Talking Points
Boomer back in town: Round 4 wrap
Round 4 wrap
Injuries and suspensions cost fantasy coaches some big scores this week but some stars showed their class. The likes of Shaun Burgoyne, Travis Tuck, Darren Milburn and Barry Hall all pulled out after lockout, but how many of you have big bad Barry?
To make matters worse Mitch Robinson and Patrick Dangerfield, who may have been some of your emergencies, didn’t do a lot. It was a fairly low scoring week in comparison to the bumper scores many produced last week, but would most be happy with their scores?
Some key injuries, in particular, to fantasy favourite Hayden Skipworth may force coaches to use yet another trade. Justin Koschitzke may be out for a few weeks and Brent Guerra also tweaked his hammy. Jamie Charman has fallen to the Brisbane ruck curse, he now becomes the second key ruckman injured this year. Who will replace him?
There were quite a few major upsets, namely Port Adelaide leaving the reigning premiers at 1-3, North Melbourne beating Essendon, Richmond falling to new lows against Melbourne and West Coast beating the rampant Doggies by five goals. Simon Black and Matt Thomas have both been sent straight to the tribunal for making contact with umpires, just as Heath Shaw was last week and Jason Akermanis can accept a one-match ban for tripping.
Collingwood 13.12.90 def Brisbane 10.13.73
Collingwood made the most of their extra three-day break to defeat a Lions outfit that looked lost at times. Mick Malthouse showed he still has it, making some key moves that Voss had no answers for.
The Pies were a lot harder at the footy, and it started in the midfield with Scott Pendlebury (135 DT/147 SC), Tarkyn Lockyer (131/146) and Jaxson Barham (122/77) all playing their part in the win. Leon Davis (104/131) kicked three important goals and Josh Fraser (117/128) was again dominant against weaker opposition. Fraser will face tougher competition next week in David Hille, as the Pies take on Essendon.
Bradd Dalziell (123/120) showed his worth with his best performance of the year, with two goals. Simon Black (92/118) went someway to repaying the faith of his coaches with his best game yet, and Jed Adcock (82/96) picked up 25 touches in three quarters of footy.
Star Man: Scott Pendlebury. Had 35 disposals, which included 13 contested. Also had 10 clearances and had six tackles.
Shocker: Daniel Bradshaw (34/18). Played 100% TOG for just seven disposals (efficiency of 43%) and just one shot on goal.
One to watch: Jaxson Barham. Many fantasy coaches and Collingwood fans are getting on him straight away, and rightly so. He played a fantastic game but had nine clangers. Wait one more week for this one.
Sydney 12.12.84 def Carlton 9.13.67
Sydney kept their extraordinary record against Carlton intact with a 17-point victory at the SCG. The Swans have now won the last 12 matches head-to-head.
Jarrad McVeigh (59/105) kicked three for the Swans who were without much of its key forward line (Hall,O’Loughlin). He has recently stepped out his brother Mark’s shadow and made a name for himself. Rhyce Shaw (106/130) played well for 29 touches, only three of which were contested so I presume he got them cheaply. Brett Kirk (96/113) and Martin Mattner (75/108) were also good for the Swans.
For the Blues Jarrad Waite (127/116), Paul Bower (94/154) and Bret Thornton (109/125) got some kick-to-kick action going due to Sydney’s game plan. Bryce Gibbs (103/87) got the job of tagging Adam Goodes (37/76) and he did it well, limiting the dual Brownlow medalist 12 touches and racking up 24 himself. Chris Judd had 30 disposals but he gave away three free kicks, which curbed his fantasy scores a tad.
Star Man: Jude Bolton (95/123). Had just the 19 disposals but laid a game high eight tackles which resulted in some decent fantasy scores.
Shocker: Brendan Fevola (76/26). Had a shocker, just the one fairly decent goal early and then four behinds to have 5.11 in the past two weeks. Had five clangers and a possession efficiency of 43%.
One to watch: Paul Bower. If the Blues continue to kick to kick like they did against Sydney he could be a handy pick-up… or he could return to the wilderness and we may never see him reach these heights again.
Port Adelaide 17.13.115 def Hawthorn 12.13.85
Port Adelaide continued their rise as Hawthorn looked like they could be well have been still on their end of season trip from last year. Port Adelaide had all the answers, as they strode to a comfortable 30-point win at the MCG on Saturday afternoon.
Travis Boak (133/120) and Danyle Pearce (130/92) had 32 and 33 disposals plus 10 and 11 marks respectively, to be the top two Dream Team players on the ground. Warren Tredrea (105/139) continued his awesome purple patch again kicking six goals straight, to prove he can do it against decent opposition. The Cornes pair of Chad (129/124) and Kane (103/68) were also influential, while the Burgoyne pair were absent.
Lance Franklin (92/77) kicked three but didn’t have a great bearing on the
match, well held by Carlile. Garry Moss (120/101) continued his rise as he grabbed 25 possessions plus a goal and 10 marks. Despite getting six kicked on him, Thomas Murphy (88/123) got some decent fantasy scores and Brad Sewell (108/117) played wide of Chad Cornes to have 28 disposals in his return match.
Star Man: Warren Tredrea. Kicked six important goals when the game was on the line, he was the catalyst for the win.
Shocker: Jarryd Roughead (34/31). Hawthorn will need more than that from him if they are to challenge for the flag again, just the seven disposals and no shots on goal.
One to watch: Hamish Hartlett (95/61). Picked up 23 touches in his debut match, proving that the Power taking him at pick number four wasn’t so bad after all.
St Kilda 17.9.111 def Fremantle 4.4.28
If people in Melbourne are calling for Terry Wallace’s head, those on the West Coast will be screaming for Mark Harvey’s. This was an absolute massacre, an 83-point whipping, St Kilda’s second consecutive domination of a Western Australian club. A grand total of four goals is what you would expect from an under-9 match.
Nick Dal Santo (116/136), Leigh Montagna (119/125), Brendon Goddard (104/113) and Clinton Jones (92/121) continued their impressive form, while Farren Ray (102/102) and Sam Gilbert (99/112) got plenty of cheap touches across half back. The only bad news for the Saints was the injury of Justin Koschitzke (8/17), which will have him out for a week.
For Fremantle, Michael Johnson (113/110) and Byron Schammer (108/107) toiled hard and Matthew Pavlich (72/92) cannot be blamed for another average match, the opportunities he was given from the midfield were few and far.
Star Man: Nick Riewoldt (114/146). One week he kicks inaccurately, the next he kicks five straight. Very much a confidence player, this outing should hold him in good stead for the rest of the season.
Shocker: Fremantle. For a side that were listed as a chance for the top eight, to only score a solitary 28 points is ridiculous. The lowest AFL score I can remember for a long time, I’m sure someone will give me an answer in the comments.
One to watch: Kepler Bradley (43/42). If Mark Harvey had any sense he would be the one to watch in the WAFL next week, unless that is what he expects from Bradley.
Geelong 21.8.134 def Adelaide 13.8.86
A Gary Ablett led Geelong and they were too good for a determined Adelaide outfit on Saturday night, winning by 48 points.
The ever reliable fantasy trio of Ablett (155/197), Jimmy Bartel (111/122) and Joel Corey (115/124) were again awesome setting up the win for the Cats. Particularly Ablett, 46 disposals with an efficiency of 85%. Bartel and Corey had 30 and 34 each, while Joel Selwood played well after an early knock to the face.
Tyson Edwards (108/102) was good for the Crows with 25 touches, while Simon Goodwin (85/90) and Scott Thompson (97/106) would have impressed Neil Craig with their run. Andrew McLeod (46/46) was quiet, while Taylor Walker (51/30) and Patrick Dangerfield (39/38) didn’t follow up their performances form last week.
Star Man: G. Ablett. Enough said.
Shocker: Patrick Dangerfield. Largely unsighted and he was filling in for some midfields due to the absences of Tuck and Burgoyne.
One to watch: Tom Lonergan (90/72). He looked good in defence, coming in as the late replacement for Darren Milburn. Will he keep his spot for the game against Brisbane?
North Melbourne 10.9.69 def Essendon 7.15.57
North Melbourne look to be back to their fighting best with a good win against Essendon. The Bombers had 22-19 scoring shots but were unable to convert when it needed.
Brent Harvey (131/169) looks to have found some form after a horrid opening three weeks. He kicked three goals and had 33 possessions. Lachie Hansen (114/122) looked a lot more comfortable across the back line, Daniel Pratt (113/139) looks to have overcome a fortnight he would rather forget and David Hale (112/127) was good up front, kicking 4.3. Jack Ziebell (87/94) played his best game for North Melbourne with 22 disposals.
Brent Stanton (103/134) was great for the Bombers, but they lacked run and carry through the midfield. Matthew Lloyd (92/98) kicked 3.2, just one short of his 900th milestone and Jobe Watson (91/91) was good but lacked efficiency. David Zaharakis (62/61) had 20 touches and looked good at times.
Star Man: Brent Harvey. Looked in ominous form and the Roos players look to be blocking and playing for him more, a good sign for his fantasy coaches.
Shocker: Michael Quinn (25/26). Didn’t look anywhere near as good as his first match.
One to watch: Ben Warren (64/67). He looked good especially early, one to watch for sure.
Melbourne 14.16.100 def Richmond 13.14.92
Melbourne added a nail into the coffin, getting over the top of the woeful Tigers by eight points in a scrappy contest.
Brad Miller (107/132) booted three in his best for the season, if not his career. Aaron Davey (111/115) continued his great form with 25 meaningful possessions. Brock McLean (102/100) had six tackles and 25 disposals and bad boy Colin Sylvia (96/111) also had his best game for the year, with 19 touches and two majors.
Nathan Foley (90/106) got the better of his match-up with Nathan Jones (55/46), the Tiger had 32 disposals. Joel Bowden (155/176) picked up an easy 44 possessions and Matthew Richardson (125/121) gave his all kicking 4.5. If Richo had kicked truly, could the scoreboard have read differently? We will never know.
Star Man: Joel Bowden. Although he was allowed to roam free and collect 44 disposals, his fantasy coaches wouldn’t have minded one bit.
Shocker: Troy Simmonds (45/33). One of the older players at Richmond, he needs to step up and not get beaten by youngsters such as John Meesen.
One to watch: Andrew Collins (84/54). In just his first game he had 20 touches and booted two goals. Should wait one more week.
West Coast 17.14.116 def Western Bulldogs 12.11.83
West Coast showed that they can perform at home, yet not on the road. The bounced back from a 93 point hammering last week to defeat the previously unbeaten Bulldogs by 33 points.
David Wirrpanda (153/117) returned and had am immediate impact, kicking one goal plus 28 touches, 15 marks and seven tackles. Dean Cox (119/102) is widely regarded as just another on-baller, and he showed that against Sunday with 25 disposals plus 31 hit outs. Andrew Embley (110/115) finally gave his owners something to cheer about and Daniel Kerr (93/143) was again good with 29 possessions.
Shaun Higgins (116/109) proved he will be a keeper with another stellar performance where he kicked four goals. Matthew Boyd (114/126) got the better of Kerr early and finished with 30 disposals and two goals himself. Daniel Cross (94/104), Nathan Eagleton (96/37) and Akermanis (97/102) all did their bit but couldn’t get the Dogs over the line.
Star Man: David Wirrpanda. Read above.
Shocker: Mitch Hahn (44/49). Very quiet, just the 11 disposals.
One to watch: Liam Picken (82/70). Looks like he has consolidated his spot and still has a major upside to make you some cash.
What are your thoughts after Round 4?
Who are you happy with?
Who will you be trading?
What are you doing with Skippy?
How many trades are you using this week?
Is Terry Wallace done?
Can Freo win a game?
All welcome to have your say in the comments below.
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