Footy Tragic

Port Adelaide vs Collingwood:

Looking Good:

• Dane Swan: Despite being the focus of a mid-week interview where he told the interviewer that possession numbers were not important to him, he proved that secretly he does love being number one on the stats sheet and we will continue to love him for it. Finished with 39 touches and 7 tackles, with 16 of those disposals coming in a mega second term!
• Scott Pendlebury: Pendlebury was a strong competitor and only fell short of the ton by a bit. Needs to kick the ball more for such a damaging user by foot, but the fact he was able to rack up 30 disposals was still a great thing.
• David Rodan: Port’s best player, especially in the second half, where his three goals really kept the Power in the contest. Was at his zippy best and won 26 disposals with 8 tackles.

Disappointing:

• Jack Anthony: Again played the swingman role, which is killing his scoring. He looked good in a couple of passages through the middle but did little else. Could also be in trouble for a high hit late in the game.
• Matt Thomas: Sacrificed his own game to tag Daisy Thomas, yet still didn’t nullify him. Tried every trick in the book to ‘accidentally’ hurt Thomas, but fortunately it was to no avail.
• Travis Cloke: Was quite anonymous for most of the night with Dawes the main tall target in the Collingwood forward line. Was also reported in the first quarter, which at worst would see him miss a week.

Blip on the Radar:

• Brett Ebert: Ebert was on fire in the first quarter, kicking three goals and racking up plenty of the ball up field – in fact, nearly half his DT points were acquired in the first term. Ebert has proven this year that at best he is an inconsistent scorer – he has the ability to break a game open as he showed here, but all too often his massive head seems to weigh him down too much, causing some very low scores.

Geelong vs Hawthorn:

Looking Good:

• Jimmy Bartel: Jimmy was great through the middle playing a classic ‘Bartel’ game – plenty of disposals, lots of tackles and a good number of marks. He was best on ground in this tight affair and continues to prove why he is such a loved DT figure!
• Lance Franklin: Kicked another three goals, but again his work around the half-forward line was class – finishing with 22 disposals as a key forward is fantastic, even in today’s day and age.
• Paul Chapman: Chappy started hard before fading through the middle of the game as Gibson, his direct opponent, began to get on top of him, but fortunately he came home strong, finishing with 24 disposals, 7 tackles and 2 goals.

Disappointing:

• Corey Enright: Had a heavy forward tag given to him by Lewis, meaning Mr.Consistency scored his lowest score for the season. With the constant opponent he just wasn’t allowed the freedom or space to rack up his usual cheap ball, nor one-twos out of the backline.
• Xavier Ellis:
  

  If I were an Ellis owner I would be so sick of him by now – so often he starts games strongly before fading away in the second half. In this game, at quarter time he was the second highest point getter on the ground with 33 DT points – he then went on to rack up just 21 points for the rest of the game. Disappointing and frustrating stuff.

• Jarryd Roughead: Once again the Buddy showed prevented Roughy from having0 much effect on the game as he constantly played decoy to Franklin’s leads. He finished with two goals, but it should have been more when playing on a lower-grade defender such as Lonergan.

Blip on the Radar:

• Brad Ottens: Ottens returned this week from his extended stint on the sidelines with injury and competed well. My worry though is going to be how long he will last before re-injuring himself. He has such a poor injury history that he is simply not worth the risk of bringing into your team. Don’t even give the notion a thought – I’d trade Mark Blake in before Ottens and that’s saying something!

West Coast vs Adelaide:

Looking Good:

• Ricky Henderson: He’s only played a few games, but he was sensational across all four quarter as a ball-winning half-forward. He kicked three goals and racked up 22 disposals, making plenty of coaches with him as emergency happy when Goddard withdrew later that night.
• Kurt Tippett: Tippett turned this game all on his own off his own boot in the last quarter when the game was still up for grabs. He looked so powerful in the forward line and both marked and kicked very strongly – two features of his game that haven’t been so brilliant this year. He could perhaps be on the rise and a good late-season smokey to come good for finals.
• Matt Rosa: Was given the freedom to be his own player this week instead of having to follow an opponent’s tail as a tagger and he thrived with the opportunity, as he has shown several times before. I wouldn’t trade him in this year, but I am certainly penning his name into my watch-list book for 2011.

Disappointing:

• Josh Kennedy: Only kicked the two behinds whilst being totally dominated by Rutten. The lack of quality delivery is really going to make it hard for him to beat a strong opponent such as Rutten.
• Phil Davis: For those who own Davis, now is the time to stop playing him on the field – whilst he was a good scorer for a few weeks, he is now being given exclusively shut-down roles, meaning his scoring has been very poor. He is certainly playing his role in the team, but unfortunately this is not going to help your Dream Team.
• Andrew Strijk: As seems to be an odd trend with 2010 debutants, Strijk had an average third game, punishing those who brought him into their squad for his ‘bubble’ game. I doubt he will lose his spot, but that won’t help those coaches who lost their games by a small margin.

Blip on the Radar:

• Everyone from West Coast: I don’t mean this to sound as harsh as it does, but at this stage of the year, avoid trading in any players from teams on the bottom of the ladder – especially the likes of West Coast who are going to have to start playing the kids to show how bright the future is to the members. We saw them make five changes this week – proof that there won’t be a consistent lineup in the Eagles for the remaining rounds.

Brisbane vs St.Kilda

Looking Good:

• Leigh Montagna: Was the Saints best, especially in the second quarter. Watching him closely, he is such a hard worker, running from contest to contest, it is no wonder why he scores so much every week.
• Simon Black: The Saints chose to focus their tagging attention to Power, allowing Black to run free, which saw him be one of the most damaging midfielders on the ground, racking up 29 touches, 9 marks and 7 tackles – all huge stats.
• Daniel Rich: His lack of form through the midfield has seen Voss move him to defence, a move that may just turn his season around. He was great, matching up on one the Saints small forwards and playing a rebounding role, with his great disposal off half-back really helping the Lions solve their recent issue of clean disposal out of the back half.

Disappointing:

• Justin Sherman: Was hardly sighted through the whole game – in fact I couldn’t even tell you where on the ground he played as I saw such little of him. Just 6 disposals is poor – especially for a player who wasn’t even tagged.
• Jack Steven: Seemed to suffer a bit from game time and lacked the luck that has seen him snag some vital goals the past couple of weeks. Will hopefully stay in the squad as his forward pressure has been great – also, his arrival has allowed Schneider to move into the midfield.
• Jason Gram: Played just over 60% game time in his first game back from injury. He floated in and out of the game, but clearly struggled to adjust to the pace for most of the game. Will be better after a few games back, but may need some time.

Blip on the Radar:

• Amon Buchanan: Didn’t have much of an opponent in the Saints backline as Fisher and Gilbert preferred to rebound than pay him attention. He has already shown this year though that he is not a viable DT option. He COULD have been a 2010 bargain, but fortunately not too many fell for the trick.

Richmond vs Fremantle:

Looking Good:

• Daniel Connors: AGAIN, he looked great off half-back and through the middle – This kid plays like he has some drive now. The past few years he has always seemed talented, but quite possibly be one of those players who doesn’t put in the yards and misses out on really making it. This year since his drinking indiscretion, Connors has been great, here amassing a career-high 35 disposals.
• Chris Newman: I keep saying not to pick up players from bottom teams, but if I were to break my own rule, Newman would be the man – he has been really consistent this past month or so and it simply loving being the Richmond captain at such an exciting time. His work off half-back is great and he also has the ability to play through the midfield – almost like Pavlich… but a defender.
• Adam McPhee: McPhee was Freo’s best player, playing mainly as their loose man in defence – he cut off so many Richmond forways forward that he was almost the player that kept Fremantle from being blown out. Good to see him back in defence where he belongs.

Disappointing:

• Hayden Ballantyne: Had little effect on the game, but will be remembered as the player that gave away the crucial 50-metre penalty late in the fourth quarter to put Richmond in front.
• Ben Nason: GODDARD ISN’T PLAYING!! I NEED YOU TO PERFORM! IT’S JUST A BLOODY CUT! PUT A BANDAID ON IT AN GET BACK OUT THERE, THEN IF IT’S REALLY TOO HARD, JUST SIT BEHIND THE BALL AND PLAY KICK-TO-KICK!!
• Ryan Crowley: Back to a tagging role this week, meaning no mega quarters, heck, not even any goals!

Blip on the Radar:

• Adam McPhee: Had to give him the credit for his good game… But let’s be honest… It’s Adam McPhee…

Sydney vs North Melbourne:

Looking Good:

• Adam Goodes: Paul Roos thought he’s “try something different” and throw Goodes into the midfield to try and re-invigorate him, and boy did it work! Goodes was prolific, racking up 33 touches and 11 tackles in one of the best individual games of the weekend. The only worry is that he was put back forward late in the game (and kicked three match-winning goals!), with Roos later hinting that this is where he would continue his season. So don’t get too excited about continued midfield time… yet.
• Tadhg Kennelly: Kennelly finally showed some form after plenty of terrible matches in a row. Running off half-back he amassed a whopping 34 disposals – his largest tally of the year.
• Nick Malceski: The Swans other rebounding defender was also having a good day at the office, equalling Kennelly’s 34 disposals. Malceski also kicked a goal, but unlike Kennelly he chose to handball more than kick.

Disappointing:

• Drew Petrie: I don’t quite understand why all these players keep getting rushed back a week too early – Petrie spent the game still clearly hampered by his foot injury and thus never got into any sort of rhythm. But by-golly, he’s gonna be cheap in 2011!
• Lachie Hansen: Although Petrie was ineffective, the Kangaroos still aimed most of their attacks at him, meaning the in-form Hansen was hardly able to trouble the statisticians. Only kicked the one behind.
• Jarrad McVeigh: The game of McVeigh was more a testament to the tagging skills of Rawlings than it was an indictment on McVeigh – so far in 2010 McVeigh has been one of the hardest men for taggers to stop with his leg-speed and great ability through traffic, but Rawlings worked hard all day to totally nullify him from the contest.

Blip on the Radar:

• Lewis Roberts-Thomson: I don’t know what it is about LRT, but he seems to suck some DTers in more than many other players. I can tell you now though that he is NOT the type of player you want. He plays the full-back role in a low-possession team, yet sometimes is allowed to junk up a bit – not Brian Lake junk (which sees a lot of points earned from reading the play) – simple, honest, “OMG I don’t wanna kick this up the middle” sort of junk stats. Stay wellllllll away!

Essendon vs Melbourne:

Looking Good:

• Brad Green: Green started strongly with the first goal and didn’t let up from there, pushing on for best on ground honours. He finished the game with five goals, switching between half-forward and the midfield.
• Jason Winderlich: One of Essendon’s few standouts – ran hard all day and continued to rack up the pill. He finished with 30 disposals and seven marks, but really lacked much help from his teammates.
• Colin Sylvia: Made it back into the side for the first time in a few weeks and played very well, treating those owners who have kept hold of him through thick and thin. Kicked two goals amongst 29 disposals. Like Green, Sylvia rotated through the forward line and on the ball.

Disappointing:

• Patrick Ryder: Was quite easily beaten by Jamar, which was surprising. He held his own in the ruck but only managed the 10 disposals around the ground. Paddy tends to play better with Hille in the side, who should hopefully return next week.
• Kyle Reimers: Played the game as a forward and only contributed a goal. Reimers is a player who could be anything, and I think we can see this in DT land, but unfortunately his inconsistency robs him. Really needs a big pre-season next year and we could hopefully look to 2011 as a real breakout year for him.
• Paul Johnson: Was essentially a pointless inclusion as Jamar was allowed to pretty much ruck on his own anyway.

Blip on the Radar:

• Jay Neagle: Performed well with three goals, but I worry about Neagle’s consistency at his age. He won’t perform too well against top teams yet, plus he is not the type of player to be targeting at this time of year anyway.

Western Bulldogs vs Carlton:

Looking Good:

• Matthew Boyd: This guy just screams captain – gets the hard ball, uses it well, and what’s more, he does it all the way til the final siren. Will never give you half-baked effort, so expect consistently high scores.
• Bryce Gibbs: Played through the middle, which was a sight for sore eyes. He still did drop behind the ball at times, but at least he wasn’t playing a stopper’s role deep in defence. Surprisingly though, he did turn it over quite a bit – though thankfully, this doesn’t make a lick of difference to dream team!
• Brian Lake: Gee he’s good. I’ve decided to stop being so critical of him and just watch him play – and I’ve become to realise that his disposals aren’t just cheapies, but whilst not all contested, he reads the opposition kicks so well, leading to him chopping off plenty of forays forwards with his strong marking. There is no wonder he is leading the competition for marks this year – I take back every bad thing I have said, he IS a great dream team option!

Disappointing:

• Eddie Betts: No easy ball here, Eddie – 7 possessions, no goals.
• Setanta O’Hailpin: Played a shut-down role on Lake – it worked wonders, restricting Lake to just 28 touches and 8 marks… Setanta was also damaging the other way with two of his three disposals hitting the target…
• Paul Bower: His owners would have been relieved to just see him on the field playing footy, but his meagre 59 points would certainly have been disappointing. He played much more defensively orientated than earlier in the season, but as Ratten seems to change everyone’s roles each week, perhaps he will be the rebounder again next week… or maybe a small forward…

Blip on the Radar:

• Shaun Hampson: He was decent, but don’t expect his score to keep doubling every week… Expect a 60 average and not a lot more.