Round 23 Review

Brisbane (8.9.57) defeated by Melbourne (18.7.115)

1. Luke Jackson (130). Great game from Jackson who top scored thanks to 13 touches that ran at 92% DE plus 5 tackles, 17 hitouts and 1 goal. Averaged 84.5 with 4 tons (all 120+) so it wasn’t a huge breakout campaign, but there’s plenty of time for the 20 year old.

2. Clayton Oliver (118). Finished off his massive year with a 30 touch (20 contested), 13 clearance effort, plus a team high 578 metres gained, will be first picked in plenty of sides next year.

3. Christian Petracca (117). Equally impressive as the other two on Friday night as he had 23 touches plus 6 marks and 2 goals to finish with a 112 point average with 11 tons.

4. Jake Lever (116). Snagged his first goal in a long time during this game, ultimately having 13 touches and 8 marks while running at 100% DE.

5. Zac Bailey (109). His average went backwards on the year unfortunately but he finished on a high note thanks to 20 touches (10 contested) at 80% DE.

Other 100+ scores: Lachie Neale (104)

Dissapointment: A score of 74 got grand final weekend off to a bad start for Max Gawn owners.

Rookies: Nothing to cover between these two experienced lineups.

Injuries: Some unfortunate injuries on the eve of finals with Berry (ankle) and Jackson (knee) being subbed out.

GWS (10.6.69) defeated by Fremantle (13.11.89)

1. Sam Taylor (149). Has had some monster scores post bye, pushing his season average to 91 after this 20 touch, 12 mark game that ran at 85% DE.

2. Will Brodie (133). Has claims as the recruit of the year (both SC and AFL) and finished on a high after recording 30 touches (10 contested) with 7 tackles and 1 goal.

3. Jordan Clark (108). Another one who has been a super recruit is Clark, who finishes with seven tons but nothing above this score. Had 22 touches and 95% DE in the Freo win.

4. Andrew Brayshaw (105). Thirteen tons on the year and and 112 point average is just about breakeven for his 584K starting price. Finished the regular season with 25 touches and 2 goals.

5. David Mundy (101). Finds his way into the top five one last time thanks to 30 touches, 1 goal and 6 clearances. Hope the Dockers can make some noise in the finals to send him off in solid fashion!

Other 100+ scores: Luke Ryan/Caleb Serong (100)

Disappointment: Plenty of Giants battling it out for this spot but it’ll go to one of the more popular picks in the game, Coniglio (71).

Rookies: Once again, nothing worth covering here in the final round.

Injuries: Seemingly no one to nurse for the Giants from this game, or anyone to sweat on for the Dockers as they head into the finals.

North Melbourne (6.11.47) defeated by Gold Coast (16.18.114)

1. David Swallow (142). A really strong finish to the season for the former skipper, posting a career best score from 33 touches (18 contested), 9 clearances, 1 goal, 9 marks and over 600 metres gained.

2. Noah Anderson (128). Played his way into my 2023 lineup with a 30 touch, 1 goal game that gained 671 metres. Ten tons and 100 point average for him.

3. Aiden Corr (126). Had one of these big games earlier in the season (136) and posted a second one here thanks to 28 touches, 9 marks and a game high 775 metres gained.

4. Hugh Greenwood (123). Turned it up against his old club with 23 touches plus 10 tackles and 1 goal.

5. Brandon Ellis (108). Strong finish to the season from Ellis as well who had four tons from his past six games, finishing up here with 24 touches and 5 tackles and 91% DE.

Other 100+ scores: Touk Miller/Jy Simpkin (104), Luke McDonald (101)

Dissapointment: Nothing that bad in this one, with the worst of the popular picks being Goldstein and Witts who had 90 each. Both had outstanding seasons.

Rookies: Not that it matters SC wise but Josh Goater had a really promising debut with 21 touches and 5 marks playing on the outside to score 70 points!

Injuries: Only causality in this one was Sean Lemmons with a calf injury, but with the Suns finishing outside the 8, he’ll have until next March to recover.

Geelong (19.17.131) defeated West Coast (7.4.46)

1. Mark Blicavs (129). Great finish to Blicavs who’s had a elite season with thirteen tons to his name. Did it all on Saturday with 25 disposals plus 5 marks, 4 tackles and 16 hitouts.

2. Bailey Williams (127). Great performance as the solo ruck for Williams with what is obviously, a career best score. Had 25 touches (17 contested) with 6 marks and 16 hitouts.

3. Shannon Hurn (120). Feel like I’ve written his name for the past two months in these reviews. Another ton for him, helped by the fact the Eagles have been flogged most weeks, but he still did extremely well with 32 touches and 10 marks at 87% DE.

4. Tim Kelly (114). Up against his old mob, Kelly played pretty well with 28 touches (13 contested) plus 1 goal being his stat line, while also recording no clangers.

5. Jonathan Ceglar (113). A late change meant Ceglar could play and find his way into the top 5. Has shown scoring potential in the past and had 24 touches (15 contested) with 11 clearances and 29 hitouts in this one.

Other 100+ scores: Tom Hawkins (111), Isaac Smith (108), Tom Stewart (106), Joel Selwood (104), Brad Close (103), Max Holmes (100)

Dissapointment: Purely because his been in such good form, it goes to Tom Barrass for his 83.

Rookies: Nothing to cover here, but I will make mention that I like Culley for a 2022 mini-breakout, seems to like the contested stuff much like Newcombe, 10 tackles for him in this game!

Injuries: Rioli was subbed off for the Eagles, while the Cats will be hoping that Guthrie (of the Cam variety) and Kolodjashnij will be alright for the qualifying final.

Essendon (11.9.75) defeated by Richmond (21.15.141)

1. Zach Merrett (150). After a couple of quiet weeks, Merrett just ran loose on the MCG to compile 37 touches (19 contested) with 9 clearacnes and 6 tackles for a great finish to his season.

2. Tom Lynch (132). On complete fire right now with his form, this week slotting 5 goals from 19 touches and 9 marks, but worryingly finished the game on ice, pretty sure it was cautionary though.

3. Dion Prestia (117). Dion has been in great touch over the past month or so, finishing with 31 touches, 7 marks, 5 tackles, 1 goal and a team best 574 metres gained on Saturday night.

4. Jayden Short (114). A couple of tons to finish the year for Short, rewarding those who held. Had 25 touches at 92% DE, solid SC season.

5. Daniel Rioli (108). Great season for Rioli who finishes with a 92 average, besting his previous best by 29 points! Finished with his tenth ton of the year from 21 touches and 7 marks while recording no clangers and 95% DE.

Other 100+ scores: Trent Cotchin (106), Darcy Parish (103), Jack Ross (102)

Dissapointment: A couple of sour scores from Redman to finish the year after having a great patch of form, his 55 this week backing up 63 and 68 the previous two. Ridley (64) was my hero last week but couldn’t get into the swing of things with Richmond dominating this contest.

Rookies: May as well mention it was the second game for Jye Menzie (49) who snagged his first goal in league footy from one of his 9 touches.

Injuries: Bar the previously mentioned Lynch, it was an accidental knee to the head that saw Stringer finish on the pine.

Port Adelaide (16.15.111) defeated Adelaide (7.13.55)

1. Connor Rozee (162). Capped of his season with a career best score and the Showdown medal to pair with it. 34 touches, 8 tackles, 1 goal and 527 metres gained for him.

2. Reilly O’Brien (160). Monster score from ROB who had pretty much free rein in the ruck contest, having 50 hitouts plus 18 touches (16 contested) with 7 clearacnes and 1 goal.

3. Ollie Wines (137). Played an elite game himself to finish with 37 touches (17 contested), 8 clearacnes, 6 tackles and 1 goal for his thirteenth ton of 2022.

4. Rory Laird (133). Finished the year as the highest overall averaging player (127.85 compared to Satans 127.1) thanks to this 26 touch (14 contested), 10 tackle, 1 goal effort even with a tag from Drew.

5. Zak Butters (125). One of the really popular picks heading into 2022 and its probably a pass mark thanks to a 96 point average. Finished with five tons in a row with this one coming from 26 touches and 8 tackles.

Other 100+ scores: Karl Amon (113), Kane Farrell (108), Charlie Dixon (102).

Dissapointment: Has to go to Dawson for his season low 74! Keays (49) continued his forward role and actually lost his 100 point average, finishing on 99.6!

Rookies: Nothing to mention from the Showdown.

Injuries: Finlayson (knee), Georgiades (ankle) and Hinge (calf) the casualties.

Hawthorn (10.4.64) defeated by Western Bulldogs (12.15.87)

1. James Sicily (134). Has been super all season and finished on a massive high, recording 33 touches and 17 marks while also gaining 748 metres!

2. Josh Dunkley (129). Super finish to the season for the popular pick, recording his fifteenth ton of the year thanks to 29 touches (17 contested), 9 marks, 9 tackles and 8 clearacnes.

3. Adam Treloar/Marcus Bontempelli (115). Great game from Treloar who has had a really good season, finishing the year with 25 touches, 10 tackles and 1 goal, while Bont made it eighteen tons thanks to 20 touches (12 contested), 7 tackles, 7 clearacnes and 1 goal.

4. Blake Hardwick (114). Joined in with Sicily in the backline, playing a bit of kick to kick at times to have 26 touches and 14 marks for a solid score.

5. Ed Richards (113). Averged 111 in the final six rounds, with this final score coming courtesy of 23 touches and 7 marks while gaining 513 metres.

Other 100+ scores: Jaeger O’Meara (106), Tim English (102), Roarke Smith (101), Lachie Hunter (100)

Dissapointment: A tag held back Tom Liberatore in the final game to just 74 points.

Rookies: Couple of debuts in this one to Ned Long (43) and Jack Saunders (34) as the Hawks closed out 2022. Shoutout to Josh Ward who has shown some nice scoring potential late in the season with a 93 finishing off his debut year.

Injuries: A very late injury to Latham Vandermeer who had a knee knock.

Carlton (10.14.74) defeated by Collingwood (11.9.75)

1. Adam Cerra (139). Elite finish to the year for Cerra who played a brilliant game in the midfield to finish with 27 touches (12 contested), 2 goals, 6 marks and 7 tackles for his season best score.

2. Sam Docherty (138). Finishes 2022 with fourteen tons, this last one coming thanks to 29 touches, 7 marks, 7 tackles, 1 goal and 786 metres gained.

3. Darcy Moore (127). Starred across half-back, especially when the game got close, finishing with a season best score from 24 touches, 9 marks and 567 metres gained while running at 95% DE.

4. Josh Daicos (124). Led his side for metres gained, having 640 of them from 28 touches across the wing, while also pairing it with 8 marks and 7 tackles.

5. Patrick Cripps (121). Did all he could to get his team over the line with a huge 35 touches (27 contested) plus 5 tackles and 12 clearacnes. Thirteen tons and 111 point average for him in 2022.

Other 100+ scores: Scott Pendlebury (108), Brayden Maynard (106), Lewis Young/Jeremy Howe (102), John Noble (100)

Dissapointment: Poor finish to the year for Jack Crisp (61) who only had one ton after the bye.

Rookies: Nothing to mention here in terms of debuts but a quick mention to Nick Daicos who finished his outstanding debut season with an 85.

Injuries: Nothing to cover from this Sunday afternoon fixture.

St Kilda (11.8.74) defeated by Sydney (13.10.88)

1. Ben Long (142). Set career best marks in just about every major statistical category and SuperCoach score as well. Had 27 touches and 17 marks while running at 96% DE plus slotting 1 goal.

2. Jack Steele (125). Good finish to the year from Steele who should be slightly underpriced heading into 2023. Had 27 touches, 10 marks, 9 tackles and 1 goal to finish the year.

3. Will Hayward (121). Season best score from the Sydney goal kicker, kicking 3 of them including the sealer from 15 touches and 8 marks.

4. Jack Sinclair (118). Breakout season done and dusted for Sinclair who finishes with an 113 average that included nineteen tons. Copped a tag in this one and still had 27 touches (13 contested) with 5 tackles and nearly 500 metres gained.

5. James Rowbottom (116). Back to back tons to finish the season for Rowbottom who had 24 touches (15 contested) with 7 clearacnes, 7 tackles and 1 goal.

Other 100+ scores: Isaac Heeney (114), Dan Hannebery (109)

Dissapointment: Rough score to finish up for Rowan Marshall (64) who shared the ruck duties to finish 2022.

Rookies: Nothing to cover in the final game of the round/season.

Injuries: Hunter Clark and Josh Battle had groin and concussion issues in this one, while Sydney will be hoping that Papley will recover from concussion in time for their qualifying final clash.

 

That’s a wrap on the round reviews for 2022! Enjoy the off-season but more importantly hope everyone returns for 2023!

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