Footy Tragic

So who really cares who played well on the weekend? More than anything in the back half of the year I’ve felt this article was less of a fantasy relevant article, but a good reference for who is performing well at state league level. Well, now that 2012 has almost come to a close and we can start thinking about having unlimited trades over the pre-season it’s worth looking at players who could be bargains for next year. I’m only looking at players who didn’t play an AFL game this year or only played a handful and are likely to get a discount. Also, I haven’t proofread this, because it took ages to write and will also take ages to read – there will be random errors.

 

ADELAIDE

Brad Crouch (MID) – no games

Crouch was acquired in the 17 year old trade scheme with GWS last year and was too young to be eligible for AFL selection in 2012. He comes onto the Crows senior list next year though and for them is like basically already having a Top 10 pick from this years draft already on your books. Great get consider how late their first round pick will be this year!

Sam Kerridge (MID/FWD) – 1 game @ 6 DT, 5 SC

Kerridge made his debut as the sub in Round 3 for the Crows and hasn’t been sighted at AFL level since then. His meagre score in limited game time will ensure he is rookie priced next year. With another pre-season he will be a bit more ready for AFL in 2013. He projects as a hard inside midfielder, but will probably ply his trade on the flanks early in this career. Average 62.9 DT in 16 games for Sturt.

Mitch Grigg (MID) – no games

Grigg has barely made his way out of Norwood reserves this year, only playing five games in the seniors. He’s worked his way up well though and has played the last three games for the ladder leading Redlegs. He’s another inside player and has a good kick. It’s been a source of frustration that he hasn’t played much senior footy this year, but Norwood do admittedly have a very strong league side. Average 73.4 in five games for Norwood. Played 13 games for Norwood reserves, scoring a ton in over half of those.

BRISBANE

Matthew Leuenberger (RUC) – 3 games @ 57 DT, 70 SC

Suffered a season ending achilles injury after just three games this year. We know enough about him, so it’s just a matter of whether or not he has a good pre-season. Bargain for 2013, body permitting.

Sam Docherty (MID/DEF) – no games

We only have one more week for Docherty to get through without getting a debut! He’s been touted since about mid season as someone who could potentially get a game in the run home and we still haven’t seen it. It’s not so much that he’s a fantasy star in the making, but he should be a good rookie option in defence in 2013.

Callum Bartlett (MID) – no games

He’s had his fair share of injury worries early in his career with two knee reconstructions. He’s had three years on the list and is yet to debut, but his big goal would’ve been to just stay on the park this year. He did just that, playing 17 games as a defensive midfielder and will be in the mix to debut next year.

Others to keep an eye on: Richard Newell (MID), Justin Clarke (DEF)

 

CARLTON

Kane Lucas (MID) – 8 games @ 49 DT, 41 SC

Lucas was heavily sub affected in his eight games this year and it’s said that he and Brett Ratten weren’t the biggest fans of one another. With a change in coach next year could present a change of fortune. Averaged only 68.7 in 11 games for Northern Blues.

Dylan Buckley (MID) – no games

Statistically this one is a bit of a hard sell, because he hasn’t set the world on fire this year. An extra year in the gym will be crucial for the slight bodied Buckley, but he’s super talented. There just aren’t that many fantasy relevant Carlton players who are yet to debut and he might be one day. Only scored over 50 in three of his 13 games for the Northern Blues.

COLLINGWOOD

Luke Ball (MID) – 3 games @ 74 DT, 62.7 SC

He’ll be one to track over the pre-season because he will come at a tempting price tag. It’s also worth considering what his inclusion will do to the other Collingwood players that have broken out in his absence.

Jonathan Ceglar/Jarrod Witts (RUC) – no games

The developing ruckmen couldn’t do any worse than Cam Wood, you’d imagine. Who knows how Collingwood’s ruck division will look next year, but they’ve got a couple waiting in the wings, who have both shown promise at stages this year. Ceglar has averaged 63 for the Pies reserves this year, while Witts has averaged 70 (including his first ton on the weekend just gone).

Andrew Krakouer – no games in 2012 (but will play Round 23)

He’d be a huge risk given his age at the start of the season, but if he starts as the sub and scores under 30 (or thereabouts) he’ll come very cheap. Has averaged 86 DT in his four games at VFL level.

Brent Macaffer – no games in 2012

He hasn’t played a game in 2012 after doing his knee in the NAB Cup and will also be well priced for 2013. Averaged 74  in three VFL games.

ESSENDON

Elliott Kavanagh (MID) – 1 game @ 46 DT, 26 SC

The talented midfielder has only played the one AFL game in 2012, but will be a big part of their future plans. He’s got through the year fine after having hamstring trouble as a junior and on top of his AFL game he’s played 12 games for Bendigo Gold at an average of 78 DT points.

Nick O’Brien (MID) – 1 game @ 45 DT, 41 SC

O’Brien made his AFL debut on Friday night and obviously is a chance to hold his spot this week and turn that into two AFL games heading into next year. He’s a big bodied midfielder with a huge tank. He had a long term foot injury (stress fractures, if I recall) that ruled him out for most of this year, but he came back late to play six games for Bendigo Gold at an average of 64 DT points.

Others to keep an eye on: Luke Davis (if he’s still alive anyway…hasn’t been spotted since Round 6)

 

FREMANTLE

Hayden Crozier (MID/FWD) – 3 games @ 34 DT, 41 SC

The slight bodied, enigmatic forward got a taste of AFL action midway through the year, but came down with glandular fever and hasn’t been seen at any level since. He’ll still be close to rookie priced and with an extra year in the gym could be an option.

Tom Sheridan (MID) – no games

Sheridan was pretty close to getting an AFL debut at a few different stages this year, but hasn’t quite got there. He’s also had three separate breaks because of injury or illness that have interrupted his season for a total of six games missed. He’s a ball winning midfielder and has averaged 69 for Peel Thunder in 2012.

Others to keep an eye on: Sam Menegola

GEELONG

Jordan Schroder (MID) – 1 game @ 31 DT, 27 SC

Schroder is a big bodied inside mid, who has the ability to go forward as well. He has a similar body shape to Chappy, so the hope will be that he’ll be able to start filling that role a bit. His one appearance should still see him maintain a price you could come at if he’s having a good pre-season. Average 74 in 15 VFL games, however his last two have been injury affect – take them out and he’s averaged 81.

Travis Varcoe (MID) – 1 game @ 9 DT, 12 SC

He’s obviously had a mongrel of a year trying to get his foot right. While he has never been a brilliant fantasy scorer in 2010 he average 75 DT and 82 SC, so you’d take that at the right price!

Nathan Vardy (RUC) – no games in 2012

His hips haven’t him to play AFL in 2012, but he could provide a nice cheap ruck option. Realistically you wouldn’t want to roll with him as your #2 ruck, but if his body is OK for a good pre-season and he’s cheap enough to consider as a bench option then he could come into play. Three games for the Cats reserves at an average of 69.

Others to keep an eye on: George Burbury

GOLD COAST

Jaeger O’Meara (MID) – no games

Gold Coast acquired him in a trade with GWS, but he wasn’t actually eligible to play in 2012 because he was a couple of months too young. He’s basically spent the year in the gym, playing a few games here and there showing glimpses of brilliance in the NEAFL. He would’ve been the #1 draft pick in the years draft, so it will be interesting to see how they price him. Even if a premium is put on him, he’s a must have for 2013.

Josh Toy (DEF) – 5 games @ 18 DT, 19 SC

You get the feeling it won’t be at the Suns that he’ll be playing next year, but he’s a talented kid that just hasn’t had it go his way up at Gold Coast. He’s been the sub in four out of five games this year at AFL level, so he should be rookie priced with that average.

Daniel Gorringe (RUC) – 1 game @ 36 DT, 35 SC

The first round draft pick from a couple of years ago has had an achilles injury that has kept him out most of the year. He’ll still be cheap enough to consider as a bench option for your ruck next year.

 

GWS

Jonathan Patton (FWD) – 7 games @ 36 DT, 45 SC

Sure, he’s had a bit of exposure at AFL level, but there isn’t much on offer as far as kids at GWS who haven’t mucked up their price by playing a game or two (they’ve only had three players who haven’t debuted). Anyway, last years #1 draft pick will actually be cheaper in 2013 than he started this year. Another year under his belt should see him ready to have more consistent involvements.

Others to consider: Lachie Whitfield

HAWTHORN

Max Bailey (RUC) – 2 games @ 60 DT, 76.5 SC

He’ll probably get a fair discount, but do you dare trust his body? He hasn’t had a problem with his knees this year, but spent most of the season on the sidelines after early year wrist surgery.

Xavier Ellis (DEF) – 3 games @ 64 DT, 59 SC

Another one who has had his share of injury woes, but hasn’t looked too bad in his three games back for the Hawks. Will play a fourth game for the year this week, but could be priced interestingly next year.

Others to consider: Tom Schneider (can score, but lacks a bit of polish), Mitch Hallahan

MELBOURNE

Jack Viney (MID) – no games

Not even officially on their list yet, but the father/son prospect is likely to be Pick 3 at this years draft, so he’ll be priced at a premium for AFL Dream Team and SuperCoach. I expect him to play from Round 1, so long as he doesn’t have any hiccups in the pre-season and will be an important part of their midfield from the very start. He’s a hard nosed, inside mid and one very tough customer.

Jordan Gysberts (MID) – 1 game @ 51 DT, 28 SC

Another who purely presents value. Will be interesting to see how he is priced, but at this stage his name is more filler than anything. They’ve played their promising kids this year, so there isn’t a lot on the horizon that will be cheap (apart from their draft picks).

Max Gawn (RUC) – no games in 2012

After doing his knee in the pre-season will be priced under $200K in DT and probably just a bit over $200K in SC. Needs to be considered as a ruck bench option.

 

NORTH MELBOURNE

Majak Daw (RUC) – no games

He’s now had three years on North’s rookie list and will be upgraded to the senior list for the 2013 season. He’s shown some promising signs for Werribee and the ruck situation at the Roos will be interesting next year. He’d be a big chance to make his debut next year, at the very least. Hell, they might even just play him in a Sunday twilight game at Etihad against a non-Victorian side to shamelessly boost attendance by 10K.

 

Will Sierakowski (DEF) – no games

He’s now had four years in the AFL system and is yet to debut, but the Kangaroos targeted him at last year’s trade period to play across half back. However, the Roos, along with Sydney have had the most consistent line up this year with so few injuries and being a fringe player he hasn’t quite had a look in yet.

 

PORT ADELAIDE

Robbie Gray (MID/FWD) – 2 games @ 67 DT, 72 SC

An early season knee reconstruction cost him most of the 2012 season, but Gray will come into 2013 underpriced. Of course, he’s had several issues with his body over his career with this knee and a number of soft tissue injuries, so with the discount he’ll get on his already fairly low average he might be a decent mid pricer to start the season with.

 

John Butcher (FWD) – 8 games @ 40 DT, 47 SC

Butcher actually had a decent amount of games under his belt, but he had a pretty quiet year until hip surgery ruled him out after Round 15. He’s got more potential than this and will come in at an attractive price considering his average. Will not be much more expensive than rookie price.

 

Jasper Pittard (DEF) – 1 game @ 9 DT, 12 SC

Pittard has nice skills and is easily in Port’s best 21, but has had a torrid run with injuries this year. Call this season a write off, but he’s likely to be rookie priced coming into 2013 and it can be typically hard to find decent defenders at a cheap price.

 

RICHMOND

Matthew Arnot (MID) – no games

I actually don’t see too much pushing straight into Richmond’s team next year, but I had to include one so Kristian wouldn’t get cranky. Arnot is a midfielder built like a brick shithouse. He’s a tackling machine and was named emergency a few times mid year before an ankle and then later a hamstring injury ended his year.

 

ST.KILDA

Seb Ross (MID) – 1 game @ 40 DT, 41 SC

It’s a bit of a pity he debuted last week, because I wouldn’t have minded a sneaky look at him next pre-season. This might put him slightly out of reach price wise, because I feel he’s only a reasonable option that might come a little bit too expensive for a “rookie.” Averaged 68 in 13 games at VFL Senior level. He actually played a couple extra, but for some reason I hadn’t tallied the scores for the first three rounds for Sandringham.

Daniel Markworth (FWD) – no games

Markworth is the only player for St.Kilda that hasn’t debuted that could cause some interest. His scoring hasn’t been fantastic at VFL level, but he’s shown some positive signs. Has averaged 51 in 11 senior games at Sandringham.

SYDNEY

Tom Mitchell (MID) – no games

OK, here’s a serious one. Tom Mitchell has had a bit of an interrupted year with an early knee issue keeping him out of the first month of the season and a foot issue late in the year that has seen him play less than ten games. He’s also been a bit underdone and got puffed out a bit early, but a full pre-season will do him the world of good. He’s a high quality player with good skills and plenty of toughness.

Jed Lamb (FWD) – no games

His career really seemed to be at the crossroads halfway through the year, but he really hit his straps and has had an impressive couple of months to finish off. He’s got good goal sense and is a solid body half forward/midfielder.

 

WEST COAST

Josh Kennedy (FWD) – 6 games at 54 DT, 60 SC
Andrew Embley (MID) – 5 games at 50 DT, 49 SC
Mark Nicoski (FWD) – no games in 2012
Mark LeCras (FWD) – no games in 2012

I think all of the above options will come into consideration due to their injuries in 2012. Nicoski should be priced at about $200K in DT and around $250K in SC. LeCras would be very enticing at about $250K DT and $300K SC. While he’s never been a fantastic fantasy player he could be a decent Porplyzia type option.

Brad Dick (FWD) – no games in 2012

I’d love to see Brad Dick back out there kicking goals and he’s been in really good form for East Fremantle since returning from his second knee reconstruction. He’s one to keep an eye on in the pre-season. He played three AFL games for Collingwood in 2011 and was sub for two of those, so he was already close to rookie priced this year. Missing out on a game in his first year at West Coast will see him certainly be rookie priced.

 

WESTERN BULLDOGS

Tom Campbell (RUC) – 6 games @ 43 DT, 51 SC

The Bulldogs have played all of the kids I was already casting a sneaky eye onto for 2013, so they won’t be too well priced. Of those that have played Campbell is the pick of the bunch for next year, as he’s likely to be priced around $160K DT and a bit over $200K SC. Perhaps a bit too pricy in SC, but it’s not obscene to pay that much for a bench ruck if the options aren’t presenting too well.

ADELAIDE

Jarryd Lyons – 125
Tom Lynch – 103
Brad Symes – 103
Richard Tambling – 101

Over half of the Crows in SANFL Seniors on the weekend played in a fantastic clash between Sturt and Glenelg. Richard Tambling would’ve dearly loved to have ended up 106 DT points, as he had a shot after the siren to make the game a draw, but unfortunately missed.  He had a very good game though, with 26 touches, seven tackles and eight clearances. Sam Kerridge was named BOG for Sturt with 26 touches and six clearances (76 DT points).

On the other side, Jarryd Lyons was the top ball winner for Glenelg with 32 touches and eight marks, with Tom Lynch not far behind on 27 possessions and 11 marks. Both were named in the Tigers best players.
In other action, Brad Symes was named BOG for Central District in their comfortable win over South Adelaide, posting 26 disposals and nine marks.

BRISBANE

No NEAFL stats available.

Brisbane’s reserves relinquished top spot on the ladder of the Northern Conference of the NEAFL with a five goal loss in the final round to Sydney. It was an undermanned Lions side with fewer avenues to goal than usual. Patrick Karnezis was the primary target of forward entries and ended with four goals.

Chenee Stiller was good through the midfield with a team high 32 touches and was named BOG. Recently dropped Stephen Wrigley was solid on his return to the reserves in defence and was named amongst the best players, as was first year ruckman Billy Longer. In these last two weeks as we anxiously hold our breath hoping Sam Docherty doesn’t get a debut to keep his price sweet for next season, he had 20 touches.

CARLTON

David Ellard – 144
Rhys O’Keeffe – 120
Jordan Russell – 90

David Ellard was his usual self around the clearances, racking up 29 possessions, eight tackles and three goals to be named BOG, however his kicking wasn’t exactly clean and from his 22 kicks he had his share of turnovers.

Buoyed by his AFL appearance, and seemingly not deterred by his demotion back to the VFL, Rhys O’Keeffe was named fifth best with 25 touches, five marks and a team high nine tackles.

Jordan Russell and Kane Lucas had 21 touches each, but unfortunately young defender Matthew Watson injured his hand early in the game, with scans set to reveal the extent of the damage.

COLLINGWOOD

Josh Thomas – 121
Andrew Krakouer – 99
Simon Buckley – 94
Ben Johnson – 84
Brent Macaffer – 71

Young inside midfielder Josh Thomas was very good around the stoppages and showed very good attack on the contest. He burnt the ball a bit, but ended up with an impressive 27 touches, nine tackles and one sausage roll to be named second best. BOG was first year defender Corey Gault, who had 15 touches, five marks and six tackles in the back half for 78 DT points.

Andrew Krakouer had a much improved outing with 27 touches and six tackles. While his skills were good some of the time he was still a little bit rusty with a few kicks missing the mark. Also on the comeback trail, Ben Johnson had 29 touches largely from the wing and across half back, while Brent Macaffer had 15 touches and six tackles.

ESSENDON

Nick O’Brien – 105
David Hille – 101
Mark Baguley – 88

After missing most of the season with a foot (I swear one of these days I’m going to not notice that I typed ‘footy’ because that’s what my brain naturally does) injury, Nick O’Brien, in his sixth game for Bendigo was BOG with 32 touches and six marks. He’s a workmanlike midfielder with a pretty massive rig for a 19 year old.

Old David Hille was showing he’s still got a little bit up his sleeve with 15 touches and 46 hitouts against the undersized Wayde Skipper. After getting a taste for AFL action, Mark Baguley came back to VFL and had 18 touches (all kicks) and five marks – get back Bags, you may be called upon in this last fortnight.

Tayte Pears could be in line for a recall after getting named third best for 23 possessions and five marks in defence. Elliott Kavanagh has 16 touches and nine tackles, but scrubbed a fair few kicks.

FREMANTLE

Alex Silvagni – 118
Zac Clarke – 112
Haiden Schloithe – 106
Sam Menegola – 103
Nick Lower – 91

There were plenty of really strong performances for the Dockers in the WAFL on the weekend. Where to start? They’ve had some good performances from a couple of rookie listed players lately, with Haiden Schloithe and Sam Menegola both doing well on the weekend.

Schloithe was named BOG for South Freo on Friday night with 27 touches and seven marks. Menegola has had a good month averaging 89.5 in his last four games for East Freo. He was named amongst their best players on Sunday in their huge win over West Perth, picking up 30 touches, six marks and kicking a goal.

Of the more experienced group, Alex Silvagni was one of the better players for Claremont with 24 touches and 15 marks playing a little bit further up the ground and providing a bit of rebound.

Versatile tall Zac Clarke was named BOG for East Perth with 22 touches, six marks and 30 hitouts. The dependable Nick Lower had a crack for a Perth side that got thumped by 25 goals (not exaggerating) with 22 disposals and five tackles. Antoni Grover headbutted a bloke and got a reprimand. Old school.

GEELONG

Dawson Simpson – 113
George Burbury – 109
George Horlin-Smith – 103
Simon Hogan – 95
Travis Varcoe – 79

It was a sight for sore eyes down at Kardinia Park on Saturday, with Travis Varcoe playing his first match of 2012. He could be a very handy addition to their finals mix if he can build on this first up performance of 23 touches and four marks, to be named fifth best.

Dawson Simpson returned after a month off with a knee complaint and didn’t skip a beat, picking up 13 touches, eight tackles and 39 hitouts. He’s had a year interrupted by injury, missing ten games in total, but in his six VFL games he’s averaged 101.5 and only scored below a ton once (a 79 in his first game of the year). He’s been dominant in the lower level, so it’s just a matter of whether or not he can convert that to the AFL.

Both George’s Burbury and Horlin-Smith have been in top form lately. Horlin-Smith was named BOG with 24 touches, six marks and 1.1. He’s doing his chances of being part of September action no harm if he keeps this up. Burbury worked hard for his 19 touches and 12 tackles, as well as slotting 2.1. Nathan Vardy continues his comeback from injury. In his second game for the season he kicked two goals from nine possessions, as well as having 11 hitouts.

GOLD COAST

No NEAFL stats available.

There’s not a lot of men left standing at Gold Coast, with only seven players lining up for the reserves on the weekend, including Trent McKenzie, who had a club imposed suspension that kept him out of the AFL.

Jacob Gillbee was the stand out with six goals in a clear BOG performance that could see him get a call up this week. An emergency last week, first year player Henry Schade was named in the bests for his effort in defence, while ruckman Tom Nicholls was the only other Suns listed player named in the bests.

GWS

No NEAFL stats available.

Like Gold Coast, the youngsters (and oldsters) and GWS are feeling the effects of a long season and had nine listed players available for their last game of the season, as they missed finals in the NEAFL.

Gerald Ugle was most impressive with four goals and was named second best behind defender Josh Bruce. Jack Hombsch, Nathan Wilson and Mark Whiley were also named amongst the best players. Rhys Palmer wasn’t, but he did kick a goal.

For reference, Adam Treloar and Tom Bugg were both rested.

HAWTHORN

Box Hill had a bye in the VFL.

MELBOURNE

Matthew Bate – 108
Brent Moloney – 107
Josh Tynan – 89

I guess we’d expect to see Brent Moloney pulling big numbers at VFL level. He had 22 touches and ten tackles for Casey, but will it be enough to get him back into the team? Or have the Dees already moved on?

Another veteran in a similar position (auditioning for other clubs) Matthew Bate was the only Melbourne listed player named in the bests for Casey on the weekend, also with 22 touches and ten tackles. He also kicked a goal.

Youngster Josh Tynan hasn’t played much this year, but he wasn’t bad with 13 touches, seven marks and 2.2. Father/son prospect Jack Viney is more a name to keep an eye on for next year (though he is likely to be Pick 3 in the National Draft). He had 19 touches and five tackles for an AFL Dream Team score of 82.

NORTH MELBOURNE

Majak Daw – 108
Will Sierakowski – 91

For North Melbourne’s two aligned teams North Ballarat had a bye and Werribee suffered a shock loss to lowly Northern Blues. There were ten Roos listed players in action for Werribee. Majak Daw got a bit of a touch up in the ruck, but still managed to score well himself, posting 12 touches, nine tackles, 21 hitouts and 2.1.

Will Sierakowski was used a bit to combat the Blues ruck dominance as the third man up. He was named in the best players with 18 touches, six tackles and six hitouts. Rookie listed defender Brad Mangan held up reasonably well in a shutdown role, while Ben Warren kicked 2.2 from limited supply.

PORT ADELAIDE

Steven Salopek – 117
Simon Phillips – 60

As with last week, Port Adelaide’s extensive injury list mean these two were the only ones that played SANFL Seniors on the weekend. Steven Salopek had 32 touches and ten marks in his best game for the season. He was named BOG for Port Magpies, who went down to Woodville-West Torrens courtesy of a late goal.

Simon Phillips was named fourth best for Norwood, after being relegated to the reserves the previous week. He had 15 touches and kicked 2.1 in a rare loss for the Redlegs.

Jasper Pittard returned via the reserves for Sturt and faces a fitness test to come straight back into the seniors this week. They’re truly running on fumes, by my count with only 30 players available this week – but four of them (including Pittard, Travis Boak and Jarrad Redden) face a fitness test.

RICHMOND

Addam Maric – 110
Angus Graham – 108

Addam Maric was again the name that jumps off the page, numbers wise of the Richmond listed players at Coburg. He was named fourth best with 29 touches, four marks and four tackles. Unfortunately, along with all those fours, that’s the amount of behinds that he kicked as well.

Angus Graham had 17 touches, eight marks, 13 hitouts and 1.1 in the ruck and up forward. Jake Batchelor returned from a month off from a leg injury to record 14 touches and five mark, however he copped a knock just before half time and played deep forward with limited game time in the second half.

David Astbury put in a solid performance and could be in the mix to play his first game of the year for Richmond, with 14 touches and five marks in defence.

Kristian’s favourite big men Tom Derickx and Todd Elton combined for 11 touches and neither were injured.

ST.KILDA

Sam Dunnell – 106
Clint Jones – 99

In terrible conditions down at Williamstown, Sandringham suffered a heavy loss with not a lot of positives coming from it. Sam Dunnell was good, returning to the Zebras after a stint in the VFL. He picked up 24 touches and ten marks to be one of the better players from Sandy.

Clint Jones worked hard and truth be told, I’m sure he loved the dirty conditions, as he laid 13 tackles, along with his 14 disposals and one goal. Jason Blake performed well in the back line and could be a chance to return this week.

SYDNEY

No NEAFL stats available.

Sydney had a good win against Brisbane in the final round of the NEAFL, which has seen them finish second in the Eastern Conference. Andrejs Everitt was named BOG with two goals for the Swans, while the ever consistent Jarred Moore was named second best.

Trent Dennis-Lane led the way up forward with five goals, with Matt Spangher and Tommy Walsh each kicking three.

WEST COAST

Andrew Strijk – 132
Tom Swift – 117
Brad Dick – 92
Sam Butler – 85
Josh Kennedy – 67

The big news coming out of the west is that Josh Kennedy made his comeback from ankle surgery that had kept him out since Round 5 of the AFL season. He played 80 minutes for East Freo in their huge win over West Perth and ended with 10 possessions, six marks and 2.1.

The other story coming out of the same game was the six goal haul by Shark teammate Brad Dick. The former Pie, now on the Eagles rookie list returned from his second knee reconstruction (suffered midway through last season while on Collingwood’s list) by playing four games in the WAFL Reserves and has now played six games for East Freo’s Seniors. His six goal tally increases speculation that he could be a smokey for their finals charge this season if he is upgraded.

Andrew Strijk was BOG for a West Perth side that got smashed mercilessly by Kennedy and Dick’s East Freo. Strijk had 25 touches (all kicks), 12 marks and kicked 2.1.

Tom Swift was dominant for Claremont with 27 touches and eight marks. If West Perth think they copped a flogging, they didn’t experience anything like what Claremont did to Leon Davis’ Perth. Claremont won by 149 points and Perth didn’t score a goal until the third quarter. Sam Butler returned from a calf injury for Perth and was kept busy in that back line with 21 touches.

WESTERN BULLDOGS

Andrew Hooper – 90
Tom Campbell – 85

It was a commanding win for Williamstown against Sandringham in terrible conditions on a chopped up Burbank Oval. Good luck to the cricketers getting the ground in that state! Due to the boggy nature of the ground it was a pretty scrappy affair and numbers weren’t too high – apart from tackles, I guess.

Tom Campbell hopefully stays in the selection frame with 11 touches and 42 hitouts on a day where there were a lot of stoppages (his opposing ruck Michael Sikora had 45 hitouts himself). Campbell was named sixth best.

Jarrad Grant and Justin Sherman were the other two Bulldog listed players to be named in the bests with 18 and 19 disposals respectively, while Andrew Hooper kicked two goals along with 14 touches, five marks and six tackles.

 

ADELAIDE

Chris Knights – 141
Tom Lynch – 98
Jarryd Lyons – 94
Brad Symes – 92
Mitch Grigg – 90

Chris Knights was in fine form on Sunday in Woodville West-Torrens 92 points win over North Adelaide. He was named fourth best for the Eagles having picked up 32 touches, nine marks and 3.1. His last four SANFL games have been punctuated by AFL appearances, but he has scored four tons in a row for the Eagles.

Tom Lynch was once again good for Glenelg to be named second best playing a bit further up the ground between the arcs. He had 24 touches, 11 marks and has averaged 110.7 in his last three SANFL games.

Some will be interested to hear about Mitch Grigg’s progress, as he was a name getting bandied around a bit in the pre-season. He’s actually spent most of the year in Norwood’s reserves team and it was only his third game in the seniors for 2012 on the weekend. He did well though and scored 90 points for his 20 possessions, six marks and 1.1.

BRISBANE

Brisbane reserves had a bye.

CARLTON

David Ellard – 153
Kane Lucas – 91
Jordan Russell – 90
Paul Bower – 85

The Northern Blues went down to Williamstown in very boggy conditions, only managing six goals for the day. Those sort of conditions suited David Ellard to a tee. He was a beast around stoppages and racked up 29 touches, five marks, ten tackles, not to mention about half of their score with three goals.

Kane Lucas added two goals himself from his 15 touches, which included seven tackles. Jordan Russell and Paul Bower were good in the back half with 21 and 18 possessions respectively, while Nick Duigan was named in the best players with 15 touches and five tackles.

COLLINGWOOD

Jarrod Witts – 89
Brent Macaffer – 81
Ben Johnson – 79
Andrew Krakouer – 71

Collingwood reserves were defeated handsomely by Sandringham on Sunday. For the Pies, it was more about the guys on the comeback trail, because there weren’t a whole heap of standout individual performances.

Jarrod Witts was very impressive up forward and in the ruck. The big man had 19 touches, seven marks, 17 hitouts and kicked a goal. Physically he’s already well developed, but with another pre-season under his belt he should be unleashed at some stage in 2013 and is one to keep an eye on.

Ben Johnson played his first game back since having shoulder surgery mid year and he wasn’t too bad with 19 touches and four marks. His precision kicking was on show on a few occasions, but the small ground at Sandy didn’t suit him too well. It was a good hit out for him though.

Brent Macaffer and Andrew Krakouer were in their second game back from their knee reconstructions. Macaffer was quite impressive across half back, picking up 20 touches and eight marks. He’s sporting a rocking beard too. Krakouer was only lively in small patches and the early signs are that he’ll be pushing it to get back into the AFL team this year. He had 16 touches and kicked a goal.

ESSENDON

Bendigo had a bye.

 

FREMANTLE

Nick Lower – 131
Jay van Berlo – 120
Zac Clarke – 95

Nick Lower was fantastic in a BOG performance for Perth in their comeback victory against East Perth. He scored 131 AFL Dream Team points from his 34 touches, six marks, four tackles and 1.1.

Zac Clark just snuck into the best players for East Perth playing as a ruck and forward for 16 touches and 15 hitouts, however unfortunately for the big man Aaron Sandilands is on the verge of a return.

Jay van Berlo worked hard for his 18 touches, ten tackles and 2.1 for West Perth, while rookie listed Sam Menegola scored 89 DT points in his role as a roaming forward for East Freo.

GEELONG

George Burbury – 110
George Horlin-Smith – 94
Shannon Byrnes – 88
Mitch Brown – 87
Ryan Bathie – 85

In Geelong’s come from behind win against ladder leading Casey Scorpions, rookie listed George Burbury had another good game off wing and half forward, picking up 26 touches, five marks, seven tackles and kicking 0.3. His second half to the year has been pretty good and sees him as a likely retention.

George Horlin-Smith is one who has been blooded for some AFL games this year and his VFL form has been good. On the weekend he had 20 touches, five marks and seven tackles to keep his name in the selection frame.

Mitch Brown continues his development, but played a bit more forward on the weekend with 17 touches and seven marks. He also snuck forward for a goal. Tom Gillies game was not as statistically good, but he won the plaudits of the coaches for his role in defence.

Shane Kersten was deadly up forward, making the most of his nine touches and six marks by kicking 5.0 for 74 DT points, while former middle distance runner Mark Blicavs (Blitz-arvs for those wondering) in only his third game for the club kicked 3.1 from 12 possessions. Obviously he’s very raw having only recently converted to AFL, but he showed some good signs. Fellow convert, though this one from basketball Ryan Bathie had his best game for the season in defence with 20 touches and eight marks.

Shannon Byrnes was lively, shipping in with two goals and 88 DT points.

GOLD COAST

Andrew McQualter – 140
Alik Magin – 128
Piers Flanagan – 123
Michael Coad – 111
Josh Fraser – 77
It wasn’t all winning for Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium on Saturday. The reserves went down by a goal to GWS in the curtain raiser. With both sides heavily injury affected they agreed to play 16 a side, with Gold Coast having 20 players overall to GWS’ 19.

Alik Magin drew huge praise from coach Shaun Hart for his effort in the midfield and up forward, where he kicked two goals from 24 touches. He was named BOG and after being one of the emergencies on the weekend he’ll be in the frame for a recall this week.

Josh Fraser was dominant up forward with five goals, but Guy McKenna all but confirmed he had played his last AFL game with the Suns last week, as priority will be given to developing youngsters Tom Hickey and Tom Nicholls, who incidentally both played well.

Andrew McQualter racked up 28 touches, 12 marks and six tackles, while youngster Piers Flanagan had a game high 32 touches and nine marks.

GWS

Dom Tyson – 115
Nathan Wilson – 86
Gerald Ugle – 74

As mentioned above, GWS beat Gold Coast reserves in a 16 a side match. The Giants fielded 12 listed players, with a number of them on return from injury. Liam Sumner (11 touches) and Rhys Cooyou (seven touches, two goals) played their first games after long lay offs. Sumner had been missing since Round 7 when he developed stress fractures in his foot, while Cooyou hadn’t played since Round 1 with a groin injury.

Dom Tyson played his second game back from an eight week shin injury and was named in the best players with two goals from his 25 touches, which included five tackles. Nathan Wilson was in good form with 18 touches, four tackles and two goals to push his case for a senior recall, but mind you there’s at least five changes most weeks at GWS so it’s a bit of a lotto.

HAWTHORN

Tom Murphy – 115
Tom Schneider – 107

Tom Murphy played a bit more up the ground and picked up 26 touches and 11 marks in Box Hill’s narrow loss to powerhouses Port Melbourne. Tom Schneider played an outside role on the weekend and still managed to find plenty of the ball, with 24 touches, seven marks and four tackles.

Overall it wasn’t a huge day for numbers from Hawthorn’s crew down at Box Hill, but Derrick Wanganeen returned with 15 touches and eight marks, while Brad Hill excited with some of his run, collecting 20 touches and seven marks for 75 AFL Dream Team points.

MELBOURNE

Jack Fitzpatrick – 132
Tom Couch – 105
Michael Evans – 90
Jordan Gysberts – 89

Casey Scorpions blew a solid half time lead against Geelong to go down by 14 points, but young ruck/forward Jack Fitzpatrick showed plenty of promise with 13 touches, three marks, 22 hitouts and 5.2. He was mostly used up forward and moved into the middle to relieve in the ruck.

Tom Couch was industrious with 27 touches, seven tackles and eight clearances. Jordan Gysberts was also good in the middle with 23 touches, five tackles and two goals.

Jai Sheahan had his best game of the season by far. More often seen in the VFL Reserves he took this opportunity in defence and was named fourth best with 20 touches and five marks.

In his first game back, Liam Jurrah struggled, only picking up five touches.

NORTH MELBOURNE

Levi Greenwood – 117
Ben McKinley – 101
Majak Daw – 101
Cam Pedersen – 94
Cam Richardson – 93

In the battle of North Melbourne’s partial alignment, Werribee absolutely smashed North Ballarat. The Roosters are having a real down season and only managed to score two goals for the whole day – one of those to Aaron Edwards, but I’m not about to heap praise on his game.

For Werribee, Levi Greenwood was the dominant player on the stats sheet with 36 disposals, four marks and four tackles to be named third best. Ben McKinley had a fantastic game if it wasn’t for his wayward goal kicking. The medium forward had 20 touches from seven marks and kicked a very wobbly 2.7. Nine shots is nine shots and he was named second best, but he obviously could’ve done much more with that.

Cam Pedersen and Majak Daw were both good spending a bit of time in the ruck. Pedersen played down back for the most part and had it 23 times, along with four marks, four tackles and 13 hitouts, while Daw had 16 touches, 19 hitouts and kicked 1.1.

On the other side, there wasn’t much for the Roosters to ‘crow’ about. Cam Richardson was their top ball winner with 22 touches, seven marks and five tackles on the wing.

 

PORT ADELAIDE

Steven Salopek – 81
Aaron Young – 70

Usually the above is a list of the best fantasy scorers of a weekend for each club. In this instance it is the entire list of Port players in the SANFL. Obviously they’ve been hit pretty hard by injury and on the weekend they only had two in the SANFL Seniors and three in SANFL Reserves.

Steven Salopek had 22 touches and six marks for Port Magpies, while Aaron Young was named BOG for a North Adelaide side that was thrashed by 92 points for his 25 touches and five clearances.

Mitch Banner and Simon Phillips performed well at Reserves level, both scoring over a ton, but that’s a long way from the AFL…

RICHMOND

Kelvin Moore – 91
Matthew Dea – 80

Seriously guys, what the hell?! Frankston have won four games in the past three seasons – all of them against Coburg. They are literally the only side Frankston have beaten since the Beijing Olympics.

To really drive the point home, Coburg only kicked three goals for the day in a horribly low scoring affair. As you can imagine there were not a lot of stand out players for Richmond, but Kelvin Moore was the top ball winner of their AFL listed players with 20 touches and nine marks in defence. Matt Dea and Addam Maric had 19 touches each.

ST.KILDA

Tom Curren – 130
Arryn Siposs – 114
Cameron Shenton – 89
Clint Jones – 84

Rookie listed Tom Curren was super impressive playing wing and half forward in Sandringham’s big win over Collingwood. He collected 32 possessions, along with eight marks and two goals. Typically he likes the bigger grounds, being a predominantly outside player, but he was in very good touch.

Arryn Siposs was the danger man up forward and kicked 4.2 from his 22 touches and eight marks, including a couple from long range.

Cam Shenton hasn’t settled too well over in Melbourne, but he had arguably his best game for the season. He came over from Norwood in the SANFL as a medium forward, but has switched to defence and was one of Sandy’s better players with 23 touches, four tackles, as well as sneaking forward for a goal.

Clint Jones was a tactical late out for the Saints and he lined up for Sandy later that weekend, collecting 23 touches, five marks and four tackles. Jack Newnes sat out the last quarter, presumably to be in the selection mix for this Friday night (five day turn around) and he had 16 touches, six marks and five tackles in his limited TOG. Jason Blake returned from a couple of months off with an ankle injury.

SYDNEY

Mitch Morton – 167
Tommy Walsh – 147
Matt Spangher – 137
Jed Lamb – 125
Jarred Moore – 124
Jesse White – 115
Brett Meredith – 113

Mitch Morton, Tommy Walsh and Matt Spangher dominated up forward with six, six and five goals respectively in Sydney’s routine 20 goal win. They’ve been in good touch of late, however Sam Reid is closing in on a return, so the opportunities for those guys would most likely come while he is out.

Mind you, with the forward line not functioning well in the seniors last week there is a chance for one of them this week. Jesse White was also named second best with 22 touches and 48 hit outs if they decide to take an extra tall in this week.

Jed Lamb was named BOG with his 31 touches, five tackles and two goals. He was particularly good through the midfield with his strength around the clearances. The ever consistent Jarred Moore had 38 touches and five tackles.

WEST COAST

Bradd Dalziell – 87
Koby Stevens – 87
Lewis Stevenson – 81

East Fremantle duo Bradd Dalziell and Koby Stevens were the top scorers for West Coast listed players, each scoring 87 points. Dalziell picked up 26 touches and kicked a goal from the midfield, while Stevens playing predominantly as a forward had 17 disposals, five marks, four tackles and also kicked a goal.

Lewis Stevenson has been pushing for selection lately and was handy for Claremont with 20 touches and five marks.

WESTERN BULLDOGS

Ayce Cordy – 115
Easton Wood – 70

In a game more notable for it’s tackle count than anything on the glamourous side, Williamstown beat the Northern Blues by four goals in a low scoring affair. The Bulldogs only had eight listed players lining up.

Ayce Cordy was impressive with 14 touches, five tackles, four marks, 36 hitouts and a goal to be named BOG, which is the same three letters that could be used to describe the ground it was played on.

Easton Wood made his return from injury and was amongst the best players with 20 disposals and five marks. Patrick Veszpremi made a move to the forward line, where he made his name early in his career at Sydney and had 16 touches, five marks and kicked 2.3 to end with 68 AFL Dream Team points.

Lukas Markovic returned from his hamstring injury. While padding the stats sheet isn’t his main area, he had seven touches and it was good to see him back.

ADELAIDE

Tom Lynch – 92
Lewis Johnston – 86

With a split round in the SANFL there were a few less Crows in action than normal, but with Sturt playing they’ll always have solid representation. Mind you, Sturt got smashed by 20 goals, so numbers weren’t high for Kerridge, McIntyre and Jaensch.

Tom Lynch was the highest disposal winner of Crows listed players with 24 for Glenelg, along with nine marks in defence. Lewis Johnston kicked four goals from 14 touches and eight marks for North Adelaide to move to equal second in the SANFL goal kicking.

 

BRISBANE

No NEAFL stats available.

It’s kind of weird to think that this was Ryan Lester’s NEAFL debut. After playing a handful of games early last year in the AFL he missed the rest of the year with a foot injury and had only missed two games so far this year (both rested). He dominated at the lower level with nearly 40 touches in the midfield.

James Hawksley was named BOG with four goals, while Aaron Cornelius booted seven goals in what was nearly a 100 point victory against Redland. Rookie listed Josh Dyson was lively and creative for his three goals and is pushing for a senior berth.

Claye Beams was prominent through the midfield, as always, but seems to be on the outer as he consistently performs well, yet doesn’t break into the seniors. Sam Docherty was solid again with 23 touches – however, at this stage of the year we want him to not debut, because he could be a good option for 2013!

CARLTON

David Ellard – 146
Rhys O’Keeffe – 100
Luke Mitchell – 94
Bret Thornton – 89
Matthew Watson – 89

David Ellard posted typically strong numbers to be named second best for the Northern Blues. He had 24 touches, but his real work was done with nine marks, ten tackles and three goals.

Rhys O’Keeffe continues his recent run of good form, as he hopes to stay on Carlton’s list for a fifth year. He had 18 touches and eight tackles, along with three goals to score an AFL Dream Team ton.

Luke Mitchell has finally got a bit of continuity into his game after a series of shoulder injuries. He has now played nine games in a row and this was comfortably his best effort with 11 touches, seven marks and five goals.

Bret Thornton and Matthew Watson were both good at opposite ends of the ground, with Thornton kicking a five goal bag and Watson having 23 touches and nine marks in defence.

COLLINGWOOD

Marty Clarke – 99
Cameron Wood – 95
Jackson Paine – 95
Alan Didak – 94
Brent Macaffer – 70
Andrew Krakouer – 52

It was a pretty experienced Collingwood lineup that took on the Bendigo Gold in the VFL on the weekend with Brent Macaffer and Andrew Krakouer both returning from their pre-season knee reconstructions. Macaffer played back and picked up 21 touches and four marks, while Krakouer was lively with 11 touches, four tackles and a goal. Both will continue in the VFL this coming weekend with Ben Johnson a chance to return from shoulder surgery!

Alan Didak, in his second game back from his groin injury was good with 30 touches and a goal, playing a predominantly outside role.

Jackson Paine provided an excellent target up forward, booting 5.1 and clunking eight marks. Jonathan Ceglar is another young Collingwood tall showing good improvement with 2.2 and seven marks.

Marty Clarke played an outside role, racking up 32 touches and a game high 20 handball receives, while Cameron Wood was a handful in the ruck against David Hille with 31 hitouts and seven marks around the ground.

ESSENDON

Jackson Merrett – 95
Brendan Lee – 93
Hal Hunter – 89

There were only eight Essendon listed players in action for Bendigo on the weekend, with the most notable being David Hille. Unfortunately it was only his name that was notable, because his performance was none of that. He had 11 touches, three marks and only 15 hitouts, looking rather immobile.

On a positive, Jackson Merrett showed a fair bit for the second week in a row. He’s still lightly framed, but he used the ball well with his 26 touches, along with eight marks.

Brendan Lee had a typically good game, where he found a swag of ball with 26 touches and six tackles. Hal Hunter and Michael Ross were also promising, though their kicking efficiency was a bit down. Hunter had 16 touches, five marks and six tackles, while Ross had 15 touches and six marks for 63 DT points.

FREMANTLE

There was only two WAFL games on the weekend, plus Claremont played in the Foxtel Cup Grand Final on Thursday night. With only six players in senior action there’s not much to talk about with Freo listed players.

The top scorer was Nick Suban who had 15 touches, five tackles and kicked two goals in Claremont’s Foxtel Cup Grand Final win over Werribee. In a shortened game he scored 77 AFL Dream Team points.

The next best for Fremantle listed players was Lachie Neale, who picked up 17 touches and four tackles for 69 DT points for Peel Thunder in their crushing loss to Swan Districts.

GEELONG

Shannon Byrnes – 132
Jonathan Simpkin – 111
Jordan Schroder – 71

In his second game back from a three game calf injury Shannon Byrnes was fantastic around the contest laying 17 tackles in wet and miserable conditions up at North Ballarat. Along with his immense tackle count he had 21 touches and a goal to be named second best.

Jordan Schroder was named BOG for his match winning effort. After copping a knock just after half time he moved out of the midfield and rested forward where he kicked two final quarter goals (three for the day) to list Geelong to victory. He had 17 touches on top of that.

Having being promoted to the senior list recently Jonathan Simpkin relished the tough conditions with 28 touches, six marks and five tackles. The biggest news was the return of Nathan Vardy, who played his first game of 2012 and got through fine. He had nine touches and 18 hitouts mostly playing as back up ruck and forward in limited game time. David Wojcinski also returned from a three week hamstring injury with 16 touches and four marks.

GOLD COAST

Gold Coast reserves had a bye.

 

GWS

No NEAFL stats available.

The GWS reserves kept up with the much stronger Sydney for half of the game and even took a slight lead into half time, but fell away dramatically after that to go down by 62 points.

It was a relatively experienced reserves side with Rhys Palmer, Israel Folau and Dom Tyson all lining up. Tyson returned from a seven week stint on the sidelines due to a shin injury.

Andrew Phillips was named best on ground and I guess his games tally will depend on Giles and Brogan to some extent, as they’re unlikely to play all three in the same side. Jack Hombsch was reliable in defence, while Steve Clifton continues his strong reserves form.

Josh Growden returned from a full year out of footy with a badly broken leg and got through fine, however James McDonald and Tim Mohr were, once again nowhere to be seen.

HAWTHORN

Xavier Ellis – 109
Tom Murphy – 101
Mitch Hallahan – 99
Tom Schneider – 97

In his second game back from a six week knee injury (that’s 13 games through injury he’s missed this year) Xavier Ellis got through well with 21 touches, six marks and five tackles. He also kicked 2.2.

Mitch Hallahan was impressive with his contested ball. He was named third best with 27 touches, four marks and four tackles. Tom Murphy and Stephen Gilham were both good in defence, with Gilham named second best and Murphy sixth best.

Tom Schneider has bounced back well from rolling his ankle a couple of weeks ago with 21 touches, five marks, five tackles and two goals. Chance Bateman is building on return from his shoulder injury. In his third game back he was named fifth best with 24 touches at 66%.

MELBOURNE

Matthew Bate – 111
Jack Fitzpatrick – 92

There was only six Melbourne listed players in action for Casey on the weekend. Matthew Bate was the most prolific of those and was named second best with 25 touches, four marks and ten tackles.

Jack Fitzpatrick did quite well with only eight touches he kicked 2.2 and had 29 hitouts. Rookie listed Leigh Williams kicked 3.2 from nine touches and five marks to be named fifth best with 66 AFL Dream Team points. For the record, as I know many are curious, Tom Couch missed with a slight hamstring injury.

NORTH MELBOURNE

Levi Greenwood – 87
Ben Mabon – 82
Majak Daw – 79

Werribee went down to Claremont in the Foxtel Cup Grand Final on Thursday night. The stats don’t read too well, and I guess they weren’t too flash for Werribee, but also keep in mind that Foxtel Cup games are a fair bit shorter than a normal game.

Levi Greenwood was BOG for Werribee with 16 touches and eight tackles, along with a goal. Majak Daw got his hand on the ball in the ruck with eight touches, 21 hitouts and nine tackles to end with 79 DT points.

The next best for Werribee would’ve been Ben Speight with 14 touches and three tackles for 53 points, while Ben Warren chipped in with three goals from six touches.

Up at North Ballarat there wasn’t a whole heap to get excited about. Recenly re-signed ruckman Ben Mabon benefited from the huge number of stoppages in the wet, with 20 hitouts, but was probably beaten by Geelong’s duo of Banjanin and Vardy.

PORT ADELAIDE

Nathan Blee – 99

As mentioned earlier with the Crows, there was only two SANFL games on the weekend and only five Port players in seniors action. Nathan Blee was the stand out with 26 touches and nine marks playing mostly on the wing. He’s one who could debut before the year is out, but he’s not typically a high scorer. His last fortnight has been encouraging, but at AFL level he would likely play more of a shutdown role.

David Rodan returned from a four week hamstring injury and played mostly as a small defender for ladder leading Norwood in their 20 goal win over Sturt. The ball wasn’t down that end too much, but he found a bit of the ball up the ground and ended up with 22 touches (16 by hand) for 60 DT points. Teammate Darren Pfeiffer had 18 touches for 59 DT points.

RICHMOND

Addam Maric – 155
Brad Miller – 98
Brett O’Hanlon – 92

You’d have to think Addam Maric was a bit stiff not to be named BOG for Coburg (he was named fourth best). He had 36 touches, ten marks, six tackles and kicked a goal for a massive 155 AFL Dream Team points.

Brad Miller was his usual hard working self and kicked four goals from 16 touches and eight marks. Brett O’Hanlon could be a chance for a senior recall after collecting 21 possessions, seven marks and four tackles.

ST.KILDA

Tom Ledger – 98
Nick Winmar – 97
Raphael Clarke – 96
Jamie Cripps – 94

It was a pretty even spread from the Saints listed boys in Sandringham’s strong win against bottom of the ladder Frankston. Jamie Cripps was very impressive with 23 touches and six marks. It was a very windy day, so his goal kicking was a bit wayward (along with everyone’s!) finishing with 1.3.

Tom Ledger had a stack of the ball, as usual and was prominent around the clearances with 26 disposals and nine marks to be named amongst the best players for Sandy. Nick Winmar had 26 possessions, mostly on the outside with eight handball receives and seven marks in his best game for the year.

Jackson Ferguson was good in defence and is a long term project who is developing well. He’s more of a shutdown defender, but picked up 19 touches and six marks. Up forward Beau Wilkes kicked two goals from his 11 touches.

SYDNEY

No NEAFL stats available.

Mitch Morton and Jed Lamb hit the scoreboard hard with five and four goals respectively. Morton was named as an emergency for the seniors that weekend, so he could be getting close for his first taste of Swans action.

Rookie listed Campbell Heath and Jack Lynch were resolute in defence against the GWS reserves. Jesse White’s physicality in the ruck was impressive and he was named second best.

 

WEST COAST

Simon Tunbridge – 91
Andrew Embley – 82

Andrew Embley is a big chance to return to AFL action this week after getting through his second WAFL game on his comeback from shoulder surgery. He had 20 touches, six marks and two goals for Swan Districts, as they smashed Peel Thunder.

Former GWS Giant and rookie listed Simon Tunbridge was impressive and opportunistic with four goals from his ten touches for Perth. Perth teammates Fraser McInnes and Ash Smith were handy with 17 and 19 disposals respectively.

Scott Lycett played his first game in seven weeks after a knee injury, however going the other way, Murray Newman went onto the injured list when he hurt his knee early in the game for Swan Districts.

WESTERN BULLDOGS

Williamstown had a bye.

ADELAIDE

Sam Kerridge – 86
Matthew Jaensch – 80

It was a pretty quiet weekend for the Crows in the SANFL with Sam Kerridge accumulating the most AFL Dream Team points. He had 17 touches, seven tackles and a goal for Sturt. Fellow Double Blues Matthew Jaensch, Richard Tambling and Tim McIntyre all fared alright scoring 80, 75 and 72 respectively, with McIntyre kicking three goals to hold equal second spot on the league goal kicking ladder.

Aiden Riley was also impressive with 24 touches and 13 clearances and was named second best for Sturt, but six frees against brought his score down to 59.

BRISBANE

No NEAFL stats available.

Jordan Lisle’s recent form would see him likely to break into the senior side soon. His five goals on the weekend against Mt.Gravatt means he’s kicked 36 in the last nine weeks after a slow start to the season.

Running machine Richard Newell has been doing a lot of good tagging jobs in the NEAFL this year and spent the first half giving close attention the Mt.Gravatt’s dominant on baller, before being released and finding a bit of his own ball.

Claye Beams, Patrick Karnezis and Josh Green were also good, with the latter two kicking four and three goals respectively. Jared Polec was going well until he got injured and his day ended early. Sam Docherty did not play – not 100% sure why, but possibly as emergency coverage for the seniors.

CARLTON

David Ellard – 116
Jordan Russell – 104
Rhys O’Keeffe – 95
Jarrad Waite – 75

The big news from the Northern Blues game on the weekend is the return of Jarrad Waite. He will be considered for AFL selection this weekend after kicking 2.2 from 15 touches and six marks.

David Ellard had 19 touches and a game high 11 tackles, while Jordan Russell collected 23 possessions, six marks and eight tackles.

Rookie listed and perennially injured, Rhys O’Keeffe was good with 16 touches, five marks and eight tackles. Matthew Watson was up around half forward a bit and was often the one kicking the Blues into 50 and he ended the day named in the best players with 21 touches and seven marks.

COLLINGWOOD

Collingwood had a bye in the VFL, however Andrew Krakouer and Brent Macaffer are a chance to return this weekend only half a year after having a traditional ACL surgery.

ESSENDON

Brendan Lee – 112
Brent Prismall – 93
Michael Ross – 74

Mature aged rookie Brendan Lee continues his good run of form with 23 touches, five marks and a huge 11 tackles in another BOG performance.

Brent Prismall in his second game back from a knee injury stepped it up, playing all four quarters and ending with 24 touches and seven marks in a pretty decent game.

Young Michael Ross impressed with his pace and agility, mostly playing off half back and the wing. He ended with 18 disposals and five tackles. Sam Lonergan and Tayte Pears were reasonable enough to stay in the mix for senior selection. Longergan was named third best with 21 touches. Pears spent about half of the game on Podsiadly and was named fifth best with 18 touches.

FREMANTLE

Zac Clarke – 129
Peter Faulks – 124
Sam Menegola – 105
John Anthony – 99

Zac Clarke put in a much better performance for East Perth, with 24 touches, 11 marks and 17 hitouts. I almost had to do a double take when I saw Peter Faulks’ numbers. He’s had a couple of decent numbers this year, but this is a game right out of the box for him with 30 possessions and ten marks in defence for a career high 124 AFL Dream Team points.

Rookie listed former Hawk Sam Menegola was good across half forward for an East Fremantle side that got smashed with 24 touches, six marks and five tackles.

John Anthony found his goal kicking range, with 5.0 for Subiaco, while Josh Mellington had 15 touches and kicked 4.1 for West Perth. Zac Dawson returned from his knee injury with seven touches.

GEELONG

Orren Stephenson – 133
Jonathan Simpkin – 100
Shannon Byrnes – 97
Mitch Brown – 93

It was another week where Orren Stephenson just did whatever he wanted to the opposition ruck, knocking down 60 hitouts rucking solo with Dawson Simpson being a late out. He also picked up 16 touches around the ground and kicked a goal. He’s averaging 144.3 in his past three VFL games. Nathan Vardy is expected to make a return to the VFL this weekend though.

This week Jonathan Simpkin was promoted to the senior list after Josh Cowan was placed on the long term injury list. Simpkin picked up his eighth ton in his last nine VFL games with 26 touches, six marks and a goal.

Shannon Byrnes was creative kicking two goals and picking up 20 possessions, while Mitch Brown continues to develop in defence after starting his career as a forward. He was named second best in a good showing, collecting 23 touches and eight marks (including three contested).

Jordan Schroder was named best on ground for his great work around the clearances. The strong bodied midfielder had 26 touches, but no marks and one tackle only saw him score 74 in AFL Dream Team. James Podsiadly played three quarters on return from his ankle injury and took eight grabs and ended the day with one goal. Jesse Stringer won’t be available for AFL selection for the rest of the year after his club suspension, but he returned to the VFL this week with 13 touches and seven tackles.

GOLD COAST

No NEAFL stats available.

Gold Coast went down by five goals at home to Sydney reserves, but in great news for those long frustrated Aaron Hall owners, he was named BOG for the. C’mon mate, do the right thing. He had over 30 touches and was tackling like a mad man, so his DT score would’ve been right up there.

Mature agers Sam Iles, Kyal Horsley and Andrew McQualter all featured in the best players for their tough work around the clearances. Michael Coad got through his second game on return from a thumb injury that had kept him out for a couple of months. Josh Fraser and Jeremy Taylor kicked three goals each.

GWS

No NEAFL stats available.

The Giants went down heavily to reigning NEAFL premiers the NT Thunder. Adam Kennedy was named best on ground and is a chance to return to the seniors this week. Jack Hombsch is another who has been out of the seniors for a few weeks now, but he had a solid game in defence to push his name up.

Steve Clifton returned to the NEAFL after playing his first two AFL games and was named in their best players, as were Andrew Phillips, Tim Golds and Mark Whiley.

HAWTHORN

Luke Lowden – 94
Xavier Ellis – 85

It was a pretty ordinary day for Hawthorn’s affiliate Box Hill, who lost to Werribee by three goals, despite having seven more scoring shots.

Developing ruckman Luke Lowden has been in really good form lately and if it wasn’t for Max Bailey having recently returned he’d be really pushing for a debut. This all holds him in good stead for next year though. On the weekend he had 15 touches and 29 hitouts against good opposition in Hamish McIntosh, Majak Daw and Cam Pedersen.

Xavier Ellis, on return from his knee injury had 23 touches and was very good around the stoppages, while Chance Bateman played his second game after his shoulder injury with 14 touches and five marks.

MELBOURNE

Tom Couch – 128
Jordan Gysberts – 122
Cale Morton – 118
Jack Fitzpatrick – 105

Vintage Couchy! With a taste of AFL under his belt Tom Couch went back to the VFL and found the ball 31 times with six marks and six tackles. He also kicked two goals and had a much better kicking efficiency of 70% to be named fifth best.

He had a few mates who put up strong numbers too, with Jordan Gysberts named second best, kicking two goals from his 26 touches. He’s had a shocking run with injuries this year, but he’s played seven games in a row now and it set for a senior recall.

Cale Morton created plenty of outside run and was also named in the best players, collecting 29 touches, two goals and a match high 19 handball receives. Jack Fitzpatrick was dominant in the ruck with 44 hitouts and 15 possessions. For curious James Magner owners, he didn’t play for Casey.

NORTH MELBOURNE

Levi Greenwood – 117
Majak Daw – 82

It was only half a contingent from the North Melbourne boys, with North Ballarat having a bye on the weekend. Of the Werribee boys, Levi Greenwood was the top numbers man with 27 touches and ten tackles.

Hamish McIntosh made his return to the VFL and got through unscathed in a bit less than three quarters with 12 touches and 23 hitouts, working in tandem with Majak Daw, who had 13 touches, 20 hitouts and a goal.

Ayden Kennedy impressed in defence and has had a consistent year. While he’s not one to typically put up high numbers on the weekend he had 11 touches, five marks, six tackles and snuck forward to kick 1.1 – ending with 77 DT points and was named second best.

PORT ADELAIDE

Nathan Blee – 75

Nathan Blee was the only performer of real note on the weekend. He was named second best for North Adelaide with 24 touches and four marks and a season high AFL Dream Team score of 75.

Ben Jacobs was the next highest ball winner with 17 possessions for Port Magpies. Mitch Banner dominated at reserves level for Port Magpies again – surely not too far away from at least cracking the SANFL Seniors.

 

RICHMOND

Jeromey Webberley – 100
Angus Graham – 98
Brad Helbig – 84

It was an awful day for Coburg, who went down to the Northern Blues by 99 points. Jeromey Webberley was the top ball winner with 24 touches and five marks.

Brad Helbig returned from a foot injury that had kept him out since Round 2 and was a bit wasteful with his kicking, but ended up with 17 touches and six tackles. Big Angus Graham was dominant in the ruck with 15 possessions and 48 hitouts.

Rookie listed Steven Verrier was named BOG with 21 touches, but unfortunately David Astbury was rushed to hospital after a heavy head knock, which might delay his comeback.

ST.KILDA

Sandringham had a bye in the VFL.

SYDNEY

No NEAFL stats available.

Mitch Morton was dominant up forward in Sydney’s win against Gold Coast reserves. He booted nine goals for the day. Matt Spangher was also good up forward to be named second best and kicked three goals with some good contested marks too. With Sam Reid out for a few weeks there’s an opening in the forward line for a tall at Sydney.

Nathan Gordon was very good through the midfield, though he did waste a few opportunities in front of goal, however he was named BOG. Dylan McNeil was also a key contributor in the middle. Brett Meredith is adjusting well to his move to half back and was named amongst the best players.

Tom Mitchell and Tommy Walsh both missed with injury.

WEST COAST

Andrew Strijk – 123
Bradd Dalziell – 111
Tom Swift – 92
Lewis Stevenson – 90

Andrew Embley returned from his shoulder injury and played just over a half a game for Swan Districts. He played on the wing and had 16 touches in his limited time on ground.

Andrew Strijk had a good game for West Perth with 27 touches, eight marks and 3.2 to be named in the best players. Bradd Dalziell had no dramas finding the ball, as usual, with 27 touches, six marks and seven touches in an East Freo side that got crushed by Claremont. Tom Swift was the top ball winner of the Eagles listed

Fraser McInnes created plenty of chances for Perth and unfortunately missed them all, kicking 0.5 from 16 touches and eight marks.

WESTERN BULLDOGS

Justin Sherman – 172
Tom Campbell – 150
Andrew Hooper – 91
Ryan Hargrave – 80

In very boggy conditions and a game that might not be one for the archives with only seven goal kickers between the two teams, Williamstown got over arch rivals Port Melbourne by nine points.

Justin Sherman picked up 29 touches (28 of them kicks) and racked up 13 tackles, as well as kicked 3.2 to be named BOG.

Tom Campbell pushed his case for a recall with a massive 58 hitouts, 19 touches, seven marks and seven tackles to be named fourth best. Andrew Hooper created a few opportunities in front of goal and ended up with 1.3, along with 19 touches and seven tackles. Dylan Addison returned from his jaw injury with two goals in a defensive forward role.

Ryan Hargrave put up a score you’d definitely take from your seventh defender, but unfortunately those valuable 80 points don’t count in the VFL. He was solid though, with 23 touches and four marks. Michael Talia was impressive in defence to be named sixth best with 17 touches and six marks for 71 AFL Dream Team points. Recently upgraded rookie Jason Johannisen was kept out as emergency cover for the AFL.

 

ADELAIDE

Tom Lynch – 142
Tim McIntyre – 101
Chris Knights – 101
Richard Tambling – 100

Tom Lynch was picking everything off across half back with 35 touches and 16 marks to be named BOG for Glenelg in their loss to West Adelaide.

Richard Tambling was one of the top ball winners for Sturt with 27 touches and seven marks, while teammate Tim McIntyre was much better in front of goal this week, kicking 4.1 and overtaking fellow Crow Lewis Johnston (two goals) and former Blue Brad Fisher on top of the SANFL goal kicking. On the winning team in that bottom of the ladder clash Chris Knights had 26 touches and kicked 2.3 for Woodville-West Torrens.

Jarryd Lyons had his first game back in the seniors for Glenelg after a four week foot injury and two games on return in the reserves. He had 18 touches and kicked a goal.

BRISBANE

No NEAFL stats available.

It was a pretty grim day for the Lions reserves. After they led all day and had a four goal lead with eight minutes to go they ended up going down to Gold Coast by eight points.

Once again Jordan Lisle showed really good form for the Lions reserves with five goals and a number of contested marks. His form has been good lately and as mentioned last week he’s pushing for his first game in Brisbane colours.

Cheynee Stiller was named BOG and picked up 36 touches mostly in the midfield after starting in defence. Steve Wrigley had 27 touches and kicked two goals, while Sam Docherty played as a full time midfielder for the second week in a row and picked up 26 touches.

Niall McKeever and Josh Green did their chances of a recall no harm with solid showings, while Patrick Karnezis was good with 28 touches.

CARLTON

Simon White – 91
Rhys O’Keeffe – 87
Mitch Carter – 86

The Northern Blues got a bit of a touch up from Port Melbourne and were kept away from the stats sheet a fair bit. Simon White, in his second game in the VFL Seniors from a knee injury was the best Carlton player on the day. He had 21 touches, six tackles and five marks.

Rhys O’Keeffe had 22 touches and five marks and Mitch Carter had 19 of his own, plus a goal. Luke Mitchell kicked pretty much half of their score with 4.1 in a promising performance. He had 10 possessions and five marks (four of them contested) on top of that.

COLLINGWOOD

Marty Clarke – 112
Luke Rounds – 93
Alan Didak – 90
Jackson Paine – 88
Simon Buckley – 85

I popped down to Victoria Park on Saturday morning and it was an ugly day for the Pies reserves against a Box Hill side that boasted Luke Hodge, Chance Bateman and Max Bailey. Luke Rounds was just about the only one that turned my head. He had 21 touches and eight marks in a BOG performance, albeit in a side that lost by 20 goals.

Alan Didak returned from his adductor injury and will be better for the run. He had 23 touches and pretty much just ticked a few km’s over in a performance he can build on to try and earn senior selection again. Unfortunately Nathan Buckley has already ruled him out of an AFL return this week and the Pies have a bye in the VFL.

Marty Clarke picked up 30 touches and while his numbers are good and he certainly didn’t play bad, it wasn’t a game that really had him banging the selection door down, in my opinion. I really liked Jackson Paine’s game. In a forward line that got very little supply he did well to pick up 15 touches, eight marks and his two goals was pretty much half of the teams total score.

 

ESSENDON

Sam Lonergan – 126
Tayte Pears – 119
Elliott Kavanagh – 110
Brendan Lee – 98

Elliott Kavanagh is getting closer and closer to a debut after another strong showing, where he picked up 28 possessions and seven marks to be named BOG in a Bendigo side that narrowly went down to Sandringham.

Tayte Pears could come in to reinforce their defence after Cale Hooker got a bit of a touch up on Friday night. He 28 touches and 13 marks in the back line and was named second best.

Sam Lonergan and Brendan Lee were workmanlike as usual with 23 and 24 touches respectively. Lonergan had a game high eight tackles and Lee wasn’t far behind with six.

In his third game in the VFL Jason Winderlich was a bit more quiet this week with 14 touches, four marks and four tackles for 62 DT points.

 

FREMANTLE

Lachie Neale – 130
Peter Faulks – 87

Lachie Neale was BOG and the standout of the week for the Dockers with 35 touches and 11 marks in his first game for Swan Districts since Round 3 of the AFL season (was Round 4 in the WAFL). He would’ve been pretty fresh after being rested and then was the traveling emergency the following week.

Apart from that it was a pretty modest weekend for the Dockers with Peter Faulks competing OK, while picking up picking up 22 touches and eight marks for Peel Thunder.

 

GEELONG

Geelong VFL had a bye.

GOLD COAST

No NEAFL stats available.

Gold Coast staged a remarkable comeback to knock off top of the ladder arch rivals (can we call them that?) Brisbane. After being down by four goals late in the fourth they came back to win by eight points.

Reserves coach Shaun Hart couldn’t have been more complimentary of Sam Iles game and named him best on ground. Grossly unlucky defender Michael Coad returned from a thumb injury that had kept him out for six weeks swung forward to kick a key goal in the last quarter and was named in the best players. Alongside him was Steven May, who Hart also spoke glowingly of, was solid in defence.

Alik Magin and Jacob Gillbee were lively as small forwards, while Kyal Horsley, Andrew McQualter and Taylor Hine all put their names forward for selection with good games.

GWS

No NEAFL stats available.

The Giants only had eight listed players line up for their reserves on the weekend for a game in Wagga. With so many players being rested this late in the year their reserves are starting to consistently run very low on numbers.

Taylor Adams was one of those who did play and he led the way to be named BOG. Adam Tomlinson and Sam Schulz kicked three goals each. Tim Golds was productive in the midfield, while defender Jack Hombsch was also named in the best players.

For those wondering, Sam Darley was one of the players to line up, but I literally can’t find a comment on his game except to say that he played in it. An article on the Giants website lists Adam Kennedy and Tim Mohr as likely to return, while Steven Coniglio and Jeremy Cameron will be put through a test.

 

HAWTHORN

Brad Hill – 103
Luke Lowden – 101
Taylor Duryea – 90
Luke Hodge – 83
Max Bailey – 78

As mentioned above in the Collingwood report I went down to Vic Park for Collingwood vs. Box Hill. This young fellow, Liam Hodge really caught my eye as someone to watch out for the future. His poise in traffic and hardness of the contest really belied someone of his lack of experience – in fact, I’d never even heard of him! To be serious for a sec, his 24 touches in three quarters (sat out the last quarter) were awesome as you’d expect from Hodgey.

Chance Bateman had his first game back from a shoulder injury and Max Bailey his second from wrist surgery. Both looked in good touch with Bailey dominant in the ruck with 17 hitouts, while also snaring five marks (all contested) and ten touches. Young understudy Luke Lowden was also impressive with 17 touches, five marks, 14 hitouts and 3.2.

Brad Hill was electric, using his pace on the outside to his advantage and punishing the Pies all day. He had 26 touches, five marks and kicked three goals. Rookie listed Tom Schneider was injured in the first half and was seen walking the boundary with boots in hand at the start of the fourth quarter. Jarrad Boumann apparently got more kicks in the city later that night.

 

MELBOURNE

Casey Scorpions had a bye.

 

NORTH MELBOURNE

Aaron Edwards – 150
Ben Mabon – 99
Ben McKinley – 95
Cruize Garlett – 94
Luke Delaney – 89

There big scores for North Melbourne players were from their allotment of guys at North Ballarat, who easily accounted for Coburg. Aaron Edwards kicked 4.1 from his 29 touches and 15 marks in a BOG effort.

Luke Delaney and Cruize Garlett were both named in the best players as well, with Delaney controlling the backline with 20 touches and nine marks. Garlett had 25 touches in the midfield.

There weren’t quite as many big performances for Werribee, considering Williamstown held them to less than 300 possessions. Ben McKinley was their best with 17 touches, seven marks and 5.1. Cam Pedersen’s streak of seven straight games where he broke the ton ended with an 84.

 

PORT ADELAIDE

Ben Jacobs – 98
Steven Salopek – 94
Jarrad Redden – 39

For the second week in a row the best performance for the Power probably came from Mitch Banner playing for Port Magpies reserves on his return from an eight week knee injury. He had 28 touches, eight marks and kicked 3.2 and should be lining up for Magpies seniors this Friday night.

In that Magpies senior team Ben Jacobs and Steven Salopek were both named in the best players. Jacobs was their top ball winner with 29 possessions in a massive upset over Central District. Salopek had 18 touches, ten marks and kicked two goals.

Unfortunately for those hoping for Jarrad Redden to force his way back into the lineup he would look set to only get a game based on structure rather than merit, as he had only six possessions and 15 hitouts. For those wondering about Darren Pfeiffer his club Norwood had a bye.

 

RICHMOND

David Astbury – 101
Angus Graham – 98

It was a pretty average day for Coburg, who were trounced by North Ballarat. David Astbury continues his return from a knee injury with 26 touches and nine marks in defence.

Angus Graham dominated the hitouts with 46, which made up about half of his AFL Dream Team score, with the other half his 15 possessions and six marks. Brad Miller was a commanding presence with 15 touches and nine marks for 71 DT points. There was only seven Richmond listed players playing for Coburg.

 

ST.KILDA

Dean Polo – 121
Seb Ross – 116
Raph Clarke – 101
Tom Ledger – 94

Seb Ross had a cracking game in the midfield with 31 touches, four marks and five tackles. He got within range a couple of times, but finished with 0.2. His 116 DT was a season high.

Tom Ledger was the next highest ball winner of Saints listed players with 28. He was a machine around the stoppages with 10 clearances, however he was very wasteful, kicking at 30%.

Dean Polo found a bit of space and managed 22 possessions, with nine marks and 2.1, while Raph Clarke was named BOG for his work in defence picking up 24 touches and nine marks.

 

SYDNEY

No NEAFL stats available.

As they often do, the Swans chalked up a 20 goal win on the weekend. It’s not uncommon for them to rack up a cricket score that the West Indies or Hachim Amla would be happy to take as a first innings total.

Trent Dennis-Lane kicked seven goals was active up forward and kicked seven goals to be named BOG. There’s been many occasions where TDL has kicked a massive bag in these sorts of games, but not featured in the best six at all, so it’s fair to say his pressure acts must have been up there too.

Jesse White dominated in the air and ended up with six goals playing as a ruck who floated forward. Luke Parker got a second run under his belt (third best) on return from his collarbone injury and should be fine for senior selection this week.

Jed Lamb arguably had his best game for the season and finished with three goals, while Tom Mitchell showed positive signs in the midfield. Tommy Walsh sat out the second half to be emergency standby for the seniors.

 

WEST COAST

Jeremy McGovern – 127
Koby Stevens – 109
Simon Tunbridge – 89
Brad Dick – 85

On this return to the WAFL Koby Stevens was named BOG for East Freo with 25 touches seven marks and two goals. Unfortunately from a fantasy perspective the ship has sailed on him with a couple of minor price rises and a lack of job security. Off the top of my head this year he and Addam Maric would probably be in contention for the “Kermit” award being sub in the highest percentage of games (not counting one or two gamers).

Brad Dick would have to be getting close to making his Eagles debut with some really good form recently. His class hasn’t diminished even if several of his ligaments have over the years. On the weekend he had 15 touches and kicked 4.4 for East Freo.

Rookie listed Jeremy McGovern had a strong game for Claremont with 17 touches, a career high 11 marks and three goals. He was maybe a bit stiff to not be named in the bests, but Claremont did have a 20 goal win so a few blokes did their bit.

After an ankle injury that has seen him out of the AFL since Round 5, Ash Smith is starting to get some continuity in his game. He initially missed five weeks, came back for one WAFL game but sat out the next two with the same issue. He has now played three games in a row for Perth and will be fighting to win a spot back for the Eagles finals campaign.

 

WESTERN BULLDOGS

Jason Johannisen – 83
Fletcher Roberts – 82
Liam Jones – 78
Tom Campbell – 67

The Williamstown vs. Werribee game wasn’t massive on fantasy scores in general. Williamstown got away with a two point win after a late Zephanniah Skinner goal.

Recently promoted rookie Jason Johannisen was the top AFL Dream Team scorer of Bulldogs listed players with 83. With his upgrade this week he’ll be in the mix for selection. Jimmy mooted the possibility of his debut two weeks ago in his article about last ditch downgrades. Johannisen is an outside midfielder with pace who has averaged 85.6 in his last five VFL games (excluding a game he got injured in the first few minutes).

First year key defender Fletcher Roberts was resolute and also got on the stats sheet with 19 touches, four marks and four tackles for his highest fantasy output this year. Liam Jones was good up front with three goals, while Tom Campbell’s 31 hitouts was more than three Werribee ruckmen could muster between them.

ADELAIDE

Brad Symes – 129
Sam Kerridge – 103
Lewis Johnston – 100
Tim McIntyre – 91

There were a few impressive performances by Crows listed players in the SANFL. As always, Brad Symes dominated and was named BOG. The best case scenario for him is if the Crows cop a couple of injuries he’s a good back up, because he’s pretty much one of the best players for Central District every week and hasn’t played AFL yet this year. He had 35 touches, ten marks and five tackles.

After missing last week with a slight groin injury Sam Kerridge bounced back with 28 touches and seven marks to crack the ton for the first time this year in a BOG performance. Sturt teammate Tim McIntyre produced seven shots on goal…unfortunately he only kicked one goal, so his wastefulness cost him a massive game. As it was his 14 touches, seven marks and 1.6 was a good follow up from his AFL debut. He would be pretty much relying on an injury to Callinan, Wright or Porplyzia to get another run, you would imagine.

Lewis Johnston moved to equal top goal kicker in the SANFL (31 for the year), kicking 5.1 from 16 touches and eight marks. He’s had a good year at the lower level, but the Crows with few injuries and depth in forward options has been a team too hard to crack.

With Sam Shaw already confirmed out for this week Andy Otten (bye last weekend) and Luke Thompson (21 touches, fifth best for WWT) will be in line for a recall to take on West Coast.

BRISBANE

No NEAFL stats available.

Callum Bartlett was named BOG in a huge win against Labrador. Bartlett was used across half forward, instead of his usual role as an inside midfielder. The man who has had a hard time with injuries to kick off his career has had a pretty good run this year and would be lurking in the sort of territory where you’re hoping he doesn’t debut this year just to keep your options for him to be rookie priced in 2013.

Claye Beams, as always was one of the better players, leading the way in the midfield, while Jordan Lisle and Sam Docherty continue to press for their first game in Lions colours. Docherty played a bit more up in the midfield…although it’s getting so late in the year that he’s definitely moved to Bartlett territory where we don’t want him to ruin his 2013 price (remember, with no expansion side next year rookies will be a bit more scarce).

CARLTON

Northern Blues had a bye on the weekend.

COLLINGWOOD

Tom Young – 132
Luke Rounds – 119
Peter Yagmoor – 83

It wasn’t a great day for the Pies reserves, as they got a touch up from Geelong after a competitive first half. Tom Young was impressive with 32 touches at 84% efficiency. He provided plenty of outside run and energy, along with five marks and eight tackles.

Luke Rounds was one of their best with 29 touches, six marks and seven tackles off half back. Development coach Mitch Hahn described it as “his best performance” this year.

Silky skilled Peter Yagmoor had 19 touches and kicked a goal mostly playing as an outside midfielder. While his stats don’t jump off the page, the Pies were impressed with the game of Paul Seedsman, who has had an excellent month in the VFL. He had 19 touches and four marks to score 59 AFL Dream Team points.

Their three rucks Wood, Witts and Ceglar got a bit of a touch up from Cats pair Dawson Simpson and Orren Stephenson with the hitout count 73-23.

ESSENDON

Brendan Lee – 168
Ariel Steinberg – 92
Jason Winderlich – 90

The big number performer on the weekend was mature aged rookie Brendan Lee with 41 touches (including 17 in the first term), seven marks, nine tackles and a goal. All in all, it was a very solid afternoon to end with 168 AFL Dream Team points. Somehow ABC’s stats people had him down for 25 touches for the match. I think there’s a lesson to do with trust in that.

Henry Slattery was named BOG with 19 touches and eight clearances, in what was presumably a defensive midfield job.

Ariel Steinberg continues some pretty good form with 21 touches and nine marks, while Jason Winderlich moves closer to an AFL return with 20 touches and six marks in his second game since his knee reco last year and following hamstring complications.

FREMANTLE

Jay van Berlo – 107
Peter Faulks – 93
Josh Mellington – 60

It’s not exactly an all star class of names bouncing around Freo’s reserves at the moment, and certainly not from a fantasy perspective. Jay van Berlo top scored with 107 AFL Dream Team points, accumulating 27 touches, six marks and five tackles for West Perth.

West Perth teammate and ill conceived pre-season smokey by myself, Josh Mellington had his first game back at WAFL Seniors level and had eight touches and six marks to kick 2.2.

Peter Faulks was good in defence for Peel Thunder with 21 touches and eight marks to be named second best, however Anthony Morabito missed with concussion symptoms and has since re-injured his reconstructed knee at training, putting the rest of his 2012 campaign in doubt. Tom Sheridan also didn’t play, as he was a traveling emergency for the Dockers.

First year player Jordan Wilson-King put in a promising display for South Freo with 17 touches and 60 DT points.

GEELONG

Orren Stephenson – 137
George Horlin-Smith – 109
Jonathan Simpkin – 105
Dawson Simpson – 103
Mitch Brown – 95

I suppose you start with the two tap ruckmen both getting an AFL Dream Team ton. It was utter domination in the ruck from the Geelong duo against Collingwood, combining for 73 hitouts. Independently Dawson Simpson’s 40 hitouts and Orren Stephenson’s 33 would’ve beaten the 23 hitouts put up by three Collingwood rucks. Simpson was named sixth best with 14 touches, four marks and four tackles complimenting his taps. The Big O had 19 touches, nine marks and seven tackles. He has scored exactly 300 points in the past fortnight in the VFL.

Jonathan Simpkin continues to rack it up, with 29 touches for his seventh DT ton in his past eight VFL games. He’s in an interesting position, because he turns 25 in October and has had four years in the AFL system (two at Sydney, two at Geelong) and has only played one quarter of AFL footy. At the very least, he’s strong back up, but if he ever did get an extended run his numbers are good from a fantasy perspective.

Mitch Brown’s experiment in defence is continuing to work well, with 22 touches and ten marks (including two contested) on the weekend. While it’s a hard forward line to break into and he hasn’t had much luck there so far in his career this could be a positive move for him.

George Horlin-Smith was named third best with 28 touches, six marks and 2.1 and has had a really promising year for a developing player.

GOLD COAST

No NEAFL stats available.

Returning from a five week layoff with a foot injury key forward Tom Lynch slotted straight back in nicely, bagging seven goals in their win over Aspley. Depending on how they feel his fitness is going, he’ll be a likely recall to the seniors this week (though it can be hard to change a winning lineup…an unfamiliar concept for the Suns!)

Alik Magin was named second best and kicked two goals to keep his name in front of match committee, while Jeremy Taylor did a good job as a shutdown defender.

In sour news right near the final siren Josh Toy had a sickening head clash with former Brisbane Lion Robert Copeland and had to be assisted from the field. It was said that he was experiencing concussion like symptoms after the game and may be in doubt for this weekend. He has, however, been as active on Twitter as ever this week, so his thumb/phone screen coordination doesn’t seem to be hampered.

GWS

No NEAFL stats available.

Even though NEAFL stats aren’t available publicly, Fantasy Freako tweeted this week that Anthony Miles collected just the lazy 52 touches for 179 AFL Dream Team and 212 SuperCoach on the weekend. You’d take that. Miles has played one AFL game, however I’ve heard a little whisper that he is not a coaches favourite (and I’m not talking about Sheedy).

Rookie listed Sam Frost has already been announced as a debutant for this weekend, however he was the #1 rookie pick last year, so is a little pricier than the others. Regardless, I’m not a huge fan of his point scoring potential whichever end of the ground he plays at.

Jacob Townsend returned from his jaw injury and was typically hard at it. I don’t suspect he’d know any other way. Will Hoskin-Elliott did his chances of a recall no harm kicking three goals from the midfield, while Kurt Aylett will be around the mark for a debut after being an emergency for the seniors last week.

 

Up forward big ruckman Tom Downie kicked four goals, while small forward Gerald Ugle booted three. For those wondering, Jonathan Giles didn’t play, so last weeks absence appears to have been nothing more than a rest. With that said, it’s worth mentioning Andrew Phillips was named second best, though I wouldn’t suspect he’s suddenly ahead of Giles for a game.

HAWTHORN

Adam Pattison – 109
Tom Schneider – 101
Max Bailey – 80

The story of the day was the return of big Max Bailey. The oft injured ruckman had his first hit out of 2012 after recovering from wrist surgery and acquitted himself very well with eight touches, 25 hitouts and 3.1. Obviously he’ll need a bit more time at VFL level for match fitness, but would hopefully return within a month.

Another big man Adam Pattison was very good playing loose behind the ball and spending some time in the ruck. He had 18 touches, nine marks, 15 hitouts and kicked a goal to be named BOG for Box Hill. I know he’s a reasonably popular selection in fantasy due to his basement price and RUC/FWD eligibility, but I wouldn’t hold your breath for him getting a game with Bailey returning to AFL soon and Luke Lowden also doing well (34 hitouts).

Tom Schneider continues his good 2012 with 29 touches and four tackles, while Taylor Duryea was named second best with 18 touches as a small defender.

MELBOURNE

Jake Spencer – 116
Jordan Gysberts – 97
Michael Evans – 87
Brent Moloney – 63

Jake Spencer was instrumental in Casey’s come from behind win against Bendigo with 44 hitouts and ten tackles (his tackle number slightly shading his nine possessions) in a BOG performance.

Jordan Gysberts had 25 touches and seven tackles, as he continues to work his way back from a torrid run on injuries in 2012.

A lot of eyes were on Brent Moloney and he performed reasonably with 18 touches and five clearances. Michael Evans returned for his first game in 2012 after a pre-season back injury and didn’t miss a beat with 18 touches, six marks and 2.1. Also on return from injury is Neville Jetta, who was named fifth best with 15 touches in his third game back from the ankle injury that had kept him out for three months.

NORTH MELBOURNE

Cam Pederson – 138
Ben Warren – 116
Ben Mabon – 112
Ben Cunnington – 109
Ben McKinley – 97
Cam Richardson – 96

North Melbourne have more players name Ben or Cam than anyone else in the league. Seriously, aside from the above six there is also Ben Speight and Cam Delaney…they also have three Aaron’s for reference.

Anyway, onto footy related news on their Ben’s and Cam’s it was Cam Pederson who continues to throw his hand up for senior selection with his seventh consecutive AFL Dream Team ton for Werribee. He had 26 touches, ten marks, five tackles and 20 hitouts to be named third best. The doubt over Drew Petrie could open the door for him as a pinch hitting ruck, though Pederson typically plays defence and ruck.

Ben Warren snagged four goals to take his season tally up to 35. Along with this he had 21 touches and nine marks. Next to him Ben McKinley kicked 5.3 from his 14 possessions. Once again, Petrie’s doubt could open the door for these forwards if the Roos opt for a smaller forward line.

For North Ballarat, Ben’s Mabon and Cunnington were impressive. Young ruck Mabon had his best game in his time at the Roos with 35 hitouts and 17 touches. Cunnington was named sixth best with 22 touches, five marks, six tackles and 3.2. For Cunnington, the doubt over Leigh Adams (has anyone heard that he hurt his shoulder?) could maybe be the opening he needs to get back in.

PORT ADELAIDE

Steven Salopek – 88
Nathan Blee – 59
Jasper Pittard – 53

With such an extensive injury list there isn’t a whole lot going on at SANFL level for the Power. Steven Salopek was the top ball winner of their listed players with 20 touches and nine marks for Port Magpies.

Nathan Blee has been an emergency a few times lately for the Power. The young key defender played the first half in the back line for North Adelaide and then moved forward in the second half where he kicked two goals.

Jasper Pittard got another game under his belt for Sturt with 17 touches. It was his second game back in the SANFL Seniors, after playing three straight in SANFL Reserves after a serious hamstring injury. He’d be getting close to an AFL recall.

Mitch Banner had 30 touches for Port Magpies reserves in his return from an eight week knee injury.

RICHMOND

Andrew Browne – 111
David Astbury – 78

It was a quiet weekend for Richmond listed players at Coburg, with only eight in action and not many of them really standing out. Andrew Browne led the way with 18 touches, five marks and 32 hitouts to be named third best.

The only other one of note was David Astbury, who could be of use in Richmond’s defence with Dylan Grimes out for a few weeks. Astbury had 15 touches, six marks and four tackles.

Um, honestly it feels like I should be writing more, but there’s not much not say…

ST.KILDA

Brett Peake – 91
Jack Newnes – 74
Terry Milera – 71

It’s not a set of numbers that jump off the page from the Saints listed players that played for Sandringham on the weekend. Brett Peake started the game like a house on fire, mostly playing across half back. He finished with 24 touches (however, 21 were in the first half), four marks and four tackles.

Jack Newnes has missed a bit of time lately with a cork to his quad, but in his first game in a month he had 15 touches and kicked two goals, while in what was only Terry Milera’s second VFL game he was wasteful in front of goal kicking 1.4 from his 14 touches.

First year midfielder Jimmy Webster had a good showing and was named amongst the best players with 17 touches and four tackles. He’s had a lot of problems with his shins this year and is pretty raw after some injuries as a junior too. Tom Ledger was solid as well, with 19 touches in more of an outside role this week.

SYDNEY

Sydney reserves had a bye.

WEST COAST

Bradd Dalziell – 129
Anton Hamp – 91
Andrew Strijk – 82
Brad Dick – 58

There were only five Eagles who played WAFL Seniors on the weekend (if you count Claremont playing Foxtel Cup). With a number of injuries and suspensions, plus two others having a bye it brought their numbers down.

Bradd Dalziell has never really had a problem winning the ball at WAFL level and in his first game back at Seniors after a ten week knee injury he was in his usual touch with 28 touches, eight marks and 3.1. Alongside him at East Freo, Brad Dick continued his comeback from last year’s knee reconstruction with ten touches and 2.1. Andrew Strijk was a bit more wayward in front of goal with 1.3 from his 19 disposals.

Rookie listed Anton Hamp was very good for Claremont in their Foxtel Cup semi final win over Port Melbourne. He had 14 touches, 11 marks and kicked 2.1. The only other player was Gerrick Weedon, who had 10 touches and 44 DT points.

WESTERN BULLDOGS

Williamstown had a bye.

ADELAIDE

Rory Laird – 86
Matthew Jaensch – 82
Luke Brown – 68

There was one less game in the SANFL than a usual round, so a bit less action to report on. With Kurt Tippett and Shaun McKernan in doubt for this week and Taylor Walker already out, Josh Jenkins will probably be the big winner. He had 14 touches, six marks, eight hitouts and kicked 1.1 for 71 DT points. He was also named second best for Sturt in a losing side.

Also playing well for Sturt was Aiden Riley, who was the top Crow ball winner in the SANFL with 24 touches and an impressive nine clearances (75 DT points).

Matthew Jaensch and Luke Brown are battling for a spot in the team as a small defender and one may get a chance this week against GWS with it being a decent time to rest Michael Doughty.

Brown has more of the fantasy interest, being rookie priced and DEF/MID eligible. He’s not a natural fantasy player, and by that I mean he has more impact on a game than his points generally would suggest. He had 20 touches for 68 points, which is a pretty low conversion and fairly common for him – he’s not usually huge on mark and tackle numbers.

For reference, Brad Crouch, who was acquired via a trade with GWS and is too young to play AFL this year, but is on the Crows list from 2013 was named in the best players for West Adelaide with 24 touches and is looking very promising.

BRISBANE

No NEAFL stats available.

Stephen Wrigley had hit a bit of a quiet patch lately, but was impressive this week against Sydney reserves to be named second best. With Ash McGrath out for the year and Mitch Golby for a month there’s an opening across half back and either he or Sam Docherty would be a chance to see some action soon.

Jordan Lisle continues some of his recent good form and is pushing for his first game in Lions colours at senior level. He was named third best for his role across half forward, where he kicked one goal, but also put a few wide.

Aaron Cornelius led the way with six goals, but was also wayward in front of the sticks. Reserves coach Nathan Clarke lauded his offensive work, but that’s never really been the drama with Cornelius…

James Hawksley was named BOG, kicking three goals as a hit up forward.

CARLTON

David Ellard – 138
Tom Bell – 122
Jordan Russell – 113
Kane Lucas – 112
Paul Bower – 110
Bret Thornton – 104
Frazer Dale – 100

So yeah, as you can see a few Northern Blues players got their hands on the ball against bottom placed Frankston on the weekend. Where to start?

Well, David Ellard was named BOG for a stunning 38 touches and an elite 91.3% kicking efficiency (yes, the same David Ellard)! He also had eight marks to rack up 138 DT points.

Next best was mature aged rookie Tom Bell, who hasn’t been in brilliant form of late and copped an injury a couple of weeks ago. He bounced back brilliantly with 21 touches and a huge 11 tackles, to go along with 3.1. His kicking was a lot better than usual too.

Bret Thornton in his fourth game back from injury was super impressive with 5.3 and nine marks (including a massive six contested).

Kane Lucas did plenty of outside work with 28 touches (including 22 uncontested) and nine marks. Jordan Russell put up very similar numbers – also picking up 28 possessions, with 18 of them uncontested.

Robert Warnock would’ve been straight back into the side with Hampson going down, you’d imagine. However, he copped a one week suspension at the VFL tribunal out of this match. Three players (Levi Casboult, Nick Heyne and Marcus Davies) all returned from long stints on the sidelines due to injury.

COLLINGWOOD

Paul Seedsman – 101
Cameron Wood – 98
Paul Cribbin – 84
Tom Young – 83

After starring the week before, it was another good game from Paul Seedsman, who led the Pies reserves for tackles with eight, along with his 20 disposals and five marks.

Irish rookie Paul Cribbin was named BOG for them in a loss to Williamstown with 20 touches, four tackles and a goal. The past two weeks have probably been his best since arriving in Australia.

Cam Wood dominated in the ruck, as you expect against part timer James Wall. Wood knocked down 35 hitouts with 15 touches and five marks. Young understudy Jarrod Witts was also good with 25 hitouts and nine possessions to be named sixth best.

Tom Young was a bit wasteful with his disposal, but as always showed great endeavour. He had 24 touches, six marks and five tackles for 83 DT points.

Chris Tarrant played forward all day and was second best for the Pies with four goals and is a monty to be called up this week, you would imagine. Nathan Brown played on Liam Jones and it’s fair to say Jones (ten marks) had the better of the match up.

ESSENDON

Alex Browne – 115
Cory Dell’Olio – 105
Brendan Lee – 103
Tom Bellchambers – 87
Mark Baguley – 80

Well, let’s start with what we already know as far as debuts go. Bombers Football Manager Paul Hamilton has already confirmed mature aged rookie Mark Baguley is set to make his AFL debut this weekend against Port after being upgraded off the rookie list. Baguley 20 touches and six marks on the weekend. He’s DEF/MID eligible and has averaged 95.5 in his past four games at VFL level.

Tom Bellchambers was BOG and also reported, but his one week suspension was overturned at the VFL tribunal, making him eligible for senior selection this week. He dominated with 42 hitouts against a North Ballarat ruckman I’ve never heard of.

Essendon aren’t exactly deficient with run and spread, as they’re one of the best AFL sides at doing this, but they’ve got a good on waiting in the wings in Alex Browne. He has good pace, as evidenced by his 16 handball receives on the weekend. He had 33 touches and eight marks as well to be named fourth best and was their top DT scorer on the day.

After having a couple of runs at AFL level in place of Alwyn Davey, Cory Dell’Olio slotted back into VFL beautifully with 3.1 from 19 touches, which included nine marks. Rookie listed Brendan Lee had another solid showing with 29 disposals. Since returning from a mystery five week absence he has averaged 116 in five games with a low of 97.

Interestingly, first year player Elliott Kavanagh (has been emergency a bit lately) sat out the last quarter after picking up 11 touches and laying six tackles. He’s been around the mark for a debut lately.

This game also saw Jason Winderlich play his first game of the year, playing in the second half only. First year player Nick O’Brien played his first game since Round 2.

FREMANTLE

Lee Spurr – 103
Michael Walters – 93
Tom Sheridan – 71

As with the SANFL, the WAFL also had one less game this weekend, but there were still a number of Dockers in action. First and foremost, Lee Spurr, was the top DT scorer with 21 touches and ten marks, numbers quite typical of a Spurr game. Now he just needs to get picked again.

As an emergency last week, Michael Walters consolidated his spot on the verge of selection with 19 touches, four marks, four tackles and 2.2 in a disappointing Swan District’s side.

First year player Tom Sheridan was solid for Peel with 18 touches and four marks for 71 DT points.

Anthony Morabito’s long awaited comeback has hit a stumbling block, still feeling the effects of a knock off the ball two weeks ago. Peel had the bye last week, but even with that week off he still didn’t get up for this weekend just gone. Josh Mellington returned via East Perth’s reserves after 11 weeks on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.

GEELONG

Orren Stephenson – 163
Jordan Schroder – 132
Josh Walker – 111
Simon Hogan – 98
Jonathan Simpkin – 87

Well, Orren Stephenson gave Hawthorn listed pair Luke Lowden and Broc McCauley a fair old spanking. The Big O had 46 hitouts of his own, while his two adversaries combined for 45. While there isn’t a lot of stats from past seasons of VFL I would be surprised if he ever topped the 28 touches he managed on the weekend. On top of that he plucked 11 marks and kicked a goal. Not a bad outing at all.

Jordan Schroder had his best game for the season with 26 possessions, five marks and seven tackles for an impressive 132 DT points.

Rookie listed key forward Josh Walker had a day out with five goals from his 18 touches and eight marks, to be yet another Cat who had his best day of the year. Depending on the situation, he is feasibly someone they might look to give a taste of AFL late in the season.

GOLD COAST

No NEAFL stats available.

Due to growing injury lists at both Gold Coast and GWS, when the two sides met last weekend they came to the extraordinary agreement to play a 16 per side match. Not only that, quarters were capped at 22 minutes. Basically, there would arguably be more legitimate intra club matches going on in January.

Rookie listed tall Josh Hall was named BOG for the Suns. The former athlete (high jumper) is very raw, but he’s put together a couple of good games lately and kicked three goals on the weekend.

Teaming up with him in the forward line was Alik Magin and Josh Fraser (yep, he still plays). Magin and Fraser kicked four and three goals, respectively.

This year’s fantasy enigma Aaron Hall only played the first half to be the standby emergency for the AFL game. Hopefully that means he’s nice and high in the pecking order for a senior return this week. He kicked two goals in the half that he did play. Jackson Allen continues to push for a debut, after being named an emergency last week and was named amongst the best players.

GWS

No NEAFL stats available.

As above, the Gold Coast vs. GWS NEAFL game was pretty undermanned. Anthony Miles returned from a six week knee injury to be named BOG for the Giants and was dominant in the middle.

Israel Folau played his second game on return from a hamstring injury and got through fine with two goals to his name. He’ll be pushing for a senior recall this week on that effort.

Rookie listed Sam Frost was named in the bests for the sixth time this season. He was playing as a mobile tall forward. Matt Buntine is also pressing for a senior recall and was named third best.

HAWTHORN

Cameron Bruce – 133
Tom Schneider – 108
Derick Wanganeen – 86

Cameron Bruce was the most prolific ball winner for Box Hill with 34 touches, along with seven marks and five tackles to top the team for DT points with 133.

Derick Wanganeen had been an emergency for Hawthorn a couple of times this year, including last weekend and he will stay in the selection mix with his 21 touches and eight tackles. His cleanness around the contest is a real strength and it’s good to see him posting those tackle numbers.

Rookie listed Tom Schneider was solid with 26 touches, four marks and five tackles. He had a particularly good third quarter, where the Hawks kicked seven of their 13 goals for the day. Stephen Gilham was named BOG, but spent much of the day on Josh Walker, who kicked five goals. Hmmm…

MELBOURNE

Brad Green – 135
Tom Couch – 125
Aaron Davey – 105
Jack Fitzpatrick – 90

Responding to being sent back to the rookie list a fortnight ago, Tom Couch racked up 26 touches, six marks, four tackles and kicked 4.1 to be named third best for Casey Scorpions. We’ve not been the biggest fans of Couch over at Footy Tragic, you know, because we’ve actually watched him play, but this sort of performance could throw his name up for a late season debut.

Brad Green found some of that old touch, booting 6.0 from his 21 disposals and 10 marks to be named second best.

Jack Fitzpatrick has had to deal with a bit of adversity, having recently been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, but he seems to have responded quite well to his condition. He was named BOG for Casey for his effort in the ruck with 15 touches, four marks and 25 hitouts.

NORTH MELBOURNE

Cam Pederson – 116
Ben McKinley – 97
Majak Daw – 92
Cam Richardson – 89

Most of the big performances from North listed players came from the Foxtel Cup where Werribee took on a Morningside line-up that somehow made it through to the semi finals.

Cam Pederson did as he pleased, mostly playing as a forward. He picked up 22 touches, eight marks, 14 hitouts and kicked 2.1 for 116 DT points. In his last six games at state league level he’s averaged 110.8 with a low score of 101. His 116 in the Foxtel Cup was all the more impressive because they are shortened games (but a bit less impressive given the opposition).

Majak Daw also had a field day against a 17 year old ruckman. Daw had 16 hitouts, along with 13 disposals, six marks and 3.0. It was all smooth sailing for Ben McKinley too, who bagged 5.2 from his 17 touches.

For North Ballarat in their loss to Bendigo the main contributor was everyone’s favourite fantasy player Cam Richardson, who had 26 touches and five marks to be named fourth best for the Roosters.

PORT ADELAIDE

Simon Phillips – 81
Jarrad Redden – 69
Jasper Pittard – 48

As mentioned at the top of the article, there was only three SANFL games this weekend, so a bit less to report on…and with Port’s massive injury list even less to report on from a Power perspective.

Simon Phillips had 15 touches, five marks and five tackles for top of the ladder Norwood.

Jarrad Redden is the one that many fantasy coaches will be interested in. He had 10 touches and 21 hitouts, playing as the second ruck for WWT Eagles and also kicked a goal having spent a bit of time up forward too.

Jasper Pittard played his first game in the seniors for Sturt this year and is nearing his first AFL action for 2012. He’s an important player for Port to get AFL games into, but he’s been dogged by injury all year. He had 14 touches and four marks.

RICHMOND

Coburg had a bye.

ST.KILDA

Sandringham had a bye.

SYDNEY

No NEAFL stats available.

Luke Parker returned to action for the Swans reserves against the Lions reserves on the weekend, showing all of his trademark hardness at the contest despite returning from a collarbone injury. He kicked three goals and was named amongst the best.

Toby’s favourite, Tommy Walsh took BOG honours for his three goals and pinch hitting role in the ruck. Joining him on three goals, but not pinch hitting in the ruck was Trent Dennis-Lane, who is showing a more concerted effort in playing as a defensive forward, as well as someone who can kick goals.

Brett Meredith has had an injury interrupted year and has struggled with consistency, but he was named second best for his role across half back. The kicking and decision making that was his strength as a junior were on display. Tom Mitchell only played the second and is more than anything easing his way back into footy. It’s starting to look a little more unlikely that he’ll debut this season.

WEST COAST

Adam Selwood – 110
Fraser McInnes – 78
Ash Smith – 75

The standout performer of the week for the Eagles was clearly Adam Selwood. After having to return from an arm infection that kept him out for two weeks he donned an East Perth jumper for the first time in five years, wearing the typically lairish number 69 that you would associate with those out there Selwood characters. He racked up 34 touches, 110 DT points and was named BOG.

Having spent a bit of time on the sidelines with an ankle injury Ash Smith has strung together consecutive games for the first time since Rounds 4 and 5. He had 24 touches for Perth. Perth teammate Fraser McInnes went alright with 18 touches, eight marks and a goal. Apart from that, it was a fairly quiet weekend in the WAFL for the Eagles.

WESTERN BULLDOGS

Jarrad Grant – 101
Liam Jones – 99
Jason Johannisen – 91
Zephaniah Skinner – 87

Here’s an obscure name to throw at you – Jason Johannisen. The rookie listed outside mid/half back was in really good form early in the year before hurting his knee, which saw him miss six weeks. He has had one VFL Reserves game and now two in the VFL Seniors. On the weekend against Collingwood he had 24 touches, five marks and eleven handball receives. He’s got good speed and can run the ball.

Jarrad Grant and Liam Jones both played well up front, with the pair being named fourth and fifth best respectively. Grant had 25 touches and eight marks, while Jones kicked 3.2, along with 18 touches and ten marks.

Tom Williams played his second game for Williamstown on his road to return from shoulder surgery. He played forward in the first half before being shifted to a more familiar role in defence.

ADELAIDE

Aiden Riley – 134
Chris Knights – 131
Tim McIntyre – 108
Richard Tambling – 103
Josh Jenkins – 90

It was a busy weekend for the Crows and Aiden Riley was the stand out of the week. He collected 29 touches, ten marks and kicking three goals for Sturt. Fellow Sturt boys Tim McIntyre, Richard Tambling and Josh Jenkins also had good impacts. Rookie listed McIntyre booted five goals, while Tambling had his best game for the year with 27 touches and eight marks. After getting a taste of AFL action, Jenkins had solid numbers across the board with 13 disposals, six marks, ten hitouts and a couple of goals.

For sides other than Sturt, Chris Knights racked them up as usual for Woodville-West Torrens with 33 touches, seven marks and seven tackles.

For those concerned with Sam Shaw’s mediocre showing in the AFL on the weekend and his knee injury the ones eyeing off his spot in the backline are Luke Thompson, Andy Otten and Ricky Henderson. Thompson was the pick of the bunch and was named fourth best for WWT with 18 disposals and eight marks in defence.

Graham Johncock would’ve needed a map to find his way back to Alberton Oval to line up for Port Magpies and he finished with 10 touches (all kicks) and a goal. Luke Brown continues to show good signs and kicked a crucial last quarter goal in Norwood’s narrow victory. Even though he hasn’t been making too many headling Lewis Johnston kicked another three goals and is actually coming second in the SANFL goal kicking. For reference, both Tom Lynch and Brad Symes travelled as emergencies for the Crows on the weekend and didn’t play SANFL.

BRISBANE

No full NEAFL stats available.

There were some impressive performances in the Lions big win over second placed Southport on the weekend, but with the AFL side having an impressive win themselves you wouldn’t expect too many changes anyway.

Claye Beams was named BOG and picked up 28 touches, mostly on the inside. Patrick Karnezis, in his new midfield role had 33 possessions.

Jordan Lisle has been in good form lately and a Lions debut is beckoning if he can keep it up. He kicked three goals, along with small forward Josh Dyson. Recently demoted Jared Polec kicked four goals in the first half to stay in the selection mix. Sam Docherty was a bit more quiet, but hopefully Stephen Wrigley can recapture some of his form from earlier in the season to provide a defence downgrade. He was named sixth best.

Todd Banfield and Jesse O’Brien returned from five weeks in the rehab group and got through unscathed. In fact, O’Brien laid 13 tackles according to the Lions website!

 

CARLTON

Jordan Russell – 122
Kane Lucas – 96
Ed Curnow – 96
Frazer Dale – 85

How much detail can you really go into about a team that only managed to kick two goals for the day? As a result coach Robert Hyde has quit too.

Jordan Russell was the top point scorer, but I guess you can’t have any real winners out of a team performance like that. He had 27 touches, seven marks and eight tackles, so at least he had a crack.

Kane Lucas and Ed Curnow had 25 and 20 touches respectively. Paul Bower was named fourth best and didn’t muck around with his kick/handball ratio, racking up 20 kicks and no handballs for 78 DT points.

Recently promoted rookie Frazer Dale was named third best with 17 touches, ten marks and one of those elusive goals. Andrew McInnes was named BOG with 16 possessions and three marks in defence. Those were probably the two bright lights on an otherwise dismal day.

In even worse news Jeremy Laidler reinjured his knee in his comeback game and will now miss the rest of the season. Also, Chris Yarran played terribly.

COLLINGWOOD

Paul Seedsman – 105
Jonathon Ceglar – 90
Caolan Mooney – 77

The big story of the day for Collingwood in their loss to Coburg was the emergence or Irish rookie Caolan Mooney, who kicked five goals from his ten possessions. Obviously he’s still pretty raw, but he has a good impact. He impressed in flashes during the NAB Cup too. He was named BOG for the Pies, however he didn’t play much in the last quarter after tweaking his groin near the end of the third.

Jonathon Ceglar and Cameron Wood combined for 47 hitouts, with Ceglar also managing 14 possessions and eight marks.

Paul Seedsman contributed well with 18 touches and an impressive 11 tackles, to be named sixth best for the Pies.

Josh Thomas and Luke Rounds made their returns from long stints on the sidelines. Thomas played his first game of 2012 after recovering from a foot injury and was named second best for his 15 disposals (possibly an encouragement award). Rounds had missed eight weeks with a calf injury.

ESSENDON

Brendan Lee – 138
Elliott Kavanagh – 122
Mark Baguley – 107
Sam Lonergan – 107
Alex Browne – 90
Tom Bellchambers – 89

The form over the last fortnight from Brendan Lee and Elliott Kavanagh has been really encouraging.  In fact, since coming back from a mystery five week absence, Lee has scored 97, 98, 144 and now 138 DT points. This week it was 32 touches, eight marks and six tackles. He is 25 years old and on the rookie list, so in a sense his time is running out too (a bit like Wayde Twomey at Carlton last year he might at least get a taste to see how he goes).

Kavanagh, on the other hand was the Bombers first round draft pick from last year and backed up his break out game with another very strong performance. Kavanagh collected 24 possessions and eight tackles. He is a promising one who I suspect we might see before the season is out.

Sam Lonergan will stay in the selection mix after his omission. He got it 27 times and kicked a couple of goals. I thought he was a little stiff to be dropped in the first place, so he might not be too far away from a return. Speaking of stiff to be dropped, Tom Bellchambers was named third best for Bendigo and had 12 touches and twice as many hitouts.

Rookie listed defender Mark Baguley was named BOG for his 19 touches, eight marks and eight tackles. Also, it had been far too long since Scott Gumbleton had been injured, so he got a mild concussion and a few stitches in his lip in the first quarter and didn’t take any further part in the game. It’s believed he’ll be available for selection this week, regardless.

FREMANTLE

Dylan Roberton – 83
Paul Duffield – 76
Anthony Morabito – 67
Lee Spurr – 67

It’s not the news fantasy coaches are looking for. Lee Spurr didn’t put his name up as a serious contender for selection after Fremantle’s disappointing loss to Essendon. For those still hanging onto Paul Duffield, the advice is don’t hold your breath. The reports from his game were not good, despite his nine tackles he’s happy to jump out of the way too.

Anthony Morabito got another run in his legs and is hopefully not too far away from making his long awaited return, although he was involved in a collision late in the game and came off a bit groggy. He picked up 20 touches and five marks. Tom Sheridan also had 20 disposals for Peel Thunder and hovers around the mix for a debut.

Michael Walters, who was an emergency last week was wayward in front of goal, but he was at least getting the ball in dangerous spots and ended with 2.4, but unfortunately laid no tackles. That’s not really the sort of column you want to see empty for a small forward. Overall, it was a disappointing week in the WAFL for Freo.

GEELONG

Jonathan Simpkin – 116
Jordan Schroder – 100
Simon Hogan – 84
Orren Stephenson – 78

Jonathan Simpkin continued his run of prolific scoring with his fifth straight ton at VFL level. His 116 included 19 touches, six marks and nine tackles.

Orren Stephenson is the Cat that boasts the most fantasy relevance and he was named second best. His 39 hitouts must have been phenomenal, because he only had five disposals.

Jordan Schroder posted his second ton of the season with 24 touches and two goals, playing mostly as a half forward. Simon Hogan was workmanlike as usual and was named third best with 25 touches and a goal.

As a point of interest Mitch Brown was tried in defence and held up alright considering his team only conceded two goals from 42 entries. George Horlin-Smith was also handy with 22 touches.

GOLD COAST

Gold Coast reserves had a bye.

GWS

No NEAFL stats available.

After a horribly interrupted season Stephen Clifton returned from a five week knee injury (which came almost directly after a four week wrist injury) and was named BOG for the Giants reserves in their loss to Tuggeranong. If he can get a solid run at it in the reserves for a few weeks he might be able to provide a midfield downgrade option later in the year.

Will Hoskin-Elliott and Adam Tomlinson were both solid on the weekend and were named in the best players for the Giants, while Adam Kennedy made a return from a three week shoulder injury.

HAWTHORN

Box Hill had a bye.

MELBOURNE

Stefan Martin – 110
Jordan Gysberts – 96

Stefan Martin was a top scorer of the Dees listed players down at Casey on the weekend with 110 after kicking 2.2 from 21 touches and seven marks. He also pinch hit in the ruck and had 14 hitouts. He’d be a pretty decent chance to come back in and try and fill some of the sizeable hole left by Mitch Clark.

Another one you could throw into the mix, purely because he is a young tall forward that hasn’t been tried yet is Lucas Cook. He kicked 0.3 from 13 touches and three marks in not quite his best game of the season. He had, however, kicked seven goals across his previous two games. Whether he debuts or not, he’s not likely to be a saving grace for your fantasy side.

Jordan Gysberts was named second best and is back on the right track after suffering a broken jaw a couple of months ago. It was his third game on return and his second in VFL Seniors, so 26 touches for 96 DT points is a good effort.

Also on the comeback trail was James Strauss and rookie listed Leigh Williams. Strauss had his second VFL Seniors game of the season and first since Round 1. He had suffered complications with his badly broken leg last year, but picked up 16 touches. Williams is a young key forward who had suffered a viral infection in his brain, which kept him out for six weeks. Both had played the previous two weeks with Casey reserves.

Oh, and for those holding out for Tom Couch he had 15 touches and four tackles for 65 DT points, however he kicked a goal with 30 seconds left on the clock, which gave Casey the win.

 

NORTH MELBOURNE

Matt Campbell – 120
Aaron Edwards – 119
Cruize Garlett – 105
Cam Pedersen – 101
Cam Richardson – 83

For North Ballarat there were a number of prolific ball winners from the Kangaroos listed players. Matt Campbell was named BOG with a lot of outside ball amongst his 28 touches, but also added an impressive eight tackles.

Aaron Edwards got on his bike and led up for 11 marks and 30 possessions. He was playing a bit higher up the ground and was often the one delivering into the forward line.

Cruize Garlett was good again, as he usually is at VFL level. He had 38 touches, 25 of which by hand and was named fourth best.

Meanwhile, Werribee got a bit of a touch up from Bendigo and their stand out performers were few and far between. Cam Pedersen was their stats man with 17 touches, four marks, six tackles and 25 hitouts to be named second best. Youngster Ayden Kennedy has been doing OK in defence and had 18 touches and five rebound 50s. He probably has the longest neck in the league, for what it’s worth.

 

PORT ADELAIDE

Daniel Stewart – 92
David Rodan – 70

Unfortunately it was a very quiet weekend for the Power players in the SANFL, especially as they will have heaps of forced changes this week (Cassisi, Hartlett, Trengove, Schulz and Thomas).

Daniel Stewart had 12 touches, nine marks and kicked 4.2 to be the standout Power player on the weekend. However, John Butcher had the weekend off and will be a big chance to come back in…maybe both of them will come in. They kind of just need live bodies at the moment.

In the midfield I suppose Aaron Young and David Rodan had solid showings. Rodan kicked the winning goal after the siren for Norwood. It was a remarkable comeback in a low scoring game. Top of the ladder Norwood had only kicked one goal to three quarter time in a low scoring affair and snagged four in the last quarter, including Rodan’s game winner. Young had 15 touches and a goal for North Adelaide.

He didn’t play on the weekend, because all players are required to have a weekend off by mid season, as per AFLPA guidelines, but Alipate Carlile should return in place of Trengove. Thomas could be replaced by Tom Jonas, who at least has a crack. Honestly, they might as well just throw magnets at the board and see what sticks, because with all their injuries the cupboard is depressingly bare ie. Cam O’Shea could be in line for a game.

In positive news, Jasper Pittard got through his second game of the season in the SANFL reserves for Sturt. Nick Salter played his first game of the season after a foot injury for WWT reserves.

 

RICHMOND

Matt White – 99
Luke McGuane – 92
Steven Verrier – 89

Matt White was named BOG for Coburg with 28 touches, four marks and a goal. Unfortunately he was suspended for one week after a front on bump on Collingwood’s Trent Stubbs. Luke McGuane had the game of a true defender trying to have a go as a forward by kicking 2.6 from his 16 touches.

Steven Verrier hasn’t been in bad form the last fortnight. He  had 20 touches and six marks to consolidate the similar numbers he posted the week prior. Big Todd Elton showed really good signs in the first half before fading in the second half. He had 14 touches and seven marks (11 and 6 in the first half).

The good news for Richmond fans is that defenders Dylan Grimes and Kelvin Moore played their first game for Coburg seniors on return from injury.  Moore had played the previous two weeks with Coburg reserves and got through this full game fine and looked good. Grimes also played well and just played the first half, as planned after four weeks out with a hammy.

 

ST.KILDA

Farren Ray – 133
Beau Wilkes – 97
Tom Ledger – 83

Farren Ray put up the big numbers with 37 touches and six tackles. He wasn’t named in the best players and also missed a set shot just on the siren that would’ve given Sandringham the win.

Beau Wilkes was impressive up forward with 14 touches, ten marks (including a remarkable seven contested) and 4.2. While he was primarily drafted as a defender, his play in the forward line  has been really good this year.

Tom Ledger was solid again with 22 touches, five marks and five tackles, however his kicking was a little bit wayward. He’s having a hard time breaking into the side this year, largely due to his inside role and St.Kilda’s depth in that position.

Interestingly, Tom Curren was named in the best players with only ten touches – but it’s not all about attack. He did an excellent job tagging Tom Couch and was recognised for his defensive efforts.

 

SYDNEY

No NEAFL stats available.

The Swans reserves smashed Sydney Uni by about 25 goals, so there were plenty of good performers. Mind you, the Swans are in solid form (at least in the first quarter or two lately) so they don’t necessarily need to ring the changes.

Nick Malceski was impressive and will stay in the frame for a quick recall, as was Trent Dennis-Lane. Mitch Morton and Nathan Gordon kicked six and five goals respectively. Morton has kicked 53 goals this year, including 52 in his last eight games. The competition isn’t exactly strong, but that’s good form whichever way you cut it.

Tom Mitchell returned from two weeks off with a knee (well, one game off and they had a bye last week). At this stage of the year you almost don’t want him to debut this year so he can keep his cheap price for 2013.

 

WEST COAST

Jeremy McGovern – 101
Murray Newman – 83

There simply weren’t many players in WAFL action for the Eagles on the weekend. Only five players played in WAFL seniors (four of them for Claremont). Freo and West Coast pulled all of their players out of the West Perth and East Freo game in country town Kallanie because of a hard playing surface, so four Eagles played for their respective reserves sides (mind you, rookie listed Michael Mascoulis and Callum Papertalk probably would’ve played twos anyway).

Brad Dick played his fourth game at WAFL reserves level and kicked three goals from 13 touches and will hopefully line up for East Freo seniors this weekend.

Jeremy McGovern had his best game of the year for Claremont in the ruck. He had 15 touches, eight marks and 24 hitouts. Murray Newman is a chance for debut soon after impressing with 15 touches and three goals. Koby Stevens was a traveling emergency on the weekend and Sam Butler should be fit to resume this weekend, whether at WAFL or AFL level.

 

WESTERN BULLDOGS

Williamstown had a bye.

ADELAIDE

Brad Symes – 112
Shaun McKernan – 102
Aidan Riley – 96
Brodie Smith – 85

Brad Symes had no dramas racking them up again and that was his third ton in a row (four games ago was a 99 too). He had 29 touches, six marks and six tackles for Central District.

Shaun McKernan was good for South Adelaide with 19 touches, seven marks, 18 hitouts and a couple of goals. The Crows will play a third tall behind Tippett and Walker. Currently Josh Jenkins is in that role, but McKernan put some big pressure on with that performance. In the same game Sam Kerridge was named BOG for Sturt. He had it 19 times and collected 79 DT points.

Brodie Smith responded well to being demoted to the SANFL for the first time this season to be named third best for Woodville-West Torrens. He picked up 29 touches and four marks for the Eagles.

 

BRISBANE

No NEAFL stats available.

Claye Beams was named BOG for the Lions reserves in their win over Gold Coast twos. Beams was doing a lot of clearance work and picked up 26 disposals.

The top ball winner was first year player Sam Docherty, with 27 touches. He would have to be really close to making a debut by now.

Early in the game Bryce Retzlaff went down with a season ending knee injury and in his absence Jordan Lisle stepped up and showed signs of life, previously thought to be extinct. He kicked five goals and provided a good marking target.

Justin Clarke continues his strong season as a key position defender after being plucked from a country league in South Australia at last years rookie draft.

CARLTON

Ed Curnow – 107
Dylan Buckley – 78
Tom Bell – 75

Ed Curnow won plenty of the ball, with 32 touches…but of his 14 kicks only four were effective. Carlton probably have probably got a full quota of guys in the senior team who can burn the ball.

Rookie listed Tom Bell had 22 touches and five tackles. He’s a strong bodied, mature aged player, but was recently overlooked for promotion to the senior list when the Blues upgraded Frazer Dale.

Father/son recruit Dylan Buckley had his best game since joining the Blues by far. He had 17 touches, fives tackles and snagged a couple of goals.

COLLINGWOOD

Collingwood had a VFL bye.

 

ESSENDON

Brendan Lee – 144
David Hille – 144
Cory Dell’Olio – 115
Elliott Kavanagh – 103
Michael Hibberd – 78

Brendan Lee came from the WAFL as a prolific ball winner and had his best game to date while on the Bombers list, with 35 disposals, 11 marks and five tackles. The 24 year old is still on the rookie list, but Essendon have space to nominate a rookie as per the “Round 11 rule.”

David Hille made a spectacular comeback from injury. After hitting a hurdle in his comeback match a fortnight ago he had a second crack at a return and had 27 touches, 10 marks, 33 hitouts and 2.1.

Cory Dell’Olio also had a great game with 19 touches, 11 marks and five tackles, racking up a strong AFL Dream Team score for a small forward. First year player Elliott Kavanagh continues to push for a debut with another improved performance, collecting 25 possessions and eight marks to be named third best.

Michael Hibberd was named BOG in his second game back from injury had 23 touches and seven marks playing across half back and up the wing.

FREMANTLE

Zac Clarke – 141
Tom Sheridan – 52
Anthony Morabito – 52
Lee Spurr – 48

I don’t think there was any doubt as to who would replace Aaron Sandilands in the team, but Zac Clarke really made sure of it by collecting 26 possessions, eight marks, six tackles, 18 hitouts and 1.4. Yeah…that’ll get the job done.

Unfortunately Peel Thunder were smashed (as a result the coach was sacked) and subsequently Tom Sheridan, Anthony Morabito and Lee Spurr all had down games, not doing their chances of a game much good. Mind you, with Morabito you’d imagine it’s purely about getting miles in the legs, rather than how he plays.

Paul Duffield wasn’t named for South Freo, so hopefully that’s just to give him the week off and keep him available for AFL selection this week. Ross Lyon has indicated that Jack Anthony is likely to come in and replace the injured Zac Dawson instead of Alex Silvagni. Good luck with that one, Ross.

 

GEELONG

Geelong VFL had a bye.

 

GOLD COAST

No NEAFL stats available.

Charlie Dixon returned from a fractured cheekbone suffered four weeks ago and was solid with a goal and was named second best.

Andrew McQualter was typically workmanlike in the midfield and did his chances of a recall no harm. Rookie listed Josh Hall had his best game for the club to date, kicking two goals. Hall is just shy of 200cm and a very good athlete, who is still quite raw.

Matt Shaw was named BOG and is a strong chance for a recall. Unfortunately I couldn’t find any word on how Aaron Hall went.

GWS

No NEAFL stats available.

While there isn’t a heap of detail coming out of Blacktown the Giants reserves had a 40 point loss to NEAFL powerhouses NT Thunder. Rookie listed Sam Frost was named BOG for them.

This was the second game back for defender Jack Hombsch and he was named third best. He’ll be a big chance to come back into the team this week. Will Hoskin-Elliott and developing ruckman Tom Downie also had good games.

HAWTHORN

Tom Schneider – 106
Cameron Bruce – 94
Taylor Duryea – 82

It wasn’t a great day for Box Hill, who suffered a heavy defeat to Bendigo after a last quarter fade out. Tom Schneider was prolific with 26 touches, four marks and six tackles.

Cameron Bruce, an emergency for Hawthorn is pressing for selection with 25 tackles and seven tackles. Taylor Duryea is another who has popped up as an emergency lately and he had 18 touches and seven marks to be named third best for Box Hill.

Stephen Gilham was named BOG for Box Hill and while he’s not overly fantasy relevant (50 DT points) he will be a big chance to come back in post bye.

MELBOURNE

Casey Scorpions had a bye.

NORTH MELBOURNE

Liam Anthony – 141
Cruize Garlett – 129
Majak Daw – 125
Will Sierakowski – 121
Cam Pederson – 111
Cam Richardson – 107

With the Kangaroos players split between two VFL clubs there were a few really big numbers this weekend. Liam Anthony had 35 touches, seven marks and six tackles. He had only 10 effective kicks out of 24, however he was named BOG for North Ballarat.

Last year’s tag team for North Ballarat Cruize Garlett and Cam Richardson were back up to their old tricks. Garlett had 30 touches, five marks and seven tackles, while everyone’s favourite fantasy player from 2011 Richardson had 20 touches, ten marks and kicked two goals. Aaron Edwards kicked two goals from 17 touches for 77 DT points after being dropped from the seniors.

For Werribee Majak Daw was excellent with 17 disposals, six marks, a very impressive eight tackles and 29 hitouts in what was easily his best statistical output for the year. Will Sierakowski is another who put up his best numbers for 2012 with 26 touches, seven marks and a couple of goals. Ben Speight was named BOG for his three goals from 17 possessions, as well as six tackles.

PORT ADELAIDE

Alipate Carlile – 100
Simon Phillips – 82
John Butcher – 59

Alipate Carlile would’ve pretty much needed a roadmap to go back and line up for South Adelaide. He had no trouble finding the ball though with 20 touches and eight marks, along with a whopping 14 rebound 50s. South have the bye next week so he’ll have to work on his fitness at training to get back into the Port squad.

Simon Phillips snagged four goals up forward for Norwood in their demolition of Glenelg. John Butcher had a bit of a mixed day in his second consecutive game for the Port Magpies, picking up 12 touches and nine marks. He was very quiet through the middle parts of the game (didn’t get a touch in the second quarter at all) but came home strongly in the last term.

Jasper Pittard made his long awaited return from a hamstring injury that had kept him out for the whole season to date. He lined up for Sturt reserves and collected 15 touches in limited game time. They need him in the seniors ASAP, especially with their current injury plight!

RICHMOND

Addam Maric – 96
Andrew Browne – 92
Jeromey Webberley – 87
Steven Verrier – 85
Tom Derickx – 79

The super sub Addam Maric was the top ball winner for Coburg with 25 touches and seven marks. Big Andrew Browne was named BOG and kicked two goals, along with 16 touches and 21 hitouts.

Having not worked as a ruck or a forward they’ve decided to give Tom Derickx a shot as a defender. He performed admirably and ended up with 15 touches and eight marks in unfamiliar territory.

Jeromey Webberley is someone Kristian still has hopes for and he had 22 touches, along with seven marks. His kicking was particularly good, but he wasn’t really seem near too many contested situations.

ST.KILDA

Farren Ray – 104
Daniel Markworth – 86
Tom Ledger – 84

Farren Ray put up the best numbers in a losing side with 28 touches and six marks, but it was first year player Daniel Markworth that was named BOG for Sandringham. The youngster hadn’t really found his way at VFL level yet this year, but put together an impressive game with 19 touches at 89.5% efficiency and nine marks.

Tom Ledger continues his run of consistent form and had a neat game picking up 24 touches. Beau Wilkes had one of those games where everyone he touches turns to crap. Of his seven possessions only one was effective.

SYDNEY

Sydney reserves had a bye.

WEST COAST

Ryan Neates – 108
Murray Newman – 81

Murray Newman was the top performer in the WAFL with 15 touches and ten marks for 81 DT points.

Claremont played against Mt.Gravatt in the Foxtel Cup. In a horrible mismatch Claremont won by nearly 100 points in a shortened game and kept their opposition to two goals. Ryan Neates was named best for Claremont with 27 touches and eight marks. Young key forwards Jeremy McGovern and Anton Hamp kicked four and three goals respectively, admittedly against pretty average opposition.

Brad Dick continues his comeback from last years knee reconstruction. In his third game for East Freo reserves he kicked 2.5 in his best performance to date.

 

WESTERN BULLDOGS

Nathan Djerrkura – 128
Tom Campbell – 109
Lindsay Gilbee – 102
Patrick Veszpremi – 86
Fletcher Roberts – 79

Tom Campbell, having recently been upgraded off the rookie list is the one you need to know about this week. He returned from a five week hamstring injury and picked up where he left off. He had 20 touches, five marks, 33 hitouts and a goal. He was very impressive in his one NAB Cup game kicking four goals against North Melbourne and had averaged 93 in his four games directly before his injury.

Nathan Djerrkura was named second best for his 27 touch, nine mark, five tackle effort. Patrick Veszpremi didn’t muck around. In only half a game (was kept over as emergency for the Bulldogs) he had an impressive 21 touches and five marks, accruing 86 DT points in two quarters.

Lindsay Gilbee, in his third game of the year found a bit of touch. He had 24 touches, six marks and four tackles across half back. Fletcher Roberts, who was on an extended bench for the Bulldogs last week had his highest output of the year with 21 touches and seven marks, however he’s been playing as a shutdown defender and has averaged less than 30 in the VFL this year.