Player of the week: Brian Harris (161). Love it, love it. You may have seen Harris and Dale Morris kick to each other for about two minutes straight on Saturday night, as the Lions flooded the Bulldogs attack forcing the Dogs to keep possession in the backline. It continued throughout the night, and Harris racked up 25 marks (farrrrk) to go with his 27 possessions… It’s the perfect Dream Team match.
Honourable mentions: Scott Thompson (143), Peter Bell (134)
Biggest disappointment: Anthony Rocca (0). When a registers a low score that’s due to injury, such Simon Goodwin’s 10, that’s forgivable. But Rocca was not injured, and spent almost all of the match trying to outwrestle Ben Holland in marking contests – and failing miserably. He gave away far too many free kicks, thus cutting away the scores he gained through a few measly possessions, and ended up with one of the most disappointing totals I’ve heard of in a while. I feel sorry for those who have him in their teams.
Honourable mentions: This week’s 30 was even lower than last week’s score of 36, and Barry Hall would have got this title any other week. On the topic, Luke McPharlin’s magic has well and truly disappeared. After scoring 150 three weeks ago, he’s since registered 28 and now 19. Not cool.
Other points of interest:
Several players look to be on the rise in price, and are good upgrade targets. Heading the list is Ben Johnson (a star in Dream Team last year), whose score of 117 points to big things to come. He’s still under $300k. Jamie Charman appears to be running into some form, playing his two best games by far in recent matches. He scored 92 on the weekend. Team-mate Nigel Lappin (another former DT star) is still relatively cheap at $317k, while Freo’s Michael Johnson is another who’s just under $300k. M.Johnson also topped 100 on the weekend, scoring 108. Adelaide’s Scott Thompson looks a good price at $331k, particularly with Goodwin getting injured.
Why does Glenn Archer love St Kilda? Archer’s score of 100 was his highest since round 9 last year – also against the Saints – when he scored 115.
Harris wasn’t the only Bulldog to have a night out against the Lions. 10 Bulldogs topped 100 – a massive total – including youngsters Tom Williams and Jarrod Harbrow. It was Williams’ second game, after he scored just 5 on debut against the Tigers in round four. His average is now 54, after he scored 103 on the weekend. Matthew Boyd, with 138, and Adam Cooney’s 122 were other brilliant Dog scores.
Dustin Fletcher continued his brilliant run so far this year, scoring 130 on Friday night against the Eagles. In the other Bomber results, James Hird scored 116, taking his average this season to 92 – the highest it’s been since his Brownlow year in 1996. Brent Stanton’s injury-affected 46 combined with an ankle recovery will cut away his price in the coming weeks, and I reckon Alwyn Davey has reached his highest price. Davey played well but only scored 50, and dropped $12k to $203k. His break-even next week is 87.
Wasn’t all bad news for the Swans – several big guns fired on the weekend. Nick Malceski racked up another 130+ score, while Brett Kirk racked up 110 points, his second ton in a row. At around $320, he’s worth considering if you’re chasing a centre.
Of Luke Hodge‘s 93 that he scored against the Swans, 48 points came through 12 tackles.
One centre some will be looking to offload is Paul Hasleby. The Purple Haze scored just 37 against Richmond, continuing his inconsistent form this year after he scored just 29 in Brisbane. Another who may be off-loaded is Jordan Lewis, whose 56 points follows a 60 last week. Lewis is having a mid-season rough patch, and his low scores will drag his price down in coming weeks. Those who do have him may be considering selling him. For those who don’t, he may be a tempting upgrade once his price bottoms out.
There are several cheap player whose prices do look to have bottomed out. Travis Johnstone is down $26k to $280k, while Heath Shaw has dropped $20k to be $246k, despite scoring 98. Graeme Johncock is down to $237k, while Simon Black has fallen to $345k with further drops to come. David Wirrpanda is now a cheaper back than Shaw at $243k, and another WA player, Brett Peake, drops $19k to be $227k. Peake has struggled with injury but will find form later this season. He’s good value for that price.
One final word: Jimmy Bartel scored yet another ton (this time it’s 117), to rise $4k to $446k. Incredible.
