Guns, goals and groins: Round 6 wrap

One groin, one hamstring: two major decisions facing fantasy coaches pre-lockout this week.

Gary Ablett jnr‘s groin and Matthew Richardson‘s hamstring are the two big injuries heading a number of key names this week. The Geelong maestro and Richmond big man are the main two fantasy concerns, as well as Paul Medhurst who will have a test this week on his ankle. Ablett is set to miss 2-3 weeks, while Richo is in doubt for the rest of the season, news his coaches dread to hear.

The number one team in Dream Team has both of these players; is this the week to make your move?

Youngsters Hamish Hartlett and Dayne Beams could also be facing weeks on the sidelines, midfields are starting to look a little weaker.

Dustin Fletcher didn’t get the right result he was looking for in his 300th match, a 43 point loss to Brisbane and a left leg injury which will see him miss 3-4 weeks. Some good news for the Bombers fans and for those fantasy fans that held onto him, Hayden Skipworth is listed as only a week away from returning.

Daniel Pratt may miss a couple of weeks after injuring his knee in Friday’s loss to Collingwood. News doesn’t get much better for the Roos, who are already missing captain Brent Harvey. Ryan Crowley is out indefinitely with a troublesome ankle.

In other games, Hawthorn hung on for a thriller against a gallant Blues, Fremantle were too strong for West Coast in the local derby, while in Adelaide the Power got over the top of the Crows. Sydney beat Richmond after a spirited fightback from the Tigers in the last term, Geelong were challenged early but showed their class in defeating Melbourne. Meanhile at Etihad Stadium, St Kilda continued their ruthless run against an average Bulldogs team.

At the tribunal, John Anthony has been handed a one match ban for head-butting, while Simon Taylor proved he has learned nothing in the past month and faced his second suspension of the year, a two match ban for an altercation with Setanta O’hAilpin.

There were no major upsets on the field and in fantasy footy, some teams shined while a few dove. This week also heralded the opening of FanFooty’s new match blogs, what were your thoughts?

* Also remember, the Shocker and Star man are based on the fantasy scores and their influence on your fantasy teams with some recognition given to their on-field performance.

Collingwood 19.13.127 def North Melbourne 11.9.75

After a massive week full of media and criticism, Collingwood were able to produce the goods on Friday night. They kept their up and down season going with a 52 point win over an average North Melbourne outfit. Heath Shaw and Anthony Rocca were late withdrawals, but their replacements Anthony Corrie and Sharrod Wellingham impressed. The Pies have still been unable to produce consecutive wins, but will have a chance to correct that record when they play the unbeaten Saints this week. The Kangaroos who were missing chief playmaker Brent Harvey looked tired and were unable to hit targets. They kept up in the first one and a half quarters before Collingwood strode away to take the game comfortably.

As with the solid fantasy midfielders at Geelong, Collingwood’s trio of Davis, Swan and Pendlebury continue to assert themselves among fantasy ranks. Leon Davis was dynamic, using the ball superbly as always. He had 27 touches and booted two goals, including the opener. It seems Dane Swan never plays a bad game, on Friday he had 33 touches and seven marks. Scott Pendlebury broke the shackles and earned another high round of fantasy scores, he also had a pleasant 31 possessions. Josh Fraser came back from a week of scrutiny well, and Nick Maxwell returned well from suspension.

Those who traded Hille to Hamish McIntosh would have been very happy with the HMac’s form on Friday night: 20 touches and two goals, as well as a decent amount of hit outs. Adam Simpson had 34 touches, Gavin Urquhart played his best game of the year and Drew Petrie did well after his fantastic first goal.

Star man: Tarkyn Lockyer (133 DT/150 SC). Played a role different to normal up forward and shone. Booted four goals, had 25 possessions and limited the creative Scott McMahon to just nine disposals.

Shocker: Scott D. Thompson (16/24). Halted Thomas’ effect on the game but didn’t do a lot himself. Just seven possessions, two of which were clangers, I presume that wouldn’t have pleased his owners.

One to watch: Brent Macaffer. A boy on the bubble this week, he looked lively especially early!

Hawthorn 16.10.106 def Carlton 15.12.102

When you think of these two sides’ most recent battles, your mind instantly turns to last year in round 22 when Lance Franklin booted his 100th and Brendan Fevola fell agonisingly short of his ton. Fev would have felt worse on Saturday than August 30th last year, he failed to kick the winner with only moments remaining. A lot was riding on that kick, obviously a chance to win the match, a chance to salute Dick Pratt’s great life and last but not least our fantasy teams, a lot of coaches including myself have the Fevster, the extra points wouldn’t have sat badly with me.

On that night last year it was Fev and Buddy shooting out, on Saturday Fev was still there but Buddy’s sidekick Jarryd Roughead kicked eight goals to win the game for the Hawks off his own boot. Just seven days earlier, Essendon fought back late to win on ANZAC day, if the Blues had have got up it would have been a perfect match. It wasn’t to be, and that might be the win that will kick the Hawks into action on season ’09.

Brad Sewell showed why he is a fantasy gun with 32 touches and a game-high 10 tackles, which are usually underestimated in fantasy scores but when your player is laying so many can easily earn you 30-40 points. Sam Mitchell had 35 possessions, he never really had a direct opponent. Youngsters, Beau Dowler and Brendan Whitecross‘ prices increased heavily and earned valuable points for their teams.

Marc Murphy, Bryce Gibbs, Nick Stevens and Chris Judd were all gallant for the Blues and earned some nice points for your fantasy teams. Brendan Fevola tried his heart out for the Blues and Jarrad Waite was good across half-back. My replacement for Hille and I’m sure many others too, Matthew Kruezer performed well against Simon Taylor.

Star Man: Jarryd Roughead (142/146). Kicked eight goals which won the game for the Hawks, also took a game-high 11 marks which included two contested grabs.

Shocker: Setanta O’hAilpin (34/35). Didn’t do much apart from kick a goal.

Ones to watch: Luke Hodge and Lance Franklin. Haven’t been able to deliver like last year, their prices are very low, is this the week to get them?

Fremantle 13.9.87 def West Coast 9.20.74

The West Australian derby has a knack of always evening the sides, no matter of how good they are in comparison with each other. This year neither team will be any good, but Fremantle are probably at the lower end of the spectrum. Nevertheless, they inflicted West Coast’s first loss of the season at Subiaco. The Eagles had a massive seven extra shots on goal but was unable to convert when it needed. The game was up and down, eventually won by Fremantle, getting home by 13 points.

Fantasy whipping boy Stephen Hill, delivered the goods in the first indication to say that Fremantle were not crazy in picking him ahead of Daniel Rich. Many fantasy coaches bagged him earlier in the year after he continued to look too young and skinny to compete at the top level; not Saturday, he had 21 touches plus two goals. Paul Duffield had a nice 34 touches and Byron Schammer had 30. Garrick Ibbotson had 24 touches, half of which were taken after marks. Not many coaches have Antoni Grover, but for those that did, he had his best fantasy game of the year. Matthew Pavlich finished the game off strong after an early foot injury.

For the Eagles, the trusted two again stood up in a fantasy sense. Dean Cox and Matt Priddis scored DT tons and were the only Eagles players to top 80. Cox had the better of Aaron Sandilands , beating him in the hit outs – a very hard task – and Priddis was good around stoppages. Other Eagles who impressed were Adam Selwood and Shannon Hurn.

Star Man: Paul Hasleby (117/107). Won his fourth Glendinning Medal (the highest of any player) and was clearly dominant. Had a game-high 35 touches which would have pleased his owners.

Shocker: Brett Jones (39/22). 12 possessions which included three clangers, no real standout shocker for this match.

One to watch: FanFooty forum. After weeks of copping heavy criticism, there is no doubt that Stephen Hill is the new God for fantasy coaches. Watch for those who say, “Oh I’ve stuck with Hill from day one,” “Oh you’re a star, Hill.” These were probably the same people bagging the young fella a month ago.

Brisbane 17.9.111 def Essendon 9.14.68

Brisbane’s young guns were the inspiration for its 43-point win over Essendon in Dustin Fletcher’s 300th. Both sides had mixed results in comparison to the week before. Brisbane bounced back well from a hammering at the hands of Geelong, while David Zaharakis wasn’t able to repeat the efforts of the ANZAC day clash.

Jonathan Brown looks to be back in vintage Jonathan Brown form. He took 13 marks, five were contested and you know when he’s taking the contested marks he is in form, the big man also kicked five. We will hear more from him this week on the Footy Show! Luke Power kicked three to add to 24 touches and Troy Selwood got the better of Brent Stanton. Simon Black and Travis Johnstone also impressed.

Jobe Watson continued to pick up a stack of the ball, a game-high 36 touches! Jason Winderlich kicked two goals and touched the pill 23 times. Heath Hocking played well, Matthew Lloyd celebrated his 900th goal with some decent scores and Patrick Ryder continued on with last week’s form.

Star Man: Jonathan Brown (136/135). Read above.

Shocker: Jed Adcock (50/43). Just the 15 touches, he needs to realise that more fantasy sides need his output!

One to watch: Cale Hooker. In Hille’s absence may find more games. Still priced fairly low.

Port Adelaide 15.15.105 def Adelaide 12.7.79

Port Adelaide cemented a top-four spot with a win over bitter rivals Adelaide on Saturday night. The Power game plan was too strong for the Crows as they failed to have a big forward to kick them a winning score. Down Port Adelaide’s end Daniel Motlop and Warren Tredrea chipped in with three goals each.

The Cornes brothers were again instrumental in Port Adelaide’s win. Kane had 37 touches and Chad had 27 plus two goals and Chad would have been my winner for the BOG medal. It was won with a left-field decision: big man Dean Brogan took the honours. He had 16 possessions and 27 hit outs and had the better of the ruck. Daniel Motlop played another Motlop game, full of the least expected, some flashy things and at times very terrible. Tredrea had the better of Ben Rutten with three goals.

Bernie Vince was easily the best for the Crows, on the field and in a fantasy sense. He compiled 29 disposals, 12 marks and two goals to stem the flow for the Power. Nathan Bock dominated his duel with Brendan Lade who played more up forward.

Star Man: Chad Cornes (129/140). Read above.

Shocker: Taylor Walker (30/18). Largely unsighted the whole night, just the one goal from five disposals.

One to watch: Hamish Hartlett. May miss a couple of weeks and a popular fantasy player. With Ablett and possibly Richo and Beams missing this week can you afford him to take a donut?

Sydney 14.10.94 def Richmond 11.9.75

Sydney weathered a late storm to gain a win over a determined Richmond side on Sunday at the SCG. Is that the only opening sentence reported on this game that hasn’t started with “that tackle” from Martin Mattner? Mattner stopped Richmond’s Jack Riewoldt from drawing the scores level midway through the last term, from what looked to be a certain goal before Mattner brought him to ground. Sydney were dominant in the first half before a goal on the half-time siren from Angus Graham gave the Tigers a glimmer of hope.

Rhyce Shaw celebrated his 100th in style, 25 possessions including the first goal. Big Lewis Roberts-Thomson was a force down back, taking marks from Richmond inside 50s. Ted Richards was the best DTer on the ground and had 22 disposals and 14 marks. Ryan O’Keefe would be pleased Hall and O’Loughlin are back, it freed him to go up the ground for much of the day.

The Tigers were unable to find a big target up forward, with Riewoldt, Mitch Morton, and Richo kicking just two between them. Mark Coughlan looked in good form, 19 touches plus his normal five tackles. Joel Bowden did what he does best and Brett Deledio would have pleased some of his fantasy owners. Richard Tambling played well as the lead-up forward in his best game of the year. Adam Pattison had 15 hit outs and 15 disposals.

Star Man: Martin Mattner (95/118). Apart from the tackle he was a general down back all day

Shocker: Mitch Morton (40/40). Richmond need him to kick goals, he didn’t kick one.

One to watch: Mark Coughlan. Very cheap and his price rises this week.

Geelong 15.21.11 def Melbourne 10.8.68

Geelong was troubled early, and if it wasn’t for a Cameron Mooney goal just minutes out from the first siren, Geelong would have been trailing Melbourne! They woke up after quarter time and then looked in control for the rest of the match. They hardly raised a sweat, let’s be honest and accounted for Melbourne by 43 points.

Those who traded Brent Harvey to Paul Chapman could do no wrong. Chapman again dominated on his favourite ground in the world, topped 160 in both DT and SC and had 41 disposals plus a goal. Jimmy Bartel was the other player to top 40 touches on the day, he had 41, he played very wide of Aaron Davey. Joel Corey, Corey Enright, Andrew Mackie and Joel Selwood topped 30 touches, Travis Varcoe was lively and Steve Johnson kicked 4.3.

The Demons need a star, someone they can turn to when they’re down. When they were down Sunday and in fact the whole season, no player had lifted himself and those around him. The closest player to that is Aaron Davey. He was good yesterday but they’ll need more from him if he is to be a match winner. Cale Morton and Brock McLean could hold their heads high.

Star Man: Paul Chapman (161/163). Read above.

Shocker: Addam Maric (44/-1). Deserves the shocker, -1 in SC. Seven of his 13 touches were clangers as well as 2 FA.

One to watch: Russell Robertson. Fairly cheap and played reasonably well on Matthew Scarlett.

St Kilda 14.20.104 def Western Bulldogs 11.10.76

As I said last week, St Kilda are true contenders. They proved that theory in the twilight game late Sunday, non prescription cialis getting the better of the Western Bulldogs. The Bulldogs needed a win in order to go into the top four, they were unable to produce a win and now sit mid-table at 3-3 and face Adelaide away this week. They don’t want to be 3-4.

St Kilda’s fantasy scores were very respectable, all players contributed with at least a half-century in both DT and SC. Nick Riewoldt again had the yips in front of the sticks, booting 4.5 and lowering Dale Morris‘ colours. At least St Nick is having the shots on goal. Lenny Hayes got the better of first year boy Liam Picken and Farren Ray was superb against his old mob. Sam Gilbert became a little more defensive but that didn’t stop him from getting some high fantasy scores.

Jason Akermanis was probably the pick of the Dogs, he had 20 touches, five tackles and kicked two goals. Ryan Hargrave had 24 touches in the backline, which doesn’t mean a lot these days other than fantasy points. Matthew Boyd had one more touch than his opponent NDS and Daniel Cross had just four kicks among 19 disposals.

Star Man: Brendon Goddard (141/175). 33 touches, six tackles and a goal. Apart from his high stats he also looked the best on ground.

Shocker: Mitch Hahn (42/41). The only real tall in the Bulldogs forward line, struggled to have a big output.

One to watch: Adam Cooney. He looked a lot better than pre-surgery. Wait a couple more weeks and he’ll be as cheap as chips.

What are your thoughts after round 6?
How are you using your trades this week?
How many do you have left?
With Ablett out who are your thoughts for captain this week?
What are you doing with Ablett and Richo?
Any young players that catch your eye?
Who will fall first, St Kilda or Geelong?
Welcome to a free-for-all in the comments.