Nine Fantasy Things We Learned: Trac excels without Clarry, Macrae on radar & is it too late for Hobbs?

If there was ever a week nailing your captain was going to give you a boost, this was it. Kudos to those who managed to pick (or loop) Sic Dawg, Tim Taranto or the Crows boys, Rory Laird and Jordan Dawson.

Well the byes are here and I hope you are ready. What did we learn leading into them…?

Old School Swans

Unlike usual, the Blues midfield was actually outscored from a fantasy perspective, with only Sam Walsh (112) really getting the job done. It was an old hand though that led the way with Jake Lloyd (123) top scoring and raising some questions about whether we are ready to be sucked in again. Doc (110) was solid as usual, and the Gulden Boy (101) did his thing. The Blues midfield could be in trouble, so if you are like me and riding Matt Kennedy (66), waiting another week might be the right (very hard) call.

The Sic Show

James Sicily (165) absolutely dominated this game in every facet and just like him, he found a way to get suspended for a week. It is a rollercoaster, but man is it fun. Dylan Moore (126) finally got back to his early season form and could be sneaky value now. Most other premos did their part, but Sinclair (82) and Steele (78) were very underwhelming. Popular rookie Seamus Mitchell (70) did very nicely, but unfortunately got injured and may be a trade earlier than coaches would have liked.

Could you do it?

Well as predicted Trac (116) without Clarry is going along very nicely, but the big story out of this game was the injury to Sean Darcy (34). This unlocked time for Luke Jackson (108) and he did not disappoint. He was already in form and now has the ruck to himself, could he be a play for the next month? Keep a close eye on that injury…

Ah who…?

Tom Stewart (121) got back to leading the way for the Cats, but it was a bunch of unheralded Giants that got on the score board here. Hogan (112), Briggs (111) and Daniels (100) aren’t the sexiest fantasy names ever, but man there must have been some happy draft coaches out there… BTW did I mention Daniels last week…?

Unbelievable DPP

Bevo has finally done it. He has always thrown his side around, but can you believe he managed to get Jack Macrae (123) forward status for us. Combined with a little bit of form from the almost pig, he has to be a huge target going forward. Just beware though, with any dog, Treloar is due back and Bevo is still their coach… Matt Rowell (124) is proving to be a more than handy pick since Touk went down, however his teammate Noah (90) has been a little quiet in recent weeks.

Is it too late?

The Bombers got their turn at the witches’ hats and broke a bunch of records along the way. Liam Duggan (140) flew the flag for his team (which will upset a certain LPS ex-competitor) and Jayden Hunt (120) went bang to put an exclamation mark on his credentials as pick of the season. The big question though, is it too late for Ben Hobbs (97)? Those who jumped on when Parish went down have been nicely rewarded and with Shiel in and out, is there still enough value there…? Not for me…

Clap Clap

Well Timmy (145) you are the last one standing in the tonne run for 2023 and rarely do you muck around with anything under 120. Man if you did not start this guy, you would be kicking yourself. Surprisingly the Nank (107) kept his great season going after his injury (still an option?) and the Port kids just managed to tick over the ton. Not much else to report here…

Normality resumes

It was nice to see Naicos (116) get back to what he does, but to see names like Mitchell (112) and Pendlebury (102) in the tonnes was like winding the clock back. Jordan De Goey (127) is a hard one to peg, as his ceiling is great, but floor terrible. George Wardlaw (51) couldn’t back up his heroics, but should still be a good rookie moving forward. One to maybe keep an eye on over the byes with DPP is Darcy Cameron (79) who had 35 hit-outs and with a run in the legs, could find a few more touches to get the scores going.

Big Boys Dominate

In a great game for the cows, Jordan Dawson (135) and Rory Laird (131) had their way with the Lions going big for their coaches. Great to see they are going to challenge Laird’s suspension as I am not sure what else he is supposed to do there. Junkley (112) was solid as was ROB (104) and Neale (100). Seemingly out of nowhere Ben Keays (109) was back in the mid and looked good. With or without Laird missing, could he be worth the risk?

Well, the byes are here and with any luck we can start sorting the goo coaches from the lucky. Remember to keep making your team better and not to just trade for a one-week score. Good luck and see you next week! 

Read our Round 11 injury report

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