Footy Tragic

In keeping up with price changes from now on the cut off for all players that I write about will be $180,000 in AFL Dream Team or $200,000 in SuperCoach. The reason for this is to write about players that are still attractive trade in options. For example, even though prior to last week players like Paul Bower and Marty Clarke were still cheap enough to consider trading in, but the horse has bolted on those guys after the price rise.

CARLTON VS. COLLINGWOOD

No rookie priced players in this game.

 

RICHMOND VS. MELBOURNE

Richmond

Brandon Ellis – DEF, $151,600 DT, $159,500 SC (65 DT, 49 SC) – It wasn’t a bad game from Ellis, but he’s still finding his feet at AFL level and the pace seems a bit hot for him at stages. He put up solid numbers across a few categories for a well rounded statistical game. He may just serve as handy back-up, rather than the starter I was anticipating.

Steven Morris – DEF, $141,300 DT, $157,100 SC (57 DT, 64 SC) – Morris has looked impressive in the last two games. His ferocious attack on the ball is well known, but I liked the way he was getting up the ground to receive on Saturday. It looks like he’ll be a handy defence rookie this year, particularly since it’s a pretty underwhelming group.

Melbourne

James Magner – MID, $166,500 DT, $180,600 SC (48 DT, 61 SC) – Even though he had a quieter sort of game, I wouldn’t get too worried about his ability to score. He only picked up nine touches, but I wouldn’t expect too many of these games from him. Seriously, it’s not too late to get him in, but I don’t suppose too many would’ve ignored him last week and then by considering him on the back of that game.

 

PORT ADELAIDE VS. SYDNEY

Port Adelaide

Chad Wingard – MID, $168,900 DT, $193,900 SC (46 DT, 42 SC) – I feel bad that I keep missing most of the Port games. The bits of the game I saw he looked classy, but only had nine touches. Considering he’s spending a bit of time up forward it’d be good if he was converting for more goals – his one behind really should’ve been a goal.

Jarrad Redden – RUC, $149,400 DT, $171,300 SC (65 DT, 69 SC) – Redden held up really well against a quality ruckman, bouncing back from being dominated by Ryder the week earlier. He lost the hitouts 40-26 against Mumford, which isn’t anything to be ashamed of. 16 touches, but mostly handballs. He’s an excellent bench option.

Sydney

No rookie priced players.

 

FREMANTLE VS. BRISBANE

Fremantle

Josh Mellington – FWD, $154,800 DT, $178,600 SC (47 DT, 38 SC) – Well, this recommendation was a complete flop. He kicked 1.3 on the weekend, so better conversion obviously would’ve seen him score significantly better. Unfortunately he left the game with a hamstring issue, which as it turns out required surgery and he will be out for about three months!

Brisbane

Billy Longer – RUC, $148,200 DT, $161,600 SC (59 DT, 85 SC) – What a lion hearted effort (no pun) by Billy Longer having to pretty much ruck solo against Aaron Sandilands and Zac Clarke all day on debut. After Leuenberger went down early, Longer did well to win 19 hitouts. He couldn’t stop Sandilands from winning 54, but I think it’s fair to cut him some slack on that one. With Leuenberger out for at least six weeks (sounds optimistic for a big man and an achilles, if you ask me) Longer will get plenty more opportunity. With plenty of good rookie ruck options he’s not an essential buy, but if you have two premium rucks you could consider downgrading one to Longer and play Giles as your second ruck.

 

WESTERN BULLDOGS VS. ST.KILDA

Western Bulldogs

Ayce Cordy – RUC, $178,100 DT, $180,000 SC (60 DT, 50 SC) – Seven tackles for a 204cm kid playing in the forward line is very impressive, especially considering the ball wasn’t spending very much time in that part of the ground on Saturday night. He’s probably a little too pricey, but I thought he was pretty good the other night.

Clay Smith – MID, $149,100 DT, $155,300 SC (42 DT, 30 SC) – He looks tired and even though this was the first game he wasn’t subbed out, he was running on the spot in the last quarter. His big score in his impressive debut was boosted greatly by four goals, which he’s unlikely to match. I still think he’ll score well in some games, so the big hope for his owners will be that he gets a couple of 70s close together for a sharp price rise and to sell him.

St.Kilda

Jamie Cripps – FWD, $176,300 DT,  $161,100 SC (37 DT, 22 SC) – He started as the sub and was activated at half time for an injured Sam Gilbert. In what was junk time the whole time he was on, he didn’t do a heap to stamp his authority on the game and actually dropped $1500 from his starting price in SuperCoach.

Terry Milera – FWD, $170,300 DT,  $182,800 SC (53 DT, 37 SC) – He wasn’t able to find as much room as he had in his first two games, but still picked up 15 possessions and five marks. Three frees against and a couple of skill errors really hurt his SuperCoach score and his 37 was disappointing. His 53 in AFL Dream Team was nothing tragic, and those who traded him in wouldn’t be too unhappy with that.

Jack Newnes – MID, $98,700 DT, $106,600 SC (61 DT, 54 SC) – In his second game didn’t really do enough to put his hand up as someone you need to get in. He was attacking the contest a little clumsily and gave away four free kicks, including one tackle on Luke Dahlhaus that slipped a little high and resulted in a good old fashioned (accidental) hair pull that I hadn’t seen since Tom Alvin’s tempting ponytail graced the Carlton midfield.

 

GOLD COAST VS. ESSENDON

Gold Coast

Karmichael Hunt – DEF, $157,100 DT, $207,400 SC (39 DT, 57 SC) – It was probably his best game in the AFL, which pretty much spells the end of him as an AFL Dream Team option. Despite winning  a career high 16 touches, he only managed 39 points. His SuperCoach score was pretty solid and he laid Angus Monfries out, which should’ve been worth heaps of extra points because it was awesome.

Sam Day – FWD, $151,900 DT,  $185,900 SC (13 DT, 16 SC) – Slow comeback for the talented big man, who didn’t really bother the stats sheet last season either.

Aaron Hall – FWD, $131,600 DT, $147,100 SC (66 DT, 72 SC) – This is more the performance we’ve been looking for. He played mostly forward with plenty of energy and finished up with two goals, including an important late one (until Essendon kicked more). He showed the signs we saw in the pre-season to restore faith for those who have kept him.

Essendon

No rookie priced players.

 

GWS VS. WEST COAST

GWS

Devon Smith – MID/FWD, $180,800 DT, $178,600 SC (87 DT, 79 SC) – Probably his best game to date and definitely his best fantasy game. He filled numbers in all of the columns and got involved up the ground a bit more. It was a very promising game and one that bridges that gap just a little with Adam Kennedy as far as I’m concerned (I still have Kennedy ahead as an option, because he play back and the ball is there a lot).

Tomas Bugg – BAC, $176,000 DT, $187,100 SC (93 DT, 92 SC) – It was another excellent performance from Bugg in both a football sense and for AFL Dream Team and SuperCoach. He’s a ripper and while his price has just stayed within my guidelines for this article, he’s probably getting a touch expensive to jump on.

Adam Kennedy – MID/FWD, $175,600 DT, $190,700 SC (58 DT, 74 SC) – Despite his lower score, he still had a good game. Unfortunately he wasn’t looking after fantasy coaches, with his 20 touches  only coming with one mark and two tackles. At least he’s still showing the footy and as I mentioned earlier, I still have him slightly ahead of Devon Smith.

Tim Mohr – DEF, $151,100 DT, $173,500 SC (42 DT, 52 SC) – It was another solid game in defence for Mohr, who kept the rampaging Josh Kennedy to only six touches and two goals. As I said last week, these are the sort of scores you’ll get from him most weeks with the peace of mind that he’s the Giant rookie most likely to play 22 games.

Jack Hombsch – DEF, $150,200 DT, $172,600 SC (75 DT, 75 SC) – Hombsch is one that I must admit I didn’t talk about too much, but I was very high on him. Perhaps I should’ve been sprouting about him instead of Josh bloody Mellington. Anyway, he’s doing a good job as a third tall defender for the Giants, while scoring well at the same time.

Dylan Shiel – MID, $144,100 DT, $160,200 SC (74 DT, 79 SC) – He’s a really good player, but just not a fantasy player yet. It was easily his best game in the AFL on Sunday, racking up 28 touches, but only moderate scores in both AFL Dream Team and SuperCoach. He’s going to keep making money for a bit longer, but if he doesn’t start getting a better return for 28 touch games he’ll be the first rookie mid on the chopping block for a lot of fantasy teams.

Adam Tomlinson – DEF/FWD, $143,700 DT, $156,600 SC (70 DT, 60 SC) – A much improved performance than his debut game. He played forward, kicked a goal and did enough to earn a game and a price rise next week. He’s probably not going to make a stack of cash for his owners though.

Jeremy Cameron – FWD, $132,000 DT, $133,800 SC (19 DT, 18 SC) – After the excitement of a four goal effort against North Melbourne he could only manage two touches before being subbed off. He’s an awesome prospect for the future, but you’ll get these sort of stinkers from him now and then. He smashed Bradd Dalziell in the second quarter – it was good to see an 18 year old key forward attack a contest like that.

Jacob Townsend – DEF, $132,000 DT, $133,400 SC (42 DT, 31 SC) – The tough little bugger put in another workmanlike performance and posted another score similar to what we’ve seen from him in the past couple of weeks.

Curtly Hampton – MID/FWD, $130,800 DT, $126,300 SC (26 DT, 21 SC) – He started as the sub and personally I think he could use a bit of time in the NEAFL.

Israel Folau – FWD, $106,700 DT, $116,700 SC (4 DT, 8 SC) – If he took the free kicks out of his game his score would more than double! Big Izzy is battling to get involved, but more exposure will get him there. He’s too talented not to at least start showing signs. Pretty soon you’ll be able to get him for a rookie listed price.

Adam Treloar – MID/FWD, $104,200 DT, $113,200 SC (66 DT, 73 SC) – It was an impressive debut and Treloar is already in quite a few AFL Dream Team and SuperCoach teams. He’s going to be a very popular downgrade target over in a fortnight.

West Coast

Koby Stevens – MID, $104,200 DT,  $135,500 SC (83 DT, 81 SC) – It was a good game from Stevens, but keep in mid he was only playing GWS and that West Coast rested quite a few. This game does nothing but boost his money making potential early on, but it’s still an unknown if he can do that against stronger competition, or if he can even keep his spot when the likes of Priddis and Rosa come back this week.

 

HAWTHORN VS. ADELAIDE

Hawthorn

No rookie priced players.

Adelaide

Brodie Martin – DEF, $174,100 DT, $199,500 SC (40 DT, 49 SC) – He’s awkwardly priced, but plays a very good fantasy game, especially for AFL Dream Team. It wasn’t a brilliant day for Martin though, but it was probably a worse day for Luke Breust, who Martin poleaxed late in the game.

Sam Kerridge – MID/FWD, $98,700 DT, $106,600 SC (6 DT, 5 SC) – He started as the sub and didn’t really get a look in when he came on in the third quarter. This practically gives him an extra week to rise in price because a score this low will go a long way to keep his price down. We could get another two looks at him before his price really goes up. His first price rise will probably be very moderate because of this score.

 

NORTH MELBOURNE VS. GEELONG

North Melbourne

No rookie priced players.

Geelong

Cameron Guthrie – DEF, $167,900 DT, $206,500 SC, (47 DT, 32 SC) – He’s priced out of relevance to be a trade in option and didn’t score well enough to impress his owners. I’m tired and can see the end of this article.

Tom Gillies – DEF, $138,500 DT, $176,200 SC, (55 DT, 71 SC) – He’s likely to make way for Matthew Scarlett anyway, but it was a solid performance from the young key defender. He’s likely to be more of a SuperCoach option anyway, but his heftier price tag wouldn’t make him a great option even if it looked like he was going to get a block of games.

George Horlin-Smith – FWD, $104,200 DT, $113,200, (58 DT, 46 SC) – He had a good impact coming on as the sub in the third quarter with 12 touches, six marks and a goal. As a FWD only option he’s worth keeping an eye on, however Adam Treloar debuting in the same week will probably take away from the crowd that might have also gone after GHS.

Orren Stephenson – RUC, $98,700 DT, $106,600 SC, (77 DT, 81 SC) – The Big O will be glad to know that not all AFL games are against people as tall as Aaron Sandilands or too wet to play two ruckmen. He got into this game more than he had any NAB Cup game. It was good to see him running around, winning a few hitouts and getting his hands dirty with five tackles too. It was an uninspiring pre-season, but I still feel those that stuck with him will get the safe bench option they were hoping for.

BRISBANE VS. CARLTON

Brisbane

No rookie priced players.

Carlton

Paul Bower (91 DT, 93 SC) – Bower’s score would’ve been a huge boost for his owners on a couple of major fronts. Not only are they handy points that you’d take from a premium defender, they will greatly assist his cash flow early on. I suspect most Bower owners would have him for a quick cash boost early in the year, so this is a promising result, but there is the lurking threat of Michael Jamison and Nick Duigan returning through the VFL. The Northern Blues had a bye on the weekend, for reference. For Bower, it will be a greater challenge trying to score big against Collingwood this week, but at least he has this high score rolling through his price rises.

 

ESSENDON VS. PORT ADELAIDE

Essendon

No rookie priced players.

Port Adelaide

Jarrad Redden (48 DT, 60 SC) – It was a tougher outing for the young ruckman in his second AFL game, but he still posted a score not to be ashamed of. He’ll have games like this now and then, depending on his opposition and Patrick Ryder jumped over him a fair bit, winning 46 hitouts to Redden’s 18. He’ll still be a great money maker this year. In related news, Brent Renouf had 15 hitouts, nine touches and two goals for Norwood in the SANFL.

Chad Wingard (33 DT, 39 SC) – There were fleeting flashes of brilliance in an overall quiet day for Wingard, who was subbed out in the third quarter. He’s close to the best midfielder Port had though. His combination of class and hardness is something they really lack. I guess it won’t be his day every day, but I still think he’ll score well.

 

SYDNEY VS. FREMANTLE

Sydney

No rookie priced players.

Fremantle

Josh Mellington (12 DT, 20 SC) – The thing I feared last week happened. Without goals he was useless and anonymous before being subbed out of the game with a corky, which puts him in doubt for this week. If any of you took him as a smokey based on my advice, please know that I have him in my SuperCoach team and will be burning a trade on him when he inevitably misses this week.

 

WEST COAST VS. MELBOURNE

West Coast

No rookie priced players.

Melbourne

James Magner (106 DT, 92 SC) – Admittedly I missed this game, but hey, his numbers don’t lie. He was the only Melbourne player who had more than 30 touches and despite a few turnovers, everything I’ve read suggests he was pretty much their only competitive player. It’s two weeks in, so if you’re one of the few people who doesn’t have him you simply must trade him in this week. He is unavoidable.

 

ADELAIDE VS. WESTERN BULLDOGS

Adelaide

No rookie priced players.

Western Bulldogs

Clay Smith (53 DT, 28 SC) – It wasn’t quite the impact he had on debut and his SuperCoach score was quite poor in comparison to his AFL Dream Team score. The conditions were pretty greasy and skills were down across the board with only six players scoring a SC ton and nine in DT, but this was a bit more like his NAB Cup scores when looking at disparity between the two competitions. He was subbed off at three quarter time.

Tory Dickson (25 DT, 39 SC) – He started as the sub, but after coming on after three quarter time I thought he had a good impact. Hopefully this sees him keep his spot in the team, but if not he’ll be a popular trade out target. Even if he’s picked there’s still a bit of early chatter around the scenes about trading Dickson or Aaron Hall out for a forward rookie that teams have missed (Kennedy, Milera). If he’s picked this week, I’m likely to stick with him, for what it’s worth.

 

COLLINGWOOD VS. RICHMOND

Collingwood

Marty Clarke (71 DT, 92 SC) – Marty Clarke looked comfortable again and that sort of game is exactly what his owners would’ve been hoping for. He played with plenty of freedom and went along way to giving his owners peace of mind, not to mention a handy enough score rolling through his price rises.

Paul Seedsman (41 DT, 25 SC) – He started as the sub for the second week in a row, which probably reduces him to fantasy irrelevance. He did join the game fairly early, as Chris Tarrant left with injury. Seedsman picked up 10 touches and five marks, but as a MID only option he’s not a worthwhile buy, especially with so many Magpies soon to return.

Jackson Paine (39 DT, 43 SC) – He kicked the first goal of the match and was workmanlike after that. There is some fear he could drop out of the team at the expense of Cameron Wood. With Chris Dawes currently doing a poor job as second ruck it’s conceivable that the Pies could return to Dawes playing his more natural role, with Wood coming in as second ruck, which would unfortunately leave Paine as the odd man out, despite not looking too bad in his first couple of games. His days could be numbered, but hopefully for his owners he at least gets another couple of games for two price rises.

Richmond

Steven Morris (77 DT, 76 SC) – A much better showing in his second AFL game. He showed his usual toughness at the contest – it can be truly crazy sometimes. He picked up 21 touches with five marks and I think there’s plenty of upside in his scoring, because he only laid two tackles. He ‘s going to make some pretty decent coin if he keeps this up. Richmond have a tough draw to start the season, but it doesn’t get much tougher than Collingwood, so that’s very promising.

Brandon Ellis (61 DT, 54 SC) – It was also an improved performance from Ellis. Like Morris he got his score without much assistance from tackles – actually he didn’t register any. It’s a step in the right direction overall and I still have a lot of confidence in him as a cash cow.

 

NORTH MELBOURNE VS. GWS

North Melbourne

Unfortunately I only saw bits and pieces of this game, so it’s not going to be as comprehensive as the Giants first game, but I would’ve caught more than half of it.

Cameron Delaney (58 DT, 79 SC) – They’re trying mighty hard to find someone who can be a key defender for them down the track. Delaney (not to be confused with his brother, Luke…I always confuse these two) is still pretty skinny, but he had a good debut against easy opposition.  He picked up 19 touches and five marks in defence. He’s done nothing wrong, but with a game against Geelong this week it’ll be a big ask for his still developing body.

GWS

Toby Greene (107 DT, 81 SC) – What an impressive start by the young inside midfielder. He racked up a cool 31 touches to go on the back of his 27 disposal debut. A stat I heard yesterday was that his 58 touches from his first two games puts him second all time for disposals in a players first two games (behind Michael Barlow with 67). Greene will rightfully be a very popular trade in target this week. A lot of disgruntled Coniglio owners will be considering trading to Greene – it is worth consideration with the amount of money you’ll make on the downgrade and the quick money Greene will make, in turn. It’s a consideration though, not a necessary trade – I’d be leaning towards doing it, but it would depend on your cash and trade situation at this early stage.

Jonathan Giles (104 DT, 100 SC) – An underrated start to his career considering we all saw it coming from a mile out. He deserves massive credit for holding down the ruck by himself for his first two games and for those who are playing him as their second ruck – kudos. It’s a bit too early to consider him a keeper, but it would be an amazing bonus if it did play out that way.

Jeremy Cameron (80 DT, 58 SC) – An impressive four goal display earned Cameron the NAB Rising Star nomination for Round 2. He asserted himself on the game in the third quarter and pretty much kicked half of the Giants score by himself. I loved the way he crashed packs, held his marks and worked at ground level. He’s super talented, so you’ll see these flashes from him, but GWS will also have a lot of patches like their first half last week where he’ll get no supply, especially when they play better opposition.

Adam Kennedy (72 DT, 67 SC) – It was another pretty good game in defence by Kennedy. He won plenty of the ball, mostly pretty loose and rebounded fairly well. He only had three marks and one tackle and that’s the difference between this score and his bigger Round 1 score where he got a ton in both AFL Dream Team and SuperCoach. He looks a likely sort, so if you don’t have him he’s worth looking at for a trade in this week.

Devon Smith (72 DT, 53 SC) – A much improved performance from Smith in his second game and this is not surprisingly linked to getting more supply. Like Cameron, he’ll go missing at times due to GWS not being able to get the ball up his end, but he’s a hard worker and I really enjoyed his goal.

Stephen Coniglio (60 DT, 56 SC) – It has been a bit of a disappointing return for investment to this point for the #2 National Draft pick. His scores are fair enough for a mid rookie, but when you pay the extra cash for a high draft pick you’re looking for a bit more scoring power. I still think Coniglio will put up fine numbers this year, but as I mentioned earlier it’s an enticing prospect to trade him to Greene for an immediate cash hit, as well as the quicker rate Greene will go up in price.

Dylan Shiel (58 DT, 63 SC) – Shiel was good around the stoppages and won 19 possessions. He was a little too handball happy, which kept his score down a bit, but this was a much better showing than his first game. There were some signs that he’s on the way, and do keep in mind that he basically had no pre-season, so it’s a big ask for him to gain a lot of his summers fitness while playing the first AFL games of his career.

Tomas Bugg (57 DT, 57 SC) – While the score was nowhere near his fantastic Round 1 performance, I thought Bugg had a way better game (not knocking his debut, which was also very good). Bugg was moved onto Brent Harvey after Sheedy realised it wasn’t a top idea to let Booma run rampant across half back. Bugg did a great job curbing his influence and would’ve banked a lot of credits this week.

Jacob Townsend (54 DT, 44 SC) – Another fantastic tagging job by Townsend, who is looking like one of the more permanent fixtures in the Giants side. High scoring isn’t going to be his go, but he did a very good job on Andrew Swallow, especially in the first half when the Roos were running most rampant.

Tim Mohr (48 DT, 49 SC) – This is pretty much the sort of game we should expect from Mohr. He played a shut down role in defence and wasn’t used much. It’s all about his job security with his ability to occasionally step up for a solid score.

Jack Hombsch (37 DT, 67 SC) – You know how you can’t really tell a bloke is a SC specialist until he has a few games with this sort of disparity in his scoring ie. Harry Taylor, Nathan Grima? I completely guessed that Hombsch would be a handy SC option and terrible DT option and I might have been onto something. Hooray! That’s the only decent call in my pathetic SuperCoach team and I made it with my ninth defender. Sigh. He actually struggled in defence a bit, but was good when he got the ball.

Curtly Hampton (32 DT, 29 SC) – A pretty quiet day from the big West Indian fast bowler (tell me you don’t think of him when you see this name). I feel that he, Hoskin-Elliott and Wilson are first in line for a spell in the twos (along with Tomlinson, who is already there).

Will Hoskin-Elliott (31 DT, 24 SC) – He ran past too many contests trying to get the ball fed out to him. You’ve got to win your own nut now and then, son. Go find it in the twos. Talented player, he’ll bounce back.

Nathan Wilson (29 DT, 13 SC) – Unattractive role playing as the deepest forward for a team that struggles to penetrate. I can see him making way for Dean Brogan, who was named in the bests for the reserves last weekend.

Israel Folau (28 DT, 22 SC) – Five possessions this week. After three the week before he’s on track to have 30 touch games by mid season. It’ll be a long haul, but I reckon he’ll start showing signs over the next month. He looks absolutely rooted by the third quarter.

Dom Tyson (17 DT, 18 SC) – Second week in a row he’s started as the sub. He’s actually likely to go down in price, which honestly has him on my watch list if he can get into the starting 21.

 

ST.KILDA VS. GOLD COAST

St.Kilda

Terry Milera (85 DT, 86 SC) – A lot of people are going to jump on this week. His break even in both competitions is tiny (roughly -90 in both) so he will rocket in price. He’s been very impressive. My first thought is to have a little bit of scepticism because he’s only played Port Adelaide (who look much improved, admittedly) and Gold Coast. With his light body and outside style he will probably struggle against higher quality and physical opponents. The Bulldogs will be pretty physical this week, I don’t know what to make of Freo’s physicality and then he has Melbourne, so he could be worth it for a quick buck before facing Hawthorn, Carlton, West Coast and Sydney in the next four. Look at bringing him in for a quick time, not a sick time (I don’t really know what that means, but it does rhyme).

Jack Newnes (36 DT, 41 SC) – He showed a couple of signs on debut, but wasn’t overly involved against pretty meek opposition. You’d want to see him have a good one this week to even have in the back of your mind, but if he isn’t going to score against Gold Coast it’s going to be hard to justify bringing him in.

Tom Ledger (33 DT, 17 SC) – Disappointingly started as the sub and was pretty good after coming on, but the game was already iced. Hopefully he gets another go at it next week, this time without a vest.

Gold Coast

Aaron Hall (26 DT, 30 SC) – He looks like a lively sort, but he doesn’t get involved enough. His pace is valuable for Gold Coast, but he needs the ball fed out to him and they’re not exactly flush with ball winners around the contest, even if Ablett is like having an extra player at stoppages.

Karmichael Hunt (23 DT, 22 SC) – We’re still waiting his first ton. He struggled on the weekend.

 

GEELONG VS. HAWTHORN

Geelong

Billie Smedts (36 DT, 42 SC) – He definitely has something I like, but it’s not ball winning ability at this stage of his career. His goal was very lucky too – he wasn’t even trying to score, but it bounced over the pack and through for a major. I think he’s a better footy player than a fantasy player, sort of like Andrew Mackie.

Cameron Guthrie (35 DT, 52 SC) – He wasn’t too bad, but a bit like Smedts, it’s probably more that he adds more as a player than someone in your AFL Dream Team or SuperCoach.

Hawthorn

No rookie priced players. I can’t tell you how much of a relief that is for the last team of the weekend.

Dan’s Rookie Review

Well, after a long pre-season of writing about what I think the rookies could do this year, it’s time to have a look at what the rookies actually did do. How many dud calls did I make? Was I onto something with a few of these lesser likes? How glad am I that I decided at the last second not to post my already written article on Jarrad Boumann?

 

GWS vs. SYDNEY

There were 18 rookies playing in this game. Too many of them are fantasy relevant, so I guess I might as well write about all of them. FML.

GWS

Adam Kennedy (MID/FWD) – Kennedy looked good mopping up across half back. He won 28 possessions and was a benefactor of some chip chip in defence, which helped aide his 11 marks, as he tonned it up in AFL Dream Team and SuperCoach. He had a pretty underrated pre-season and while he has still ended up pretty popular he’s probably not as well represented as he should be.

Toby Greene (MID) – In our show before this game we suggested on Footy Tragic that Greene would be just as good an option as Coniglio and Tyson. Well, it’s a good start for that claim, but there’s still a long way to go. Greene played a typically tough game and was I thought he was the best GWS youngster on the ground, ending with 99 AFL Dream Team and 84 SuperCoach.

James McDonald (MID) – The veteran proved he still has a little bit in the tank, however those hoping for him to bang out a quick 6-8 games to get a sharp price rise will be feeling pretty flat with his two week suspension. His inside work look as solid and the year off probably did his body some good. How long that can last is the big issue with the 35 year old, but I guess he has another two weeks off to rest his body (yeah, I can’t look at that as a positive…I want a price rise).

Tomas Bugg (DEF) – I was a little sceptical regarding his body, feeling that he might be a little bit slight for a long and sustained impact at AFL level this year. He looked quite comfortable in defence and will be a nice little cash cow by the looks of things. He might be one they rotate a bit, but with his talent it’s reasonable to expect him to play enough games in a short enough period of time to be of real use for his owners.

Jonathan Giles (RUC) – Those testing out the strategy of starting Giles as second ruck will feel vindicated by his good showing against one of the AFL’s tougher ruckmen, Shane Mumford. For all of the hype and expectation on Giles it’s hard to believe that was his first AFL game, but he looked like he belonged, as he had all pre-season. If you don’t at least have him on the bench, why the hell not?!

Curtly Hampton (MID/FWD) – Hampton worked pretty well to take seven marks and managed to generate the first shot on goal for the Giants. Unfortunately, as with the rest of his night he couldn’t find the big sticks, which would’ve really helped his score along. His SuperCoach score was a disappointing 49, but in AFL Dream Team he compiled a handy 77 in a roaming half forward role.

Tim Mohr (DEF) – Kristian and Toby howled me down for this one. Most of my other friends howled me down too, but I don’t mind Mohr. Sure, he lacks composure and runs a little bit like a new born giraffe, but he simply must play every week. I must admit I didn’t actually expect him to find the ball, so that’s a nice little bonus, but he got involved in a few passages of play where the Giants just chipped it around in defence to conserve a bit of energy. Win.

Jack Hombsch (DEF) – The smokey in my SuperCoach defence, Hombsch had a solid, but unspectacular showing. He also got involved in a bit of uncontested chipping, which padded his stats a little. He wasn’t too bad, but I’ve got a little bit of concern he could be one of the first to make way in their defence. He’s a very promising tall defender though and I think they’ll want to get him a few games early on to back up Phil Davis and Mohr.

Will Hoskin-Elliott (MID) – The hyphen had a pretty good first half, but I thought he faded out of the game a bit. I also noticed him running past a few contests, which he is a little bit prone to do. He kicked it pretty well and scored in the 70s for AFL Dream Team and SuperCoach.

Devon Smith (MID/FWD) – I was a little disappointed by Dev’s score, but it had a lot more to do with his role than his actual game. He seemed to be playing pretty deep in a forward line that didn’t see much camera time. He’s a competitive little bastard though and I still back him in to be an excellent choice. 69 and 54 as his scores isn’t too disastrous and five tackles is a good sign that he can stay involved even if he’s not finding a heap of the ball.

Adam Tomlinson (BAC/FWD) – I wasn’t too impressed with Tomlinson’s game. My Dad was less impressed with my advice two minutes before lockout to play him over Bugg. He just struggled to get involved up forward and ventured up to the wing to get a few touches. Like Smith, he was probably more a victim of a forward line that wasn’t getting much supply.

Stephen Coniglio (MID) – Despite his meagre score I thought he had a good game. He showed a bit of class around the ball and displayed good vision in traffic and quick hands. Unfortunately class and vision don’t score points (in a specific sense anyway). His owners would’ve been hoping for more than a 53 AFL Dream Team and 58 SuperCoach score for his higher price tag, but I thought the signs were pretty good with him.

Jacob Townsend (DEF) – This bloke just loves it, doesn’t he? He’s another one who had a game I was far more impressed with than his score suggests. He cracked in hard and looked to really enjoy getting under the skin of Sydney players. He cut his head open going in hard and you get the feeling he kind of enjoys getting his head hit ie. he’s a bit of a nutter. He’ll be fun to watch, but I reckon his 42/40 score will be around his standard.

Jeremy Cameron (FWD) – Super talented kid, but it’ll take a little while for him to dominate games, similar to Sam Day for Gold Coast last year. There’s a couple of glimpses of brilliance, but he had to take five marks to earn his eight disposals, which suggests to me it’s going to be pretty tough going considering he’ll be commanding some pretty handy defenders.

Dylan Shiel (MID) – He was always a huge risk to be subbed off after having such a limited pre-season. He started off so well in the first quarter, but ran out of steam very quickly after starting to receive a bit of closer attention from the Swans midfield. He’ll still be a great pick this season, in my book, but it looks like he will need a few weeks to work his fitness up. He did play in a practice match for GWS reserves last weekend – hopefully that was just for fitness and not an indication that he’ll be heading back to the NEAFL.

Nathan Wilson (FWD) – Barely sighted apart from his booming goal. He played deep forward, so barely saw it.

Dom Tyson (MID) – Started as the sub and with his heavy price tag presumably left a lot of AFL Dream Team and SuperCoach teams just before lockout.

Israel Folau (FWD) – Each touch looked $1million. Actually wait, that’s just how much they were worth. I still think he’ll be OK and overall put up better numbers than fellow convert Karmichael Hunt in his rookie year. I’d be expecting these scores in the 20s for a little while longer though. Playing as the second ruck will help him engage in the play a bit more, I feel.

Sydney

Harry Cunningham (MID) – He started as the sub and considering we knew that before lockout, like Tyson I assume he ended up being a late out for a lot of fantasy coaches.

RICHMOND VS. CARLTON

Richmond

Brandon Ellis (DEF) – The occasion might have got to him, because he didn’t look as comfortable as he had in the NAB Cup. He’s still worth keeping around though, because I think he already stored a couple of credits in the bank over the pre-season and is less likely to be dropped than Morris.

Steven Morris (DEF) – Did they really need to replace Mitch Farmer with another player who plays exactly like Mitch Farmer? Morris isn’t one you’d expect to find much of the ball anyway, so the thing that hurt him was a low tackle count (two). Tackles will be his main form of scoring, but I guess it’s hard to catch Garlett to actually tackle him. If he gets another game this week there’s a decent chance his opponent won’t be as quick, but I’m worried about Webberley lurking (who is also rookie priced, mind you).

Carlton

Paul Bower (DEF) – Well, he’s basically rookie priced, so he fits the bill for this article. I still can’t help but feel he’s just holding a place until Michael Jamison and Nick Duigan are back. Jamison and Duigan both got through a VFL game on the weekend too. If I were a Bower owner I’d be as nervous as he looks when he actually gets the nut in his hands.

HAWTHORN VS. COLLINGWOOD

Hawthorn

Jarrad Boumann (DEF) – Looked terrible and lacked intensity. He’s lucky his direct opponent, Chris Dawes also looked pretty ordinary. They wanted him to take a tall opponent to allow Josh Gibson a bit of freedom, but I’m sure you can get a custom made 200cm witches hat. Subbed off.

Collingwood

Marty Clarke (DEF) – It wasn’t a fantastic first game back for Clarke. His kicking wasn’t quite as sharp as it was a few years ago. Is it possible that footy has changed so much in the couple of years that he’s missed that this brand of footy is foreign to the one he learnt a couple of years ago? I’m giving him a chance, because he learnt the sport so quickly first time around, so he must be pretty adaptable. Collingwood do have a lot of players to come back though, so as they start returning the pressure on him to keep his spot will start becoming greater – for now he’s safe.

Jackson Paine (DEF/FWD) – He was pretty quiet, but did a couple of things that didn’t look too bad. As I pointed out with Clarke, there’s a lot of Pies to return from injury, but structurally Paine isn’t looking too bad in this team. Chris Dawes really struggled as second ruck, so they may opt for Cameron Wood, Jarrad Witts or Jonathan Ceglar to play that role. Unfortunately for Paine, that’s more like to force him out than Dawes himself.

Paul Seedsman (MID) – Started as the sub and came on late for a few touches. He’s not in many teams and he’ll be one of the first out of their team for returning players. I still don’t mind him as a player though. I reckon they’ve got one to keep an eye on, but maybe not for fantasy purposes, because by the time he’s ready to make an impact his price would have had a few rises (if he gets that far this year).

Peter Yagmoor (DEF) – Literally didn’t touch the ball. He was spotted on camera a couple of times though, slightly less than the trainer stationed in the back pocket. Surely the first to get dropped.

 

MELBOURNE VS. BRISBANE

Melbourne

James Magner (MID) – One of the only Melbourne players to show some aggots in an otherwise pathetic display. It was a wonderful fantasy display, managing a ton in both forms of the game and I’m glad I came around to him after having early reservations. He did hurt his ankle late in the game and hobbled off. There’s been a distinct lack of information early in the week on this one, but hopefully it’s not bad enough to keep him out. He does strike me as a very tough customer though.

Josh Tynan (DEF) – A pretty ho hum performance, but far from their worst. There’s a lot more dead wood to cut before him, so he’s every chance of getting a second game this week.

Brisbane

No rookie priced players.

GOLD COAST VS. ADELAIDE

Gold Coast

Karmichael Hunt (DEF) – After scoring so poorly last year he stayed cheap enough to be pretty much rookie priced. He looked a lot more comfortable than in any game last year and wasn’t too bad in the midfield, scoring 63 in AFL Dream Team and 54 in SuperCoach. It’s going to be a slow process, but his job security would be better than any other defender in or under his price range. I gave him a thought admittedly, but it would’ve only been as a bench option and I couldn’t justify his slightly inflated price tag to sit on the bench.

Aaron Hall (FWD) – He won enough of the ball, but just didn’t fill in enough other columns to boost his score. 17 touches for 55 points in both formats of the game is a bit disappointing, as he only managed three marks, one tackle and no shots on goal. He still looks impressive, but for fantasy purposes needs to get some numbers in those other stats.

Adelaide

No rookie priced players.

NORTH MELBOURNE VS. ESSENDON

No rookie priced players in this game.

FREMANTLE VS. GEELONG

Fremantle

Josh Mellington (FWD) – At half time I was worried I might have put some people onto a bad smokey. I’m still not convinced, because three goals really padded his score. He was missing for most of the game and only collected five possessions, but along with those crucial three goals he laid five tackles for a respectable 55 AFL Dream Team and 65 SuperCoach score. He’s not going to get three goals every week, so he’ll need to start finding more of the ball, but at least his place in the team is safe for now. I do have him in my SuperCoach team, so it’s not like I deserted ship for all of you who are starting to worry about him.

Geelong

Cameron Guthrie (BAC) – Like Mellington, he didn’t find heaps of the ball, but his score was boosted by a high tackle count (7). I thought he had a serviceable game, but not spectacular so it was good that he managed 61/79 in each format. He did enough for Geelong to keep persisting with in the short term.

Billie Smedts (BAC/FWD) – What’s with all the kids in this game not finding the ball, but pulling out scores based almost entirely on tackles? Well, I guess it was an extremely tough and contested match. Playing in defence Smedts didn’t get a heap of it, but had a reasonable enough game. He had nine touches and seven tackles, but wasn’t used in any sort of sweeping up role, which would disappoint his owners, as would his zero marks.

Orren Stephenson (RUC) – It was a tough assignment for the Big O on debut against Sandilands and he really battled before getting subbed off in the third quarter. Let’s see how he goes against someone who can’t be legally declared a skyscraper, but after his uninspiring pre-season there are some warning signs that he’ll only be good for hitouts and not much else.

 

WESTERN BULLDOGS VS. WEST COAST

Western Bulldogs

Clay Smith (MID) – Wow! What an impressive debut from the boy from Bairnsdale. Clay Smith kicked four goals and showed ferocious attack on the contest. Despite having a whole pre-season of poor SuperCoach scores and strong AFL Dream Team scores he managed a 102 in SC and 79 in DT. Unfortunately some serious cramping got the better of him in the third quarter and he was a forced substitution, but should be OK for this week. Apparently four goals isn’t quite good enough for a Rising Star nomination. Hmmmm…

Tory Dickson (FWD) – 12 touches for a return of 37 in AFL Dream Team and 30 in SuperCoach isn’t a great return. He missed an easy opportunity in front of goal, took three marks and laid zero tackles. I’m not overly concerned, because his NAB Cup started similarly frustrating (he kept getting to good spots and just missing getting on the end of it) before working his way into it. With the step up in intensity I’m thinking that this will similarly take him just a little bit of adjustment to find his bearings. I still think he’ll be fine, but until I see a spike in his scoring I’ll keep him on the bench, rather than trying to predict his breakout game.

West Coast

No rookie priced players.

 

PORT ADELAIDE VS. ST.KILDA

This is actually the only game that I completely missed, so unfortunately I’ve only got stats and reports I’ve heard on these guys. As with all other games anyway, feel free to add your own comments.

Port Adelaide

Jarrad Redden (RUC) – Those that stuck with Orren Stephenson instead of Redden (or am I the only one?) will have been spewing to see Redden win about the same amount of hitouts as The Big O’s total AFL Dream Team score. Along with 12 touches and three marks Redden put together a solid 68/71 before being subbed off in the third quarter. Why? I can only assume because he was cooked because they didn’t have another full time ruckman in their team.

Chad Wingard (MID) – It sounded like he was pretty exciting from some bits I heard on the radio, but he for his 16 touches he only put it on the shoe three times. It was only his first game, but hopefully Port have a development coach that will explain to him that a kick is +3 and a handball is +2 in AFL Dream Team. This isn’t typically how he plays though, so I wouldn’t be too worried from an overall perspective.

St.Kilda

Terry Milera (FWD) – Impressive looking debut for the slight bodied Milera. After a quiet first term he worked his way into the game beautifully, ending with 17 touches, six marks, three tackles and a goal. That’s a pretty good return for 74 AFL Dream Team and 85 SuperCoach. I must admit, he’s one I never really considered due to his skinny frame, but if he can stay pretty durable he might turn out to be a good unique rookie this year.