Essendon vs Western Bulldogs:

Looking Good:

  • Paddy Ryder: The Essendon big men are on fire at the moment, with Ryder the main beneficiary this week. Unlike plenty of other ruckmen, his ability to drop forward is a real strength of his game, leading him to not only get plenty of ball around the ground, but also kick a few goals.
  • Ben Hudson: Huddo has been in some pretty good form over the past couple of weeks and has a habit of always cutting sick against the Bombers. He is really strong around the ground and in the air, meaning his teammates regularly go to him for the bail-out kick.
  • Brent Stanton: After a couple of off weeks, Stanton looked back at his best with a much better game through the middle. He was tagged, yet willed himself through it - and although his disposal still isn’t anything amazing, he gets plenty of it, and at the end of the day that’s all that matters!

Disappointing:

    AFL Rd 7 - Demons v Bulldogs

  • Jason Akermanis: Looked like he would fit in much better in an EJ Whitten tribute game than in AFL football. Looked slow and emotionally drained. His career looks suddenly headed for the gurgler, so if you have him, now is the time to offload him!
  • Nathan Lovett-Murray: After playing some great attacking football through the midfield before his injury, he returned only to be played as a tagger. He was effective, but this role won’t help his dream team ability.
  • Ryan Hargrave: After starting the game really well as the loose man, he disappeared from site and did very little for the second half. Inconsistency seems to be his middle name at the moment.

Blip on the Radar:

  • Leroy Jetta: Jetta ventured much higher up the field to not only rack up the ball, but also drop forward for some goals. He does look very lively, but does seem very likely to be an inconsistent type. I would want to see another game like this before I brought him in.

Western Bulldogs vs Sydney:

Looking Good:

  • Gary Ablett: 32 disposals and a lazy 2 goals whilst resting up forward is beginning to be a standard day at the office for Ablett. He appears to hate negative press, so the more the media slag him off about Gold Coast, the more he appears to prove them wrong.
  • Jordan Gysberts: In his debut game for Melbourne he was the highest disposal winner for the club with 26 touches. He played the game beautifully and showed no signs of being star-struck by the stars at Geelong - he went about his business like he’d been doing it for years.
  • James Podsiadly: Another five goals from Pods was a brilliant effort from a guy we all paid roundly $77k for only a couple of months ago. I think we just wish he had been playing the game for longer!

Disappointing:

  • Jack Watts: After all the big press the kid has gotten this week it was a shame to see him fade away against the Cats. In his defence, he was competing against a very strong Cats backline and therefore had very few chances to score. There is little chance he won’t bounce back.
  • Jimmy Bartel: When you look at your team on Friday night and see Geelong vs Melbourne at Skilled Stadium in the wet, there is little hesitation in making Bartel captain, expecting a lazy 130 points from the good man. Unfortunately this was not to be as he was tagged out of the game by Grimes and wasn’t even allowed to junk it up in the last quarter… fair to say he was the reason behind a few eliminated teams this week!
  • Austin Wonaeamirri: Still looks like he is regaining fitness from his time on the sidelines. Please remember he was never really a DT star before you get tempted and trade him in for the cash!

Blip on the Radar:

  • James Frawley: Has a great knack of marking from opposition kicks, but he rarely ventures far out of his defensive-50. He will get occasional scores like this from kicking around in the backline, but he is not an attacking defender, so is not what you want.

Port Adelaide vs Richmond:

Looking Good:

  • Jack Riewoldt: For those that didn’t see this game, it was played in torrential rain and hence a mud-strewn football field - an environment very anti tall players. However, I thought that Riewoldt was once again one of Richmond’s best, kicking 4 goals and laying 7 tackles - great numbers for a guy of his size in this weather!
  • Angus Graham: 14 tackles from a ruckman would have to be one of the bigger numbers in a long time. He keeps trying, and looked good as the Tiger’s number one big guy.
  • Matthew Broadbent: First game for the season and looked composed. He has put some muscle on his body and looks to fit in well, running out of defence. He will get better in cleaner conditions, but he would be one of the few Port positives from this game.

Disappointing:

  • David Rodan: Lacked the ability to inject much magic into the match thanks to the mud that kept bogging him down.
  • Jeromey Webberley: Seemed to always be one step behind the ball and appeared nowhere near it in the second half. In only his fourth game, he shouldn’t worry about his near future in the side.
  • Danyle Pearce: Was again tagged out of the match, but the weather wasn’t kind to a player who relies on his pace. Has been down a couple of weeks now which is a worry.

Blip on the Radar:

  • Josh Carr: He would have licked his lips when he saw the weather forecast for this game. Carr is a hard-nosed midfielder, normally assigned tagging jobs, but he seemed to be given more of an attacking license in this game due to the conditions suiting him - don’t look for too much more of this in the future.

Brisbane vs Collingwood:

Looking Good:

  • Luke Power: Creamed Collingwood through the middle in his 250th match. He doesn’t play at all like his age (in a good way) and is appearing in some pretty good form. Could be a pretty good alternative pick for your midfield.
  • Dale Thomas: I think this is his highest DT score ever, further proving that 2010 is his breakout year. He finished the game with 34 disposals and 12 marks, playing exclusively as a midfielder. Possibly a bit expensive now, but is looking like a good consistent option for once!
  • Ash McGrath: As predicted in my Tuesday article (blowing my own horn? Never!), McGrath’s rebounding role continued in very good fashion this week. He ran off the backline and minded Beams as he drifted forward.

Disappointing:

  • Heath Shaw: STILL cannot handle a tag! Brisbane rotated men through him and he had no way of getting away. His highs can be fantastic, but Shaw is one of the most inconsistent dream teamers in the league!
  • Dayne Beams: Beams has been in ripping form over the past few weeks, but was totally shut down by McGrath. Expect him to bounce back, but games like this should be expected with him playing more forward of centre.
  • Brendan Fevola: Was well held by Presti in the first half, but when he moved further upfield to CHF he looked a lot better. 4 late goals saved his owners complete heartache, but his injury is clearly playing a part in his poor form.

Blip on the Radar:

  • Brent Staker: Played plenty of kick-to-kick deep in the Brisbane backline, bellying his score. Brisbane love to over-possess the ball down back, but Staker is not a regular there, he is typically a forward. He has shown some good form this year, but he hasn’t enough improvement in him to be a worthwhile cash cow.

St.Kilda vs Adelaide:

Looking Good:

  • Leigh Montagna: Was sublime all game, kicking five brilliant goals amongst his 38 possessions. He has an amazing ability to find space and deliver the ball into the forward line, causing him to be given so much of the ball by his teammates. He is still very cheap for what he offers, so strongly consider!
  • Richard Douglas: Douglas was easily the best Crow and set up plenty of their attacks from the midfield. Seven tackles highlighted his effort. I have been very critical of Douglas over the journey, but he could prove to be the Bernie Vince of 2010.
  • Sam Fisher: Ahem… As some Tuesday article suggested, Fisher’s return to the backline repaid with some great scoring. He got 12 disposals in the first term alone and went on to finish with 30. He takes plenty of marks and constantly rotates with Gilbert as the loose man.

Disappointing:

  • Andrew McLeod: Shut down by Baker, a strong nemesis from years gone by. He saw very little of the ball (maybe he was emotional about the retiring of his good friend Tyson Edwards), but to his credit he did come into the game under an injury cloud.
  • Justin Koschitzke: The delivery wasn’t amazing to Kosi, but he didn’t help himself by continually leading to the wrong spots and dropping marks. Looks bereft of confidence and perhaps needs a run in the ruck to wake him up.
  • Taylor Walker: I actually hadn’t even realised Walker was playing until I saw his name on the goals sheet. Was well held by Blake and Gwilt, but did very little to work through this.

Blip on the Radar:

  • Steven Baker: Nowadays, Baker is typically a stay-home defender, playing on the opponent’s best small forwards. However, he moved into the midfield for this game to play on McLeod - a player he has a fantastic history on. This happens VERY rarely, so these sorts of scores are not to be expected.

Hawthorn vs Sydney:

Looking Good:

  • Dan Hannebery: Those who have already given the Rising Star to Naitanui have clearly not watched any Sydney games! This kid showed some great signs last year and is already following through with his promises in spades this year! Played another best-on-ground performance with 25 disposals and 3 goals.
  • Jordan Lewis: One of Hawthorn’s more consistent players (They seemed to share the load very evenly) - he has really bounced back since his dropping a few weeks ago - in fact, he hasn’t scored under 100 since!
  • Shane Mumford: Mummy smashed Renouf in the ruck with 42 hitouts to 16 in a dominant display. He is also working very hard around the ground, racking up 17 disposals - I’m sure Geelong would wish their time over again with him!

Disappointing:

  • Jarryd Roughead: Kicked no goals, again looking very uninterested. Hawthorn are just lucky that Buddy was able to step up in his place!
  • Matt O’Dwyer: O’Dwyer was recalled to the seniors after a whopping 54 disposals last week in the reserves. Unfortunately, 11 touches was a little below par.
  • Ryan O’Keefe: Played the entire game as a forward - a very worrying sign. Whilst O’Keefe used to be a good dream teamer as a forward, his days as a midfielder are much much better! Whether this is permanent, or he is just resting an injury will be a hotly discussed question this week!

Blip on the Radar:

  • ?: I looked through this list and couldn’t find one high score where I thought “yeah… that’s not gonna happen again.” Let me know if you think otherwise!

Carlton vs West Coast:

Looking Good:

  • Bryce Gibbs: Dominated off half-back with a whopping 45 possessions and 12 marks! This is what we want to see from Gibbs more often - his disposal was amazing, so it is no wonder Carlton are playing him behind the ball - he just needs to consistently deliver now!
  • Chris Judd: Once again Judd proved untaggable and also a very good DT prospect in the process. He does enjoy beating up of his old side and this game was no exception. Various players were rotated through him, yet none seemed capable of slowing him down.
  • Marc Murphy: 36 disposals seemed like nothing compared to Gibbs, but Murphy was just as impressive - despite an attempted tag, he still got the ball at will and laid 5 tackles in the process. The Blue boys are all looking like very good prospects at the moment.

Disappointing:

  • Andrew Carrazzo: As the worry tends to be with Carrazzo, he was moved into the forward line for a tagging role and it in turn killed his scoring output. Whilst I’d like to say this is a one off, he does seem to be a player regularly thrown into different positions - some great of DT, and others just rubbish.
  • Brad Ebert: Has been in super form this year, but just couldn’t get into this game, finishing with a measly 13 disposals.
  • Scott Selwood: Was running though the midfield as a tagger, but didn’t bother trying to get it himself. He is apparently capable as a ball-winner, although we are yet to see it at AFL level.

Blip on the Radar:

  • Jeff Garlett: Small forwards like Garlett are notoriously inconsistent. In free-flowing open games like this one, he will dominate. But put him into an ugly slog of a game and he will be lucky to make 50 points.

Fremantle vs North Melbourne:

Looking Good:

  • Paul Duffield: Started slow, but as usual plenty of passages involving 4 or 5 disposals saw him become the highest scorer on the ground. He does know how to get into space beautifully, often seeing him part of Freo’s kick-to-kick sessions.
  • Nathan Fyfe: This kid is unreal - he looks like a 15 year old boy, but plays with incredible maturity and flair! He was everywhere in the third quarter and ended up racking up 27 disposals and 3 goals for the game.
  • Kepler Bradley: Maybe, just maybe this could be Bradley’s year. He has played three games so far and all have been impressive, although none as much as this one. He booted four goals as a forward and floated though the midfield as the second ruckman in parts too. As odd as it sounds - consider him.

Disappointing:

  • Brent Harvey: He did get injured, however it wasn’t until ¾ time that he was off the field. Was well tagged by Van Berlo and had no effect on the game.
  • Chris Mayne: He seemed to spend the game just floating around the packs, not actually touching the ball himself. Kicked a couple of goals, but it didn’t get much more exciting than that for the man with the giant schnoz.
  • Michael Barlow: His late withdrawal saw over 160,000 dream team coaches seeing red. But let’s be honest - being the most un-unique player in the competition, it didn’t have too much effect anyway.

Blip on the Radar:

  • Nathan Grima: Played a key defensive role on Pavlich, but was able to zone off thanks to Pav’s time in the middle. It meant for plenty of cheap ball he wouldn’t really get otherwise.