AFTER weeks of anticipation, the bye rounds are finally upon us. Traditionally, people don't like the three weeks of byes and how it affects their Fantasy teams, but I like to look at the positives.
A couple of huge ones are the fact we get three trades prior to each of the three rounds and also the fact that only the best 18 scores count – meaning if you had someone like, say, Christian Petracca score you a 40, and you managed to have 18 scores that bettered that, it would be dropped off.
As far as structure goes, I will aim to field 19 each round in order to have one drop off and I am currently evenly balanced across the three weeks (barring disaster at the selection table).
In other good news, the DPPs have dropped with Bailey Smith and Marcus Bontempelli being the biggest targets in their newly acquired forward positions. Be sure to listen to The Traders Podcast as they discuss all the relevant names we should be keeping an eye on.
Fantasy Pig of the week
I need to start with an apology. Prior to the byes, Tom Stewart was an emergency for Roy's Rollin'22 down back and although I'm not historically reactionary, he comes straight in at the expense of Dayne Zorko and once again, I offer my sincere apologies to Tom and the Fantasy community. In my defence, there was only 120 points between the two this week. Stewart was doing what Stewart does when he has 'the role' and 'the match-up'. He played the perfect game, hunting the ball from start to finish, ending the game with 40 possessions and a whopping 16 marks for a round-high 169 doing all his damage across half-back. What a gun.
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Honourable mentions
Reilly O'Brien… ah, welcome back big fella! The Crows ruckman carried his outstanding SANFL form into the seniors with a game for the ages. He completely dominated in the ruck, as you would expect against the Cats with 47 hitouts but it was his work around the ground that impressed the most. He had 28 possessions, five marks and seven tackles to score an impressive 159. Jed Anderson announced he was back with a hundred-point first half before finishing with a season-high 149 and Lachie Neale pumped out 143 on the Giants to continue his outstanding season.
TOP ROUND SCORERS
- Tom Stewart DEF 169
- Reilly O'Brien RUC 159
- Jed Anderson FWD/MID 149
- Lachie Neale MID 143
- Josh Dunkley FWD/MID 139
- Luke Ryan DEF 137
- Mark Blicavs DEF 135
- Jarrod Berry MID 133
- Jack Sinclair DEF/MID 133
- Tim English RUC/FWD 132
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 11:
5 – Nic Martin Essendon, FWD/MID - 113
After a couple of quiet rounds by the Bombers rookie's lofty standards, he was back to his best with an impressive 113 despite the less than favourable conditions for his high marking game style. He took an impressive 12 marks and collected 25 possessions to record his second-highest score for the year and his third in triple figures.
4 – Brady Hough West Coast, MID - 99
After scoring six last week as the sub, The Hough was given a decent run at it against the Dogs and did his job security no harm with 23 possessions and 11 marks. Couldn't have come at a better time.
3 – Mitch Owens St Kilda, MID - 95
We got a glimpse of the Saint youngster back in round one when he managed 22 from just 49 per cent game time but relished his second chance with 14 touches and 10 tackles.
2 – Sam De Koning Geelong, DEF/FWD – 83
The young gun had his best game for the season by a long way which is very handy for cash generation and his scoring prospects over the byes. He had 19 touches and nine marks.
1 – Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera St Kilda, MID/DEF - 72
The Saint had his second-best game for the year with 17 possessions and nine marks which was a pleasing return for seven per cent of coaches.
LEADERBOARD: Nic Martin 29, Nick Daicos 24, Tristan Xerri 14, Tyson Stengle 13, Jason Horne-Francis 8.
Rage trades
Christian Petracca MID – When Michael Jordan played his famous Flu Game, he scored 38… So I guess it's not that bad that CP5 recorded 40 when suffering similar symptoms. Who am I kidding, 40 from 10 disposals in his career-worst game is a bitter one to swallow. He did not manage to score one point in the last quarter. Hopefully he feels better soon, we need a couple of big ones over the byes.
Dayne Zorko MID/DEF – After it appeared the Lions skipper was back to his best in his forward/mid role, the warning signs were there in a disappointing outing against the Hawks before the unthinkable happened this week with a shocking game against the Giants, recording just 14 touches and 49 points. He attended nine CBAs and needs a lift in order to last the byes.
Daniel Rich DEF – The usually reliable defender is having another outstanding season but turned in an absolute stinker against the Giants. He was barely sighted on his way to just 13 possessions and one mark for 37.
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