Footy Tragic

St.Kilda vs Hawthorn:

Looking Good:

• Lenny Hayes: This game was perfectly suited to Lenny, who loves hard fought contests through which he can tackle all day long. His match-up on Hodge was fantastic, and he was allowed enough room to rack up 30 disposals and 11 tackles.
• Luke Hodge: Hodgey was brilliant… again! Watching him streak away from clearances, or pass off a brilliant underground handball, you simply watch him with awe. In fact, if he doesn’t win the Brownlow this year, the umpires have a lot to answer for! He finished this game with 33 touches – his mediocre 3 tackles meant he didn’t score much higher than a ton.
• Nick Riewoldt: Three games back and he is starting to look much more like his old self. Despite kicking all the Saints behinds for the night, his confidence in pack marking and chasing and harassing his opponent hasn’t waned. With the Saints’ brilliant run over the next month, he could be due for some big scores.

Disappointing:

• Sam Gilbert: Was dragged deep in defence by Osborne, so saw very little rebounding action. Opposition teams are working out how important Gilbo is to the Saints, but fortunately for them they also have Fisher and Gwilt in their arsenal, meaning they don’t need to be overly concerned when Gilbert is taken deep. He should bounce back though I would assume.
• Jordan Lewis: Continued his forward tagging role this week, however to less effect than against Brisbane last week. Unfortunately for Lewis, Sam Fisher is also a good defender in his own right, meaning that playing on him will likely mean you are left missing in action too. I was surprised though that they didn’t throw him into the guts when the game was in the balance late.
• Leigh Montagna: Was playing well until he pulled a groin muscle when he slipped on the Etihad surface. The Saints are playing a no risk policy at this time of year, so there will be plenty of nervous owners waiting to see how he trains this week.

Blip on the Radar:

• Ben McEvoy: Played one of his best games for the club, which included kicking the goal that drew the match. Whilst he does appear to have the attributes needed to be a good ball-winning ruckman, he isn’t necessarily an athletic ruckman who can win plenty of ball around the ground (i.e. Cox and Kruezer), but more of a smart ruckman who knows where to run to intercept kicks in defence, as well as kicking the odd goal when dropping forward. His scoring is hugely inconsistent, so stay well away.

Collingwood vs Richmond:

Looking Good:

• Dane Swan: Another 37 touches for Swanny in another best on ground performance. I feel like I say the same thing in this article every week – the guy’s a gun. Plain and simple. If you don’t have him, you really want to start doing the maths to work out how to get him. And if you do have him, never ever ever move the ‘C’ away from his name!
• Alan Didak: Despite copping the King tag for most of the day, Dids pretty much did as he pleased, racking up 28 touches, as well as dropping forward for three bonus goals.
• Mitch Morton: Played an interesting game in the back half, rather than in his usual spot up forward. He looked confident (although I think over confidence may have been one of his issues earlier in his career) and was one of Richmond’s few highlights. I wouldn’t touch him though!

Disappointing:

• Dustin Martin: Never really got into the game until late, when he then unfortunately copped a knee in the back which put him back out of the action. He still got 17 touches, but handballed way too much.
• Jack Riewoldt:
  

  To kick two goals on Presti you have to be doing something right! But unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to hold his lofty average, which now seems to be slipping over the past fortnight. We must remember that this is still a breakout season for him and we must take the good with the bad.

• Sharrod Wellingham: Didn’t get too involved in the party, picking up only 17 rather poor disposals. I doubt he will get dropped, but needs to stay in form to keep his spot in a side that has close to half a dozen players knocking on the door.

Blip on the Radar:

• Alex Rance: Played around the flanks for most of the game and racked up a reasonable amount of ball. However we have already seen this year he is not in the best-22 yet, so don’t be trading him in on the back of one good score, even as an emergency.

Geelong vs Brisbane:

Looking Good:

• Joel Selwood: Selwood has been the in-form Cat midfielder over the past month, and again played in amazing fashion, racking up a huge 41 disposals, 9 marks and 10 tackles, culminating in the biggest score of the round.
• Gary Ablett Jnr: Interestingly played a lot more time in the forward line, and although finishing with just 26 disposals, his work up forward netted him five goals, resulting in his large score. I have a suspicion he is a little underdone at the moment, but if he can rest up forward and kick five goals, I’m happy for him to see out the season up there!
• Jack Redden: I really, really rate this kid – he is smart and tough and knows how to find the ball. Whilst Brisbane have a number of young midfielders coming through their ranks, this kid is my favourite. He finished this game with 25 touches and 10 marks – great figures for a player of his age against an opposition of such quality.

Disappointing:

• Corey Enright: This is the third week now that Enright has made the disappointing list… Once again a forward tag has shut him down and once again he did very little about it, finishing with just 19 disposals. He MUST improve, or plenty of coaches are going to get very burned!
• Brendan Fevola: I think it is time that we resigned to the fact that the Fevola trade is the worst thing to happen to Brisbane – he has been a spud of the highest order this year and looks nowhere near getting any better. His body language lets the rest of the team down and he deserves to be dropped. I’m sure Brisbane wish they could have their time all over again.
• Daniel Rich: Was shut down by Ling and had zero effect on the match, finishing with just 12 touches. 2010 just hasn’t been his year.

Blip on the Radar:

• David Wojcinski: Wojo has never been and will never be a good dream teamer. He is a role player for Geelong and has good run and carry skills with his great pace. In thrashings like this one, his scoring tends to lift with his team, but this is not something you should expect consistently from him.

Essendon vs North Melbourne:

Looking Good:

• Andrew Swallow: Swallow was again prolific through the midfield – he has worked so hard to become a player capable of the tough stuff, as well as being able to spread wide and create an option for his teammates. Not only does this allow him to plenty of the ball, but also helps him get to damaging spots on the ground, such as the forward line, where he has become able to kick a few goals.
• Jobe Watson: Watson is thriving under the captaincy, racking up over 40 touches as the best player for his team on the night. He has got a real good footy head on him and knows how to get the best out of himself – with these traits he will rarely have a bad game.
• Kyle Hardingham: Hardingham was the story of the night – he was a mature aged rookie taken by Essendon in the pre-season draft last year and played the game as a forward. As it seems, he has a great set of hands on him and can kick at goal pretty accurately. He finished the night with four goals and a contender for mark of the year. You can pick him up as a midfielder for just under $100k.

Disappointing:

• Daniel Wells: In one of the stranger stories of the weekend, owners of Wells would have been mighty disappointed when he strained his quad with the last kick of the warm up. Obviously, he couldn’t play, but plenty of owners would have been very happy the Roos were able to bring Hale into the squad, meaning you weren’t left with a big fat zero from Wells which would actually count as his score.
• Brent Prismall: Came in as a late inclusion and made a few blues that didn’t help his cause to stay in the team. I don’t understand why he keeps getting dropped, but I wouldn’t be expecting him to survive after an average performance like this one.
• Ben Cunnington: I know he is still a kid, but the best DT scoring player through the TAC cup has certainly been a bit of a disappointment this year. He is showing signs he will be a good player in the future, but is currently not winning enough of the ball.

Blip on the Radar:

• Levi Greenwood: Greenwood had less of a role to play than usual so spent chunks of time on the ball, leading him to his biggest score of the year. Don’t be expecting too many like this though.

West Coast vs Carlton:

Looking Good:

• Kade Simpson: Was the Blues best midfielder on the night, despite wearing a close tag. Finished with 33 disposals and 12 marks for the game, easily the best on ground.
• Andrew Strijk: Strijk was particularly good early until a high bump ruled him out later in the game. Was one of West Coast’s best players, with his strong runs and pin-point forward entries a highlight. He looks to be a real find for the Eagles.
• Marc Murphy: Murphy finished with just 26 disposals, but his two late goals were the sealers for the Blues. He still doesn’t seem to be playing at his best, but I’d still take 106 points from him anyday!

Disappointing:

• Dean Cox: Cox was really average, after impressing over the past fortnight. He finished with just 8 touches and 16 hitouts, playing second fiddle to Naitanui.
• Robert Warnock: Those hoping this game would galvanise his spot in the team may have been a little worried when he racked up just 10 disposals for the game – 9 of which were handballs. He was also beaten in the ruck contests by Naitanui.
• Ashton Hams: Had another decent game, but a high bump on Armfield that sent him to hospital will be looked at very closely. Could be looking at a few weeks on the sidelines.

Blip on the Radar:

• Shaun Grigg: Grigg had a reasonable game playing around the midfield and half-forward line. He plays well as a ball-winner, but my worry is that we have seen this same scoring from him in previous seasons, only for him to pull out plenty of mid-20 scores too.

Western Bulldogs vs Fremantle:

Looking Good:

• Daniel Cross: Crossy seemed to get just about every possible hard ball all day, picking up 31 touches in another dominant display. He is a great dream teamer from seasons past, yet is highly (and strangely) unheralded in plenty of DT circles. He wins plenty of ball and is a tackle machine. Consider him if you need a midfielder.
• Jarrod Harbrow: Ran around in the backline, picking up stats at will, especially in the second half when the Dogs played plenty of kick-to-kick games in the back half. Certainly a good score, but don’t be depending on these sorts of numbers from him too often in the future.
• Nick Suban: He did this last year – played the last half-dozen or so matches with aplomb, and fingers crossed he can repeat the feat this year. He was one of Freo’s better players in this game, finishing with 24 touches on the wing.

Disappointing:

• Stephen Hill: Once again tagged out of the game and had very little influence. Received no help from his teammates.
• Aaron Sandilands: Won in the hitouts, but was beaten around the ground by Hudson and Roughead. He doesn’t have too many shockers, so expect him to bounce back quickly.
• Dylan Roberton: Played up forward rather than as a rebounding defender as he has done for the past few weeks. Unfortunately, in a game that saw the ball travel into Freo’d forward line very few times, it was unlikely Roberton would score very highly.

Blip on the Radar:

• Roger Hayden: I really like Hayden as a player, but I think it’s a real shame he doesn’t play a more attacking role for Fremantle. He has great speed and creativity, but his defensiveness stifles this attribute. So until he is given a new role, expect very few scores like this one.

Melbourne vs Sydney:

Looking Good:

• Colin Sylvia: I’m loving Sylvia’s form recently – it has now been three plus-100 scores in a row and he has been looking very good, playing predominantly as a midfielder. He continued his recent trend in this game with 28 disposals and 7 tackles. Fingers crossed he can keep the run going!
• Adam Goodes: Speaking of good recent form, Goodes clocked in another very good game, albeit playing much more forward of centre than probably hoped. He was being tagged by Morton so kept trying to drag him to full-forward, and it worked, with Goodes kicking four goals as one of Sydney’s few influential players.
• Brad Green: Green was back playing his forward role which he is so good at – he knows exactly where to lead and is Melbourne’s best kick at goal. He finished with five goals for the game whilst rotating between a selection of opponents.

Disappointing:

• Ryan O’Keefe: What a shocking game – O’Keefe was tagged by Bruce but did virtually nothing to prevent it. He spent most of his time up forward and seemed resigned to losing the battle. He better pull his finger out soon as this display needs a lot of making up for!
• Tadhg Kennelly: Kennelly was also tagged and hardly did much of a better job than O’Keefe at breaking it. Melbourne were too good on every line and once again Sydney looked like they knew they would lose since 10 minutes into the first quarter.
• Jack Watts: It always frustrates me when a team kicks over 20 goals, yet their full-forward can only muster one of those goals. This was the case with Watts in this game, with him booting just the solitary goal from 9 disposals.

Blip on the Radar:

• James Frawley: Frawley has the potential to be a future star – whilst most of his early career he has been a strictly defensive player, he has had the odd game where he has created plenty of run from the half-back line. This was one and it was hopefully a sign of things to come from him. Unfortunately though, season 2010 is probably not an option, but certainly keep an eye on his pre-season next year!

Port Adelaide vs Adelaide:

Looking Good:

• Domenic Cassisi: Cassisi was amazing through the midfield – in fact, although he finished with 28 touches, it felt more like 40, such was his presence. It was Port’s one-touch clearance work and clean hands that won them the game and Cassisi epitomised this. He also lead the way with their strong focus on tackles with a whopping 12!
• Troy Chaplin: Chaplin was great rebounding out of defence for Port, cutting off so many Adelaide forward forays and running them straight back out. Adelaide tried to shut him down but really had no answer as he finished with 26 disposals and 11 marks.
• Justin Westhoff: Westhoff was great at CHF, beating a very significant player in Bock. His four goals all came at pivotal times, and unlike his opponents, he seemed capable and confident of kicking them from anywhere.

Disappointing:

• Kurt Tippett: Was hardly sighted until he moved into the ruck in the last quarter, yet still to little avail. Whilst not doing much this year, Crows supporters can at least be excited at the potential of their young team over the next few years with the likes of Tippett, Walker, Vince, Mackay and Dangerfield all looking like potential stars.
• Taylor Walker: Had plenty of chances to get the Crows back into the game but continually missed his shots at goal, finishing with 2.4 for the evening.
• Robbie Gray: Lacked the match fitness to play such a high intensity game straight back from injury. He was also well held by Johncock, but just struggled to win his own ball. Will get better though I am sure.

Blip on the Radar:

• Matt Thomas: Thomas, aka. ‘The Crow Killer’ loves his showdowns, and it was to be expected that he would run rampant in this game. He has in fact been scoring quite well this year, but still he averages too low to really consider him for selection. He plays his roles perfectly so there is no reason for Port to play him as a more attacking player. Therefore, keep away.