Round 1 Review

MCarlton (12.14.86) defeated Richmond (12.9.81)

1. Toby Nankervis (137). Missed last week but the co-captain opened up his 2024 account in style, going for 19 touches (12 contested) with 8 clearances, 8 tackles and 21 hitouts in a dominate performance.
2. Patrick Cripps (135). The opposing skipper couldn’t be stopped in the middle, finishing with 31 touches (21 contested) plus 7 tackles for the game.
3. Nick Vlastuin (134). Massive defensive efforts for much of the evening, Vlastuin finished with 24 touches, 6 marks and 6 tackles and nearly 500 metres gained.
4. Noah Balta (128). 23 touches and 3 majors for the big Bolts between down back and up forward, also hauling in 9 marks.
5. Mitch McGovern (118). Rounding out the top 5 with 26 touches @ 92% DE plus 8 marks.

Other 100+ scores: Tom De Koning (118), Harry McKay (112), Nic Newman (107), Tim Taranto (105)

Disappointment: Zac Williams for his 51. Super popular pick and should see much better weeks.

Rookies: Carrolls stocks are on the up and up after a full game this week and 74 points from 20 touches and 4 marks, while second gamer Campbell only had 31 despite 13 touches and 1 goal, his 7 clangers holding him back. Fantasia was quiet and got subbed off for 39, while a super popular rookie selection went down, see below.

Injuries: Josh Gibcus cruelly suffered an ACL injury that will see him miss another year of football, an early trade required there for tens of thousands of coaches. He was joined on the sidelines by Prestia and Young throughout the game. No injuries on the Blues match report, just the sub Fantasia.

 

Collingwood (10.9.69) defeated by Sydney (15.12.102)

1. James Rowbottom (142). Not much of the pill, only 16 touches, but a huge 13 tackles, 1 goal and no clangers helped Rowbottom to a monster score on Friday night.
2. Isaac Heeney (136). Back in the middle and dominating, Heeney found 29 touches (13 contested) with 7 marks, 4 tackles and 2 goals.
3. Nick Daicos (135). Accumulated plenty as per usual, finding 37 touches (15 contested) with 7 clearances and 1 goal.
4. Braydan Maynard (131). Led the team for metres gained with 522 from his 22 touches and 6 marks. Also had 5 tackles and nice DE of 81%.
5. Logan McDonald (128). Dominate forward on the night, slotting 4 goals from 15 touches and 8 marks without recording 1 clanger.

Other 100+ scores: Chad Warner (125), Errol Gulden (109)

Disappointment: Nothing exciting against the old mob from Brodie Grundy (71), his 9 clangers totalling more than his touches (8).

Rookies: Charlie Dean had a solid second game and could be the Gibcus replacement dependent on other scores. He had 12 touches and 6 marks for 57. Roberts (69) was clean at half back with his 15 touches and 5 marks.

Injuries: No injuries here, just those being subbed out with Johnson and Amartey.

 

Essendon (17.5.107) defeated Hawthorn (11.17.83)

1. Andrew McGrath (131). Led all comers in this Saturday afternoon fixture with 31 touches (just 3 clangers) while recording a game high 619 metres gained plus 84% DE.
2. Zach Merrett (127). 31 touches for Merrett, plus 8 marks and 5 tackles to go with 6 clearances. No reason he isn’t a safe pick again this year.
3. Archie Perkins (124). Saw plenty of midfield time with Parish on the sidelines, accumulating 24 touches and 8 clearances plus 12 tackles and 2 goals.
4. Massimo D’Ambrosio (122). Gibcus to this guy will be the move for many coaches this week. 29 touches (13 contested) off the half-back line is a great club debut and also a career high score.
5. Will Setterfield (119). Rounded out a pretty dominant Bombers scoring day with 24 touches (11 contested) plus 7 clearances, 8 tackles and over 500 metres gained.

Other 100+ scores: James Worpel (112), Dyson Heppell (106), Dylan Moore (104)

Disappointment: Nothing worse than Sicily here, just 43 points for the 600K premium, plus a possible week suspension. Nic Martin butchered his touches to finish with 63.

Rookies: Young forward on debut Nick Watson had his chances but ultimately kicked 3 behinds from 5 touches to finish on just 26, bar that, the only other rookie was..

Injuries: Popular pick Zach Reid, who suffered a hamstring injury which saw him subbed out for Tsatas, while Chol was tactical for Maginess.

 

GWS (17.19.121) defeated North Melbourne (13.4.82)

1. Jesse Hogan (165). Dominated with 6 goals from his 18 touches and 8 marks, while running at 88% DE. Highest scoring team this week picked him so a shoutout to them!
2. Tom Green (152). Pretty much the same as the week before, just found the ball and was elite on the inside. 37 touches with 16 contested possessions and 9 tackles to pair with 1 goal.
3. Harry Sheezel (130). Picked up where he left off, finding 32 touches across the backline and the middle, pairing it with 9 marks and a game high 755 metres gained. Also not a single turnover.
4. Luke Davies-Uniacke (121). Helped along as well by no turnovers, LDU led the north engine room with 29 touches (11 contested) plus 8 clearances and 6 tackles.
5. Lachie Whitfield (118). Running loose at half-back like the good old days, Whitfield found 29 touches @ 96% DE to round out the top 5.

Other 100+ scores: Josh Kelly (116), Stephen Coniglio (113), Tristan Xerri (107), Jack Buckley (105)

Disappointment: Fisher (50) had the role but just turned the ball over too often, with a third of his 21 touches being clangers. Briggs (57) was well beaten by Xerri overall despite the Giants midfield domination.

Rookies: A possible replacement in the backline is Toby Pink, who debuted here with 10 touches and 42 points in the backline for the Roos. The other debutants and top draft picks in McKercher (88) and Duursma (71) were very solid. 22 touches, 8 marks, no turnovers for the former, 10 touches, 2 goals, also no turnovers for the latter. Lazzaro had some love in the pre-season and opened with 42, while Kallan Dawson (64) was solid down back for 15 touches and 7 marks. For the Giants, first gamer Harvey Thomas (45) had 9 touches up forward, while a single point above him was Wehr on 46. Finally, Cadman (72) produced a nice first round score from 8 touches and 2 goals.

Injuries: Haynes came on for O’Halloran in the third, no injuries there, but Goater is noted on the injury report with a leg concern for North.

 

Geelong (10.16.76) defeated St Kilda (9.14.68)

1. Patrick Dangerfield (134). Kicked the sealer which boosted his score but was overall very good on the night, finishing with 25 touches (12 contested) with 6 tackles, 8 clearances and 1 goal. 
2. Rowan Marshall (127). Standard game from Marshall, nice accumulation with 19 touches and 6 marks, plus 36 hitouts for the evening.
3. Jeremy Cameron (120). 21 touches, 7 marks and 2 goals for Jezza to start the season playing the high half-forward role. Will have some huge scores throughout 2024.
4. Jack Steele (119). Value was attached to his name and this opening round score is good indication that it could continue. 25 disposals (12 contested) with 9 clearances, 7 marks and 6 tackles for the Saints skipper.
5. Max King (115). Very good all evening with his presence, finishing with 17 touches and 8 marks to pair with 550 metres gained and 2 goals.

Other 100+ scores: Max Holmes (112), Tom Stewart (105), Riley Bonner (102), Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera (101)

Disappointment: Hard one to hand out with the majority of popular picks playing quite well, so going to give it a rookie in Jhye Clark who had 13 touches and 13 points, his 7 clangers ad 30% DE being a real hold on any scoring potential.

Rookies: Bar Clark, the Cats also had Mannagh come on as the sub and he was solid in a quarter of football, finding 5 touches for 29 points. Another one to note is Oliver Dempsey @ 148K, he found 15 touches and 7 marks but importantly 3 goals to score an impressive 96. Darcy Wilson made plenty of round 1 teams and was very respectable in his first outing with 2 goals from 11 touches resulting in 66 points. Collard also debuted here but as the sub, and only found the 1 contested possession for 4 points on debut.

Injuries: Only thing on the injury report was Stocker with a back issue, Stengle the sub for the Cats.

 

Gold Coast (8.12.60) defeated Adelaide (8.6.54)

1. Matt Rowell (155). Second massive week for Rowell in a row as the Suns midfield dominated again. 29 touches (20 contested) with 9 clearances, 10 tackles, 1 goal and over 500 metres gained in difficult conditions.
2. Touk Miller (137). Similar to Rowell, did most of his work on the inside with 29 touches (19 contested) plus 10 clearances and 9 tackles for the game.
3. Noah Anderson (129). Led the game with 781 metres gained from his 35 touches (12 contested) to pair with 8 clearances, 5 tackles and 1 goal.
4. Sam Flanders (128). Another Suns midfielder. 35 touches (11 contested), 539 metres gained, 4 tackles, massive numbers from all four of those guys mentioned.
5. Rory Laird (124). The solitary Crow to make this top 5, Laird did Laird things with 30 touches (14 contested), 10 tackles and 6 clearances. Shapes as a safe pick again this year.

Other 100+ scores: Will Powell (118), Matt Crouch (114), Brayden Fiorini (108), Tom Berry (104), Mitch Hinge (102)

Disappointment: Dawson, for this price, wasn’t great to start the season, his 9 clangers holding his 26 disposal game to just 82 points, but he’ll improve. Budarick only had 17 as a semi-popular midpricer.

Rookies: Some love to start with for Tom Berry (104), who played a great game including 17 touches and 7 marks plus 1 goal for a career high score. The Suns also had Sexton (63) who had 17 touches and 7 marks and Uwland (57), who had 8 touches and 3 tackles. Chris Burgess, former Sun, pinched hit in the ruck for the Crows and had 9 touches and 5 hitouts for 34 points, he is priced at 129K.

Injuries: Match report says Pedlar suffered a broken nose, while Butts had a foot injury, but Gollant was the one subbed off. Ellis was subbed off for the Suns.

 

Melbourne (16.13.109) defeated Western Bulldogs (9.10.64)

1. Max Gawn (162). Can’t say he completed dominated his direct opponent but he was clearly the best player on the ground with 26 touches (12 contested), 8 clearances, 9 marks and 35 hitouts.
2. Marcus Bontempelli (126). Standard Bont game really, found 25 touches and used it reasonably well @ 76% DE. 15 contested touches too plus 6 clearances and 1 goal.
3. Christian Petracca/Jack Billings/Tim English (119). Monster numbers for Petracca with 29 touches, 10 marks, 1 goal and 512 metres gained, while Billings will probably see his ownership spike after finding 23 touches with 15 marks and 1 goal roaming around the outside. English was solid with 23 touches, 5 marks, 4 tackles and 21 hitouts but will have some bigger scores to come.
4. Lachlan Bramble (107). Admittedly, didnt even realise he moved to the Dogs but this was a solid club debut with 22 touches, 1 goal and 90% DE. 
5. Clayton Oliver (105). First time in years I haven’t started with this guy in my side, but I’m sure it wont be long if he keeps finding 35 touches in just 71% game time.

Other 100+ scores: Tom McDonald (101)

Disappointment: First game and against his old team, Harmes didn’t have his most influential moments, finding just 11 touches for 35 points.

Rookies: A couple of super popular ones here on Windsor (72) and Sanders (43) were subbed out without really doing much wrong. 16 touches and 3 tackles for the Dee, and 15 touches plus 7 tackles for the Dog. Two cheap defenders in Howes (64) and Hore (60) put their hands up to replace either Gibcus or Reid if they so need to be, while Woewodin was subbed on for 8 points. The Dogs also had Coffield (49), Khamis (51), Gallagher (49) and McNeil (41) play but none really set the world on fire.

Injuries: None on the report, just the previously mentioned Windsor and Sanders those being subbed out.

 

Port Adelaide (16.24.120) defeated West Coast (10.10.70)

1. Ivan Soldo (125). Got the solo ruck duties and produced a ripping game, finishing with 14 touches, 2 goals and 28 hitouts. Won’t come up against the same type of opponent every week though.
2. Zak Butters (117). Pre-season ankle concerns were put to bed as he found 27 touches and 8 marks plus 1 goal just coasting along during round 1.
3. Connor Rozee/Dan Houston (114). Talking about coasting along, Rozee did much of the same with 27 touches and 10 marks plus 2 goals in the middle of the ground, while Houston needed just 18 disposals and 6 marks for his score.
4. Jason Horne-Francis (112). 20 touches, 5 marks, 2 goals and 4 clearances for the former number 1 pick, a nice way to start the season.
5. Charlie Dixon (110). Finished the all Port top 5 with 13 touches, 4 marks, 7 hitouts and 6 shots on goal, although he only finished with 3 majors.

Other 100+ scores: Jeremy McGovern (109), Kane Farrell/Todd Marshall (105)

Disappointment: No one of crazy relevancy failed here, probably Wines (94) a touch under considering Port dominated the midfield battle.

Rookies: Mead is right on the edge of rookie price but his 48 from 13 touches doesn’t really translate to huge price rises. The same can be said for Chesser (38) and Jamieson (63), who are both at 199K. Nothing wrong though with Harley Reid’s first game in the big time, he had 16 touches (9 contested) with 5 clearances for 78 points.

Injuries: McEntee the only casualty on the day with concussion, Gaff the one subbed off for the Eagles.

 

Fremantle (14.9.93) defeated Brisbane (10.10.70)

1. Caleb Serong (170). Best score of the weekend came from Serong, who found a career best 46 disposals (21 contested), 10 clearances, 6 marks and 7 tackles. The score also, a career best.
2. Luke Ryan (165). Just dominated down back with 33 touches (10 marks) with no clangers and 817 metres gained. No reason he isn’t a top 6-8 back-man again.
3. Harris Andrews (120). Intercepted plenty, finishing with 21 touches and 12 marks while running at 95% DE in a standout effort.
4. Josh Dunkley/Luke Jackson (113). No where near as popular as a pure midfielder this year but Dunkley will fill the stat sheet week in week out, finishing round 1 with 26 touches, 9 marks and 8 tackles. Jackson got a bit of everything with 18 touches (9 contested), 30 hitouts and 2 goals.
5. Jordan Clark/Alex Pearce (108). Couple of quiet achievers finishing up here. Clark had 24 touches and 7 marks across the backline while Pearce ran at 89% DE from his 19 touches.

Other 100+ scores: Joel Daniher (105), Nat Fyfe (103), James Aish/Andew Brayshaw (102)

Disappointment: 24 touches and 10 tackles is a great game but 11 clangers held Hayden Young back to just 70.

Rookies: Firstly, Gardiner was left on the bench with a knee issue, while Lohmann was subbed on for just 17 points. Answerth had a great game (176K), finishing with 15 touches, 11 marks and 80 points. Jeremy Sharp found 70 points next to his name thanks to 18 touches and 8 marks, while Emmett was subbed on for 38. Another two rookie priced players for Fremantle though, in McDonald (27) and Worner (63) finished on the pine with injuries. 

Injuries: Carnage to finish up with all of McDonald (knee), Worner (head), Cox (hamstring), Gardiner (knee) and McKenna (hamstring) finishing the game on the bench.

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