• Nine things we learned from round 16
• Forecast the final eight with the 2014 ladder predictor
• Around the state leagues: Reid injured in VFL return

MORE than 130,000 coaches will be facing a forced trade this week with Gary Ablett dislocating his shoulder that is likely to keep him out for at least a month.

The most popular Fantasy player was captained on the weekend by almost half of the competition and as a result, scores for the round were down across the board. Ablett’s replacement will dominate the Fantasy talk this week, but first let’s look at what was an eventful round 16.

North Melbourne v Hawthorn, Etihad Stadium

The Roos scored the first upset of the round, defeating the Hawks by 20 points.

Midfielder Levi Greenwood (131) kicked two goals to continue his breakout Fantasy season notching up his eighth ton of the year.

Lachlan Hansen (122) had the job on Jack Gunston (119). The Hawk finished with six goals, but Hansen was able to take 14 marks to set up play off half back for North Melbourne throughout the match. He is always capable of these big games, but consistency is an issue for he and other key position players in Fantasy.

In his first game after defender status was added to his classification, Nick Dal Santo (100) collected 36 disposals to be among the best for the Kangaroos. Whilst it took a lot of disposals to reach the ton, he is one of the top 10 defenders and should push for selection in your side.

I am considering shelling out the $50K to upgrade Grant Birchall (30) to him. The Hawthorn defender has been disappointing in the last two weeks scoring just 50 and 30 points and is on the chopping block for the Warne Dawgs.

Sam Mitchell (67) made his return from a hamstring injury and should be placed on your watch list as soon as his price drops to around $450K.


Richmond v Brisbane Lions, MCG

The Tigers took the four points , but Lion Tom Rockliff (137) pigged-out on Fantasy points, gathering 38 disposals and 10 tackles to be the top scoring player on the ground. Rocky looks to be the obvious replacement for Ablett as the highest averaging player in the competition.

Young cubs Dustin Martin (115) and Brandon Ellis (115) were the top Tigers. Saturday’s 32 disposal game was Ellis’ seventh Fantasy ton on the trot whilst Martin’s 34 touches held his season average at over 100 points per game.

FWD/DEF Ricky Petterd (111) and midfielder Trent Cotchin (110) were big ball winners for the Tigers.

Two of the most impressive players of the last month have been Lion Stefan Martin (97) and Tiger Anthony Miles (95). Martin continues to dominate the number one ruck role he inherited five weeks ago. Since being upgraded from the rookie list, Miles has averaged 99.4 points in five games.

 

Greater Western Sydney v Adelaide, Spotless Stadium

Crows midfielder Rory Sloane (143) led his side to a 68-point win over the Giants thanks to his 32 disposals, nine marks, five tackles and two goals.

In his second game back, Brad Crouch (107) scored his first century of the year and could be a sneaky under-priced midfielder worth considering. The Crow finished the season averaging over 100 in his last half-dozen games. With the Lions, Tigers, Kangaroos and Saints as Adelaide’s opponents over the Fantasy finals, he could be a handy unique choice for a bargain price.

In his first game of the year, Ricky Henderson (85) showed excellent signs and may also be a solid option for your side come August.

Eddie Betts (88) kicked five goals and James Podsiadly (97) finished with three but Taylor Walker (46) managed just one behind for the day.

Super-consistent midfielder Adam Treloar (109) collected 31 disposals to join ruckman Shane Mumford (105) and fellow midfielder Zac Williams (100) as the best for the Giants.

Earlier this year Patrick Dangerfield (60) scored 149 against the Giants to back up from his 141 last season. Unfortunately he battled with a knee injury in the second-half but even with 22 disposals, he was far from his dominant self.

In-form midfielder Scott Thompson (69) was put on ice after tweaking his hamstring. Brodie Smith (71) copped the Tomas Bugg (40) tag but finished the game strongly to add respectability to his score.

 

Gold Coast v Collingwood, Metricon Stadium

The big news out of the weekend was Gary Ablett (67) dislocating his shoulder throwing Gold Coast’s season into disarray. Thousands of coaches have him and are happy to make him skipper week in, week out.

He will have scans on Monday but it looks like he is a must-trade once lockout lifts.

WATCH: Ablett injury sends a Brownlow shockwave
In Ablett's absence, the Suns fought hard to win the game by five points with David Swallow (116) and Jaeger O'Meara (116) busy in the midfield collecting 56 disposals between them. Newly appointed FWD/MID Harley Bennell (97)racked up 26 touches, eight marks and kicked a goal.

Scott Pendlebury (111) gathered 25 disposals and nine tackles to top the table for the Pies. Fellow midfielders Dayne Beams (85) and Dane Swan (82) continued their dry spell, both averaging just 92 over the last three weeks.

Joining Ablett in the medical room were Charlie Dixon (34) who was subbed out with a calf injury, Trent McKenzie (66) (hamstring) and Sean Lemmons (50) (concussion).

WATCH: Gold Coast v Collingwood - match highlights

Melbourne v Fremantle, TIO Stadium

The Demons and Dockers travelled to Darwin and the latter flew home with the four points. Michael Barlow (134) rarely disappoints and took his 'away' average to 120.6 thanks to 29 possessions, seven marks, nine tackles and one goal. Interestingly, this was his third score of exactly 134 points on the road in 2014.

Midfielders Lachie Neale (123) and Nick Suban (114) posted two of their best scores this year.

Keep an eye on Garrick Ibbotson (95) as a potential cheap defender to bring in this week. He averaged 92.3 last season and after an injury that restricted him to 8 points in round three this year, Ibbotson was priced at $323,873 prior to this game. Given some freedom to run out of the backline and link up with some marks, Ibbotson could be a mid-season bargain buy in defence.

Midfielders Matt Jones (102), Bernie Vince (96) and Nathan Jones (93) were the best for the Demons.

Starting in the green vest, Anthony Morabito (31) made his long-awaited return for the Dockers. In his limited time on ground, he managed eight disposals. Morabito is set for a couple of price drops but could just be a nice midfield downgrade option under $200K in a week or two.

WATCH: Saturday showreel - Anthony Morabito

Port Adelaide v Essendon, Adelaide Oval

A surprising victory for the Bombers was nice for their supporters, including myself, but the Fantasy numbers didn’t give many coaches much to cheer about.

That is unless you brought David Zaharakis (118) into your forward line after he gained DPP status this week. Playing predominantly through the midfield, Zaharakis went head-to-head with Ollie Wines (88) and found the ball 30 times to be the most dominant Don. A quiet game from Brendon Goddard (87), a defensive role for Brent Stanton (83) and the Kane Cornes (44) tag for Dyson Heppell (74) saw the three Bombers (and Cornes) score well below their season average.

I said it last week, but once again, it's time to trade out Paul Chapman (54) if you haven't already. The FWD/MID struggled to have any impact on the game and a tussle with Robbie Gray (97) is likely to draw attention from the Match Review Panel.

Forward Patrick Ambrose (31) has now reached his peak price and should be offloaded before his price plummets.
 

Carlton v St Kilda, Etihad Stadium

The Blues controlled the early Sunday afternoon game from start to finish and notched up a much needed 14-goal win. Recent Carlton recruits Andrejs Everitt (123) and Sam Docherty (110) kicked two goals each. Everitt took 13 marks, one behind Michael Jamison (99) who had his highest score of the season.

Four goals apiece to Simon White (98), Lachie Henderson (93) and Levi Casboult (88) and three for Chris Yarran (82) helped the Blues to their highest team score of the year. Nick Riewoldt (97) kicked three for the Saints.

WATCH: Nick Riewoldt goes it along against the Blues
Since returning to the side, former Hawk Shane Savage (94) has found some form posting 85, 98 and 94 in the last three weeks. Defender Maverick Weller (72) will be valued at over $300K after another solid performance in his first season as a Saint.

A 29-point last quarter saved coaches of Kade Simpson (70) from a disastrous score that saw him on just 25 points at half time. Bryce Gibbs (67) has been having a stellar season but this week brought the attention of the tag. He was held to just eight kicks and six handballs. Andrew Carrazzo (56) was subbed out at half time with a calf injury.

With no touches in the first quarter, Leigh Montagna (33) had a disappointing day. His score of 33 was his lowest since round 13, 2005.

 

West Coast v Sydney Swans, Patersons Stadium

Prior to the match, Nic Naitanui was a late withdrawal due to general soreness as was Kurt Tippett with knee soreness.

The ultra-consistent Matt Priddis (118) scored his seventh Fantasy ton in a row. He has flown under the radar a bit this season, appearing in less than three per cent of teams. Priddis has only one score below 97 over the first 16 rounds.

For the victorious Swans , Luke Parker (125) kicked two goals to go with his 33 disposals and remains one of the top forward options in Fantasy. His FWD/MID teammate, Ben McGlynn (114) also slotted two goals.

Laying 10 tackles, DEF/MID Jarrad McVeigh (119) was also in the best for the visitors. Kieren Jack (61) gained forward status this week and as a result, his ownership increased. Unfortunately he only found the ball 19 times, disappointing his 13,966 coaches.

 

Geelong v Western Bulldogs, Simonds Stadium

To finish the round, the Cats held on to beat the Dogs by 13 points in the first match in Geelong in the Sunday twilight timeslot.

With rumours all weekend rampant that some big name Cats would miss the game, it was James Kelly who was withdrawn due to soreness.

Midfielder Steve Johnson (131) and DEF/MID Jimmy Bartel (122) laid a huge 29 tackles between them pleasing their coaches, many of whom were sweating on them taking their place in the match. After his 25 disposals, Johnson is shaping up as a fantastic replacement for Ablett as he returns to form.

Mitch Duncan (115) was made available to be selected as a forward this week and those who jumped on board, like me, were very happy with his 20 disposals, 10 tackles and two goals on debut for their Fantasy teams.

Ball-magnet Tom Liberatore (119) was happy that Ryan Griffen (110) was back in the side to move him down the tag order. Both stars enjoyed excellent games.

First-round draft pick Marcus Bontempelli (116) scored the first ton of his career collecting 21 possessions, laying seven tackles and kicking two goals.

It was an interesting decision by the Bulldogs to start Jackson Macrae (69) in the green vest. He played less than a half for an impressive 17 touches; a bonus for his 18,595 coaches who were expecting much less after learning of him being the starting substitute.

 

How did the Traders go in round 16?

A paltry 2008 saw my Warne Dawgs the lowest scorer of the round out of the three of us. A combination of Birchall’s lowly score and six of my midfielders scoring less than 90 meant I was well below that average and dropped over 1000 places in the overall rankings.

Calvin wasn’t too much better with 2037. He fielded a donut due to Kelly’s late withdrawal on Sunday afternoon.

The golden boy, Roy, was the best of our trio. His unique players Brandon Ellis, Tom Rockliff and Luke Parker helped his side to a respectable 2152.

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