The Weekend Wash-Up | Ruck Around Find Out | Round 4

We’re back, I’ve had a night to sleep on it… and I’m still p*ssed off. Let’s continue the therapy session, it’s time for the weekend washup!

WINNERS

Ashcroft (127) – A Thursday night prime time clash as the Ashcroft bros look to take revenge? Yeah, Will gets up for that one. North in the Barossa? We will see… Great pick if you bought into him but there’s no many question marks for me, assuming McCluggage does actually come back at some point.

Neale (119) – It’s going to be up and down with tags but if Will starts copping more attention, Neale could be massive. I can’t see it happening. 

Zorko (116) – I was sitting there midway through the third quarter wondering how the hell Zork scored 140 in Round 0… Then I found out. A massive quarter pounder in Q4 junk time was why we bought in, but it’s a bloody tough watch for that price. It’s a slight regret for me, no more VC’s for Dayne. 

Bailey (112) – Games of 25 and 2 are only becoming more frequent for Zac, he is heating up and will push those top 6 forwards. Great draft pick. 

Coleman (109) – Kiddy was down back and dominant on Thursday, thanks to the injuries to Answerth and Gardiner. Will he stay back there or will he head back forward to free up Wilmot? He’s value either way at the moment…

Houston (106) – 9 kick ins, 32 disposals, great game plan, and that’s his average! Dan Houston is ticking every box. He’s a keeper until he proves us wrong for doing so.

C.Serong (124) – Back to back 124’s and I’m just not sure why we are so comfortable owning Zak Butters and happily writing off Serong. The tags just make it impossible to trust, but he has been great!

McAndrew (113) – Of course this game would have the most stoppages all year! McR2 had 13 tackles and while he won’t do that every week (or ever again), ROB is also unlikely to play ever again. He is the man and you can sleep comfortably with McAndrew at R2.

Grundy (137) – Call me greedy but as a Grundy owner since Round 1, I’ll call this a pass mark and nothing more than doing his job. Flynn really is a traffic cone. Having said that, you still have to get the job done and he was awesome with 28 disposals! Witts next week is a great test, a big score there and the ruck pig is back. 

Heeney (126) – This really should have been a 150, but coming off a recent hamstring issue there was no need for the Swans to push him while they were up by 30 bloody goals. Sydney looks awesome, and when they are winning Heeney is a 105+ guy. I love him as a value play with the potential to become a top 8 keeper. 

J.Serong (105) – Jai Serong managed to get to 60 in two of the toughest matchups in the game (Brisbane & Hawks) and took full advantage of the Eagles feast with a big ton to lock his spot in our sides for the next month. Field him with confidence. 

Gawn (121) – I’ll only use Supercoach scores when they suit my agenda, and another 175 for the literal goat makes sense. Why I didn’t pick him I will genuinely never know, that’s a monster vs Witts. R1.

Steele (112) – Ok, my hand is fully up to apologise now. Melbourne are better than I thought, Steele looks better than I thought, and this game was his best yet. If they keep this up he’s a top 8 lock and I’ll have egg all over my face, fair play. 

Roberts (136) – 29 kicks @ 100% is fairly handy, it’s almost as if he should be Essendon’s distributor and not a mix of Jaxon Prior, Zac Reid, Zak Johnson and Andrew McGrath. If Essendon are going to look to control the ball as well, Archie could even be a value play this week! The kick ins are a major plus as well, what a monster score. 

Bontempelli (130) – This was elite but frankly it could and perhaps should have been bigger. Essendon went in with the game plan of letting Bont run around Marvel without a man within 20 metres of him in the first half, and the result was predictable. Tougher fixtures on the way and that will be the big test, as he’s a lock for the tags without Ed Richards in the side. 

Farrow (101) – Stuff everything else this week, Jacob Farrow is a must have. He’s one of the few bright lights for Essendon and it looks like they are going to revert to keepy off’s. Lock and load.

Baz (124) – My big call right now is I’m tipping Baz to average 125+ this season and enter the pig conversation. 86% CBAs is massive, and his form line includes 130, 154, 124 while showing VISIBLE thirst. There isn’t a player in the comp that can run with him. He got a bit of attention but that will rarely be an issue, and Bazlenka has the eagles coming up. My skipper.

Macdonald (106) – Cmac pushed up the ground in 2H and dominated. Just quietly his price has risen $80k, he’s averaging 89.5 and carries a breakeven of (approximately) 50. Great pick!!

Holmes (108) – You can often tell when a player is off in the first 5 minutes and that happened to Max on Monday, for the first time I can remember he was fumbles mcgee. The fact he still got to 108 with his 86% CBAs and 2 kick ins says all you need to know, it’s the best role in football for the friendliest fantasy side. Massive tick. EDIT: It has just been reported that Holmes broke his finger against Adelaide in Round 3 and jabbed it up to play on Monday. That explains a lot, and also scares the sh*t out of me for a late out this week. What a bloody gutsy effort to hit two 110’s!!!

LOSERS

N.Daicos (-) – When I say my first headloss of the season arrived this weekend that would probably be an understatement. You could tell where it was all heading from the moment Mr all about me Nick Daicos warmed up at the Gabba on Thursday like he had been bloody shot. Do you seriously think he’s going to be completely fine on Friday night after he was moving like that? He was still struggling at training this Monday… Check McCluggage’s timeline following his corked calf. Get ready for more antics at Gather Round, I think the best case scenario is he sits at full forward with his cape on. I just hope I’m wrong.

Dunkley (79) – Spud Dunkley is back again, I don’t get it. This is without McCluggage as well! He’s getting cheap and you just know he will have a month where he averages 130, but I don’t know how you predict it. 

Sheezel (81) – That was close to the worst 3 quarters I had seen Sheez play, but his Q4 was sensational. There was no tag and no worries moving forward, and he has been so good for us I’ll let him off for this one despite the fact I skippered him. Stinger. 

Walsh (78) – Tags, sh*t team, poor scoring… I’m not seeing many boxes getting ticked. Put him in the box with Neale, Serong and Butters of better names and real world footballers than fantasy players. 

Rankine (63) – How could you ever trust this? Tags are going to be an issue as well! Draft killer so far, he will surely get better… Surely. 

ROB (31) – 8 supercoach. I don’t need to say anything else that wouldn’t be flogging a dead horse. Enjoy retirement Reilly. 

Butters (84) – That’s it, I’m completely off Zak Butters as a fantasy option. His running mate in Rozee is gone, his head is in Melbourne, and he has 1 ton out of 4 in the easiest run of fixtures imaginable. Port are terrible, they aren’t scoring well and he’s priced at ~105. Did I mention that he has Saints this weekend where a hard tag is a guarantee, followed by the red matchup Hawks (who he scored 76 against last year) and his bogey side Geelong, where Mullin kept him to scores of 46 and 34 last year. No, those aren’t typos, and for some reason we discounted them? I’m trading him, the fact that 66% of the competition own him is incredible. A point of difference I will gladly take on.

Bergman (51) – I wouldn’t even mention him but amazingly people own this bloke. Make sure you change that. Over rated and over paid. 

Wines (35) – He’s a Brownlow medallist. Incredible. That remains a dark moment for the league. 

Watkins (21) – 7 supercoach. 8 disposals @ 38% without a single other stat to go with it. Against Richmond. He’s goneski, that’s a total disaster for anyone who chased his cash gen. Hopefully he somehow holds his spot, I guess it depends if they have given up on Butters or not…

H.Reid (41) – That’s a real score, with 3 kick ins as well. To say James Jordan blanketed Harley is an understatement, and to say he had less than zero bloody help is also fair. It’s why you just can’t trust Harley as a fantasy option. Yet. 

Anderson (77) – Flipping him out of my side with 10 seconds on the clock in Round 1 has saved my ass, he’s not even close to a fantasy premium and there’s tags on the horizon. I’d be jumping overboard. 

Lombard (47) – COOKED. Leo didn’t take a ball cleany all day and if you had him in your multi for a goal in the last couple of weeks, you would know exactly what I’m talking about. After that loss I don’t know how he holds his spot, which will be a pain. Be prepared for some bad news Thursday. 

Rowell (43) – In the words of Matt Hill, W.T.F. The grass eater was absolutely owned by Steele on Sunday, however look at the bright side. He’s about to get extremely cheap. 

Caldwell (71) – It’s more important than ever to own players from good sides that will actually get their hands on the ball. Essendon are about to challenge the Eagles for the most uncompetitive side ever fielded in the coming years. In the right situation Jye is a scorer. This is NOT the right situation. What a Q4 save (43 points). Send him packing. 

Parish (56) – Elijah Tsatas is coming in as a like for like swap with Darcy Parish next week, bank it. It won’t yield different results. 

Blakiston (33) – Never give up on your dreams people. 

Sellwood (26) – I love Sellwood the footballer, I bet Bevo loves him too. He certainly won’t be judged by his stat lines. Unfortunately, we judge him by his stat lines, and 26 points as a lockdown defender against Essendon is not it. I’m swapping him straight to Farrow. 

English (51) – Seriously, what were the docs doing. Are we being serious right now? How many $1M+ players is this we have been forced to trade? OR HOLD. I’ll have millions sitting on the pine once again this week. Let’s just handball this one on to this game sh*ts me… 

THIS GAME SH*TS ME

Alrighty. I’ll ask it again. WHAT WERE THE DOCS DOING?! Did they forget there’s ligaments in the knee to test other than an ACL? The complete malpractice to send him out on a busted knee blows my mind, and it gets even worse when you check his TOG%. That extra 5 minutes was the difference between him playing under 50% TOG and seeing McAndrew sub on for me, and for others I’m sure it would have at least seen their VC get a better score doubled than 51. 

It just sums up season 2026 so far for me and for the majority of coaches. I got told luck doesn’t play a part in fantasy! Check out our emergency podcast released on Sunday night for my in depth mental breakdown. I’ve got the sooking out of the system (for now), but seriously, can we have a month without our best premiums getting injured? Please. This game sh*ts me.

THE OTHER BITS AND PIECES

1654, overall rank is heading in the wrong direction and 13k after a month. I see past the delusion now, I suppose we tuck in for another year of pain and mediocrity. May Gather Round and best 22’s bring us some much needed joy!

Sellwood is going to the must have Farrow this week, while I’ve seen enough of Zak Butters. He’s so bad English can stay the extra week for DPP’s to come in and save us, I need McAndrew in at R2.

Sellwood -> Farrow

Butters -> Whitfield

Best of luck in Round 5 and I’ll see some of you legends at Gather Round!

Want to share your classic this game sh*ts me stories over the weekend with like minded coaches? Join the wash-up fantasy community over on discord! If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry. We’ll be heating up throughout the pre-season heading into Round 1, get around it…

JOIN the FREE Weekend Wash-Up Discord 

Keep up to date with the Wash-Up here:

Follow @theweekendwashup on Instagram.

Follow @theweekendwashup on Tiktok.

Follow @weekendwashup on X.

Follow @mattcraigDT on X.

Follow @bushey96 on X.

Find the podcast

• Spotify
• Apple Podcasts

Matt