Wowee… that was next level liquorice all sorts, even in Fantasy land! We had blokes pinging strings, late omissions, pills, thrills and Callum Mills, rucking hell and some massive individual scores. Hopefully you got through relatively unscathed and cashed in on a generally high-scoring round!
As always, plenty to reflect on!
16 down, 7 to go… Time for the Weekend That Was.
Brisbane Lions vs Western Bulldogs
Studs
Neale (133) – He’s a genius. Led from the front in the Lions engine room following an abysmal team performance last week… Was allowed to roam free again – shock me.
Libba (128) – Since Bailey Sm(n)iff went out of the side, Libba has gone bonkers with an average of 112! Bit of food for thought there. Crazy to think by season’s end you could have up to 4 doggies in the forward line alone…
McCluggage (120) – Luggage is on fire rain, hail or shine and win, lose or draw at the moment! The guy averages 123 in his past 3 games and has shown a ceiling we had not yet seen… Seems to be peaking at the right time and coaches will be pumped!
Duds
Zorko (6) – *Breathes heavily…* I figure an expletive riddled rant won’t help (or do this absolute piss take any justice) so let’s just say: Non-owners, must be nice.
Rich (32) – Imagine owning both Rich and Zorko, f*cking awesome way to end the financial year!
Carlton vs St Kilda
Studs
Sinclair (140) – Fwaaaa, what a man! Huuuuge return after being tagged for 72 last week. 37 disposals, 11 marks, an elite mullet and the girthiest calves in the business!
Steele (114) – He just knows how to fantasy, plain and simple… After a quiet-ish first 1st half, boosted his score with 8 tackles alone in the 2nd half! Will push for a top-8 mid position, he wasn’t demanding >$1m to start the season for nothing!
Marshall (107) – This could have been 120+ if it weren’t for a heavy fall in Q4 which required a concussion assessment… Reeeeeeally nice for those who called on Marshall with every other legitimate option cooked.
Duds
Walsh (87) – Has been awesome but 33 disposals for 87 points?! That’s 2.64 points per possession… Terrible strike rate and ended the night with a lowly 2 tackles and 0 marks.
Doch (79) – A rare off night for the Doc… 2 marks is telling! He will be fine but that hurts, particularly for coaches who whacked the C on him.
Curnow (63) –
Essendon vs Sydney
Studs
Merrett (128) – Massive! Could have been 150+ if it weren’t for a 5 points 2nd quarter! Coaches who jumped on an under-priced Merrett will be happy as Larry.
D’Ambrosio (77) – Imagine having this guy on the bench while you’re stuck with Zorko (6) on-field… On the brightside, some good cash generation.
Duds
Lloyd (69) –
Heeney (61) – 1×100 in the last 10 weeks tells you just about everything you need to know… fading away to complete Fantasy insignificance. 24% of the competition with a list clogger at this point!
Mills (54) – Pills, thrills and Callum Mils… In all honesty, wtf happened here?! That’s his lowest score in about two years… The last time Mills scored this poor, Covid was in its infancy! My word I hope you didn’t whack the C on him… #nightmares
Melbourne vs Crom
Studs
Petracca (141) – It’s been a frustrating 4-5 week patch for Trac owners but this is what he is capable of on his day… I’m sure a few would have rage traded, but I sincerely hope no one went through with it!
Oliver (136) – Boom. 36 touches, 13 tackles and 68% of the comp missing out on a weekly 110+!
Laird (136) – About as certain as the sun rising tomorrow is a Laird ton these days. Weapon.
ROB (129) – Hahaha! 3 weeks ago ROB would’ve been pondering how to quell the Gawn/Jacko combo. Fast forward to this week and Gawn is taken out of the equation. Fast forward to game day and Jacko is out of the equation! 48 hitouts to Melbourne’s 13… Probably about 4 of them to advantage!
Dawson (129) – Wow. Can’t say I’m surprised and well and truly vindicated his position in the weekly trade advice article! 30 disposals, 10 marks and 21 team-mates desperate to give him the nurrie at all costs!
Keays (123) – Joined in the points pile-on, also lowkey copped a mention in the weekly trade advice article… bit in that I reckon.
Duds
Hately (62) – Every week you field this spud, you are falling further and further behind! Time to trade, trade, trade (if you can!).
Rachele (35) – Surely 24% of the comp waving the white flag?
Geelong vs Norf
Studs
Cameron (146) – Hahaha 30 touches as a key forward?! That’s proper extracting urine territory! Yes he’s a gun but this is probably more a reflection of the rabble of an establishment that is Norf at present.
LDU (127) – A lone-hand from UDL having over 10% of Norf’s possessions alone… The only Norf lad who ended the night with more fantasy points than the final losing margin! Did someone say Tassie?
Guthrie (121) – This is legit. The guy is averaging 119 post-bye! Another who is an all-round scorer who has been there, done that on so many occasions. Brings a bit of youth to the list at the spritely age of 29 as well!
Duncan (118) – Game 250. All class. Fun fact: Duncs averaged 100+ in every season from 2017-21 (2020 covid adjusted). Speaks volume of the consistency of the man!
Duds
Anderson (76) – I’m struggling to wrap my head around this guy… He has patches of brilliance with bulk points and then goes missing for 15-20 minutes! Unfortunately, that’s not going to cut the mustard at the business end of the season! If you (somehow) have the luxury, I wouldn’t be opposed to flicking him.
Hall (12) – Everything was looking dandy with Hall starting strongly with 3 kicks and a mark… Until he did a ‘Zorko!’ I’m not even going to pretend I tuned in but apparently it was soft tissue? Watched his team-mates cop a royal flogging to rub salt into the wound!
Gold Coast vs Collingwood
Studs
Miller (132) – Jet. Top-8 mid, enough said.
N.Daicos (117) – Typical. The week yours truly gives Daicos the flick he goes and has 37 possessions, 23 of them cheapies in the back half… Give me a buzz this week so I can tell you who I am trading out so you can hold!
Duds
Adams (66) – An agro little man who in the space of 20 games has lost all concept of fantasy footy… Unfathomable.
De Goey (37) – Still on holidays were you Jordy? Not like we saw him at all on the night so perhaps he snuck off to his next destination?
Tsitas (23) – Yes it’s a great story of persistence and sacrifice… but coaches would have been hoping for a bit more from a heartbeat on the bench! M10 at best.
Richmond vs West Coast
Studs
Kelly (132) – Fairly irrelevant this season but deserves a shoutout for a colossal game! 40 disposals and 2.1 in a losing effort but you would expect get some recognition on Brownlow night.
Duds
Spazzo Bazzo (20) –
GWS vs Hawthorn
Studs
Taranto (125) – Back in the guts where he belongs, pumped out a big one with 30 disposals (at least 8 kicks off the ground in the pissing rain!) and 10 tackles. Incredible to think you can own him for <$750K… Daylight robbery.
Mitchell (121) – Again started on the bench but that didn’t deter the former pig in what were familiar nose in the trench kind of conditions! It won’t be this perfectly set up for Mitchell every week but lets enjoy the points while we can!
Kelly (124) and Cogs (118) – 60 disposals and 15 tackles between them = happy days!
Whitfield (108) – Just quietly, how clean is this guy below his knees?! Usually we would be saying the wet conditions aren’t his go but his elite ball handling was on full display with 33 touches and 7 marks.
Duds
Sicily (81) – Gee life’s tough when you have to win your own footy… Oh wait, you still shank kick-ins on the reg and get the odd needless HB received to boost your score. Ever heard of the phrase ‘defend first’?! Hogan shat all over him. Can you tell I’m a salty non-owner?
Himmelberg (66) – Much like Sick Dog, the driving rain wasn’t his go… Still playing the fantasy friendly role taking bulk kick-ins so no need to panic!
Freo Dokers vs Port
Studs
Brayshaw (121) – 6 tackles in the last qtr alone… Speaks volumes of Bray’s attitude and commitment to the cause! The kind of commitment we need but don’t deserve.
Wines (112) – Not a great strike rate with 39 disposals but coaches will be happy to see Wines back to his big-bodied bull, ball-winning ways!
Darcy (107) – Some coaches solution to the ruck crisis was to bring in the big dog with two first names… Fair to say it panned out well – for now anyway!
Brodes (104) –
Duds
Houston (47) – 116 last week, 52 this week. Predictable. When you google ‘Cause of an aneurysm?’ the top result should be ‘Owning D.Houston in AFL Fantasy.’
The Juggernaut Review
2182. Over before it even started.
Picture this… you’re entering your second week of covid isolation as a household contact when finally, you’ve got something to look forward to in some footy on the telly! Fast-forward 5-minutes, and in a word, sickening. I could’ve tested positive for Covid, Flurona, Salmonella, Monkey Pox and/or full blown Ebola there and then. To the other 3.75% braindead coaches who own an annoying little flea with strings of an 80 year old, I feel your pain. If you also happen to own Rich and/or Aaron Hall, delete team. You have my blessing.
Then we move into Friday, with whispers around the traps that Luke Jackson could be out… Surely some sort of sick joke right?! Well whaddaya know, big Jacko doesn’t board the flight to Adelaide and our ruck stocks are as depleted as the West Coast Eagles WAFL Colts outfit earlier in the season! At least we had some notice which was helpful for some…
Spare a thought for a mate of mine (and probably thousands of other coaches!) out there… “Rucking Hell” is an understatement. Low blow after low blow, here’s how things have gone down for my man Benny over the past two weeks:
- Held English last week and played Jamieson who goes on to register 7 points. 7!!! That is not a typo!
- Logically goes “I’m not copping that this week!” and flicks English on the Thursday night (before he is locked out) to guess who… Luke Jackson before he is ruled out.
- Ends up holding Jackson to cop the donut of all donuts. Genuine shithousery! It was either that or burn another trade on a bloke that has been in your side for less than 24 hours…
For the record, Benny and his ‘Smartmen’ went on to post 2400+! Fair to say the good Fantasy karma has come back around pretty quickly! Talk about swings and round-a-bouts… Part of why we continue to hang in there and play week on week, year on year.
Thanks again legends and flex how you went in the comments!
Yours in Fantasy,
Fantasy Fanatic #70
Fantasy Fanatic 
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