’Ambrosio (DEF/MID, $560,000
  • Luke Jackson (RUC/FWD, $771,000)
  • Tom Stewart (DEF, $806,000)

Tom Stewart (DEF, $806,000) will miss this week with concussion while Zac Williams (DEF, $552,000) also is in doubt after being injured and subbed out last week. Both players can be traded and moved on to bigger and better things.

The rollercoaster of uncertainty looks to continue again at the Bulldogs this week, which is why it is probably better to part ways with Ryley Sanders (MID/FWD, $501,000). Sanders could find himself starting in the midfield, in another vest, or even in the VFL. The problem is… who actually knows?

Zac Williams during Carlton's match against Brisbane in Opening Round, 2024. Picture: AFL Photos

Calvin's best captains

Your captain scores you double points and here are my best captain options for you to consider.

Thursday

Zach Merrett v Collingwood
Merrett has been on fire this year and although he missed the ANZAC Day clash last year, he made up for it in round 24 against Collingwood scoring 146. Expect him to be huge again on the big stage.

Friday night

Rowan Marshall v Port Adelaide
Forgive the big man for his 62 last week and focus on what he can produce here. He was coming off back-to-back 130s and meets Ivan Soldo who has been giving up plenty of points this year.

Saturday

Harry Sheezel v Adelaide
With previous scores of 106, 159, 121 and 126 it's hard to look past Sheezel who has been unreal. Even though his record in Hobart last year was poor with scores of 81, 92, 53 and 94… ignore that and back him in.

Sunday

Isaac Heeney v Hawthorn
Heeney is the fourth-highest averaging player in the game and meets a team that has given up the third most 100-plus scores this year. In the final game of the round, a score of 120-plus isn't out of the question.

Tune in tonight when the Traders go live at 6:15pm on afl.com.au or via the AFL Live Official App to see who Calvin has in his top-5 and who the Traders are locking in as their captain options for the round ahead.

Get expert advice from The Traders during the pre-season in the Fantasy Hub. Follow AFL Fantasy on Twitter and Instagram and 'like' the Facebook page to join in the conversation.