Archive for the ‘Round 8 2009’ Category

ContestedFooty Introduces ‘Footy Focused’

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009

ContestedFooty members James Rose and Luke Wieselmann have put together a podcast called Footy Focused. The plan is to discuss popular and featured content on ContestedFooty as well as current issues in the football world.

This instalment of Footy Focused talks about the following articles:

Bryce Gibbs and Travis Johnstone: A Decade Apart but oh so Alike

Essendon’s Young Emerging Midfield

St Kilda Teaching Teams how to Play Football

As well as Nick Riewoldt’s continued commitment to the St Kilda Football Club, all things Terry Wallace and SuperCoach.

James and Luke hope you enjoy it and would welcome any feedback you have.

Here is a flash version of the podcast that you can stream:

Here is a direct link to the Footy Focused podcast for you to download

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Posted in Featured, Round 8 2009 | No Comments »

Sydney vs West Coast – Round 8 match recap

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009

Sydney – 16.10 (106)

West Coast – 15.11 (101)

We have come to expect great tussles from these two sides when they play, and round 8 was no different. Throughout the night the game was generally close, with the margin never stretching further than 19 points. It was goal for goal for much of the night but the eagles trailed for all but 5 minutes of it, only edging in front for the first and only time at the 20 minute mark of the final term. A game saving goal from Keiren Jack of Sydney put the home side in front and the siren went four minutes later with Sydney coming away winners in yet another close one by 5 points.

Turning points of the match

As mentioned the game was close but a 4 goal to 2 final term from the Eagles set up the thrilling finish. The Eagles came out firing kicking 2.3 to 0.1 by the halfway mark of the final term before Barry Hall kicked his 5th to steady the Swans. Two quick goals from Ben McKinley and Scott Selwood put the Eagles up by a point and two more behinds followed. The Eagles had 9 scoring shots to 4 in the final term but only managed 4 goals in what turned out to be a lost opportunity.

Key Players for Sydney

Adam Goodes – The superstar spent the night being tagged by Adam Selwood and still collected 26 possessions and kicked 3 straight goals. He also managed 2 goal assists so I think he won that battle.

Barry Hall – Some might query why I have Hall here when he only had 6 disposals for the night. Well its simple, he took 5 marks, kicked 5 straight goals and laid 5 tackles. Without his contribution the Swans would have lost, and lost horribly for that matter.

Brett Kirk – Tagged Matt Priddis and beat him in every aspect. 21 touches to 17, 10 tackles to 7 and kicked a behind.

Key Players for West Coast

Dean Cox – Also a superstar. 30 hit outs, 22 possessions, 6 marks, 4 tackles, 5 inside 50’s and 2.0. It’s like having a 204cm midfielder. That is all.

Quinten Lynch – Kind of kicked his team out of it with 2.5 for the night but he took 8 marks and had 6 inside 50’s for the night in his 19 disposals so he tried.

Josh Kennedy – Kicked straighter than Lynch with 3.1. He also had 16 disposals, only one of which was a handball, and took 11 marks with 4 inside 50’s.

Musings from the match

· The margin never exceeded 19 points.

· The Swans dominated the handballs 202 to 125.

· Cox only had 2 more hit outs than Jolly, but overall the Eagles dominated with 50 to 38.

· The Eagles had more contested possessions and the Swans had more uncontested.

· Swans had 4 more inside 50’s than the Eagles, but on the flipside the Eagles had 4 more rebound 50s evening things out.

· The Swans had 21 bounces to the Eagles 6 illustrating the difference in game styles.

· The Swans had 6 more goal assists.

· The Swans had 8 players with over 20 possession whilst the Eagles only had 6.

· Why did Collingwood trade Rhyce Shaw to the Swans? He is playing well week in week out, and leading the kicks and disposals for the Swans. Pies should be kicking themselves.

Supercoach news

Dean Cox – Get him!

Brett Kirk – Played a tagging role on Priddis and still managed 149 points, what’s going on here? If he can keep that up he’s a good pickup.

Adam Goodes – Was tagged as mentioned and scored 126 points from his stats. Not bad for an old fella.

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Posted in Match Reviews, Round 8 2009, Sydney, West Coast | No Comments »

Brisbane vs. Adelaide – Round 8 match recap

Sunday, May 17th, 2009

Brisbane – 18.11 (119)

Adelaide – 12.11 (83)

Brisbane pulled of a second half comeback to down Adelaide by 36 points at the Gabba on Saturday night. Adelaide looked to have the better of the home side in the first half but failed to bury the Lions in the second quarter kicking 2.3. and the Lions made the most of it closing the gap to just 10 points at half time. A stellar third quarter from Daniel Bradshaw, kicking 4 goals, set the Lions up for the rest of the game. The Lions kicked 7 goals to 2 in the third and went into the final change with a handy 22 point lead. When Brisbane kicked 4 out of the first 5 goals of the last term the game was out of reach for a disappointing Crows side.

Turning points of the match

Bradshaw’s 4 goal burst in the third quarter, which stole the lead from Adelaide, to set up the rest of the game for the Lions.

Key Players for Brisbane

Justin Sherman – He had a cracker of a game kicking 3.4 from 35 touches and took 11 marks and 4 tackles.

Daniel Bradshaw – Started the game slowly but kicked it into overdrive in the third quarter kicking the first 4 of his 5 goals. He also managed 8 marks.

Simon Black – 28 possessions, 3 marks and a goal in a normal night out for him. Nothing spectacular but was important nonetheless.

Key Players for Adelaide

David Mackay – Started the game going head to head with Sherman but moved to Travis Johnstone in the second half. Racked up 30 disposals, 8 marks, 6 tackles and kicked 1.1.

Jason Porplyzia – 17 touches with 9 marks and managed 2 goals.

Simon Goodwin – Showed no real sign of that ankle injury that he picked up last week playing at half back. He ran free most of the night and collected 25 possessions with 7 marks and 3 tackles.

Musings from the match

· Bradshaw became the clubs all-time leading goal scorer overtaking Alistair Lynch.

· Bradshaw was scoreless in the first half and finished the night with 5.2.

· Adelaide had double the hit outs to Brisbane with 44 to 22.

· Adelaide also had more possessions, both contested and uncontested.

· There was a 1.48% difference between the teams effective disposals, slightly in favour of the Lions.

· Lions had more inside 50’s, 58-46, but consequently the Crows had more rebound 50’s, 36-32.

· Does anyone else think Travis Johnstone needs to shave off his beard?

Supercoach news

Daniel Rich – Scored 100 this week making anyone who traded him last week think they may have made a mistake. There could still be some value in this kid.

Jed Adcock – Came off in the last quarter with a leg injury. Keep an eye on his progress if you have him.

David Mackay – Scored 130 from the stats mentioned earlier, not bad for a $353,300 midfielder.

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Posted in Adelaide, Brisbane, Match Reviews, Round 8 2009 | No Comments »

St Kilda vs. Essendon – Round 8 match recap

Sunday, May 17th, 2009

St Kilda Saints – 13.12 (90)
Essendon Bombers – 10.11 (71)


St Kilda for the first time this year have been properly tested by someone, they came through with a pass mark and a 3 goal victory but no doubt Ross Lyon will have seen plenty that needs working on.

This game had everything I love about football; A loud passionate crowd, A well drilled team, an exciting team and seriously hard contests. In the first quarter the Saints looked untouchable from my seat at ContestedFooty Stadium (also known as Etihad amongst other names) but the Bombers showed a real desire to work hard and attack hard, which made it a great spectacle.
St Kilda is still motoring along nicely but based on this game the Bombers will have some seriously good games.

Turning points of the match
St Kilda exploded out of the blocks and set up a game defining lead in the first quarter. The Bombers worked hard to real them in during the second and third quarters, in fact in the last quarter they looked like they may run all over the Saints until Lloyd gave away a holding free kick in a marking contest (one that he had won cold) and the Saints took it up the other end and kicked a goal that took just enough wind out of the Essendon sails and kicked away to win by 3 goals.

Key Players for St Kilda
Justin Koschitzke– Worked hard all night, imposed himself on the match and kicked straight. Koschitzke had stats of 4 goals 2 and 8 marks (4 contested) by game’s end.


Lenny Hayes– Went head to head with Jobe Watson and both played good games. Hayes attack on the footy and the man with it remains one of the best in the AFL for mine. Lenny’s stats read 33 touches, 5 clearances and 9 tackles by game’s end.

James Gwilt- For mine one of the better Saints players all night, Gwilt is really starting to find his feet at AFL level. He has a beautiful kick, a strong body and clean hands picking up the ball. He only had the 13 touches but they included 3 goal assists and he adds another dimension to the St Kilda forward line.

Key Players for Essendon
Jobe Watson– As above went head to head with Hayes; tellingly had 18 out of his 39 possessions were contested. Jobe also accumulated 6 tackles when he wasn’t getting leather poisoning.


Courtenay Dempsey– Ran hard all day, created a lot of play and was rewarded with great stats of 27 touches and a goal, took 5 bounces on his way as well.

Musings from the match
• Nice big crowd for a Sunday twilight match (45k)
• Essendon are seriously hard to stifle, they will take risks and run all day
• Some of St Kilda’s lesser lights struggled. Dawson, Blake, King and Jones all made mistakes that Geelong may of punished more than the Bombers.
• Brendon Goddard needs to work harder, often wasn’t picking up his man which made it easy for the bombers to run the ball. Goddard flashes in and out of the game too much for mine.
• Run is the way to get through a zone and Ben isn’t wrong about the Bombers midfield.
• St Kilda looked to be in cruise control at time

• Enjoyed the umpiring immensely, because I didn’t notice it.
• Thought the Essendon supporters were fantastic, didn’t whine, were humorous and good sports, if only more supporters (including my own club) were like them.
• Mathew Lloyd performed one of the most selfish acts I have seen from a Bombers player, however he did kick the goal so he escapes most of his critics this time. He took a mark 50-out, saw a player on his own about 30 out and went back for the shot, shocking.

SuperCoach news
St Kilda players didn’t deliver like they normally do but a couple in Lenny Hayes and Justin Koschitzke scored pretty well. I’m considering getting on Gwilt as a blue chip player I think is going to hit some form.

Look out for Davey and his possible suspension for a stupid bump on Dal Santo. Dempsey and Dyson had fantastic games, if you think they can keep it up get on them now.

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Posted in Essendon, Match Reviews, Round 8 2009, St Kilda | No Comments »

Port Adelaide vs. Richmond – Round 8 match recap

Sunday, May 17th, 2009

Port Adelaide – 14.18 (102)

Richmond – 15.9 (99)

An inaccurate Port Adelaide side scraped home against Richmond on Saturday afternoon to win by just 3 points. Port led what was a reasonably close match for much of the day but a 7 goal to 3 third quarter in favour of Richmond gave the visitors a narrow lead going into the final term.

 The home side etched away at the Tigers lead for the entirety of the last quarter but the visitors seemed to have an upset sealed. Enter Warren Treadrea with a contested mark and consequent goal, his 7th for the day, to put Port in front with under a minute left on the clock.

Richmond got the final clearance from the middle following that goal and a desperate kick into the forward line followed. Enter that man Treadrea again with yet another contested mark, this time in his defensive 50, to save the day at both ends for the Power.

Turning points of the match

After a steady increase in Port Adelaide’s lead, Richmond suddenly piled on 4 straight goals in the third quarter to make a game of it. Port got one back soon after but another 3 followed for the Tigers to close out the term to make for a thrilling final term.

Key Players for Port Adelaide

Warren Treadrea – Having kicked 7.4 on three different opponents, and taking 11 marks (including the match saving one in defence with under 10 seconds left), its hard to go past his effort really.

Travis Boak – Played on Travis Tuck and although Tuck had more possessions Boak still had a good day out. He collected 25 possessions, 6 clearances, with 5 marks, 9 tackles and a goal to top it all off.

Domenic Cassisi – The captain also had a good day at the office collecting 23 disposals with 3 marks. Like Boak he also had a massive 9 tackles, 6 clearances and kicked a goal.

Key Players for Richmond

Shane Tuck – Ripped it up in the midfield with 31 disposals and 5 clearances with 7 tackles and 7 marks.

Mark Coughlan – Collected 28 possessions, 5 tackles and 7 marks to try and lift his team to a second win in 2009.

Robin Nahas – Some might ridicule me for putting the young guy here but having kicked 5 straight goals from just 8 disposals and 3 marks he really helped keep Richmond in it. He also had 5 tackles and kicked 3 of his goals in the first quarter to combat Treadrea’s 4.2.

Musings from the match

· Young Robin Nahas continues to impress fans.

· Warren Treadrea has now kicked 27 goals in 2009, equal first with Hawks duo Jarryd Roughead and Lance Franklin.

· Richmond is still on only 1 win.

· Port Adelaide is still in the top four.

· Kane Cornes should not have played with his shoulder injury.

· That same man brought up breakfast or lunch, or both, just after half time.

· Ben Cousins had his best game so far, with 24 touches and three clearances.

· Daniel Motlop had a quiet game, but then with Treadrea burning it up like he did its no surprise.

Supercoach news

Kane Cornes – His shoulder is clearly not 100% and should not have played in my opinion. His 30 points highlights how much it is affecting his game really.

Ben Cousins – Has now played three games scoring 70, 74 and 97 respectively. Is steadily improving and looks set to have a breakout triple figure score soon. Has a tendency to pull a muscle known as the hammy though so be wary of this if you intend to punt on him.

Robin Nahas – Is young and increasing in price rapidly. Probably too late to gain money from him but if he continues to score steadily he could be a good bench player.

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Posted in Match Reviews, Port Adelaide, Richmond, Round 8 2009 | No Comments »

Collingwood vs. Carlton – Round 8 match recap

Sunday, May 17th, 2009

Collingwood – 7.11(53)
Carlton – 16.8 (104)

Carlton has outclassed their arch rival Collingwood by 51 points, in front of the season’s third highest crowd of 82,834. Carlton dominated the game from early in the first quarter, and was only under threat for about 5-10 minutes during the third quarter, but re-gained composure against an undermanned Collingwood side. This win means that the Blues have won the past 3 games against the Pies are still in the eight.


Turning points of the match

Carlton kicked 5 goals straight in the first quarter to Collingwood’s 2 behinds from set shots.

Key Players for Collingwood

Scott Pendlebury – Went head to head with Judd from the start of the match and outplayed him in the first half until Judd came back and drew the dual. Pendlebury was clearly Collingwood’s best and the only midfielder that came to play. He collected 31 disposals, took 2 marks and had 3 tackles.

Nick Maxwell – The second consecutive solid game from the Collingwood captain in yet another agonising loss. He started on Jarrad Waite and then moved onto Mitch Robinson. He had 22 disposals, 7 marks and 2 tackles.

Dane Swan – With an injury cloud over his head and many believing he would be a late withdrawal, Swan showed no signs of a knee injury (other than the strapping, of course). He went head to head with Bryce Gibbs and was beaten but still had a good match for the Pies considering the score. He gathered 30 possessions, laid 3 tackles and took 3 marks. He also had a game high 7 inside 50’s.

Key Players for Carlton

Kade Simpson – Starred in a Blues dominant midfield display. He had plenty of the ball and took a game high 12 marks. He also had Carltons most inside 50’s with 5 to his name and the second highest for the game behind Dane Swan. In the end he collected 29 touches and laid 4 tackles.

Chris Judd – Had a slower start to the game than normal and went head to head with Scott Pendlebury and ending up beating him as his impact on the game was more effective. He had game high 32 disposals, took 7 grabs, had a game high 8 tackles and kicked a goal. His only downfall for the day was his 4 frees against.

Bryce Gibbs – Solid, Solid, Solid, yet another great game! He went head to head with Dane Swan and beat him with 25 possessions, 6 tackles and 10 marks (the second highest for the day).

Musings from the match

• Carlton dominated the clearances and tackles in the first quarter, but Collingwood had more inside 50’s but could not convert.
• Carlton was much more accurate and effective the first quarter 74% to 56%
• The last time Carlton held Collingwood goaless in a the first quarter of football was in 1981
• Collingwood can get inside 50 a hell of a lot, but just don’t have any forward targets, what is going on?
• It took Collingwood till half way through the quarter to kick their first goal. So much for James’ theory.
• Josh Fraser’s replacement Cameron Wood vs. Matthew Kreuzer. Wood ended with 21 hit outs, 9 possessions, 4 tackles, 2 marks with 2 frees against. Kreuzer on the other hand had 25 hit outs, 10 possessions, 4 tackles, 4 marks and 2 frees for. It seems that they were relatively even. The only thing is Mick Malthouse doesn’t think so stated that “(Cameron) Wood has had his chance”.
• Collingwood’s half time score was their lowest score against Carlton since 1956.
• Leon Davis kicked a goal in the second quarter, which was good enough to be goal of the year!
• Fevola did nothing for the second week in a row. Prestigiacomo kept him at a standstill. He had 8 disposals, 4 marks and 3 tackles.
• Carlton dominated in the marks 124-65.
• Collingwood ended the match with more inside fifties 45-41.


Supercoach news

• Simon Prestigiacomo, had a knock to the shoulder early in the game, might be worth keeping an eye on him, if you have him. This is unlikely because even though he has good games, his game does not score well in Supercoach.

• Carlton had 8 players scoring over 100+ points including starring midfielders Judd, Gibbs, Simpson. Collingwood only had two; Pendlebury and Maxwell.

• Mitch Robinson had a good start to the season playing three consecutive games, and then got dropped for performing badly. He then got brought in after the dropping of Cameron Cloke and collected 100 super coach points.

• Scott Pendlebury and Chris Judd. Consistent, effective performers for their sides must have in teams if you are looking for a solid midfield recruit.

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Posted in Carlton, Collingwood, Match Reviews, Round 8 2009 | No Comments »

Melbourne vs Western Bulldogs – Round 8 match recap

Sunday, May 17th, 2009

Melbourne – 15.7 (97)
Western Bulldogs – 15.14 (104)
Melbourne came very close to securing their second win of the season and probably out played the Bulldogs for the majority of the match. The game was fairly even and free-flowing. It was a very good game to watch as it was close and high scoring.

Turning points of the match
Half way through the last quarter a non-free kick was awarded to the Bulldogs and then Melbourne played on either thinking it was a free to the Dees or didn’t realise it was a free which resulted in a 50 meter penalty and a shot on the goal line which all but sealed the game. Melbourne did fight back hard but ran out of time.

Key Players for Melbourne
Cale Morton – He has a good head on his shoulders and makes very good decisions most of the time. He rarely makes damaging errors. He did get a lot of cheap footy though.
Brock McLean – Very good game by Brock, he won the ball frequently but did have the most effective disposal.

Key Players for the Western Bulldogs
Jason Akermanis – As much as I dislike his character, he did lift the team in the 2nd quarter and kicked 4 goals
Matthew Boyd – He was soldiering on in the final term when the Bulldogs looked like they were going to choke.

Musings from the match
• 30,000ish crowd is pretty crap, not too bad though, it was a Saturday afternoon, and there was no excuse not to come.
• Amazing how zones don’t work if you move the ball quickly eh?
• Even though Melbourne was getting dominated in hitouts, I thought Melbourne were 50/50 in clearances, but that was not the case the Bulldogs got 38 centre clearances to Melbourne’s 26. It seems Scott West is not that useful as Melbourne’s stoppages coach as I had hoped.
• Brad Johnson had a shocker, he has been horrible all year
• Melbourne had 75 (~20%) more possessions than the Bulldogs, the demons converted better (besides Miller)
• Bulldogs had more inside 50s, marks inside 50 and shots on goal; which was what won them the game.
• Melbourne had less percentage of clangers than previous weeks and far more of the football
• Paul Johnson thinks he is a small midfielder, he was weaving around players and selling the dummy, what the hell?
• Melbourne still can’t kick out unless Davey or Cale Morton does it, I have no idea why they let players that aren’t the best kick or decision makers take the kick out, especially when the other team has set up the zone and you really need to pinpoint the pass.

SuperCoach news
Those who carried Kyle Cheney (myself included) would be very happy with themselves, he scored 93, had a decent game, price rise and a new break-even going in to round 9 that is negative will make them even more happy. Jack Grimes also had a good game for supercoach purposes, scoring 109. Cooney still hasn’t hit his purple form yet, he is looking okay though. Robert Murphy’s hamstring is a worry for the people that have him.

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Posted in Match Reviews, Melbourne, Round 8 2009, Western Bulldogs | 1 Comment »

Fremantle vs. Hawthorn – Round 8 match recap

Friday, May 15th, 2009

Fremantle – 9.11 (65)
Hawthorn – 13.9 (87)

A dominant second term in which the Hawk’s scored 5 goals to 1 set up a gritty victory against the Dockers. It will be the case of a chance lost with Fremantle, who had more than enough chances to take it up to Hawthorn in the second half.

Turning points of the match
The second half when the Hawks kicked 5 goals in a little less than 15 minutes gave the Hawks a big enough buffer to keep the Dockers’ at bay for the rest of the game.
Although they probably can thank some wayward kicking from Freo for not testing that buffer too much…..

Key Players for the Fremantle
• Matthew Pavlich – The most influential midfielder on the ground with 8 tackles to go with 30 possessions.
• Byron Schammer – From someone who was pretty-much at the cross-roads of his career, he has had a damn good year with this game to add to it. He was everywhere around the packs and finished with 29 possessions and 5 clearances.
• Aaron Sandilands – Absolutely dominated the ruck making the Robert Campbell and Simon Taylor look second-rate (well Taylor is second-rate anyway) with 41 hitouts.

Key Players for Hawthorn
• Cyril Rioli – If he isn’t the Hawks best player right now……. His 16 possesions may seem a bit light-on but boy were they an absolute joy to watch.
• Brad Sewell – Mr. Dependable has become a real on-field leader for the Hawks which cannot be underestimated due to the inconsistency of the named leaders at the club. 11 tackles and 13 quality contested possessions out of 29 proves it for me.
• Sam Mitchell – 34 possessions for the captain performing again in a must win game. Good for him and for the Hawks but let’s do it consistantly from here onwards Sammy ok?
Musings from the match
• My god, Freo had their chances to take it up to the Hawks in the 3rd and 4th quarters…….

• Bad kicking is bad fo……………..
• The Hawks went to the simple man-on-man set up which in the end helped them get the 4 points. Keeping it simple is ‘gold’ when you are down on confidence.
• A total tackle count of 139 for both teams shows the type of game played.
• How did Brad Sewell only get drafted in the Rookie draft?
• How did Rioli last till’ 12 in his draft?
• The Franklin/Tarrant battle was a highlight. Buddy’ with four goals straight got the points but it wasn’t all one way traffic.
• Ben McGlynn and Chance Bateman were also very good for the Hawks, McGlynn with his hard-edge approach which suited the game and Bateman with his typical hard-running.
• As good as Byron Schammer was, that miss in the last half was crucial.
• Stats wise for Stephen Hill, a 13 possession game is nothing to write home about but his immeasurable influence is telling. The amount of ‘drive’ he provided Freo was excellent.
• So the Hawks are 4-4 now. they were particularly unexceptional this game but a win is a win. Finals beckons!

SuperCoach news
• For a low scoring game in terms of goals, it was a high scoring game SuperCoach points wise with 11 players scoring 100+pt’s
• Brad Sewell, Matthew Pavlich and Paul “Who am I?” Duffield led the way with 150+pt’s
• Ben McGlynn is one to jump on if you are after a bargain. He scored 109pt’s to go with his 85pt’s against Essendon last week. With a price of $228 300, he could score negative next week and still gain value. He has the work ethic and hard-edge that Clarkson loves so expect him to stay in the team as well.

SuperCoach scores from SuperFooty.com

Posted in Fremantle, Hawthorn, Match Reviews, Round 8 2009 | No Comments »

Round 8 preview

Thursday, May 14th, 2009

This round, a bunch of us are going to look at this rounds games.

Fremantle vs. Hawthorn
14th vs. 9th
The reigning premiers were distinctively average against an ambitious Essendon side last week whereas Freo managed to make Carlton look second-rate up at Carrara.
My money is still on the Hawk’s who, despite constantly letting me down in my multi-bets, aren’t up against a team that can expose it’s game-plan like Essendon, Sydney, Geelong and Port have this year.

SuperCoach Watch: Brad Sewell and Cyril Rioli are the Hawks best two players by a fair margain but Sewell is the more consistent one in terms of SuperCoach scores averaging 114pt’s , with Rioli averaging 87pt’s. Interestingly, Rioli scores better when the Hawks lose with an average of 101pt’s for losses and 68 pt’s when they win! Whatever the opposite of a down-hill skier is, he is that.

Aaron Sandilands was exceptional last week against Carlton doing a fine imitation of Dean Cox ending up with 161pt’s. With a price of $464 000, he could be an ideal replacement for Josh Fraser.
By Vish

Melbourne vs. Western Bulldogs
16th vs. 3rd
Western Bulldogs are somehow third on the ladder (on percentage) and will be far too good for the Demons even though they are at their beloved MCG. The Bulldogs shouldn’t have too much trouble breaking the Melbourne ‘zone’ with their run and carry. Having said that, Melbourne played some decent football in segments against West Coast and kicked fairly straight so Western Bulldogs can’t relax too much. Mark Jamar could make his return for the Demons which could mean that they have two specialist ruckmen, unlike last week.

SuperCoach Watch: Shaun Higgins could return from a groin injury to make it worthwhile carrying him for a little bit longer to save trades. Jarrod Harbrow could also be one to get on at $ 329,500 with a breakeven of about 39pt’s, which he will almost definitely get against the bottom placed side. Jack Grimes had a good game last week and pulled out 92pt’s. One thing to note on Grimes is that he was the number one kick-in target for Melbourne last week which means marks/kicks are common with him.
Nathan Jones is a certainty to go up in value this week; he has a negative breakeven and looks to be in good touch.
By Luke

Geelong vs. North Melbourne
2nd vs. 13th
Geelong who is on equal points with St Kilda will be looking for win number eight against North down at Skilled Stadium on Saturday afternoon. North notched up a much needed win last week against the Power but I expect Geelong to be far too strong against North.
It was only to years ago that North Melbourne helped spur Geelong into action after a massive defeat at Skilled Stadium.

SuperCoach Watch: Daniel Wells had a good week last week with 124pt’s and will hopefully be able to continue this form. Michael Firrito scored 112pt’s; well above his season average of 86pt’s, could be one to watch. Steve Johnson and Selwood dominated for the Cat’s last round, also watch for Matthew Stokes.
By Brent

Brisbane vs. Adelaide
6th vs. 12th
Brisbane had pretty good win against poor old Richmond which was exactly what they needed after getting smashed by Geelong the week before. Adelaide has been disappointing so far losing two in a row albeit against some pretty good opposition.

Despite that, I’d expect Adelaide to win in this given that it is a “crunch” game for them. If they lose, they will be 3-5 and be more than likely to not make the 8.

SuperCoach Watch: Taylor Walker had a great game last week scoring 124pt’s after a fair few low-scoring games. Jonathan Brown historically doesn’t score or play well against Adelaide averaging 66pt’s in his past 3 encounters, so be prepared for a poor one if you have him.
By Vish

Sydney vs. West Coast
10th vs. 11th
2 years ago, this game would have been one of the most eagerly anticipated matches of the season but nowadays it’s just another game.
West Coast just did enough to beat Melbourne last week after keeping them at arms-length all afternoon and Sydney became another team to be smashed by Geelong which wasn’t too unexpected.
Sydney should win this with the overriding reason being that West Coast isn’t at home which as simplistic as it sounds, holds some weight so far this season.

SuperCoach Watch: Shannon Hurn continues to impress this year with an average of 87pt’s. Given that he started at a price of $286 200 and is now at $395 400, you’d be fairly happy if you had him from the start.
Nick Malceski has finally been ‘rewarded’ with a well deserved relegation to the ‘two’s’. His usual sure-kicking has deserted him going from a potential bargain, to a bad pick-up.
Daniel Kerr is expected to be out for 2 weeks. That coupled with his inconsistency this year would give anyone who has him a good reason to get rid of.
By Vish

Port Adelaide vs. Richmond
4th vs. 15th
If location on the ladder is anything to go by; Port will win this comfortably. If Richmond’s record at AAMI Stadium of 15 losses out of its last 17 games at the ground is another thing to go by; Port will win this comfortably. If the last three encounters between these two teams with Port winning two clashes by 40 and 55 points mans anything; Port will win this comfortably. It seems that the only thing Richmond has going for it at the moment is the fact that their only two wins at AAMI out of the 17 were against Port, including their only encounter last year, which the Tigers won by4 points.
In the last three weeks both teams have 2 losses and a win, with Port defeating Adelaide in the showdown, with the Tigers defeating North Melbourne. Port got a little unlucky last week against North Melbourne after a fast finish, only losing by 5 points after having the ball in their attacking half for the last 90 seconds. Richmond on the other hand looked to have the better of their opponents in Brisbane in the first half but dropped off significantly to lose by 26 points. Port is missing some big names in Steven Salopek and Shaun Burgoyne, while Richmond also has big names out in Kane Johnson and Matthew Richardson.
One would think that the points would be going to the Power this week, but it just depends on which Port Adelaide team shows up. Will it be the team that has won 4 games? Or the team that has lost 3 games?
I would say Port Adelaide for the points purely because they are a better team and they are at home.

SuperCoach Watch: Last time these teams met Domenic Cassisi and Dean Brogan were the only two Port players to score over 100pt’s, getting 115pt’s and 114pt’s respectively. Neither had a huge amount of disposals but with 11 tackles to Cassisi and 23 hit outs to Brogan you can see where their points came from. Richmond on the other hand had 7 players reach triple figures, with Chris Newman, Shane Tuck and Joel Bowden scoring over 120pt’s. The standout from this game however was Joel Bowden with 39 disposals, 32 of which were kicks, and 23 marks earning him a massive score of 223pt’s! He might be worth considering when choosing your captain as he has been in decent form of late as it is, averaging 107pt’s so far this year.
By Ben

Carlton Blues vs. Collingwood Magpies
7th vs. 8th
No matter where these teams are located on the ladder and no matter how good or bad their form is, leading into this rivalry match the stakes are always high which means the game could swing either way.
In 2008, Carlton got up in both matches with a combined total of 53 points, but between 2006 and 2007 Collingwood won four on the trot. This year both teams have a 3-4 win/loss record and it seems for the loser it might be an uphill battle with a 3-5 record and will likely drop out of the eight.
Collingwood will be anxious to get back after a poor effort against the Saints on Monday night. However the inclusion this week of some forwards will add some depth into their forward line.
If James’ theory is anything to go by the Pies will left their intensity after a demolishing last week against the Saints and gain the four points against the Blues. Additionally the Pies record this year has been LWLWLWL, so it could be time for a win.
The Blues on the other hand have a strong and consistent midfield that gains much of the ball and dominates with high possession counts game after game. But they need the whole team to play and not just rely on their midfield foursome of Gibbs, Judd, Stevens and Murphy. The Blues should dominate the midfield on Sunday afternoon, and it will probably come down to the stronger team, which seems to be the Blues and their recent record against the Pies will definitely give them confidence leading into the game.

Super Coach Watch: Will Fevola be fit to play? If he plays will he dominate and kick another bag? He kicked a total of 15 goals in last years’ matches; can he be held Simon Prestigiacomo who was injured last year?
Judd averages 117.57 points a game. He is captain material this week.
Scott Pendlebury’s season average is 121.71 and has been a dominant and consistent midfielder for the Pies this season. Swan averages 103.71 points this year, but a bad fall on his knee last week. Barring that, he plays well against the Blues collecting 27 possessions in each of the matches last year.
Steele Sidebottom is worth 124,200 and is a cheap buy. In his debut game last week he collected 22 possessions and scored 67 points with minimal game time.
By Christine

MATCH OF THE ROUND
St Kilda Saints vs. Essendon Bombers
1st vs. 5th
After 7 rounds of the AFL season St Kilda have stood out from all in the pack bar Geelong. Essendon on the other-hand have been up and down all year whilst in the processes of recording perhaps their best performance of the year last week.
Essendon’s form line reads WLWLW so far this year although a common characteristic of the Bombers seems to lead to them ‘stepping up ‘in big games. I don’t expect this game to be any different.


St Kilda could be a different story. As an unashamed St Kilda supporter I can’t help but feel the let down is just around the corner. You know how it goes; St Kilda promise a lot then stop for some unknown reason and then implode. I did however have that feeling before the Magpies game and boy was I proven wrong. So for the purpose of this preview let us assume both teams bring their ‘A Game’.

We have a clash of two contrasting styles on our hands in this match. St Kilda have been suffocating the life out of their opponents with a disciplined game plan and intense tackling, before scoring heavily to blow teams out of the water so far this year. The Bombers have played a lovely game when ‘on’ that revolves around putting a lot of speed on the ball and exposing the lack of accountability of some teams zonal structures.

I can’t help but feel St Kilda will put too much pressure on an Essendon side that whilst is good, won’t quite have the skills to pull of the daring way they have been playing. The question for me is the margin and that will be decided by the efforts of the Bombers players when they don’t have the ball as well as the efficiency of the Saints going forward.

SuperCoach Watch: St Kilda players have delivered in spades for fantasy coaches Australia wide so far this year. Look for Brendon Goddard to have a big game setting up from defence and perhaps trying to expose Essendon’s back half.

Leigh Montagna could be the most underrated midfielder in the AFL at the moment but I’d imagine he’ll get the tag this week, I still expect a solid game from him but nothing like last week.
Will Essendon make the mistake of letting Dal Santo and Montagna run free like the Magpies did last week? If they do expect more big scores from this duo.
Hayden Skipworth is apparently one week away so if you still have him, hold on!
Any Essendon players with pace could get a bit of the ball this week; I still feel my Saints are weak in that area.
By James

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