Power v Demons NAB Cup Review

I wandered down to AAMI on Friday night with about 3000 mates to see the Power and the Dees.  As a Power supporter it was nice to see a bit of fight from the Power and even nicer to see a rare win! (don’t care that it was NAB cup, a win is a win when you don’t see many of them).  I have got a few notes of things that I noted during the game and I have also had some great input from another DT Talker who was at the game in Luke Debrowski.

Firstly though you will note a heavy flavour of Power commentary here, firstly because Luke and I are both Power supporters, but also because there wasn’t much DT relevant to talk about for the Dees.

So here we go….

Jarrad Redden has been touted as the next big thing in the DT Ruck scene.  However, whilst he was everywhere early, he did struggle with the bigger body of Jamar.  He was getting pushed around and didn’t get the possessions around the ground that he had in previous weeks.  I think he may still be worth selection, but wouldn’t consider putting him on the ground.  He only managed the 37 DT Points, which is a far cry from what he had scored previously.

Brad Ebert just showed a lot of class.  He picked up a lot of marks and kicks through the midfield.  He had 20 touches and 2 goals for 98DT points.  He is thriving being one of the number one guys in the middle for the Power.  The only players that weren’t there in the middle for Port were Cassisi and Hartlett on Fri night so I don’t expect this to change much.  He has a massive tank and just ran all night.  At his cheap price of $308k he is an absolute steal!

Another guy like Brad was John McCarthy who was also everywhere after a slowish start to the game, he finished with 13 touches and 66DT points, but he was subbed off at half time and wasn’t seen again until 3 quarter time when he wandered out to the huddle.  I have been told that he had a corked calf and is fine for round 1.  His price is well worth considering at $251k.

Danyle Pearce has been a guy that has promised a lot and delivered little of late, but he seems to have a new role.  He is playing the sweeper role off the half back line and seems to be the guy they go to at all costs.  Whilst Pittard wasn’t playing Pearce was taking all the kick outs, mostly because he has the pace to get around the FF guarding the mark and he can kick a long ball over the zone.  He had 32 touches for 109DT points.  He comes at the price of $365,800.  To be honest, I don’t know that he will score this well too often and at that price there are far better options.

Without Chad Wingard to watch, Darren Pfeiffer was one that we all keenly watched, but as Luke said to me and I agree, it is bloody hard to watch that bad haircut.  He seemed to flash in and out of the game and did some good stuff and has a strong body which will see him elevated to the main list this week.  However, from a DT point of view he had 14 touches, 2 goals for only 58DT points, but at a price of only $117k, if he gets that sort of return each week he will cover his costs.  The other thing going for him is his DPP of MID/FWD.

Just on Chad Wingard I was reliably informed from Harry Thring who covers the AFL clubs here in SA for the AFL website that Chad had a sore knee but he was told that Chad will be fine for round 1 vs St Kilda.

Robbie Gray was another guy that was absolutely everywhere!  He had 25 touches, 10 marks, 4 tackles and a goal for 116 DT points.  He is starting to show us why we have all picked him in the past few years.  He is priced at $402 which is ok if you are going to get 116 average out of him, I just wonder how it will go once Cassisi and Hartlett are back in the side.

Just other Power guys of note….  Kane Cornes top scored with 119pts and is doing everything right to be in the best 21, but I am still concerned about his job security long term to invest in him.  Travis Boak had 98 pts on the back of 26 touches and was a real hard nut at the ball, but his price is very awkward and once again with a couple of the guys coming back I think he might be sharing a few of those points around.  Ben Jacobs was the other guy of note who scored 73 DT points across half back on 19 touches.  He was a popular pick last year but may not be so popular this year at his price of $297,200 and with Pearce being that link up guy.

Just a bit from Luke here on a guy he is looking at…. 

I’m looking at a guns and rooks strategy myself, however I’ve had my eye on Paul Stewart as a bit of a DEF smoky.  He had been scoring very consistently above his average in the pre-season until last night where he seemed to be playing on the last line as opposed to half-back flank.  Clutched at his hammy in the third quarter and didn’t seem to get too involved after that.  May have to pass at this stage – not gutsy enough to lock him in!

For the Demons….

Like I said there weren’t too many that stood out.  Nathan Jones was clearly their best as he was their clearance machine and scored 99 on 22 touches.  When he was in the middle they looked dangerous, when he wasn’t there wasn’t much resistance.  At $424,700 there are better options.

In the Ruck, Mark Jamar was quite good and was their second top scorer with 85DT points from 45 hit outs (Redden had 18) and 11 possessions.  He is priced at $352,200 but I just can’t pick him at that price.  Like I said, he really pushed Redden around, not sure that he can do that against Mummy or McEvoy and the other bigger more experienced guys.

Mitch Clark was an angry man!  He couldn’t get his hands on it til the last quarter and I thought he was going to belt someone!  But in the last quarter he finally took some grabs and scored himself 76pts which included 3 goals.  He was their one and only target up forward.  If he didn’t get it they didn’t have a great deal of optoins.  I don’t know of anyone that is considering picking him, but if you are, he is priced at $356k.

Brent Moloney wasn’t playing at full pelt I don’t think.  He flashed in and out, but only scored 77DT points, and from what I recall of seeing him throughout the game, that is about what I expected.  He was smooth and had the skills, he just didn’t have the support to get the ball.

Other Dee’s of note…  Jack Trengove wasn’t leading from the front, he just seemed very flat.  James Frawley  scored a nice 83 and priced at $342,500 in a team who, like Port, will see plenty of ball in the backlines, he may be worth a look.  Colin Sylvia, who is on a lot of “Never Again” lists, came off second best when John Butcher went for a spoil in the dying seconds of the game.  Butcher collected Sylvia’s arms and meant that Sylvia landed flat on his back.  He has two fractures in his spine and is now out for 8 or so weeks.  This is disappointing for him, but it means none of us will break our Never Again rule and pick him.  He wasn’t having the best night and only scored 47pts.  Hopefully he is ok soon and back playing, just won’t be playing for Dunny’s Destroyers!

 

That is about it guys.  If you were there and have some comments please put them below.  Otherwise, like I said in my Power article the other day, there is some value to be had at Port even if they won’t winn a stack of games.  Thanks heaps to Luke for his input too, made my job easier!  And for the punters out there, Luke reckons that at $3.25 the Power are very good value against a St Kilda side that don’t like coming to AAMI.

Cheers til the Friday Scramble!  @pkd73