THE BIG boys certainly came out to play in round two and we got a glimpse of some emerging superstars that have deservingly made their way onto the 'watch and consider' list.
While it wasn’t all positive, with the 'set and forget' ruck strategy taking another giant leap in the ‘set and regret’ direction, overall the round ended with much nicer scores than last week for the majority of coaches.
Fantasy Pig of the week
Andrew Brayshaw
As I spoke about last week, all the key indicators are up for the young star. He has taken full advantage of Adam Cerra’s absence, along with that of Nat Fyfe and David Mundy this week to significantly increase his time on ground and centre bounce attendances. Given that, its not surprising another breakout is on the cards, this time to Fantasy superstar status… We are talking pig conversations after what he did to the Saints Sunday night. 40 touches, 10 marks, eight tackles and a goal for a ridiculous 178. OINK!
NINE THINGS WE LEARNED This Hawk is making his own name
Honourable mentions
Travis Boak turned back the clock and took full advantage of the Hawks’ style of play to rack up 152, as did teammate Karl Amon with 148… Watch the Blues mids go BANG next week. Lachie Neale showed why he was such a popular pick this year with a massive second half to score 145, while Touk Miller did his thing in traditional hard-working fashion, finishing on 147.
TOP SCORERS – R1
- Andrew Brayshaw MID 178
- Travis Boak MID 152
- Karl Amon MID 148
- Touk Miller MID 147
- Lachie Neale MID 145
- Dayne Zorko MID 145
- Zak Butters MID/FWD 137
- Christian Petracca MID 136
- Ben Keays MID 131
- Jayden Short DEF 131
Cash cows of the round
The best player with a starting price under $300k will be awarded the Michael Barlow Medal as the best cash cow of the year.
The votes for round two:
5 – Tristan Xerri North Melbourne, FWD- 92
The Roos new number one ruck made light work of the depleted Eagles lineup to finish with a highly respectable 92. He is a must-have cash cow.
4 – Willie Rioli West Coast, FWD- 85
Rioli made the most of the increased responsibility and reminded us all how good his best footy is.
3 – Josh Ward Hawthorn, MID- 85
The young gun had a massive third quarter where he attended plenty of CBA’s. A great sign for his money-making prospects moving forward.
2 – Jason Horne-Francis North Melbourne, MID-78
The young Roo once again showed why he was so highly touted. He will make plenty of cash over this year’s journey
1 – Josh Daicos Collingwood, MID- 75
Oozed class once again across half-back and is one week closer to moving into our D6 position.
LEADERBOARD: Nic Martin 5, Tristan Xerri 5, Jack Hayes 4, Nick Daicos 4, Josh Ward 3.
Rage trades
Max Gawn RUC – We thought the emergence of Luke Jackson may be an issue, and after two games we can confirm it is an issue. Max is great, but good things happen when Jackson is around the ball and it makes sense that he gets an increased run in the middle. Plus, Max looks rusty and his price is plummeting. He scored just 79 once again.
Taylor Adams MID – The Pies may be flying but the star onballer isn’t. Despite a great pre-season, he is averaging just 64 following his score of 57.
Jy Simpkin MID – The young Roo had his coaches excited about what looked like a dream match-up against the Eagles. Unfortunately, he disappointed to the point he may have played his last game following an inexcusable 52.
Zach Merrett MID – Unfortunately this will need to be more than a rage trade. After scoring 111 the star Bomber went down with an ankle injury that will keep him sidelined for approximately six weeks.
Tarryn Thomas DEF/MID – After a disappointing first round, the young Roos star was back on track this week before succumbing to a serious rib injury. Keep an eye on his availability timeline moving forward.
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