The ending of Se7en: Round 7 wrap

If last week’s injuries weren’t painful enough, fantasy fans had to endure another week of horror.

Consider yourself very lucky if you: a) scored over 2000 in DT or 2200 in SC, b) weren’t struck down by injury, c) weren’t affected by the Friday night teams or d) weren’t affected the plethora of late withdrawals.

Ablett, Hartlett, Beams and Richo were the main injuries to come out of round six and may have forced you to cop a big fat juicy donut. The injury list didn’t read a whole lot better this week with Fantasy kings Kane Cornes, Simon Goodwin and Luke Hodge looking at weeks on the sidelines. Others to be injured include Alex Rance and Steven Salopek and the owners of Travis Cloke may have finally found a reason to dump the struggling Pie, he is out for 2-3.

Those who were already skating on thin ice may have almost cried when reading through the teams, no Ryan Houlihan, no Nathan Bock, no Mitch Brown and still no sight of Kyle Cheney or Greg Broughton for their ailing defence’s.

Some big names on the fantasy front were also last minute withdrawals, Shaun Higgins, Gavin Urquhart, Nathan G. Brown and Matt Priddis were left out and on Monday night, those counting on a big score from Leon Davis and Paul Medhurst would have been disappointed, my mate even had Davis captain!

On the field, there were three upsets. The so-called mighty hawks fell flat on their face against Essendon, Fremantle made it three on the trot against Carlton and North Melbourne got a win in front of a dismal crowd.

Essendon 17.14.116 def Hawthorn 10.12.72

Essendon defied the odds to record a stunning victory over a disappointing Hawthorn outfit, Friday night which feels so long ago, due to the AFL’s new experiment – Monday night footy. This time last week I said Hawthorn’s win over Carlton was the wake-up call it needed, well it didn’t learn much from that shaky finish. Essendon came to play, caught the Hawks on the slide and treated the 50,000+ fans to an expedition of modern day footy. The Bombers played on at every opportunity and made Hawthorn look like a bottom eight side. Yes they’re shaky, yes they’re wiry and yes they sit in the bottom eight.

You can talk all you like of the injuries Hawthorn are carrying, but to be honest the Bombers are in a worse situation. Spike McVeigh, big man David Hille and other first team players, Andrew Welsh and Dustin Fletcher are on par with names like Young, Ellis, Gilham, Croad and Ladson. They’re are all premiership players but are certainly not in the top tier of players at the Hawks.

Hawthorn take on Freo who have won three on the trot, and the Hawks are no certainties to win, if I’d said that  six months ago you’d have slapped me square in the face. They sit at 3-4, and the way they’re playing, still look a fair way off a top four spot. Can the Bombers string a few wins together for their beloved fans?

Brent Stanton ran ragged all night and didn’t seem to have a direct opponent; he had 36 touches to be the best for the Dons. Angus Monfries shut down the impact Luke Hodge had on the game and Patrick Ryder added himself to the long list of ruckman to beat Hawthorn’s big man department. The ever-smooth moving Jason Winderlich had 29 telling touches to be among the best.

It doesn’t look like young Cyril Rioli knows how to give up; he proved that again with a solid performance on the field and in the fantasy books. Grant Birchall was good on return with 28 possessions and Lance Franklin booted five goals, taking Roughead out of the game, just like the big red headed unit had done to him the week before.

Star Man: Stanton (147/125). 36 touches, deserves the three votes.

Shocker: Campbell Brown (28/46). Couldn’t go with Stanton in the first half and just had the nine touches.  

One to watch: Luke Hodge, If he can get up this week, he is listed at some very juicy fantasy prices.

Geelong 17.14.116 def Sydney 10.5.65

Sydney felt the full brunt of the Geelong express on Saturday, the Cats romping home to a 51-point win. The Cats struggled early but then swung into action in the second term, booting seven goals. The express looks to be on track for another tilt at September action.

Stevie Wonder may have taken over that Geelong express in the absence of its usual driver, Gary Ablett jnr. Johnson was superb, particularly in the first half; he had 28 disposals overall and kicked 4.5, the four goals coming in the first half. The double Joel’s (Selwood and Corey) both had 34 touches and stood up for Ablett in the middle. Jimmy Bartel continued his run of high DT and low SC scoring and Stokes and Mooooon kicked three each.

Adam Goodes was the best for the Swans with 27 disposals and two goals but he needed more players to stand up around him. Ryan O’Keefe found some much-needed form. If you don’t have him he looks set to be a value buy this week.

Star Man: Stevie J (149/146). Read above.

Shocker: Barry Hall (21/11). The big man looks very underdone, but Scarlett will still claim this win as another big name scalp.

One to watch: Mike Pyke. His price rises this week, are you going to buy him or watch on as he is replaced by your third ruckman, Jesse White in a couple of weeks.

 

Brisbane 15.7.97 def Richmond 10.11.71

Richmond has to ask itself, what good is it doing by keeping Terry Wallace on as coach? Richmond again raised more questions than answers on the weekend with a 26-point loss to Brisbane who recorded its first win away from the ‘Gabba since round eight last year. Bye, Bye Terry come round 12.

Jonathan Brown was a man on a mission; he kicked 4.2 from 11 marks. If you watch last week’s Footy Show you’d know the pain he was under. He had a bent finger but still delivered the goods for his team and our fantasy teams. Luke Power and Simon Black had their usual output with solid games and Daniel Bradshaw was also prominent up forward kicking three.

They didn’t get the win but Richmond were easily the higher scoring fantasy side. They had six DT tons and seven SC’s compared with Brisbane’s one and two. Angus Graham dominated the ruck but had no real opposition. Joel Bowden got away after the injury to Troy Selwood, Bowden had 35 touches. Brett Deledio finally did something, Richard Tambling was in non spuddish form, Nathan Foley had 31 possessions and Mark Coughlan would’ve impressed those who traded him in this week.

Star Man: Jonathan Brown (111/97). Read above.

Shocker: Jack Riewoldt (43/34). Needs to kick goals, something he was unable to do.

One to watch: Sam Sheldon. Price rises this week, are you on?

 

North Melbourne 20.5.125 def Port Adelaide 18.12.120

North Melbourne got their supporters a well deserved win Saturday night disposing of a gallant Port Adelaide team. Oh sorry, North Melbourne got themselves a victory on Saturday night, if you’d gone to a local match over the weekend you may have been lucky to have seen more people – with all respects. 14,342 people got to Etihad Stadium, which is not hard to find on a Saturday night mid-season. Lucky they count the media, security guards and all other staff, Dean Laidley may have even tried to be recorded on that count.

North were up all night and looked set to cruise to victory, before a spirited fightback made them earn it. 20.5 was an outstanding effort and earnt them the win, despite Port having five more scoring shots on the night.

Talk all week of stadium rights and the huge financial difficulties clubs are facing should have seen the Kangaroos fans rally. Yes they were playing Port but more than 14 thousand should’ve been present. On the bottom tier all that looked to be there were the cheer squads at either end. If they can’t manage more fans, maybe the AFL were right, they should have been relocated.

Andrew Swallow‘s star continues to rise, after being only in the two’s this time last year. He had 27 possessions for a was best for the Roos. A man that went close was the Chicken man, Adam Simpson, he too had 27 possessions. Other solid contributors were McIntosh, Harding, Petrie and Firrito.

For the Power, Kane Cornes was good before injuring his shoulder early in the last, he had 29 disposals. Other decent contributors were Dominic Cassisi, Troy Chaplin and Chad Cornes.

Star Man: Travis Boak (126/142). Should get the three votes, 27 touches and two goals.

Shocker: Nathan Krakour (47/56). Yes he played a more defensive role this week, but our fantasy didn’t deserve his output, only nine touches.

One to watch: Jack Ziebell. Has he reached keeper status or is he right at the perfect price to upgrade to a star?

 

Fremantle 13.10.88 def Carlton 11.15.81

Fremantle gave Carlton a rude awakening with a fighting seven point win at Carrara on Saturday night. Carlton were favourites for the match, but the demons from their Sydney game earlier in the year came back to haunt them, inaccurate kicking proving the difference. Fremantle had three less scoring shots but were able to convert when it needed.

Aaron Sandilands made a mockery of the Carlton ruck department, a massive 42 himself double that of Carlton’s overall. He also had 25 disposals and kicked one in a best on ground performance. Paul Hasleby was able to rove well off the big man; he has seven clearances and 33 touches. David Mundy kicked two and Stephen Hill and Matthew Pavlich were good.

Bryce Gibbs was the highest DT scorer, 31 possessions, 13 marks and six valuable tackles. Marc Murphy also had 31 touches and beat Byron Schammer. Jarrad Waite went forward with effect after main spearhead; Brendan Fevola was limited to five touches.  

Star Man: Aaron Sandilands (139/161). Read above.

Shocker: Fev (31/29). Had some injury problems but needs to do a lot more.

One to watch: Chris Yarran. Looked terrific early and then faded badly, still a nice rookie forward.

 

Western Bulldogs 17.16.118 def Adelaide 12.14.86

The Doggies won their first three games, lost the next three, defeated Adelaide on the weekend and still sit inside the top four. Such is the dominance of Geelong and St Kilda, third all the way down to fourteenth is separated by just one game. As silly as it sounds, if Freo beat Hawthorn they could be in the top eight. Back to this game, the Doggies run and carry was too strong for Adelaide; that earnt them the win.

Lindsay Gilbee had 27 touches, kicked a goal and looked the best he has all year. Adam Cooney was great, looked fit, had 29 touches and kicked one. The umpires love him, no reason he can’t get the three votes. Nathan Eagleton was great, he had 29 possessions and kicked two goals and Jarrod Harbrow had the better of his contest with Petrenko.

Adelaide has been crying out for a big tall forward for years and it seems to have found a positive sign, Taylor Walker. He was the best for Adelaide, he kicked 4.3 and had 18 possessions. Scott Thompson had 34 touches including a whopping 16 in the opening term. Simon Goodwin still did well despite an injury and Johncock and Knights were solid.

Star Man: Bob Murphy (107/90). His best game since returning from injury, he kicked four goals and that’s the output the Dogs will want from him every week.

Shocker: Jared Petrenko (25/21). Only six touches and gave away two free kicks.

One to watch: Adam Cooney. Looks back into form, a perfect time to buy?

 

West Coast 12.18.90 def Melbourne 13.4.82

Both of these sides are odds on to finish bottom four and be playing out the year for valuable draft picks. The game followed a similar suit with the Eagles eventually holding on for an eight point win.

Mark LeCras kicked 4 goals but should have had more; he had 10 scoring shots in total. He also had 22 touches and eight marks in a dominant performance. Dean Cox would have pleased those who went with him as captain, Adam Selwood was great and David Wirrpanda had the better of Colin Sylvia.

The open spaces of Subiaco seemed to aid the outside running game of Cale Morton. He was the highest scorer in DT and second in SC, had 34 touches and a round of high 16 marks. Nathan Jones finally did something, Jack Grimes had a nice first-up game and was great in the second half and Cameron Bruce was affected slightly from the tag by Will Schofield.

Star Man: Mark LeCras (126/128). Read above.

Shocker: Matt Spangher (30/46). Didn’t really deserve it but there were no others. He is a low-priced and his coaches would’ve expected more.

One to watch: Adam Cockie. His price rises this week, are you on?

 

St Kilda 20.8.128 def Collingwood 5.10.40

Collingwood can blame all the injuries they had in the lead-up to the game but this was simply a mauling. Collingwood were vulnerable for an attack, and that’s what it received, an 88-point shellacking. Is this the year for the Saints to add to its only premiership? It certainly seems so.

On the field the Saints are becoming a force and it seems to be translating onto the Fantasy scores. Riewoldt, Montanga, Fisher, Dal Santo, Hayes and even Gilbert now can be classed as top line fantasy scorers. They all again performed, which resulted in St Kilda’s best team performance of the year and for a long time.

For Collingwood things don’t get much better with Josh Fraser undergoing a test on his knee this week. Scott Pendlebury continued his form with another superb performance, but there were too many passengers around him. Heath Shaw played well after coming back from an injury and Shane O’Bree had 32 possessions.

Star Man: Leigh Montagna (116/149). Has really come on as a player this year and Monday night was no exception, 38 posssessions. Dal Santo was also good.

Shocker: Josh Fraser (36/34). Yes he did cop a knock but you expect more from him in three quarters of footy.

One to watch: Steele Sidebottom. Read below.

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NEW BOYS: I’ve taken on one readers advice this week and made a new little section across the whole round.

Best youngens: Steele Sidebottom/Stephen Hill/ Chris Yarran/Jack Ziebell. Frontbum looked a classy player and we must remember, he did kick 11 in a TAC Cup Grand Final. Hill looks like keeping his spot for now, starting to blossom. Yarran looked handy for a guy that was supposedly meant to be behind bars. Ziebell is my tip for the Rising Star.

Players likely to keep their spot: Angus Graham/Andrew Collins/Robin Nahas/Adam Cockie. If Richmond believe they can make finals on this form, they’re joking right? Why not continue to stick with the future of the club – youth, they’ve got nothing to lose. These three players look handy. Adam Cockie also looks a handy player.

Bye, bye?: Jared Petrenko. Another below-par week, will he be called to Neil Craig’s office and is the time right to part with him?

Time to sell?: Daniel Rich. An average week by his own lofty standards, maybe wait one more week to cash this young bloke in. The life of an AFL footballer may be catching up with him, who knows?

Watch: Kyle Cheney/Greg Broughton. Suffering backlines would welcome them back with open arms.

Thoughts after round seven?
Monday night footy – yes or no?
How buying cialis did injuries affect you?
Trades this week and how many have you used?
Who are you saying goodbye to?
Who starred for you?
Any rookies that take your fancy?