The Milkmen Discuss Round 14

Round 14 saw the end of byes for 2018. This should be worthy of celebration, however most of our rookies failed to deliver in the time when we needed them most. Some of this was due to injury, some of it just bad luck. Most of our teams should be getting to the ‘complete’ stage by now, however we still need to offload some cash and bring in some rookies. Lets have a look back at the round that was, whilst keeping an eye on who is coming through the twos.

Those That Matter 

West Coast vs. Essendon:

Interesting game to kick start the round. We certainly didn’t see this result coming. Mason Redman ($261,000 DEF BE -15) was looking the goods early but unfortunately injured his ankle in a tackling contest and has since flown back to Melbourne on crutches. This is a real shame as he was looking like a great player to have at D6/bench in the back end of the season. Redman scored 71 points from 71% game time. The club announced he will be 6-8 weeks. Matt Guelfi ($439,000 FWD/MID BE 65) was again solid and is still yet to score under 60 this season. Guelfi scored 64 from 75% time on ground.

The scoring of the three West Coast forward rookies, William Rioli ($351,000 FWD BE 68), Jake Waterman ($358,000 FWD BE 74) and Liam Ryan ($363,000 FWD BE 59) tends to be determined by how well the Eagles are going. Unfortunately, that was bad news for the three of them on the weekend. Rioli was the most dangerous and managed to kick a goal and end up on 46 points. Waterman and Ryan were virtually unsighted and both finished up on 30 points. Ryan still has more of an excuse as he is just coming back from injury.

Port Adelaide vs. Melbourne:

This was a tough game to watch from a rookie perspective. Partially due to the fact that there was barely any out there, but mainly because we were too busy fuming at Robbie Gray. Bayley Fritsch ($579,000 FWD/MID BE 83) scored just the 72 points, but he played a lot better than that. He got going late and we would still recommend holding him. He is a gun. Tim Smith ($353,000 FWD BE 33) was relatively quiet, scoring just the 52 points. Keep in mind he only had the 57% game time. Speaking of quiet, Joel Smith ($220,000 DEF/MID BE 11) had a ’snap back to reality’ scoring just 27 points. We highlighted that his job security looks great, but he doesn’t have a history of high scoring.

Hawthorn vs. Gold Coast:

This was not a fun game to watch. Unfortunately, this is the case for most Gold Coast matches. For those coaches who held Nick Holman ($456,000 FWD/MID BE 83) throughout the byes, now is the time to finally move him on. Holman struggled against Hawthorn, collecting just nine disposals and scoring 52 points. Jacob Dawson ($173,000 MID BE 23) and Charlie Ballard ($278,000 FWD/MID BE 31) were both very quiet, scoring just 31 and 30 respectively. Good news is that Gold Coast don’t have too many knocking down the door so they MAY just survive the axe.

Brisbane vs. GWS:

Cameron Rayner ($393,000 FWD/MID BE 58) is starting to look like he needs a rest. His form has been pretty up and down recently and he really struggled on the weekend. Rayner had just 10 touches and 38 points. The big O (Oscar McInerney) ($326,000 RUC/FWD BE 60) was very quiet as well. He continued to provide a contest and did kick a goal, however he just couldn’t get to the drop of the ball often enough. McInirney scored just 36 points.

Zac Langdon ($337,000 FWD BE 40) was his usual self. He buzzed around the forward line, kicked a goal and finished on 51 points. Pretty stock-standard game from ZGL. Jeremy Finlayson ($376,000 DEF/MID BE 90) was back. Unfortunately, he didn’t resemble the player we relied on so heavily at the start of the season. Finlayson barely made an impact, collecting just the eight possessions and finishing on 26.

Western Bulldogs vs. North Melbourne:

What a game from Billy Gowers ($391,000 FWD BE 21). Bulldogs were trying to isolate him one-on-one in the forward line towards the end of the game. He collected 22 possessions, kicked three goals and finished on 119 points. This was the most of any player on the ground. Aaron Naughton ($335,000 DEF BE 63) played up forward and looked pretty good. He took a great pack mark and we can see Bulldogs continue playing him up front. Naughton kicked two goals and finished on 63. Ed Richards ($402,000 DEF BE 62) is another player we really like. He is a one touch player who generally uses the ball very well. We were surprised he only finished on 54 points as we thought he had much more of the ball.

The much traded in Paul Ahern ($271,000 FWD/MID BE 17) failed to deliver for his coaches. He did collect 16 possessions, however he didn’t lay a tackle and finished on 40 points. Tom Murphy ($229,000 DEF/MID BE 13) didn’t make much of an impact either. He had the 10 touches and 46 points.

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Collingwood vs. Carlton:

This game was a lot closer than we anticipated. Brody Mihocek ($259,000 DEF BE 5) presented pretty well and is doing all the right things to try and hold his spot. Mihocek kicked a goal, took a couple of nice marks and finished on 64 points. Jaidyn Stephenson ($438,000 FWD/MID BE 64) has to be a lock to take out the Rising Star. He is such a hard player to match up on. Stephenson kicked three goals and finished on 63 points.

Paddy Dow ($409,000 FWD/MID BE 59) showed great signs on the weekend. He looked like a genuine AFL midfielder. He collected 20 possessions and finished on 65 points. Cameron O’Shea ($338,000 DEF BE 59) was quiet and made some costly turnovers. He had 10 touches and 31 points.

Keep An Eye On

Brayden Sier ($170,000 MID) – Continues to knock down the door. Averaging 24 touches and 83 points in the VFL. He has to be close.

Aaron Francis ($259,000 DEF/FWD) – He is building into some good form in the VFL. Essendon may be reluctant to make changes given that they played so well on Thursday night. Redman’s injury may just open the door for him to come in. Even if he does, at that price, we would not recommend. He is averaging 17 touches and 74 points in the VFL.

Ryan Abbott ($170,000 RUK) – Abbott is a big consistent ruckman. His form has been very solid in the VFL and given that Geelong can’t make up their mind who is their number one ruck, they may just give him a run. Averagin 91 in the vfl.

Quinton Narkle ($170,000 MID) – Hard-tackling excitement machine. He is a bit of a wildcard, but he is knocking down the door. Averaging 18 touches and 80 points.He can find the goals as well

Aiden Bonar ($250,000 FWD/MID) – Feels like we mention him every week. Maybe, just maybe, it will be this week. He is put some solid games together and is averaging 82 in the NEAFL.

Fergus Greene ($170,000 FWD) – He is going ok. Not a massive scorer, but a chance to come in. Averaging 12 touches and 60 points in the VFL.

 

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