• Make your September forecast with the 2014 ladder and finals predictor
• After the siren: Cats, Hawks playing those mind games together
• Nine things we learned from round 22
• Around the state leagues: Veteran Swan's case for a recall
THE LEAD-UP to the NAB AFL Fantasy preliminary finals was anything but smooth. With midfields taking a hit and many popular players out, including Dayne Beams, Michael Barlow, Josh Kennedy, Steve Johnson, Dyson Heppell, Nat Fyfe, Brent Harvey and Callan Ward, it was a matter of who was able to field the better 22 this week.
Port Adelaide v Carlton, Adelaide Oval
Owners of Robbie Gray (137) were off to a great start in their preliminary finals as the Power star kicked four goals to go with his 31 disposals. Fellow FWD/MID Chad Wingard (119) kicked three to help his side to an impressive 103-point winDefender Tom Jonas (109) scored the first ton of his 51-game career, while Justin Westhoff (102) kicked three goals and Hamish Hartlett (102) gathered 27 disposals to be among the best for Port Adelaide.
Bryce Gibbs (113) was the sole Blue to knock up a century. Enjoying his best season since 2011, Gibbs collected 29 possessions and kicked a goal as he battled hard in the Blues' second last game of the year.
If Kade Simpson (27) was a unique in your match up, there were plenty of points to make up from Friday night. The defender, after a string of great scores including 120, 112 and 109 leading into August, posted just 62 last weekend. Unfortunately he backed it up with just 10 disposals and one mark with two free kicks against to leave his 53,702 coaches frustrated.
Marc Murphy (24) was substituted in the second quarter due to concussion.
Friday night's contest was a Match Day game and the best possible side would have gained you a whopping 895 points to secure the $250 and AFL Live Pass on offer. The unique line-up of Jonas, Jasper Pittard, Gibbs, Gray as captain, Sam Rowe, Wingard and Westhoff scored 102 points more than winning team JOTC with 793.
North Melbourne v Adelaide, Blundstone Arena
North Melbourne kept alive the hopes of every Richmond supporter, at least for one more day, by defeating the Crows by seven points in Hobart.Kangaroos' midfielder Jack Ziebell (132) was the dominant player on the ground, collecting 25 disposals and taking eight marks. The 23-year-old kicked four goals but could have enjoyed a bigger return if he converted the five behinds he kicked. Fellow midfielder Levi Greenwood (103) continued his break out Fantasy season with a solid score.
After poor showings of 30 and 65 in the first two weeks of the Fantasy finals, those who stuck with Nick Dal Santo (93) – or had no choice but to hold him – would have been happy with his game. The DEF/MID collected 28 touches.
Midfielders Scott Thompson (111), Richard Douglas (105) and Brad Crouch (99) were the best for the Crows.
The highest scoring ruckman of the year, Sam Jacobs (68), didn't find it easy up against Todd Goldstein (86), and Rory Sloane (86) was held to just 27 touches by Luke McDonald (55)
Watch the last two minutes from Saturday's North Melbourne-Adelaide thriller
Essendon v Gold Coast, Etihad Stadium
In a close game, the Bombers prevailed to go one step closer to locking in a September appearance, beating the Suns by 19 points.Brendon Goddard (137) has frustrated his owners in recent weeks, but stepped up this preliminary finals weekend with three goals from 28 disposals and nine marks. With 63 points in the first quarter, Michael Hurley (130) posted his highest score of the season. While not popular in Fantasy Classic, he added more points than expected to my Elite squad.
A further six Essendon players cracked the Fantasy ton.
Unfortunately for me – and many others – Jobe Watson (84) and Brent Stanton (76) weren't able to join in on the high scoring affair.
Again like me, there are plenty of coaches of coaches kicking themselves for off-loading David Swallow (120) when there was concern over his suspected Achilles injury a fortnight ago. The DEF/MID laid eight tackles to go with his 27 disposals to finish as the highest scorer for the Suns. Young guns Dion Prestia (115) and Jaeger O'Meara (105) combined for 52 possessions while Thomas Lynch (99) kicked four goals.
WATCH: Showreel - Hurley and Goddard outshine the Suns
Greater Western Sydney v Collingwood, Spotless Stadium
Carnage continued for the Magpies in Sydney as they came from behind to defeat the Giants by eight points.Clinton Young (2) was subbed out in the second quarter with a hamstring injury. Later in the term, the original Fantasy Pig Dane Swan (38) was put on ice. He too hurt his hamstring. During the third quarter, Brent Macaffer (16) ruptured his ACL.
In better news, Josh Thomas (133) racked up 29 disposals, eight tackles and kicked three goals. There were doubts over Scott Pendlebury (111) taking his place in the line-up, but he looked fine collecting 28 disposals and eight tackles.
Since returning from his club-imposed suspension, Toby Greene (165) has posted five scores over 116 in his seven matches. With 103 points at the half, Greene was a worthy replacement with all of the midfielders out this week. Roy was very happy to have him in his top five options.
First year player Josh Kelly (117) and ruckman Shane Mumford (112) were also among the best for the Giants.
West Coast v Melbourne, Patersons Stadium
It was a fitting send off for Dean Cox (88) in his last home game for the Eagles, with West Coast controlling the match and running out winners by 66 points.Cox shared the ruck load with Scott Lycett (80) after Nic Naitanui was a late withdrawal before the bounce.
Mark LeCras (133) booted four goals as Andrew Gaff (124), Chris Masten (118) and Luke Shuey (103) did the bulk of the work through the midfield. Matt Priddis (79) was the obvious premium midfielder to bring in this week.
With just 21 points at half-time, coaches with him as a unique in their match-up were furious. He redeemed himself somewhat with 58 points in the second half.
Bernie Vince (117) was the sole Demon to score three figures, finding the ball 34 times.
Hawthorn v Geelong, MCG
The Saturday night blockbuster personified the cliché of a game of two halves, with the Hawks kicking 10 consecutive goals to claim the four points.Jordan Lewis' (108) fantastic form continued, taking his season average to 107.7. Defender Josh Gibson (101) took eight marks and had 28 disposals for his best score since returning from his 10-week layoff.
DEF/MIDs Sam Mitchell (95) and Will Langford (90), who kicked two important goals, were busy for the Hawks as was Grant Birchall (91) free-wheeling off half-back.
Stepping up in my preliminary final match-up was Mitch Duncan (116). The top scorer for the night had 37 disposals and seven marks that had me calling out "Who Can? Dun-Can!" from the stands at the MCG as my excitement built up heading towards a place in my league grand final.
Andrew Mackie (103) and Mathew Stokes (102) were the next best for the Cats.
The red vest for each side was handed to two very relevant Fantasy players. Shane Kersten (2) injured his hamstring with just a handball to his name. He was a popular emergency for Dustin Martin, who was withdrawn from the Tigers' squad on Saturday afternoon. Matt Suckling (18) was troubled by the ankle injury that saw him subbed out last weekend. He was handed the red vest at half-time.
Brisbane Lions v Fremantle, Gabba
Righty-oh, this is Calvin here and for the last three games of the round I have taken over as Warnie has shot off to the MCG to cheer home the remaining players in his Fantasy team.At the Gabba, the much anticipated tag of Ryan Crowley went to Pearce Hanley (69) who found the going much tougher this week after averaging 130 in his past four games.
Our Fantasy pig and my No.1 captain option, Tom Rockliff, scored another outstanding 154 as he racked up another 45 disposals. He now needs to score 112 next week to beat Dane Swan's record with the highest season average (133.5 in 2012).
Dayne Zorko scored 132, backing up his 130 he scored last week and the ever-reliable Stefan Martin (107) once again proved why he is the currently the highest-averaging forward and ruckman in the league.
His opponent, Aaron Sandilands (62) struggled as did my ‘Zac Clarke Experiment' (66). What was I thinking?
The surprise packet of the game though was Fremantle forward Matthew Taberner who doubled his season average from four games to score 107.
Western Bulldogs v Sydney Swans, Etihad Stadium
It's a sad round when you find yourself cheering on Gary Rohan (55) who got rushed onto my ground this week after Dustin Martin was a late withdrawal in the following game.With the Sydney Swans winning by more than 10 goals, there were always going to be plenty of Fantasy points on offer.
Luke Parker (128) top scored for the game, aided by a game high 11 tackles, and Daniel Hannebery (116) took his time to get going after receiving an early tag from Lin Jong.
AFL Fantasy's most improved player, Jack Macrae, continued his great run clocking up a solid 116 along with the future Fantasy Hall of Famer Matthew Boyd (110).
Although Fantasy defenders can be somewhat of a roller-coaster ride from week to week, Jarrad McVeigh (113) and Nick Malceski (111) proved that despite playing in this difficult position, you can actually still score points or a consistent basis. Take notice, James Kelly.
Many coaches were relying on a huge game from Lance Franklin. He kicked six goals to basically secure the Coleman Medal and finished on a very respectable 109.
Richmond v St Kilda, MCG
In the final match of the round, many Fantasy coaches would have been celebrating or pulling their hair out as Grand Final positions hung in the balance.Only five players managed to score over 100 in this game as the Tigers knocked over the Saints in the second half and Trent Cotchin (60) wasn't one of them. He will be the reason for many broken dreams as he was comprehensively beaten by Maverick Weller who claimed another scalp after holding Ryan Griffen to just 71 last week.
Young gun Brandon Ellis also failed to shine, despite getting busy in the final quarter when he scored 28 of his 80 points.
Nick Riewoldt (121) continued to wind back the clock, as did Ricky Petterd (128), who is having his best Fantasy season since making his debut seven years ago.
WATCH: Showreel - Red-hot Tigers prove they're a finals threat
How did the Traders go in round 22?
Personally, I was once again very competitive in the NAB AFL Match Day games. Although I didn't win this week, I'm certainly refining my skills in this area after not making the finals series in my main league. For the round though, I did walk away with a score of 2086.My project of #demiseofthedawg is now complete.
Yes that's right, hashtag friends, it's time to celebrate. After trying to plan the downfall of Warnie over the last few weeks, it has finally worked.
Although he entered the round as a $1.10 favourite without any injury-induced carnage and a dream run served on a silver spoon, his usual suspects in Brad Ebert (82) and Brent Stanton (76) eventually sealed his fate.
He scored 2138 and lost his preliminary final by two tackles (eight points) to our mate Steve who had Shane Kersten on the ground for his score of two. Finally, the karma bus has now left the Stanton, I mean station.
On the other hand, Roy, the coach of DestRoy, shook off a Steve Johnson zero to pull through by 17 points in his final against Dazza with a score of 2056.
Roy will have a nervous week ahead and after his Grand Final parade through the streets, he'll need to focus and cross his fingers that the players he held on to (Steve Johnson and Josh Kennedy) will be named this week.
Congratulations to all the Fantasy coaches who are into the big dance next weekend. Make sure you tune into the Traders' podcast, weekly articles and Thursday show to ensure you have all the hot tips to win you the holy grail.
