West Coast-Geelong-Fremantle NAB Round 1 Review

How exciting is it to have footy back? Even if it is some weird, bastardised version of the game we know and love. (I swear I saw the umpires flip a coin to make a decision at one point…)

But regardless, it’s great to have stats and fantasy points to mull over again!

Here are the results from last night:

Game 1: Geelong 1.6.4 – 49 d West Coast Eagles 1.6.2 – 47
Game 2: Fremantle 0.7.6 – 48 d Geelong 0.4.6 – 30
Game 3: West Coast Eagles 1.4.7 – 40 d Fremantle 0.2.4 – 16

Geelong:

Stole the game against West Coast before falling short against Fremantle. Will certainly be a team to watch for cash cows as they finally give their 2nd and 3rd year rookies more opportunity.

Next Game: vs Adelaide Crows Saturday 2nd March @ Simmonds Stadium

Joel Selwood (Mid $530,900) – 23 and 48. Captain courageous has reinstated himself on everyones watchlist. Leading from the front he took the initiative to kick the 9 point winner against West Coast and was everywhere against Fremantle trying to keep his team in the game.

Varcoe (Mid/Fwd $234,400) – 28 and 16. Cemented himself as a lock for me. Hungry for the contest, will be a value player if he can stay injury free. Glided around the oval so hopefully over the stress fractures that kept him sidelined last season.

Caddy (Mid $328,600) – 9 and 19. I’m not sold on him. Got off to a flyer kicking a goal with his first kick for Geelong but after that he just looked lost to me. He ran hard to get to most contests but did very little to impact them or would get there too late. Hopefully he can learn from the Cats mids and go bang!

Enright (Def $416,400) – 27 and 22. Seems to be one of the forgotten players this year. Very impressive in both games and could be a handy POD in your backline.

Johnson (Mid/Fwd $501,700) – DNP and 31. Loved his attack on the contest. Also mentioned before the game that he expects to play 80% of this year in the mids. Unfortunately he gave in to the urge to punch Ballantyne and will be answer to the MRP this week. Keeping in mind that he has 80 carry over points from last season and NAB suspensions are now served during the Home and Away season. So he could be missing round 1.

Christensen (Mid/Fwd $381,200) – 26 and 16. Lined up on the wing. Not sure what to say about him. He looks good every preseason, hopefully this is his year!

Scores for Geelong: (v West Coast) Podsiadly 42, Hawkins 33, Taylor 32, H-Smith 32, Sheringham 31, Varcoe 28, Enright 27, Hunt 27, Christensen 26, Murdoch 26, Walker 25, Rivers 24, Selwood 23, Bartel 22, Stokes 21, Duncan 20, Guthrie 19, Lonergan 17, West 15, Brown 12, Schroder 11, Caddy 9, Thurlow 9, Smedts 3.

Scores for Geelong: (v Fremantle) Selwood 48, Brown 45, Johnson 31, Stringer 24, Enright 22, Duncan 20, Walker 20, Caddy 19, Corey 18, Podsiadly 18, Guthrie 18, Eardley 17, Varcoe 16, Christensen 16, Hamling 16, Taylor 13, Motlop 10, Hawkins 9, Kersten 9, Blicavs 7, West 6, H-Smith 5, Murdoch 4, Lonergan 2.

Fremantle:

Fremantle’s scores reflect their performances pretty well. As you can see, against Geelong they were the dominant team. So their midfielders like Barlow, Mzungu and C. Pearce scored well.

But against West Coast they could not take control. Evident in the fact that their top scoring players were 2 defenders in Duffield and McPharlin.

Next Game: vs Carlton Saturday 2nd March @ Etihad

Barlow (Mid $495,300) – 46 and 17. Had the ball on a string against Geelong but found it harder to come across against West Coast. Usually quite consistent and reliable so could be a unique POD but for his price there are probably better options available.

Duffield (Def $426,800) – 3 and 39. He didn’t see much of the ball against Geelong and also gave away 2 free kicks which detracted from his score. Still the number one player to take Fremantle’s kick outs and still seems quite fond of playing on out of the square first, obviously to give himself DT points for the kick!

Sandilands (Ruck $478,700) – 16 and DNP. Moving freely around the ground and leaping at everything. No sign that his ‘Turf Toe’ issues are slowing him down at all. (Edit: has apparently strained his glute against the cats and will miss a few weeks)

D. Pearce (Mid/Def $376,900) – 21 and 18. Consistent scores are a positive. This is someone I was watching closely at the game. Found it interesting that most times Fremantle were looking to come out of their defence they would seem to wait and look for him. If he can improve his disposal and Freo keep looking for him then this could translate well for his fantasy scores. Watch him.

De Boer (Mid/Fwd $434,000) – 24 and 23. Another player who scored consistently. Might be worth a look for POD.

Walters (Fwd $330,400) 34 and 23. I’m mentioning him for the same reason as De Boer. Consistent scores regardless of how freo played and POD. Also depending on the seriousness of Mayne’s injury he may be seeing a lot more ball. Keep and eye on him.

Scores for Fremantle: (v Geelong) Barlow 46, C. Pearce 38, Mzungu 38, Walters 34, Suban 33, DeBoer 24, Mayne 23, Crozier 22, D. Pearce 21, Ibbotson 20, Sutcliffe 20, Silvagni 19, Sheridan 18, Griffin 17, McPharlin 16, Sandilands 16, Ballantyne 16, Hill 16, Pitt 15, Crichton 7, Spurr 4, Johnson 3, Duffield 3, Dawson 0.

Scores for Fremantle: (v West Coast) Duffield 39, McPharlin 33, Hill 31, Critchon 30, Spurr 27, Pitt 27, Suban 26, DeBoer 23, Walters 21, Sutcliffe 20, D. Pearce 18, C. Pearce 18, Barlow 17, Crozier 17, Ballantyne 16, Dawson 14, Ibbotson 13, Johnson 12, Mzungu 12, Silvagni 11, Griffin 10, Hannath 10, Sheridan -1.

West Coast Eagles:

Lots of competition for spots in the best 22 meant that their intensity was high. Unfortunately skill let them down in a few instances.
Lots of rookies given a go in these games but I can’t see many (if any) getting consistent ‘cash cow fattening’ games unless injury/suspension strikes.

Next Game: vs Collingwood Sunday March 3rd @ Patersons Stadium

Priddis (Mid $482,500) – 28 and 51. Looks set to have another good season. Really hit his straps in the Fremantle game with 9 disposals, 4 tackles and 2 goals.

Darling (Fwd $364,900) – 34 and DNP. 3 Goals against Geelong floating around the forward line. Could be an interesting option this year with the number one defender going to Kennedy again.

Lycett (Fwd $162,300) – 36 and 26. Lycett impressed the hell out of me. Showing he’s been learning the ‘mobile ruckman’ craft from Cox over the last 2 years he could earn some cash while Nic Nat is out. Downside is that he’s not available as a Ruck.

Gaff (Mid $446,400) – 31 and 27. Showed off his elite running skills again. Number 1 for handball receives at West Coast last year and he slot back into that role easily.

Embley (Mid $264,300) – 16 and 26. Another player coaches are hoping will score well and make some cash. Laid a couple of strong tackles against Fremantle which is a good sign for his shoulder.

LeCras (Fwd $355,400) – 21 and DNP. Didn’t miss a beat in his first game back. No noticeable issues pivoting or running. Also looks extremely fit. Was starting the centre bounces deep forward then sprinting to the midfield once it was bounced. Playing an outside mid role when the ball was in play. Hopefully Woosha continues to give him this sort of license so we can see him around the ball more.

Scores for West Coast: (v Geelong) Lycett 36, Hutchings 35, Darling 34, Schofield 32, Gaff 31, Sinclair 31, Priddis 28, Dalziell 26, Masten 26, Glass 25, Cripps 25, Hams 22, LeCras 21, Wilson 20, Smith 18, Shuey 18, Tunbridge 18, McInnes 17, Embley 16, A. Selwood 14, McGovern 12, Brennan 8, Carter 6, Brown -1.

Scores for West Coast: (v Fremantle) Priddis 51, S. Selwood 46, Masten 41, Hurn 35, Mackenzie 35, Wellingham 35, Wilson 28, Gaff 27, Dalziell 26, Lycett 26, Embley 26, Hams 24, Cripps 24, McGovern 24, Smith 23, Brennan 18, McInnes 10, Carter 10, Brown 6, Hill 5, Hutchings 4, Sinclair 3.

Did anyone surprise or impress you? Let me know who is now either on or off your watchlist/radar!

As always you can find me rambling on twitter @Anthonydsmith86