(Written & Created By Dane)
**Still working on the timing of Dane’s Round Review. Should be up each Monday morning in the near future. Thanks very much, Dane! – Schwarzwalder**
Adelaide vs Geelong
It was the usual suspects for the Crows in the middle of the ground, with the Crouch brothers amassing heaps of the ball and both cracking the century, while tough nut Rory Sloane once again got in the hundreds as well.Tom Lynch was probably best on ground for the Crows, finishing with 2.3, 26 possessions including 21 kicks for 121.Still priced around 450k, he is the link man for them and hits the scoreboard, a possible POD option? Popular selections Rory Laird and Brodie Smith found enough ball (24 and 22 touches respectively) but both returned unwanted scores of 84 and 68, mainly due to lack of contested football and disposal efficiency.I’m almost willing to say this may become the norm as Wayne Milera (109) looks to be used by the Crows more due to his better use of the football in the early stages of the season.
For the Cats it was a win to take them to 3-0, and it was lead by (to many coaches delight) very Supercoach relevant players.Dangerfield was the pick of the bunch, his 32 disposal (16 contested), 7 tackle game getting him to 128 points, a score I ended up loopholing. Once again it was the new Cats in Constable, Miers and Dahlhaus who played well and set up the win, and all look set for significant price rises.Tim Kelly turned over another good score of 107, but a right leg injury means the possibility of missing few games.I said it last week and I’ll say it again, but Tom Stewart is becoming a hidden gem, his 23 touches, including 22 kicks, netting him a score of 108, which is now his average over the first 3 rounds. Whether or not he keeps it up is another question, but time will tell.Tom Atkins, a popular midfield pick, may be sweating come selection after his 6 disposal game, but why change a winning formula at this point!
Question from the game: Can the Cats keep up the pressure and get to 5-0 with tough games against the Giants (H) and long time rivals Hawthorn?
Supercoach query: Does the injury to Seedsman mean that Smith/Laird/Milera’s role will change and hence change their scoring output?
Melbourne vs Essendon
A shoot out on Friday night and the Dons come through for their first win of 2019. A team win across the board, lead by Dylan Shiel.Although his score (92) may not reflect it, he was BOG. Joining him in the middle were Heppell, Merrett and Zaharakis, who all scored 120+. Essendon’s small forwards all kicked goals, with Devon Smith returning to some 2018 form, his 2 goals, 15 touches and 9 tackles giving him his first hundred of the year (102). Further down the board, Andrew McGrath showed glimpses of what we were hoping for this year with an 88, but it’s not worth bringing him in unless 100+ scores become the norm. In other news the win was soured by an early hamstring strain to Kobe Mutch, who looks set to miss a month or so of football.
The Demons had periods of brilliance and periods of deplorable defense on Friday. It was the usual 3 scorers for them who topped the Supercoach board. Max Gawn looks to have returned to form, putting together a good all-around game for 126, while Clayton Oliver did his usual thing with 29 disposals (17 contested), but did seem to be constantly under pressure which resulted in poor efficiency, limiting his score to 95. 32 touches and a goal for Angus Brayshaw helped him get to a score of 106, but did this from only 69% game time.Nothing else to really mention apart from Lockhart improving his game from last week, with 14 touches and 2 goals.His job security looks pretty good for the moment and could be a downgrade option if injury strikes soon.
Question from the game:What’s the issue at Demonland during the early stages of the season?
Supercoach query:As mentioned above, Angus Brayshaw only played 69% game time for 32 touches and 106 points.How much could this be increased with more game time?
Carlton vs Sydney
Carlton didn’t prevail as I thought they would, yet straighter kicking would have helped them get the win.Leading the charge was Cripps with 157, largely due to his contested ball work.He was followed by Sam Walsh, who scored his first ever Supercoach ton with 112. Popular mid-price selections in Newman and Fisher didn’t set the world on fire but returned solid scores. Ed Curnow deserves a mention for playing the role his brother is meant to, fishing with 4 goals and 19 touches to hit 106. In bad news it was the popular Carlton rookies of Setterfield (37) and Gibbons (17) who let their owners down, as well as champion defender Kade Simpson (62), who no matter how hard I try I can’t be angry at after all his years of great Supercoach service.
The Swans got the W and it was Isaac Heeney who was the star, repaying the faith for those who kept him with 4 goals and 26 touches to finish with 137. Josh Kennedy kept his hot streak going with another 31 touches to pump out 113. Jake Lloyd did his usual thing, racking up 32 possessions typically constructive disposals to score 130. I don’t how Mills scored 108 but he did.Quick mention to both Zak Jones for his 116, he’s had a hot start in terms of finding the ball so far this season and secondly young tall Tom McCartin for his solid return game. Lastly Nick Blakey will be making some money, but should only be bench cover once upgrades start happening.
Question from the game: Will Harry McKay and Charlie Curnow soon be one of the best forward duos in the AFL?
Supercoach query: Are the days of Buddy pumping out 100 plus scores behind him?
GWS vs Richmond
Massive game for the Giants with stars all around the ground. 42 touches with 12 marks and 152 points usually gets your best on ground, but unfortunately for Lachie Whitfield, Jeremy Cameron had 12 shots on goal for 7.5, along with 30 touches (for 163), so the 3 votes will probably go his way. One of last years favourite rookies Jeremy Finlayson snagged his first ever 5 goal haul, but isn’t fantasy relevant. Taranto, Coniglio, Kelly and Hopper all had a day out in the midfield. Williams recovered from a slow start for 101, while it was a welcome return for Shane Mumford, his 91 will surely intrigue a few people especially if he can up those scores with further match fitness.
Once again for Richmond there wasn’t much to smile about. Short only lasted half a quarter with an elbow injury (8 weeks out as of monday night), Rioli looked very sore after a big hit, Cotchin (2-3 weeks) with a hamstring and Dustin Martin has a 2-match ban. In saying that, positives out of the game were Kane Lambert recovering from a low score last week to post 140, courtesy of 34 touches with 13 of those being contested. Dion Prestia would have hit the hundred mark if he didn’t use his 33 touches at 54% efficiency, but the best part for Supercoaches (and AFL fans in general) was the great debut by Sydney Stack, who picked up the ball 17 times, kicked a goal and finished on 108.
Question from the game: Is Richmond a deep enough team to cover possibly another 4 of their best 22 players going out of the team?
Supercoach query: Who is everyone bringing in for Dustin Martin?
Brisbane vs Port Adelaide
3-0 for Brisbane for the first time in a long time and for the second week running it began with Lachie Neale. He racked up 43 touches including 25 contested, 16 clearances, a goal and ran at 83% efficiency for 177 points and looks a serious contender on Brownlow night. Eric Hipwood kicked 6 to be the star up forward, helped out by good supply from a Mitch Robinson (29 touches, 131 points) led midfield. Down back Josh Walker deserves a mention for his 16 mark, 23 touch game getting him to 128 points, while the back flank duo of Rich and Witherden did their owners proud. Harris Andrews owners may have some tough questions this week, with a score of 40, the 117 he scored in round 1 will soon be out of his cycle.
Port Adelaide was in this game the whole way, largely due to Connor Rozee’s 5 goal haul (116) which will surely land him a rising star nomination. Fellow rookies Butters, Duursma and Drew were okay, except maybe the latter for his 36, either way all will make good money. Travis Boak continued his hot streak with 136, but the same can not be said for Tom Rockliff (36), who sustained a head knock during the 3rd quarter and didn’t return. Robbie Gray also had a left shoulder concern late in the game, so keep an eye on the news throughout the week.
Question from the game: Is the Gabba slowly becoming a fortress for the Lions?
Supercoach query: Will Lachie Neale be the highest scoring Supercoach player this year?
West Coast vs Collingwood
Grand Final rematch version 1.1 of this year didn’t live up to last years decider. Collingwood started strong, through De Goey, his 3 goal 18 disposal game getting him to a score of 113. Steele Sidebottom and Brodie Grundy scored twin 132’s, while Maynard and Howe both hit the 100 mark across the backline. Taylor Adams made a welcome return with 26 touches and 10 contested possessions, while Darcy Moore had an ankle scare, but did come back out to score a solid 79 points. Like I said last week, there seems to be too many stars in Collingwoods midfield for them to be fantasy reliable players, and this week it was Pendlebury (72 with a tag) and Treloar (86) who suffered. Don’t get me wrong they will all probably averaged 100+ across the season, but you don’t want your premiums having a real chance of scoring random 70’s come finals time.
The Eagles got the better of Collingwood again, and it was the returning players who played starring roles. Gaff had 35 touches with 13 contested in his first game back at AFL level for 103 points. Jamie Cripps kicked 4 goals straight with 18 touches, while Dom Sheed’s role hasn’t seemed to change with the return of Gaff, he picked up 24 touches with 3 goals to bring in his third ton in a row with 111. Shannon Hurn was as resilient as ever across the backline, scoring 109 with his 28 touches going at 85% efficiency. First gamer Josh Rotham looked very composed in his first game, but with the return of Liam Duggan imminent, his job security doesn’t seem to high.
Question from the game: How long until the contact below the knees free kick rule gets scratched, especially after the confusion from the Tom Phillips/Jamie Cripps incident?
Supercoach query: How many radars will Gaff be on if he scores another hundred next week?
Western Bulldogs vs Gold Coast
Another Gold Coast game decided by under a goal, and once again it was the Suns young midfield guns who led the way. I said it last week and I’ll say it again, but Brayden Fiorini and Jack Bowes and stars of the future, both scoring 117. Jack Martin also scored 100, but it could’ve been a lot more, he kicked 1.4 for the day. Popular suns in Collins, Burgess and Ballard did enough to make some money, while the same can’t be said for young tall Lukosius (33).
The Dogs seemed to have too many passengers on the day, as they were once again kept in the game by the star midfield quartet. If you didn’t start with Liberatore you’re kicking yourself at this point, he top scored for the game with 22 contested possessions (out of his 30) for a massive 150. Macrae had 33 touches himself to score 139, while Bontempelli looks to be back to his constructive best with 124. First round pick Bailey Smith had his best game so far, 22 touches with 13 being contested getting him to 87. Dunkley once again disappointed with 80, while those who experimented with Tim English (myself) are very disappointed at this point, a 54 for him.
Question from the game: How much more outcry until they close the roof for all Marvel Stadium games?
Supercoach query: Caleb Daniel? Averaging 106 over the first 3 rounds and seems to be the dogs primary kick in option.
Hawthorn vs North Melbourne
Coming back from a large quarter time deficit were the Hawks, and ever reliable forward Luke Bruest was at the centre of it. His 5 goal haul giving him 107 points. Joining him in the 100 club was Ricky Henderson (125), Ben McEvoy (122) and Isaac Smith (118). Sicily was solid, his 22 touch game got him to 95. Another player worth mentioning is Chad Wingard for his 3 goal game on debut for the new club. He did some freakish things as he normally does, and Supercoaches will be hoping he continues on this form, as his 82 from the weekend could quickly become 120+, such is his talent. O’Meara had a huge game statistically, but 11 clangers held him to a score of 86.
0-3 for the Kangaroos, but one couldn’t put the blame on midfield duo Shaun Higgins and Ben Cunnington. Higgins had 36 touches and goal for 133 points, while Cunnington was again in and under packs, his score of 118 largely helped by his 23 contested possessions amongst 33 touches of the leather. Popular ruckman Todd Goldstein returned a great score of 118, but for fellow big man Ben Brown is was a rotten day up forward (35). Quick mention to Tarryn Thomas, his young career hasn’t been off to the greatest start, but I reckon he’s a future BnF winner at Arden Street.
Question from the game: Where does the Kangaroos first win come from?
Supercoach query: Is Ben McEvoy on his way to a top 2 ruckman this year?
Fremantle vs St Kilda
The final game of the round ended up being a Fremantle win, but it comes at a big cost, with skipper and Supercoach favourite Nat Fyfe in serious doubt for next round after a nasty knock to the head, once again keep an eye on the news and teams come thursday night. Luke Ryan was the star, his new bleach blonde hair made everyone avoid him, and hence he picked up 32 touches and 13 marks to finish on 156. Walters kicked 2 goals to go along with his 27 touches, netting him a score of 120. David Mundy hit the ton, but fantasy relevance may be past him. If you asked me to pick Darcy Tucker out of a line I’d have no clue who he is, but did have a solid game of 21 touches at 90%, to finish on 109.
On the St Kilda side of things, it was a tight loss out west that they’ll take confidence out of. I took a risk with Billings to start the year and so far I don’t have regrets, he had 32 touches on the weekend, helping himself to 108 points. The same thing I said about Darcy Tucker I’ll say about Rowan Marshall, who after last week I said wasn’t fantasy relevant, gives me the palm off and pulls out another 16 touch, 40 hitout game for 111 points. No one else to really mention, Parker scored 47 which isn’t what we wanted but we can’t have it all.
Question from the game: Who is Darcy Tucker?
Supercoach query: Better supercoach player in 5 years time: Cerra or Brayshaw? My money is on Cerra.
Leave a comment / Scroll to bottom
Excellent write-up Dane. Thanks
Thought about starting cerra without Neale.
Beautiful write up