IF WE thought things were bad on Thursday night losing Lachie Whitfield to go with the week's big news about Jack Steele, it turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg.
For those in the position mentioned above, it turned into survival of the fittest with the news popular ruckman Braydon Preuss would miss, along with gun FWD/MID Tim Taranto, who had a dream match up with the Eagles plus the excitement of potentially playing a scoring-friendly role under his new coaching regime. It just reinforces the importance of having emergencies with the likes of Sam Hayes stepping up off the pine in a time of need for a score of 70 in the ruck department for many coaches. Hopefully this week we can trade to make our teams better rather than patching holes.
DPP watch was on a couple of Dogs in Bailey Smith and Marcus Bontempelli and both spent significant time forward, doing their chances of adding forward status no harm at all. In other good news, we saw the return of the Pig, not only from a week off but to top form as Tom Mitchell carved up the Lions with 36 disposals. Importantly he attended 18 CBA. Oh, and how nice was it to watch Stephen Coniglio play in his preferred position! Not bad is he?!
Fantasy Pig of the week
After disappointing in an easy match up with the Eagles last week, that was never going to happen twice in a row for Dees ball magnet Clayton Oliver. The superstar midfielder had a day out against the Roos, collecting a record breaking 45 possessions, taking five marks and laying six tackles for a round-high 151. He is well and truly entrenched in Roy’s Rollin’ 22 midfileders and is still a great trade target despite his hefty price tag given he has the round 14 bye and will help navigate the first two tricky bye rounds.
Honourable mentions
Darcy Parish has strung together a nice five-week stretch, topped by his season high 146 from 34 possessions and eight tackles, while teammate Mason Redman was an unlikely scoring hero for Draft teams with 133. Jarryd Lyons loves playing the Hawks and that was the case once again, scoring 129 and popular under-priced premium Josh Kelly continued his good form with 124.
TOP ROUND SCORERS
- Clayton Oliver MID 151
- Darcy Parish MID 146
- Mason Redman DEF 133
- Jarryd Lyons MID 129
- Josh Kelly MID 124
- Luke Parker FWD/MID 123
- Dan Houston DEF/MID 121
- Tom Mitchell MID 120
- Stephen Coniglio MID 120
- James Peatling DEF 119
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:
5 – Joel Jeffrey Gold Coast, FWD - 83
The 20-year-old Sun played just his second game of the season but that didn’t stop him from being the highest-scoring cash cow for the round. He only had 10 kicks and five marks, but he kicked an impressive five sausage rolls to ensure he snagged the five votes for the round.
4 – Jake Soligo Adelaide, MID - 77
After barely getting a look in at the start of the year with scores of 17 and 11 (sub) the young midfielder hadn’t been sighted again before returning to the side last week. He managed a season high this round from 19 possessions and a goal.
3 – Jason Horne-Francis North Melbourne, MID - 75
The prized number one pick returned from a hamstring complaint and didn’t miss a beat, recording his highest score since round four.
3 – Nick Daicos Collingwood, DEF/MID – 75
No doubt about the young Pies star. He overcame a slow start and came home with a wet sail to once again be among the vote getters.
1 – Paddy McCartin Sydney, FWD/DEF - 72
The big Swans defender ensured his cash generating continued to move in the right direction after an impressive game in a tough match up with the Blues.
LEADERBOARD: Nic Martin 24, Nick Daicos 24, Tristan Xerri 14, Tyson Stengle 13, Jason Horne-Francis 8.
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Rage trades
Alex Witherden DEF – Witho has had an awesome season, in fact he hadn’t dropped under 90 on one occasion leading into round 10. Hence, he was a popular trade target to replace the injured Lachie Whitfield. Unfortunately he had his worst outing of the season by a long way with 68. Never fear, he will bounce back.
Angus Brayshaw MID – Another popular Whitfield replacement was the in-form Demon. He has had an impressive month with scores of 90, 110, 123 and 92 before collecting just 18 possessions and taking five marks for 67 with the majority of those coming in the last quarter to save some respectability. He is another that will bounce back but that’s a bitter pill to swallow on debut, especially vs the Roos.
Isaac Heeney FWD – It was all aboard the Heen Train for the first five weeks of the season but all of a sudden coaches are jumping. Week five was in fact the last time he reached triple figures and he now has a five game average of 76 following another disappointing score of 77. The role seems to be there but the points have dried up.
Connor Rozee FWD – Remember back in round five and six where Rozee burst onto the midfield scene with scores of 113 and 119 and gave us a glimpse of what to expect for the rest of the season in the middle. His 65 on the weekend with one mark and one tackle was his fourth score under triple figures in a row and this is a trade you can happily lock in given his round 12 bye.
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