Tim’s Round Review: Round 5

The alarming fact about DT Talk is that there is currently a lack of articles on a Monday. Like an insomniac without Foxtel, every Monday morning, I wake up and see the same thing. Whilst not “Home Shopping” or an ad for the newest “ab-crunching” machine, reading the 753 comments on the latest “Round Review” is not much better. I find that “tbetta’s Bullets” in the afternoon is too long a wait for a DT addict like me and I need some content to appease my cravings, as I’m sure many of you do too. What I hope I can start to provide is a rundown of each individual game for the weekend, focusing on these main areas:

1. The best players
2. The worst players
3. The rookies
4. Issues that arose from the game (e.g. injuries, subs etc.)

Whilst my first article is written on a Wednesday, it is only a result of the past 7 days of intense footy, and what a week it has been. Gold Coast, St. Kilda and Richmond won their first games, Scott Pendlebury, as expected, played amazingly well to win the ANZAC Medal, and Sandilands had an almost AFL record 53 hitouts. But let’s focus on DT.

Brisbane vs. St. Kilda

This was arguably the most important game of the round, with both the Captain and Emergency Loopholes playing a major role in everyone’s weekend. Unfortunately, the main captain options scored well, but not well enough to be clear enough to keep as captain, rather than change to Swan, Boyd and co. With Montagna (126), Adcock (119) and Goddard (113) as the main choices, people were left scratching their heads and only those with Redden had any confidence. The boys on the bubble were also on show and were great to boot with basement price McCauley (86) and first round draft pick Polec (83). Alistair Smith also scored 49 but doesn’t seem to be too fantasy-relevant. Bewick (21) was the other main rookie and his back injury will have many worried about his fitness for next week, and with a B/E of 47, he probably won’t make much more money unless he busts out a few big games. Keep him for a little while before you downgrade him, especially with the fact that Hibberd, Jacobs and Phillips (Port) should all get games this week. For those with Nick Dal Santo, his 66 would have you a bit worried but he is a gun and should rebound this week against Adelaide, his 2^nd best team over his past 5 game average. Riewoldt also seems to be struggling this season without Hayes helping the midfield deliver him the ball but I’d still give him three rounds to see if he can crack the ton.

Port Adelaide vs. Gold Coast

Arguably the game of the round with the Suns coming from 40 points down to win in the dying minutes. However, the same could still not be said for the Gold Coast rookies with one still failing to score a hundred. Despite the exclusion of Prestia, giving some teams a tasty donut, there were still some who impressed with McKenzie (82), Matera(84), Swallow (81), Stanley (75), Harris (71) and Smith (63) adding at least 24k to the price, and for Port, Cam O’Shea (70) and Jasper Pittard (77) continued to rack it up, adding 22k and 35k respectively. As for the premiums, since the ousting of fan favourite Kane Cornes, Port has lacked anyone who could constitute one, with Boak (74) and Westhoff (92) the only players over 300k. However, for those looking for an under-priced future premium to trade to, Hamish Hartlett again proved why the critics have praised him so much, scoring a classy 124 for a season average of 94.7. Rischitelli played another solid game with 109, again leaving everyone bemused as to why Brisbane left him go, and Jared Brennan finally shook off the new club hangover to post 96. Ablett looks good for the picking in a few rounds as well, with a below-par 83 sure to drastically drag down his price. The only real issue to come out of the game was the potential for Stanley to be reported from his bump on Broadbent, but he apparently he should be fine.

Carlton vs. Adelaide

In terms of DT, this really was an incredibly one-sided game with not a single Adelaide player scoring over 90. Because of this, it meant that the popular rookies in Otten, Smith and McKernan scored below their bests with 55, 61 and 58 respectively. There was an upside though, with Knights scoring 87, rising 19k, and Thompson, scoring an average 86, rising 18k. On the flipside, Carlton’s line-up was riddled with high scores, with 5 players breaking a hundred, the top being Murphy who broke his form slump to post 126. Ellard, in his first game for the season, lived up to his preseason form with 112 and Judd (108) continued his good form. The main problem for this game, though, was the gradually diminishing scores of Bryce Gibbs. His 70 showed he never really felt the rhythm of the game and failed to attract the ball running from half-back through the middle like he did in the first two rounds. It also meant his price has dropped to below 400k and it seems with his new B/E of 147, it will continue to drop. What to do? We will have to watch him over the next few weeks to see. In terms of Carlton’s rookies, both Curnow (78) and Duigan (53) had poor games by their standards, with Laidler’s 85 a great game for his owners. Just something I have noticed, but Michael Jamison has come back from his suspension in excellent form, with an average of almost 71 and was on track for another 90 to go with the one from Round 3 before halftime before he was pushed back into his standard fullback role. His B/E of 34 and price rise of 27k, coupled with the form of fellow fullback Daniel Merrett, has me considering the changes to the game which are occurring, as traditional backmen are being pushed into running roles. Hopefully a change for the betterment of their DT games. However, the game from another popular (less popular now) running back in Chris Yarran of 44 showed that, despite supposedly finding form lately, he is still at his inconsistent best, being subbed off in the 3^rd quarter clutching his ribs, something which may even see him miss a week.

North Melbourne vs. Richmond

The obvious note from this match would have to be the wonderful game played by Drew Petrie with his 6 straight and 143 points hopefully a sign of what is to come for his owners. With a price tag of 243k and a B/E of -13, he won’t be cheap for long so jump on if you dare. The other highlight was of course the ever increasing form of Dustin Martin, who has defied the second-year blues to score 141, including 33 touches, and have an average of 101 and a cost of 361k. He looks the goods if he can hold his form throughout the season to take the step into becoming a premium. Bachar Houli also showed his potential with 114 as did Foley (108), annoying the coaches who traded him. Andrew Swallow rewarded coaches who picked him up at the start of the season with 109, but unfortunately not those who put the C on him this week, as 109 compared to other round scores was not high enough, despite being higher than Swan. There were also a few fantasy-relevant rookies in this game. Atley (63) and Conca (70) were solid, but the others were shocking with Tarrant (38), Grimes (41) and Vickery (25) all scoring weakly. The main issue for the round, which affected almost every coach on the DT Talk website by the sounds of it, was regarding the other main rookie, the big man C-Rich himself. Firstly, Brad Scott decided to start him as the sub. If this wasn’t bad enough, when he finally came on at the end of the third quarter he had 3 touches and 2 tackles to only score 14, leaving him with a mere 7k price rise and a B/E of 40, one which at the moment looks unreachable for him. I recommend a trade in the near future! People would also be reasonably disappointed with the current form of Liam Anthony (68) who has been unable to recreate the magic of his first year, and has so far failed to reach 100.

Essendon vs. Collingwood

The ANZAC Day game and one to be remembered for years by many. But not for its showcase of high-class skills and the closeness of the encounter. Instead it will mainly be remembered by DT coaches for the massive score by Scott Pendlebury (166) which included 34 touches, 10 marks and 3 goals, and also for the rise of Rising Star favourite Dyson Heppell who scored an equally impressive 107. For the coaches who placed their faith in the history of Pendle’s ANZAC Day DT scores, they were duly awarded with a 332 captain’s knock. Heppell’s performance was also incredibly strong as he continued his way towards premium status with his consistent form, 35k price rise, -1 B/E and 86 average. The match was also significant due to the untimely “bad” scores by Swan (104) and Watson (101), on whom many had placed captaincy, and their subsequent high B/Es, only good for those wishing to trade them in, although for Swan, you may still need to wait a while. However, the game still marked the continued downfall of both Didak and Ryder, who have both dropped more than 38k and scored 68 and 59 respectively, and need to be monitored for form, with both coming up to their bye rounds in the next month. Apart from Heppell, there were no rookies of any note, although since Hird has said today, Heppell may be rested for this weekend which may lead to the inclusion of Hibberd who, if he continues to get games, should be a handy downgrade target in a few weeks time.

Fremantle vs. Western Bulldogs

The top scores continued into Monday night as well with Matthew Boyd (162) posting the equal 14^th highest number of touches of all time with 45. His display was truly breathtaking and he was another who pleased coaches who gave him the C, handing them in return a handy 324 points. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs though, he had no support with Griffen the next highest scorer with 107, and Higgins (90) only saved by a brave effort in the final quarter trying to get his team over the line. Liberatore (82) was excellent again with a 49k rise and a B/E of 6, however, his best friend Mitch Wallis was unfortunately named as the sub and only scored 10 in the last quarter. Hopefully we will see him fulfil his potential next week if he isn’t named the sub, so he will at least have a decent B/E. For Fremantle, Fyfe was again in great touch, scoring 107 to maintain his 104 average, as was 211 who had a huge 53 hitouts to score 109. Mundy also continued to show why he will be in the top 10 midfielders this year with 120. The inclusion of Lower was a welcome return for many coaches as well, posting 79, including the winning goal, and giving himself an neat rise of 25k and a new B/E of -13. His rookie counterpart in Jayden Pitt, however, suffered the same fate as C-Rich. He was also named the sub by Mark Harvey and was only brought on for the 4^th quarter to score a poor 20, giving him a price rise of 25k but a B/E of 22. Adam Cooney (62), Brian Lake (61) and Rhys Palmer (53) were the shockers for this game, with Lake’s B/E of 201 sure to be an all-time record. They should all have hefty price drops in the next few weeks and be pounced on if they turn their form around. Finally, the issue with this game, which should actually no longer be an issue considering you should have traded him out by now (although apparently this message didn’t reach Warnie!), was the late withdrawal of Greg Broughton, which left most teams that had him with an bitter and ugly donut, as though to add insult to injury.

Hawthorn vs. Geelong

Geelong stamped their authority as the team to beat Collingwood this year with a strong 19 point win over Hawthorn, lead by the ever-reliables in Bartel (124), Chapman (130) and Selwood (134). All three have reachable breakevens next week, but have the bye, meaning that this is probably the cheapest you will buy them at for quite a while. Steve Johnson also overcame a slow start to score 97, as did Enright (94). However, due to Geelong’s depth, they have no rookies playing at the moment, although Allen Christensen and Cameron Guthrie have both played two games for a B/E of -12 and -4 respectively, though neither should get a game for some time. Despite this, Mitch Duncan continued his rise towards premium status, with a reasonable 79 which gave him a 11k rise and a B/E of 54, definitely still reachable, meaning he may reach 350k +. Hawthorn suffered an almost equally terrible fate as Adelaide, with only Mitchell (114) surpassing the ton, maintaining his high average. Hodge was completely tagged out of the game by Ling, scoring only 40, and it seems as though Rioli will be out for a few weeks with a hamstring injury. Despite this, there were still  few good performances with Suckling continuing his good form with 96 and Franklin kicked 3 goals and only had 2 FA to post 91. On a final note for this game, Bruce was once again quite s***house scoring 53. As with Geelong, there are few rookies who are expected to play for Hawthorn this year, although Savage played reasonably well to score 68, but his B/E of 41 for two weeks time is climbing to regions which may see his price peak soon.

The final word

So that is what to expect for me every week. I wish you all the best of luck for this weekend, as the games start again tomorrow, and remember, move all of your Fremantle, Geelong and Hawthorn players to your bench.