Footy Tragic

Collingwood vs Essendon:

Looking Good:

• Travis Cloke: Cloke was dominant up forward, accurately slotting through five of his first six attempts at goal – unfortunately he then missed with his next four attempts. Regardless, he totally dominated Hooker and looked in some really good form, especially with the quality delivery coming to him.
• Jarryd Blair: Blair was a real livewire for the Pies, and I thought his form was one of the biggest positives from a night that really just looked like a routine pumping. He worked really confidently around packs and tackles hard – he will be very hard to nudge out of the team come September if he keeps this form up.
• Scott Pendlebury: Pendlebury notched up another classy game, finishing with 32 disposals and 10 marks. He is thriving without so much attention from taggers now that Didak and Swan are becoming bigger targets. His year has gone somewhat unheralded, but those who have owned him from the start have been well rewarded in 2010.

Disappointing:

• Ricky Dyson: Continually ran in to trouble and turned over plenty of ball. The Pies pressure made him look terrible.
• Paul Medhurst: Malthouse said it himself, Medhurst looked too much like a VFL player than an AFL one, meaning his spot in the team looks gone. He didn’t play with enough intensity and unfortunately for him there are better players knocking on the door to get into the side.
• Kyle Hardingham: Hardingham was allowed no room to leap by Presti, quelling him to just five disposals with no score. He could be a good 2011 option though.

Blip on the Radar:

• None: For only the second time this year, I found it virtually impossible to debate the scores of anyone from this game.

Carlton vs Richmond:

Looking Good:

• Chris Judd: Juddy is proving that his form from earlier in the year is definitely back with another BOG display. He is clearly being helped by the Blues new ‘tough-football’ mantra, which means that he won’t be the only player putting his head over the ball. He now can be fed the ball on the run and there are few footy followers who aren’t familiar with how unstoppable Judd is on the burst!
• Daniel Connors: Connors is one of the biggest improvers in the AFL this season, again leading Richmond is disposals coming off the backline. He plays with much more determination and drive than he has shown in his cameo appearances the last few years and now looks a player who will continue to deliver.
• Lachie Henderson: Deserves a mention for his best game of the year – Lachie booted three goals and set up plenty more, playing a true CHF role. The Blues certainly have a talent on their hands and he looks capable of developing over the next few years.

Disappointing:

• Bryce Gibbs: Once again Gibbs was stuck in the backline for some bizarre reason – clearly he has a good kick on him, but surely he would be better utilised playing through the middle! Especially considering his role in the backline takes away from other players such as Russell and Bower. Hopefully we can see him in the midfield next week against the Cats.
• Jack Riewoldt: Riewoldt was very well played by Jamison and only managed the two goals for the game. He looks to be slowing down after a long season, but will hopefully be back up and firing at round one next year.
• Chris Newman: Newman was held pretty tight by Robinson who gave him very little room to move all night. Fortunately though for Newman’s owners, Richmond will play St.Kilda next week, a team who love allowing a spare man in defence as it allows Goddard to be free. So don’t write him off just yet.

Blip on the Radar:

• Andrew Carrazzo: Carrazzo once again played a tagging role (on Deledio) and again proved that his DT scoring is totally shot thanks to this role. Some late junk stats helped belie his score, so don’t be holding hope for a resurgance.

Sydney vs Fremantle:

Looking Good:

• Daniel Hannebery: The 2010 Rising Star winner (Surely!) had another fantastic game, raking in a career-high 38 touches. He is becoming a master of the handball-receive and has the work-rate of a star. This kid will be great and it won’t take him too long to get there! Thank goodness Sydney finally decided to start playing their kids this season!
• Shane Mumford: Despite stating post-match that he was disappointed when Sandilands withdrew for the game, Mummy still looked like he enjoyed himself, beating up on Bradley and Clarke, Freo’s two fill-ins for big 211. He finished with 22 possessions and 30 hitouts.
• Greg Broughton: Was again one of Freo’s best, roaming between the midfield and the backline. There is no doubting this kid’s ball-winning abilities as he finished with a team high 24 disposals – he also chimed in for a goal.

Disappointing:

• Adam Goodes: It was not hugely surprising that Goodes struggled against Freo with so many bigger-boddied players whom they could play on him (Pavlich, McPhee and McPharlin – all very good opponents who would match well on Goodes). He ended the game with just 15 disposals – his lowest output in over a month!
• Stephen Hill: In a funny set of circumstances, not only was Hill tagged right out of the game by Shaw, but he ended up tagging Shaw by the end of the game as he was having the much greater effect on the game of the two. He needs a big pre-season to build his tank, and if he does he is certainly worth considering for 2011.

Blip on the Radar:

• Dylan Roberton: I like this kid, but he is being used predominantly as a dour defender – his point scoring is often coming from switching of play and hence plenty of uncontested ball. He should become a 2011 regular, but I wouldn’t pencil him in as a DT improver.

Western Bulldogs vs Geelong:

Looking Good:

• Gary Ablett Jnr: Ablett finally looked like he was playing free of burden – whilst is seems like a big and somewhat bizarre call, his return to being a straight midfielder certainly seems to be causing him to hit form. On many occasions this year it has become apparent he is not happy with some of the alternate roles given to him, but in this game he looked back to his best, streaming out of clearances, running to fifty and bombing goals. He looks to once again be captain material.
• Joel Selwood: As the Cats built momentum, so does Selwood, dominating possession through the middle with Ablett and regularly delivering the ball inside fifty with precision. 35 touches, 8 marks and 2 goals was a great night for him.
• Daniel Giansiracusa: Gia continued his midfield role and it is really where he should stay as he was once again one of the Doggies few good players. He works very hard to present around the wings and puts his head over the ball when needed. He is finally repaying all the coaches who had to hang tough over a dry month or so in the latter half of the year.

Disappointing:

• Brian Lake: Lake looked totally off the boil, losing contests to Pods and rarely looking confident enough to run off. He tried going forward late but still couldn’t muster much effect onto the contest.
• Shaun Higgins: Higgins was hardly sighted for much of the night and was rarely seen winning his own ball. He is too frequently waiting outside packs to receive the ball and against a side like Geelong, the ball is out and in their forward line before you have a chance of touching it.
• Tom Hawkins: The Cats are clearly trying to play Hawkins into form in the ruck and look settled with Mooney and Pods as their two main forwards. My guess is that they will give him another week or two and if the form doesn’t arrive, he will be out and Blake will be in. Unfortunately, this game did nothing for his chances of being in the side come finals.

Blip on the Radar:

• Dale Morris: Morris would be one of only a few Dogs who could have walked off Etihad Stadium with their head held high – he played on first gamer Menzel and it allowed him to regularly zone off, in effect playing Lake’s normal role. Unfortunately, Morris isn’t the second coming of Lake, he was simply in the right place to cover him through one very poor night at the office.

Port Adelaide vs West Coast:

Looking Good:

• Domenic Cassisi: The tackle machine racked up a stunning 14 tackles this game – 56 DT points worth! To add to that, Cassisi managed 29 disposals in a fantastic display. He is so good to watch and epitomises tough footy.
• Travis Boak: This kid is a gun – not only does he know how to win the footy (he got it 29 times), but he is very smart, knowing where to run and where to pass off. He also loves the one-two, which we certainly love in DT!
• Dean Cox: Cox didn’t star but did have a solid game in his 200^th. With Naitanui slowing down as the season concludes, Cox is able to resume more of the role he has played for most of his career. I feel this could be Cox’s last season of DT relevance though unfortunately.

Disappointing:

• Danny Meyer: I’m really not a fan of Meyer – he rarely does anything exciting, has no skills that particularly stand out, nor is he a great tackler or very good at getting the hard ball…
• Brad Sheppard: Hurt his shoulder early and hardly got into the game from there. He never particularly came along as expected in 2010 so could be a good option for 2011 if he is fairly priced.
• Quinten Lynch: The big Q-stick was held quiet by Trengove. He has been horribly out of sorts this year and if the rumours are true we will only see him in the WCE Guernsey two more times…

Blip on the Radar:

• Matt Thomas: I was really happy to see Matty given more freedom in this game – without the restraints of an opponent he was able to rampage through the middle, winning plenty of ball and tackling anyone in his way. It could be a real sign of things to come from a player typically given tagging roles in his few seasons at the club. I wouldn’t be jumping on now in fear it is a one-off, but certainly keep one eye on his pre-season next year.

Brisbane vs Adelaide:

Looking Good:

• Richard Douglas After hitting a bit of a dry spell over the last month or so, Douglas bounced back with great timing for his owners with a 31 disposal, two goal game. The early injury to Vince certainly helped him as he moved back into the middle after starting in the forward line. Hopefully he can complete the season in similar fashion.
• Kurt Tippett: Finally, Tippett kicked a winning score with five goals for the game. Giving further credit to him, he was competing against Daniel Merrett – a player certainly capable of holding his own one-one-one. Don’t be getting excited for the last two games (he has Collingwood and St.Kilda left), but maybe 2011 could be the year 2010 was meant to be.
• Mitch Clark: Clark filled the big hole up forward vacated by the injured Brown and Fevola and he performed very well, booting five goals. With Charman returning (I’ve heard that before) next year, perhaps we will see more of Clark up forward in the future – the position he was initially drafted to play.

Disappointing:

• Chris Knights: After talking him up as a risk, but one with a huge upside, that risk clearly proved too heavy to burden when he pulled his hamstring only minutes into the first quarter. For those looking for positives, this will leave Knights’ 2010 average sitting on 66.8, meaning he will be dirt-cheap come DT 2011.
• Bernie Vince: Another Crow to fall with injury early on, Vince hurt his knee in the second quarter. Scans during the week will determine whether or not we will see him again this year.
• Jed Adcock: Adcock is one of the hardest players to read – he is good at DT, then gets injured, returns and is bad at DT. He plays midfield and is OK, but is better in defence – sometimes. I don’t get it and I’m not even going to attempt to explain it…

Blip on the Radar:

• Jason Porplyzia: This was one of the porpoise’s better games for the year, but I still wouldn’t say he’s is in good touch. He has had such a poor year after a breakout 2009 and his spot in the team is far from locked away. Look at him next year if you like, but he isn’t worth the risk at this stage of proceedings.

Melbourne vs Hawthorn:

Looking Good:

• Shaun Burgoyne: Burgoyne was the driving force for the Hawthorn midfield, but as can unfortunately be the case with Burgoyne, he only required 23 touches to have this dominance – proof that he more a Supercoach player than a Dream Teamer.
• Cameron Bruce: Bruce was scintillating in the last quarter for Melbourne, but it wasn’t enough to get them across the line. He finished with 26 touches and 9 tackles for the game.
• Colin Sylvia: Another great midfield performance from Sylvia – despite copping a tag he was still Melbourne’s most consistent performer across all four quarters, finishing with 25 disposals and 8 tackles.

Disappointing:

• Aaron Davey: Unfortunately injured his leg early – the early signs aren’t good with it being a suspected broken leg, putting him out for the remaining rounds.
• Jarryd Roughead: Roughy kicked two goals but did little else in the Hawks win. Despite many questioning last year whether he would be better than Buddy, I think the answer is pretty clear – the guy is a great full forward, but shouldn’t be expected to do too much more than that.
• Liam Jurrah: After his huge game last week he just couldn’t back it up, kicking just two goals and having only 8 possessions – proof that despite being a prodigious talent, he ain’t no dream teamer.

Blip on the Radar:

• Xavier Ellis: We know how talented he is, but at the same time he is hugely inconsistent. There have been games this year where he has scored nearly 50 points in one quarter, only to finish with 10 more points for the game – he is capable of winning plenty of ball, but we need to see it more consistently before considering him for out dream teams.

North Melbourne vs St.Kilda:

Looking Good:

• Nick Riewoldt: Roo seems to be getting better and better with each week – in this game he was jumping and leaping at full speed for the first time since returning from his injury, suggesting he is now mentally over his injury. He kicked a whopping seven goals and was the difference for plenty of dream teamers between a win and a loss this week.
• Brendon Goddard: Continued his role deep in defence as a quarterback, sweeping up any stray balls that entered the St.Kilda defence. He is so versatile – as soon as the Roos started paying him attention in defence he moved to the wing or on a forward flank. Ended with 37 touches and 8 marks.
• Adam Schneider: Continued his midfield/half-forward role of the past fortnight and again played very well, racking up 20 disposals, 10 marks and 7 tackles. It is not too late to jump on this late season smokey – he is showing no signs of slowing down yet.

Disappointing:

• Ben Warren: He has a poor work-rate and it is no wonder Brad Scott keeps sending him back to the VFL. He is great in the air and when the ball comes to him, but as soon as it leaves his vicinity he goes back to sleep.
• Lindsay Thomas: I feel like he has been in this column every week since his 7-goal performance a couple of months ago… maybe that was just an aberration… maybe he is just rubbish…
• Leigh Montagna: The past couple of weeks have seen Joey given plenty of physical attention from the opposition – they rough him up and double-team him, knowing that will likely slow him down, and unfortunately it does. He looks in need of a rest, so lets just hope that Lyon doesn’t decide this is the week to do it with finals now at win-or-die levels.

Blip on the Radar:

• Sam Wright: I liked this kid’s game – he seems to have really matured this season and we are beginning to see the results of his hard work. Don’t jump the gun this year, but next year could be a really good time to have another look at him.