Footy Tragic

Carlton vs Essendon:

Looking Good:

• Jeff Garlett: Garlett was brilliant as the Blues’ main avenue to goal and was able to slip around the packs, landing himself a career-high six goals. It isn’t form I’d expect him to show in every game, but it is really pleasing to see what the kid is capable of!
• Brent Stanton: Stanton was again a fantastic DT-slut through the game – despite not being in amazing form, he still manages to rack up the ball week to week. I am slightly concerned about his spot in the team (Knights keeps giving him ‘jobs’ – the first sign that Knights is trying to teach him a lesson), but as long as he plays he will rack them up!
• Chris Judd: Judd had a real return to form after a couple of quiet matches recently. I think the inclusions of Hadley and Robinson have really helped Judd around the clearances as he is not the only one left to win the contested ball. Finished with 28 touches and 5 tackles.

Disappointing:

• Jordan Russell: Monfries gave Russell the forward-tag treatment and he didn’t cope… again. He is still young and seems like a player capable of beating a tag moving forward, but perhaps he is a speculative pick in the remaining rounds.
• Cale Hooker: I talked him up last week after a super game on Riewoldt, but he was back acting as a dour defender this week, picking up just the 8 touches.

• Bachar Houli: Another player to have a breakout game last week, Houli was not so impressive this week. The lesson learned is to give younger players time before trading them in – and a similar lesson should be given to Knights about dropping them.

Blip on the Radar:

• Richard Hadley: He is that potential smokey to rack up some good numbers in the remaining rounds this year, but I still don’t like his prospects of staying in the team for the remaining rounds. Also, he is probably every chance to do his hamstring or something!

Sydney vs Hawthorn:

Looking Good:

• Heath Grundy: Grundy was brilliant, playing both a negating role on Franklin and a rebounding role out of the back half, racking up 32 disposals and 11 marks in the process. He has been very inconsistent lately, so hopefully he can back this up over the next few weeks.
• Kieren Jack: Jack was a clear BOG for mine – his ability to find space, combined with his sheer willingness to win the hard ball, then hunt the opposition when they had it was simply brilliant. He reminds me very much of one of my favourites – Lenny Hayes – and is continuing to get better. Could be a huge DT improver for 2011 – watch this space!
• Lance Franklin: All credit to Buddy – he continued to lead hard all the way to the final siren, despite his team being totally flogged. To me he has always seemed like a player who would turn the engines off when the game was lost, but fortunately, his continued presenting created opportunities for three late goals.

Disappointing:

• Simon Taylor: When Sandilands was deemed unfit to tackle North Melbourne, it is fair to say there was plenty of devastated dream teamers. Then when thousands of those coaches got wind that Skipper was dropped for Taylor, the week went from bad to worse. Unfortunately, Taylor played a dud of a game, rubbing salt into the wounds of pissed off Skipper owners.
• Rhyce Shaw: When Shaw does get a chance to run out of the backline he does look very good and confident, but the problem is the minimal times he does actually rebound. With Malceski and Kennelly both in the squad, he often finds him self just defending rather than rebounding.
• Clinton Young: I am making an example of Young here as he was one of the worst of Hawthorn’s midfield, which as a unit played really poorly. All of Young, Hodge, Sewell, Ellis and Osbourne had afternoons to forget.

Blip on the Radar:

• Lewis Jetta: There was not a person at the SCG not willing this kid to kick his first AFL goal after kicking 19 behinds in a row in his first year of AFL football. After finally kicking that magical goal in the last quarter, Jetta’s performance has become part of folklore – but don’t be distracted – that is an accuracy rate of 5% for the year…

North Melbourne vs Fremantle:

Looking Good:

• Brent Harvey: Harvey had a brilliant ‘tick-every-box’ game, with stacks of stats in every column. Despite an apparent tag from Van Berlo, Harvey ran rampant, racking up 34 touches, 8 tackles, 9 marks and kicked 3 goals – awesome stuff!
• Brady Rawlings: Rawlings has had a brilliant season, following the current trend of taggers capable of winning their own ball. Here, he not only clearly smashed Hill, but racked up 39 disposals of his own. His workrate is clearly amazing and he is a player who typically works very hard for each of his touches.
• Hamish McIntosh: In a week where Sandi went down, Big-Mac stepped up, taking advantage of Freo’s depleted ruck stocks. He tallied up 26 touches, 11 marks and banged through two bonus goals.

Disappointing:

• Stephen Hill: As stated above, he was smashed by Rawlings and had absolutely no impact on the game.
• Matthew Pavlich: Just the solitary behind from the Freo skipper was not a good way to get his troops firing. Was regularly beaten in the forward line and rarely ventured into the midfield.
• Lindsay Thomas: Thomas was about the only Roo who didn’t join in the party. Disappointing.

Blip on the Radar:

• Leigh Harding: Leigh Harding is probably the main reason why I have a column called ‘Blip on the Radar’ after he sucked in so many coaches last year with a string of good games to start the season, only to fall away with inconsistency and low scoring. Once bitten, twice shy – don’t go there again!

Collingwood vs Geelong:

Looking Good:

• Alan Didak: The bonus of big games like this is that teams will tend to only tag one or two key individuals – fortunately for Didak, Pendlebury copped the Ling tag, allowing him to run much more freely than he has all year. He continued his good recent form with 35 touches, 8 marks and a goal, playing predominantly as a midfielder.
• Dane Swan: We questioned whether he could do it against the best, and those who avoided making him captain deserved to miss out on the massive score he produced once again. Never doubt the Great Dane – NEVER!
• Dale Thomas: This game was another big test for Daisy, a player who is known for fading on the big stage. Fortunately, he stuck it in his doubters faces with a 23 disposal, 7 tackle game, further asserting himself as a great player.

Disappointing:

• James Podsiadly: For the second time this year, Pods has failed on the big stage. He booted just the one goal and looked out of his depth. Many seem to be trading him off now, and personally I believe that this is probably the right thing to be doing.
• Leon Davis: Davis, once again, failed to make any impact, kicking just the 2 behinds. He can’t cope with a lack of space in the forward line and doesn’t seem prepared to work hard enough to create space.
• James Kelly: Kelly has had a super consistent year in 2010, but got caught spending too much time chasing his opponent than winning a kick unfortunately. He did finish with 20 disposals, but most of them were handballs.

Blip on the Radar:

• Brent Macaffer: I think Macaffer shows a lot of spark and a lot of potential to be a really good player in the years to come. However, at this time of year the last thing you want to do is gamble on a mid-priced 20-game player who is no guarantee of seeing out the season.

Brisbane vs West Coast:

Looking Good:

• Scott Selwood: Selwood has been getting gradually better and better this season, and personally I have seen a few of his games as potential one-offs. But full credit to the kid, he worked really hard in this game and looks to be pushing himself to a new level. He finished with 28 disposals, 8 marks, 8 tackles and a goal. Could be a great pick for 2011.
• Jonathan Brown: Brown wasn’t brilliant all game, in fact he was far from his best, but as Brown has a habit of doing, he stood up when it counted, booting the goal that won the game for the Lions. He finished with five goals from 10 marks and 15 disposals for the game.
• Michael Rischitelli: Rischitelli seems destined for his first Lions B&F, as he has clearly been their most consistent player this year. Again he was their strongest midfielder, finishing with 29 disposals and 6 tackles.

Disappointing:

• Aaron Cornelius: Took Fev’s spot in the team and scored Fev’s mandatory 15 points. Deserves to keep his spot though on previous performances alone.
• Brad Ebert: Ebert is starting to find life a little harder thanks to the newfound attention from taggers. He couldn’t break through the tag and finished with just 10 disposals.
• Mark LeCras: LeCras has been brilliant this year – especially over the past month since booting 12 goals against Essendon. Unfortunately, he now seems to put it on himself to kick all of his teams goals, meaning he rarely passes anything off to his teammates. He finished with two goals here, but needs to learn to be less greedy sometimes.

Blip on the Radar:

• Joel Patful: Patful is a bit of a floater (or ‘Utility’ in AFL lingo) – and this season has mainly seen him drift between defence and as a tagger. Now, with Maguire back he has moved into the midfield to play tagging roles, but don’t always expect them to be point-winning roles. He is a highly inconsistent DTer and not worthy of a spot in your team.

St.Kilda vs Port Adelaide:

Looking Good:

• Adam Schneider: Schneids was on fire in this game – he not only bobbed up for three goals, but alongside Riewoldt he totally marshalled the half-forward line, touching the ball almost every time it went forward. His current role sees him playing through the midfield in bursts to lose his opponent before dropping forward and providing an option. Racked up 30 possessions, 13 marks and 5 tackles.
• Lenny Hayes: Hayes had another terrific game, tackling anyone that went anywhere near him. He was the best midfielder on ground, constantly finding space (he was constantly left alone as TWO port players were tagging Montagna…), as well as providing an option up forward, kicking two goals for the game.
• Sam Gilbert: Gilbert had one of his best games for the year and had a new sense of determination after having little effect on the past few matches. He finished with 21 disposals, but his 7 tackles were highlights – all made to hurt. He is playing with a newfound aggression and it is fantastic – Lyon is also rewarding him with brief stints through the midfield.

Disappointing:

• Danyle Pearce: As usual, Pearce resigned to his tagger about halfway through the first term and was as comprehensively beaten as any other time this year.
• David Rodan: Rodan has the ability to tear the Saints a new A-Hole – and he knows this! Yet still, he gave into the tag early and did very little to break it, rarely running to space or properly presenting.
• Nathan Krakouer: Whilst the above two couldn’t stop from being shut-down, Krakouer did one of the worst shut-down jobs of the year, letting Schneider off the leash way to frequently, whilst only picking up 11 touches himself.

Blip on the Radar:

• Jason Blake: When Blake is going for runs up the wings, you know your side is being smashed. Blake is in the bottom few in the AFL for metres gained from kicks, proving he is not an option regularly used when the Saints move forward. He does enjoy kick-to-kick and there was plenty of this late in this match.

Melbourne vs Richmond:

Looking Good:

• Liam Jurrah: Jurrah played one of his best games for the club, igniting them across the line with four goals. He was at his high-leaping best, pulling in 8 marks from 17 touches. He doesn’t play a game-style very suitable to DT though, so don’t be too expectant of this sort of score happening too regularly.
• Brad Green: Green continued on his great season with another fantastic game, kicking three goals in his high half-forward role. Melbourne have a good run home so could be a good smokey for some reasonable scoring over the next month.
• Ben Cousins: Cousins once again turned back the clock with a great midfield performance. He not only clocked up an impressive 26 touches, but also drifted forward for two goals.

Disappointing:

• Jack Riewoldt: Riewoldt was smashed all day by Frawley, who was constantly able to beat him in one-one-one contests – something that Riewoldt has been fantastic at all season. He kicked just the one goal for the game in a sign that he may also be tiring after a long season.
• Ben Nason: Nason not only had just the 9 touches, but his four frees against ensured he had a terribly low score.
• Mark Jamar: Jamar competed well in the ruck but did very little else around the ground, picking up only 5 disposals for the game.

Blip on the Radar:

• Kelvin Moore: Moore has been an occasionally big scorer this year with some large numbers like 109, 90, 86 and 93… however these numbers are littered with other scores like 21, 33, 41, 31 and 26. Simply, he is a defender that occasionally gets a forward lacking much defensive pressure (e.g. Jurrah), meaning he is much more capable of zoning off for loose ball. Therefore, unless if you also like the look of those lower scores, stay well clear.

Western Bulldogs vs Adelaide:

Looking Good:

• Daniel Giansiracusa: Gia played much more in the midfield, allowing him to rack up his third ton in a row. He played a very good game, tackling hard and working hard to get into space. He did also drift forward on occasion, allowing just the one goal on this occasion. He also had 30 touches, 9 marks and 6 tackles for the game.
• Scott Thompson: The Crows midfield actually appeared to be on top for most of this match and it was well led by Thompson, who already had 20 disposals to half time. He finished with 33 disposals, 5 marks and 7 tackles for the game – hopefully he can continue this on, despite the Crows finals hopes being shut out thanks to this loss.
• Brad Symes: Symes was a general across half-back, alongside Johncock and Bock, both of whom were also very influential. Symes stood out as the main rebounder of the three and his 11 tackles were also a highlight.

Disappointing:

• Barry Hall: Jack Riewoldt would have been one of the few happy watchers when BBBBBBBH didn’t kick a single goal all game, leaving Riewoldt one goal clear in the race for the Coleman medal.
• Lindsay Gilbee: Gilbee had a night I’m sure he will prefer to forget, not only for being kept relatively quiet by Douglas, but also due to him turning it over almost every time he did actually get a chance to dispose of the ball.
• Taylor Walker: Walker kicked no goals for the whole game, with Henderson seemingly taking over his role at the half-forward line. Needs to find some form and fast.

Blip on the Radar:

• Ben Hudson: I don’t know what it is about Huddo, but he loves playing in the rain – he always seems to rack up some decent numbers in this sort of weather. But despite this, he is not the big man for your team. Whilst consistent, he never scores enough to figure in DT calculations, sorry.