• Nine things we learned from round three
• Around the state leagues: Key Pie flies, Hawk hamstrung
• After the siren: The win that saved a season

AFTER some reasonably smooth sailing on Friday and Saturday, it seemed round three would mark a turnaround in many coaches' Fantasy fortunes following a tough start to the season.

That was until the carnage started to roll through on Sunday. Thank you to the Fantasy gods for the high-flying Hawks, because many of us needed a psychological boost after the late withdrawal of The Bont started a snowball effect with Jimmy Bartel and Mitch Wallis suffering game-ending injuries before either had reached double figures. 

Fantasy Pig

How Luke Hodge is only in 36 per cent of teams, I will never know. He has had an awesome start to the year, averaging 113 over the first two games before unleashing a whopping 159 points against the Dogs in Tassie. He was unstoppable collecting 44 possessions and kicking two goals in a vintage effort that earned him this week’s Pig nomination.

Fantasy Prestigacomo

It feels like a long time ago that Luke Parker was on 111 at three-quarter time of round one when he was knocked unconscious by Buddy Franklin. He has not been the same since that incident and the resulting 61 points against the Giants, where he managed just three kicks, has earned him a dead-heat for first in this week's Presti. Parker spent a lot of time forward, rather than in the midfield role we have become accustomed to. While he pulled off this tidy contender for goal of the round, from a Fantasy point of view hopefully that is not a sign of things to come.

Unfortunately for thousands of us, it was Fantasy royalty Michael Barlow who tied with Parker for this week’s Presti  nomination after just 18 possessions (seven kicks) and 55 points in a very uncharacteristic performance.

Junior Swine

Cam Ellis-Yolmen proved last week’s score of 95 was no fluke, backing it up with 94 against the Demons in tough conditions. He collected 20 possessions and laid an impressive seven tackles while also kicking two great goals. With a very friendly fixture ahead, Ellis-Yolmen has certainly earned a starting spot on the ground for his 36 per cent of owners.

Round three's top 10

Lachie Neale 162
Luke Hodge 159
Jordan Lewis 152
Stephen Hill 149
Dane Swan 144
David Armitage 143
Jobe Watson 140
Jarryd Roughead 140
Jack Steven 138
Joel Selwood 136

Fantasy mailbag

I was there Jeppa! After Hodgey called me out on Twitter and told me to get to the game, what else could I do? And more importantly, yes I can confirm there was a severe case of swine flu – Hodgey and Lewis seemed to be the worst cases and it must be quite contagious as eight Hawks cracked the ton. 

It was great to have the big three back amongst it. The original big three, otherwise known as "ABC" consisting of Ablett, Bartel and Corey didn't have such a great weekend with Ablett out and Bartel injured on eight. However, Corey racked up a heap – but it was in a one-off appearance for the Wynyard Cats in north-west Tasmania. 

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