tbetta’s Bullets: Round 5

• Extreme AFL

With seven games spread over six days, Round 5 was a round of extremes, and so too was the fantasy scoring. It was a huge week for some players, with 7 scoring above the 130 mark. Meanwhile, I counted 8 DT-relevant players who scored 44 or less. It’s hard to know what a par-score was this week, partly due to such a spread of scoring, and partly due to the multi-bye round excluding a wealth of quality players.

If you landed in 1900’s, feel assured that you weren’t alone – there were some hard-luck stories this week. If you scraped 2000, you should probably be content with having dodged the many DT mines that were scattered over the 7 games. If you were lucky enough to own a healthy combination of the elite players this week and scored 2100+, then enjoy your short but sweet bragging period – Round 6 is just around the corner.

• Reality Check

The rookies must have acknowledged the props they received from the DT world last week, because they seemed very content this week. That, or the coaches wanted to knock them down a peg and keep them level-headed, because many of the rookie-priced players we were relying on so heavily this week were either subbed or dropped. I’m talking about C-Rich (14), Pitt (20), Wallis (10), Bewick (21) and Krakouer (DNP), just to name a few.

I guess the reality is that the rookies in general just can’t keep up their fantastic scoring forever, and we are going to cop the odd bad week. And Murphy’s Law says it will be in a Multi-Bye Round.

It has to be mentioned that the exception to this rule is Dyson Heppell. He is super-consistent, and his game on such a big stage on Monday is just proof that he’s only getting started. He is one rookie well and truly on the radar to go from rookie to keeper, or to ‘Barlow-fy’.

• Moe or Mop?

In such a long round of football, many of the normal topics were quickly exhausted (with the exception of the issue of whether Anzac Day should be shared, they are still milking that one), footy fans and commentators alike were finding anything to talk about. Cometti talked about basketball for most of the 1^st quarter in the Cats-Hawks game, while the papers turned to what Aker was doing in some random league for something to write about. My favourite non-issue of the week is the burning question of which is worse: Pendlebury’s Moustache or Dreadlocks?  I personally think both are good, because means I can actually tell who has the ball! I’m sick of trying to decipher the Vince/Mackay/Van Berlo clones or the Corey/Lonergan/Milburn/Enright lookalikes of the AFL.

On a serious note, Pendlebury is making a name for himself as a big-game player. Norm Smith Medallist in last year’s Grand Final replay, and now an Anzac Day medallist after Monday’s effort. He’s an absolute gun, and is making a fool out of me for not making an exception to the common Gun-per-Team-per-Line rule.

• Back the Ruck Up

Pun intended. With West Coast players experiencing a quiet Easter, the 2^nd most popular ruckman in Dean Cox was relegated to the bench, promoting one of a few options. Some went for Zach Smith, and his 63 points were priceless from a cheap ruck cash cow. Some went for Vickery, which sort of rhymes with mockery, which is what he made of your team this week if you had him, only contributing 25 points before being subbed. Then there’s the coaches who swapped Petrie into their rucks and cashed in big time.

Last week I took a shot at Petrie (and Petrie Owners by association), branding him useless. And to this point, he has been. But talk about good timing! What a week to collect 20 touches, boot 6 goals and post 143 DT points… Let’s see what he does in Round 6, when the Dockers and the big 211 have a week off.

• Insert Sun/Bright/Hot Pun

Even though I’ve read and heard every possible Gold Coast Suns headline and play-on-words over the last couple of days, they still deserve a mention here. Their win over Port was a very historical day for everyone involved, and they deserve all the kudos they get – their second half was magnificent, and they made the power look like the bunch of kids. And let’s not underrate the difficulty of the immense task of coming back from 40 points down to steal a game.

In fantasy terms, they weren’t much more productive as a team than their performances to date, but all the popular options played considerably well. Scores from players like Matera (84), Swallow (81), Stanley (75), Harris (71) and even McKenzie (82) were particularly handy in a Multi-Bye week, especially with Prestia and Krakouer also absent.

• Makers and Breakers

Let’s get right into it:

MAKERS

1. Petrie 143

2. Pendlebury 166

3. Boyd 162

4. Martin 141

5. Montagna 126

Petrie gets the top spot this week for his excellent score coming with superb timing. Coaches who took the Petrie-route could not be any happier with the way things have gone so far. Pendlebury gets 2^nd spot with the highest score of the round in a very polished performance and for the reasons I mentioned earlier. Boyd went crazy at Paterson’s Stadium and picked up 45 touches and 7 tackles on his way to his highest-ever score. Dustin Martin comes in next because not only do I love the way he plays (a big fan of the don’t-argue) but he always scores very well in DT! 33 touches and 3 goals will see him pick up the majority of the Brownlow votes for his performance on Sunday. Rounding out the Top 5 Makers is Montagna, purely for his timely 126 as a popular Loophole option, made all the more effective given Swan’s 104.

Now for the Round-Killers:

BREAKERS

1. Broughton DNP

2. Richardson 14

3. Yarran 44

4. Pitt 20

5. Bewick 21

Broughton is the first player to not play and make the list, but he well and truly deserves it. As if he hadn’t let down his coaches enough, he thought he would go and be a late withdrawal and kick them while they’re down. With his bye next week – TRADE! Trade out that is. Richardson was being relied on by many, myself included, and his poor fashion sense prevented him from earning TOG and hence scored a measly 14. He’s on my Trade-ar (trade radar for those who don’t understand portmanteau). Yarran’s injury and 44 hurt a lot of coaches who kept him after his shocking 21 in Round 1. I traded him out after that and have been hurting watching him slowly increase in price ever since, so it makes me feel slightly better. Pitt is another rookie who experienced the vest and in turn only manufactured 20. In his defence, he played quite well given his limited game time, but in a MBR it’s just not enough. Completing the list is Bewick – he scored 21 until he injured his back in the 1^st quarter (no word yet on whether he’ll miss any games), so he was making good pace. Injuries are unavoidable, but that doesn’t make me any less angry at myself for playing him over McKenzie, who outscored him by 61!

 

That’s pretty much all the Bullets I have to fire for the unusual Round 5. I won’t have long to reload as the Eagles take on the Dees on Thursday night, which means another Partial Lockout. Which then means more big decisions to make (should have taken Goddard’s 113…). Also, it’s another MBR, so sort out those Dockers, Hawks and Cats and avoid those doughnuts!

 

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