And just like that we are over three quarters through what has been a season of ups and down, swings and roundabouts, ebbs and flows, wax and wanes and good and utterly crud times! Look no further than yours truly for someone who has copped majority of the downs, wanes and utterly crud times (mostly self-inflicted mind you!).

Anyhow I digress… Time to roast a few blonks and pump up a couple in the process!

18 down, 5 to go… Time for The Weekend That Was!

St Kilda vs Western Bulldogs

Studs

Sinclair (146) – Well… if there was a positive that came from watching a bunch of clowns attempt to play footy on Friday night, it was Sincs junking it up in the back 50 all night! Spewing I was $6K away from getting to him… it has been that sort of season from yours truly!

Bont (140) – 3 votes… M.Bontempelli. That is all.

Steele (117) – Incredible to think that despite the royal d*cking, Saints actually won the night on fantasy points with Steeley chiming in for his standard weekly ton!

Bazlenka (109) – Seemed to have plenty of energy but you would be forgiven for thinking the ‘Stevia’ was still in his system with his night by foot! Childish gags aside, Baz will be high on the radar of many a coach heading into Fantasy finals.

Duds

English (58) – *Shudders* There would have been a few coaches out there who sold the farm to get to big Speakano this week… What they got was nothing short of putrid! Sweet in the side did affect him and it was never going to be an easy match up with the Ryder/Mareshall combo. #hindsighthero

Crom vs Collingwood

Studs

Laird (163) – Ho Hey! This was next level from the desk rig… 20 tackles if you don’t mind! 80 points alone without even touching the pill. He’s mounting a case to become part of the illustrious ‘pig pen’ late in 2022! Five round average of 144 is proper ridiculous.

Daicos (147) – Hahahaha! The bloke absolutely toying with Crom and yours truly. Has averaged 117 since I gave him the ass… Fair to say my season was already down the gurgler but watching Nick take the piss week on week is like a perpetual kick to the nurries.

Pendles (130) – Game 350. Dependlebury. Legend. Fun fact: Pendles averaged 100+ fantasy points for 11 consecutive seasons from 2010-20 (2020 peroni virus adjusted)! Incredible numbers and arguably Collingwood’s greatest.

Carmichael (111) – How about that in game two of your AFL career?! Clearly knows how to fantasy based on kick:HB ratio alone (24 kicks, 0 handballs for the record!). Probably isn’t residing on many fields at this points of the season but credit where credit is due!

Cameron (107) – Timely ton from big Cammo following back to back 80’s! Looked be on track for a monster 120+ but coaches will absolutely take it with Grundy’s return impending.

Duds

ROB (76) – Poor score but at least non-owners of Speakano can rest easy knowing he also bombed.

Keays (76) – Arghhhh for f*ck sake! To think I could have forgone Keays to get to Sinclair just rubs salt into the very open, deep wound that is John’s Spud Farm. Doesn’t matter if you have a ‘good run’ if you rock up expecting to play marbles. Seriously Benny, you’re not there to f*ck spiders! Lift.

GWS vs Brisbane Lions

Studs

Luggage (142) – Fair to say Luggage has elevated himself from ‘above average’ to the ‘elite’ echelon of players in what has been a stunning 4-5 weeks from a Fantasy perspective! At well over $900K, the ship has sailed but patient owners have been rewarded handsomely.

Himmelberg (112) –

Coleman (102) – The solution to the Whit/Zorko problem for a few coaches and cashed in big time with Rich out of the side, taking bulk kick-ins! Rich was listed as a ‘test’ heading into the game so will be interesting if the old man string is ready for R19.

Duds

Kelly (57) – Disappointing showing at the undisputed home of footy that is Manuka Oval from Kelly. This performance was about as cold as the weather plus wind-chill!

Green (43) – ‘Tom Green Fan Club’ left the chat… Fair to say the bandwagon’s numbers are dwindling after a string of lacklustre performances!

Norf vs Richmond

Studs

UDL (108) – Beast-mode: Activated. Things seem to have finally clicked for the highly-touted pick 4 in 2017! Only 1% ownership but a definite watch for those who have put 2022 in the deepfreeze! I imagine the tags are coming soon-ish if Norf can continue to be semi-competitive…

Patch Adams (-) – Wowee! Norf might well sack a coach every week after that showing! Any of the 15 Norf fans nationwide disagree? Perfect opportunity for Patch to quit while he’s ahead!

Cumberland (89) – I suspect the Tiges have found one in Cumberland! Could have had 5 or 6 goals on the day if he didn’t contract the highly infectious ‘points disease’.

Duds

Anderson (59) –

Carlton vs Geelong

Studs

Walsh (105) – It wasn’t a huge scoring night for the Blues but Walsh topped the charts again with 33 touches and 6 tackles! He could quite easily go to another level if he fixes up his kick:HB ratio.

Duncan (103) – Make that four tons in a row for Duncan who is coming home with a wet sail! Coaches will be praying he remains fighting fit down at the Kardinia retirement village.

Duds

Cripps (84) – Death, taxes, and a Crippa 80… That makes it four 80’s in a row in what was a season low disposal tally (17). If you are in a position to luxury trade, it has to be strongly considered!

Kolodjashnij (13) – Only just scored more fantasy points than he has letters in his surname! Yes, it is an abnormally long surname but unless you are Samson Ryan this is genuinely hard to do.

Freo Dokers vs Sydney

Studs

Mills (132) – Pills, thrills, skills and no frills Mills gets the job done again. Absolute weapon who knows how to fill a stat line. Worth his weight in gold!

Chad (127) – Speaking of gold, how good is this kid?! Seems like everything he touches turns to gold at the minute. 35 touches, 6 marks and a goal… You’d think he’d be in strong contention for the three votes!

Lloyd (121) – Lloooooooooooyd! Yes sir! The Swannies racked up a huuuuge 138 marks and Lloyd got his lick of the ice-cream with 13 of his own. Still owes us a couple big ones in the last five weeks to completely justify the selection!

Duds

Brayshaw (78) –

Blakey (53) – *facepalm* A headache turned chronic migraine for those still running with the Lizard-looking operator at D6.

Fyfe (40) – Borderline impossible to comprehend how a man of Fyfe’s ability played 82% of the game for one solitary kick! One! 1% of the competition living in the past.

Buddy (39) – Not helping his bid to be overpaid beyond season 2022 with 7 touches and a goal…

Hawthorn vs West Coast

Studs

Ward (133) – Fantasy irrelevant at this point of the season but deserves a shout-out for a monster fantasy game… First of many tons you suspect for Ward (formerly known as ‘Psychiatric’).

Moore (112) –

Witherden (107) – Joined in the back six mark fest with eight of his own (Barrass had 18, Hurn nine and Edwards seven for the record), at least a handful of those completely useless to the Eagles… Peak fantasy!

Culley (76) – Bitta hype around the young man after being the #1 selection of the mid-season draft. He finally got his opportunity and did not let us down with his tackling (11) a real feature! If you didn’t have 223534634 forced trades and jumped on, must be nice!

Duds

Sicily (72) – Finally… As a salty non-owner this gives me great pleasure. Fair to say the other 17 weeks, he has made a complete fool out of me and the other peanuts who didn’t run with one of the most obvious starting selections in living memory!

Melbourne vs Port Adelaide

Studs

Houston (121) – Fair to say he was due after two absolute stinkers the preceding two weeks! I’m certain owning him can’t be good for your heart health but when he’s on, my word he is on.

Rozee (108) – Very nice indeed for those who had Rozee on the chopping block only to have more pressing issues arise. Has bought himself another couple of weeks as coaches prioritise other necessary and luxury trades!

Duds

Wines (88) – Hasn’t really lived up to the ‘Fine Wines’ label of late, more like your cheap knock off from ALDI (due respect to ALDI beverages, of course!). Still had the 27 disposals but it was his 1 tackle that really let him down!

Gawn (75) – After returning from an ankle injury a fortnight ago, Max has lost all concept of how to Fantasy… That’s 2×70’s in a row, adding to the horror weekend for ruck men.

Butters (72) –

Brayshaw (69) – Gee whiz… your bro had his worst score of the season and still had you covered by three kicks, Gus! Efforts like this don’t demand a spot in Roy’s Rollin’ 22!

Essendon vs Gold Coast

Studs

Redman (143) – Enormous! It’s fair to say Redman’s ceiling is undeniable with 3×125+ scores this season. Pair that with the 6x<80 scores he has put together and you couldn’t get much closer to describing a Yeo-Yeo! Wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him.

Merrett (131) –

Nic ‘Alpha’ Martin (92) – After an uncharacteristically pox performance capped off by a horror -1pt final quarter last week, Alpha was back doing Alpha tings. 25 touches, 5 marks and 2 goals – doing all the holders a real solid. Unfortunately, has a bloke named Daicos in the same rising star cohort otherwise Martin would be a pretty good shout!

Duds

Witts (77) – Dim-witted selection. Actually scored better than both Max and Speakano so it’s not all doom and gloom!

Ridley (71) – Anyone remember when this guy was fantasy relevant??? Yeah, me neither.

Rowell (49) – Oh Matt. Don’t expect the Banana Boat promotions to be popping out of the sprinklers anytime soon! The guy still averages less than one mark per game – unfathomable for a mid.

Casboult (33) – Spazboult.

The Juggernaut Review

2097.

Beyond a rabble. After a R17 too good to be true, things were looking brighter until good ol’ team selections on Thursday night… F*ck me, the gift that keeps on giving! No less than 10 outs including Clarry, Lachie Sh*tfield and Dayne ‘Spaghetti Strings’ Zorko. As my loyal followers have come to expect from a fat-headed, self-proclaimed guru after 23 good weeks playing the game – owen three in my head to head leagues and slid in the rankings… Honestly the correlation between creating https://fantasy-fanatic.com/ and my horsesh*t form is uncanny! Soooo many brainless decisions this season that really boil down to the fact that my bonce is filled with air…

Looking ahead, we are now just one week away from the highly anticipated Fantasy finals! For many of us, we find ourselves effectively in an ‘elimination final’ this weekend just to scrape into the 8. This is where it is worth paying attention to the little things like unique players and their specific matchups which can go a long way in a ‘do or die’ scenario! On the other end of the spectrum, coaches entrenched in the top 4 with no ladder movement possible may look to prepare their squads for the following week. For example, if a premo is out with a minor, one-week injury, it may be worth holding to fix up other issues with the knowledge they are likely to return in R20. Of course, the pursuit for overall prizes continues to heat up as we edge closer and closer to seasons end so as always there’s plenty to play for!

Thanks again legends and flex how you went in the comments!

Yours in Fantasy,

Fantasy Fanatic #70