The Numbers – Round 6

Numbers… it’s what DT is all about. Price changes; averages; break-evens… the list goes on. Round 6 was a much better week and thus ends the carnage weeks of times past. With far less surprises and a great start to the week, many coaches raised their own bar this week on their way to some great scores. There appears to be a lot of 2200 scores looking around, which is great to finally see. But there is still a lot of work to be done, so we can’t rest on our laurels. Have a beer, celebrate and get back to work – for with one less day this week, the footy will be back in the blink of an eye.

Now, let’s have a looks at this week by the numbers…

-1 – Lowest score of the week goes to skill-challenged Swan, Andrejs Everitt. I’m still kicking myself for actually picking this guy last year as he continues to disappoint. His 1 disposal game saw him finish in the negatives against Adelaide after also giving away a free kick. What a muppet.

1 – Quarters it took for the Blues to put away the Giants on the weekend. I’m not saying that I didn’t get a little nervous as I saw the half time score, but once the siren sounded to start the 4^th quarter, the Blues tore it up – holding the young GWS outfit scoreless, all the while kicking free to secure a reputation upholding 67-point win.

2 – Number of debutants who graced the field this weekend past. Compared to the 32 from R1, it just goes to show how much the cash cow fields dry up at this stage of the season. Rookie downgrades will now be few and far between as we look to get the cash to bring in the big guns.

6 – Weeks that veteran Adam Goodes will now miss after begrudgingly coming from the field at the weekend with 6 minutes to play due to a sustained hip flexor injury. Ever the gentleman, he at least gave us the courtesy of scoring a hundred before coming off.

 7 – Players who broken to DT ton for Essendon at the weekend. Whilst many teams had 5-6 x 100+ scorers, the Bombers were the highest scoring team, totalling 2036 between them. Despite a few underperforming players (ahem… Patrick Ryder… cough…), each player pulled their weight in their big win over the Lions.

 24 – Injuries that were sustained at the weekend’s games. In a sign of the times, more players are going down each week – with soft-tissue and season ending injuries alike restricting players in their efforts. Condolences go out to Irish Blue-come-Giant Setanta, who ruptured his ACL part way through his GWS debut. What was supposed to be his second chance at the AFL, now lies in limbo as he looks forward to a long road to recovery. Maybe it is really time we review the Interchange system…

37 – Possessions amassed by Gold Coast rising star Harley Bennell v Freo on Saturday afternoon. Playing his best game for the expansion club, Bennell also kicked 3 Goals in a performance worthy of 3 Brownlow points. If he could do this to a Grand Final coach-led team, imagine the damage he could do to the Giants next week. He top scored with 128 and was amazing to watch as he demolished the Dockers in the first half with help from NRL-convert Karmichael Hunt.

39 – Amount of time (seconds) that time stood still for around 7pm on Saturday afternoon. After a timekeeping error saw the clock at a standstill at 7 minutes 55 seconds, play continued as a confused crowd looked on. Showing that no mistake goes unpunished, the AFL has stood down the 2 timekeepers in charge of the incident.

104 – Projected price rise by second-gamer Kyal Horsley. His blistering start to his AFL career has delighted his Suns’ coach and DT coaches alike. Whilst his job security must surely now be high, it remains to be seen how he will fare after the return of seasons AFL stars Michael Rischitelli and Gary Ablett.

193 – The new record for AFL Dream Team points scored by a single player in a single match. Congratulations Brent Stanton, take a bow.

Send me your ‘Numbers’ for the week @McRathDT

The Benchmark

A big congratulations this week to yet another female to top the competition in Rebekah (you know she’s serious when its spelt with a k and h). Her team Beks Bombers was another team benefiting from Brent Stanton’s huge scores, totalling am massive 2476. Showing how hard it is to get the #1 weekly score, her ranking was over 63,000 last round and should be well pleased by her brilliant team effort. She had the near perfect week, with her backline of Lids, God, Hep-D, Waters and Hargrave/Lake performing well; whilst Stants, Swan and JPK led the way in her midfield. Her ruck combo of McIntosh/Cox performed nicely; with her stock standard forward line pushing her ever so close to the magic 2500 mark. Whilst she’ll be happy with the $500 and bragging rights, she’s left herself very open to donuts during the bye rounds with 3 Premium R12 MID’s and 2 Premium R11 Rucks. Nonetheless – great effort.

Whore of the Week

Rules are made to be broken. For the third time this year Brent Stanton has forced my hand and has now also put his name into DT folklore with the best recorded score since the turn of the millennium. His 193 points epitomizes DT whoring with 39 touches (32 kicks), 17 marks and 8 tackles more than making up for his quiet Anzac Day game. The idea has been flirted with for a while, but could someone actually break the 200 barrier sometime soon? My gut says yes – and it very well may be Stanton himself. It also could be this year. For those of you who started 2012 with the champion Bomber, well bloody done.

Coach’s Pet

The CP for this week has to be the Horse, Kyal Horsley. He will be (undisputedly) the most traded in player this week. Already, over 20,000 coaches have jumped on the mature aged Sun. Staring down the barrel of his first price rise, if you don’t jump on this week you will miss out. Backing up his 101 with an outstanding 123, he appears to be here to stay and coaches are breaking all the rules to get him in.

Value Pick

Based on a simple Dollars/Points ratio, I give you a simple way to display value (admittedly biased towards rookies given their low starting cost).

As above, the best value this week was undoubtedly given by the Horse, however this round’s value pick goes to a former rookie priced defender, who’s showing us why he was a preseason bargain. Paul Bower scored a massive 116 points on the weekend against the Giants. Priced at $210,300 at the start of Round 6, his weekly value is an excellent $1812.93/pt.

(Worst) Trade of the Week

I’m once again going to put my hand up for this one. Someone feel free to try and outdo me (in fact, please do so I can finally stop feeling sorry for myself… my partner is starting to get worried…). I, like many others found the time right to trade out pint sized dynamo Devon Smith last Friday. With a high BE, my trade to superstar in the making Allen Bundy Christensen looked perfect on paper with recent scores of 110 and 101 on the board. Perhaps it was the head knock from last week, but he fell away dramatically in the 2nd half against Melbourne to finish on a paltry 71. Meanwhile, my culled cash cow went to another level after being freed from my paddock to score a sizzling 97. Long term I’m confident this move will pay off. But it seems I’ve given myself another one for the ‘trade wall of shame’, with my move to prematurely cut ties with a DT bovine making me pay.

Made a bad trade and want to vent? Let me know on Twitter @McRathDT

The Round Up

Highlights – Preseason hype-boy Dyson Heppell breaking out for a huge 137; Pendlebury bouncing back to form; Robbo, Sidey and Danger continuing their great form; the Gold Coast Suns very nearly pulling off a huge upset, eventually going down to an underperforming Freo outfit.

Lowlights – Duffield running away from the ball to score another sub-50; Rocky for letting me down as my captain; Gibbs and Barlow failing (so pretty much my entire midfield); plus my ruck division underperforming to leave me mere points away from saving face with a 2000 + score. Oh, add the Goodes injury and I’ve had a fantastic week (Sgt Sarcasm reporting for duty).

Team McRath – What started with a flurry, ended in another Mad Monday-like emptiness. Despite my forward line stepping up, my midfield and rucks let me down once again – pushing me behind the pack in rankings. With my patience running thin, and another cold week; I’ve got nowhere to go from here by upwards. I’m backing my underperforming Midfield to rise from the ashes in R7 to give the team a much needed lift.

With a few cracking matches on this weekend, we need to move forwards into battle once again. I, for one am looking forward to the Crows v Cats and Giants v Suns matches. Also, as a sidenote – with the Eliminator finally up and running – who recorded the largest victory on the weekend? My first up opponent scored a formidable 1550, so I still had a comfortable win despite my under-par score.

Feedback appreciated as always. Also – if you’re not already… follow me in the Twittersphere: @McRathDT