MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 14: Max Gawn of the Demons marks the ball during a Melbourne Demons training session at Gosch's Paddock on December 14, 2022 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Martin Keep/AFL Photos for AFL Photos)
Round 18 was tough. With a raft of injury carnage in the lead-up, we all needed our cover to step up, and while a few did, our usual premiums let us down, namely Zach Merrett, Lachie Neale and the returning James Sicily.
Sydney v Bulldogs
Freak: Bontempelli (142)
Flop: Macrae (71)
Rookie Roulette: McNeil (43), O’Donnell (22)
What a cracking game of VC heaven. Top three scorers Bont, English (140) and Gulden (126) all delivered what was asked of them and then some. We’ve got issues with the flops, though. With the bullets flying from every direction, plenty of coaches had to scramble to avoid playing rookies or copping donuts. Enter cheap option Millsy (71) who didn’t deliver, but avoids the Flop because at least (unlike Macrae) he doesn’t cost you $850k. Daniel (67) did even worse than the pair of them but was parachuted in for some with the losses of Lloydy and Young. Insult to injury, it was just after this game started that confirmation of the Tom Green out landed. I don’t know about you but if I’d have known that, my trades would’ve been completely different. I somehow ended up holding DCam. Blimey that was a bad start.
Melbourne v Brisbane
Freak: Gawn (162)
Flop: Neale (75)
Rookie Roulette: Fletcher (65), Wilmot (53), Woewodin (44), McVee (37), JVR (28)
Two for two in terms of cracking starts to the round and a mere three points the combined margin on Thursday and Friday. This one had more ups and downs than a Luke Ryan owner. Big Max confirmed just how much of a Fantasy stud he is when he’s solo ruck, with Grundy dramatically dropped. If Petracca (115) keeps kicking four goals every week it will be tough to keep flagging the forward time as a reason not to bring him in. Yet I will stubbornly keep throwing that flag. Surely he can’t do this every week. McCluggage (104) was good again, which cannot be said for bye round hero Lachlan Neale. That’s right, I’m full naming him. He was so unbelievably unsighted in the first half that I can’t even tell you if someone was sitting on him. He wasn’t the only problem child, though. You might’ve expected a bump from CBA man Brayshaw (84), who had the role but not the points to show for it. Ashcroft (82) didn’t pick up enough of Neale’s scraps and potential stop-gap solutions to our defensive injury woes Salem (52), Wilmot and Coleman (69) all flopped. If he’s back, Dunks’ BE is high but I’d tick off moving him straight back in to get a jump on the pack.
Collingwood v Freo
Freak: Nick Daicos (132)
Flop: Darcy’s ankle (74)
Rookie Roulette: Wagner (81), Johnson (68), Sturt (47)
Ok this ‘close round’ trend didn’t last. I should go back and check how many times Nicky D has taken out the Freak. The Brownlow’s gonna feel a little lackluster by comparison. Shout out to Titch (60) who notched up a mammoth total considering he only had 44% TOG and nearly outscored the rookie who might’ve been covering for him, Johnno (68). Coaches would’ve been forced to hold and even field Titch, so it was very nearly a Freak-worthy performance. Sad times for Darcy owners as he was tracking along very nicely before going down with an ankle. It’s a punch in the guts as he had been a great POD. Get him to one of the big dogs now.
Gold Coast v St Kilda
Freak: Windhager (100)
Flop: Sinclair (86)
Rookie Roulette: Peris (57), Humphrey (49), Oea (41), Phillipou (39)
Oml Rory Atkins (122) you’ve done it two weeks in a row. I can’t stop laughing. This is a cruel, cruel, hilarious, ridiculous game. Everyone was looking for a cheap forward to cover DCam so they could at least upgrade Green/Young/Lloyd etc right? So I assume everyone got Flanders (120)? Oh cool, me neither. Windy takes the Freak award for so admirably nailing the injury cover assignment, and basically doing a better job than premium pair Sinclair and Crouch (89). Steele (106) and RoMar (99) got off to woeful starts but came through late, while NWM (105) tonned up yet again. Miller (108) still played at half-forward occasionally, and was also in the mix at the CBAs. He, along with Peris, are both targets out of this game.
Carlton v Port
Freak: Houston (156)
Flop: Line. Them. Up.
Rookie Roulette: Williams (60), Lord (44), Cincotta (31)
Would anyone believe me if I said if Green hadn’t been out DCam was going to go to Houston? Eurgh. I’m flattened by his score, and the rest of this game apart from Connor (111) who went well. I can’t choose a Flop because it was such a revoltingly competitive field. If anyone watches Drag Race it’s kind of like when Ru Paul made them all lip sync for their lives because they all sucked so much. I’m sure the Venn diagram of Fantasy players and Drag Race watchers is two separate circles but if anyone is with me, that was for you. Anyway, play on. Doch (88)? No good. Walsh (76)? Never again. Butters (68)? Gross. Injured? Cerra (60)? Awful. They can all have it. Lip Sync for your list spot.
Geelong v Essendon
Freak: Gryan Messi (104)
Flop: Merrett (80)
Rookie Roulette: Menzie (37), Mullin (5)
Yet another Floptacular Spectacular this one. Parish (93), Duncan (85), Stewart (79), Martin (79) and Hobbs (63) are all lucky that we’ve gotten used to 150s from Zachy Merrett so that 80 looks particularly bad. Is anyone else really feeling like their bare-bones, injury riddled team has chosen exactly the wrong week to stop performing? Literally none of the Fantasy relevant players scored a ton here. Does it work like SuperCoach? Did Gawn just score all the points and there were none left for anyone else?
Adelaide v GWS
Freak: Laird (131)
Flop: Keays (70)
Rookie Roulette: Angwin (68), Michalanney (55), Pedlar (47), Fahey (29)
Lairdy returns to the (fantasy) winners list and I’ve started to become a little over-reliant on Dawson’s 120s week in week out. Jelly (108) returned to form, outscoring himself from last week by a lovely 78, which unfortunately says more about last week than this week. Cogs (105) ticked the box. Briggs (86) and Himmelberg (77) were a little disappointing and I would tick off trading either of them. I’d also tick off moving Keays on. The role is a bit volatile and he’s made you a chunk of cash and is now hopefully within reach of a premium.
North v Hawthorn
Freak: LDU (138)
Flop: Sicily (65)
Rookie Roulette: Harvey (48), Weddle (48), Wardlaw (32), Greene (25)
LDU is back, baby. Maginness (62) did a number of tagging roles but interestingly left LDU mostly alone. I’ve seen enough from LDU and he’s still a tasty price, I will tick this one off. The real tagging story though was the unpredicted nightmare of Ford (67) locking down returning popular target Sicdog, and counting the stats he’s had in front of him. It was a sublime, unparalleled move and absolutely appalling for anyone who brought him in. Meanwhile Sheez (112) was back to his best, despite copping some Maginness attention, and Day (111) showed he can still get there.
West Coast v Richmond
Freak: Soldo (107)
Flop: Duggan (84)
Rookie Roulette: Maric (55), Long (41), Hewett (40), Chesser (37), Young (37), Banks (36), Williams (32), Ginbey (15)
It was a bold, bold move to solve the DCam issue with a Soldo and I can only give a standing ovation to those that did it. Start planning your succession strategy immediately but boy it was good. Similarly shrewd moves included bringing in Bolton (99), who could have been a lot bigger than he was in the end. POD defender premium Duggo was disappointing, as was Witho (83). Strangely many of the Eagles points off half back went to Tom Cole (97). Taranto (111) is back on the right side of 100 but didn’t capitalise on the soft matchup as much as we would’ve liked. I get the feeling the bullets aren’t done yet and that everyone will still be patching bullets from this week. We’ve gotta get creative with our cash.
Bring them in: Dunkley (if fit), LDU, Peris
Cop it on the chin: Merrett, Sinclair, Neale
Put them in the bin: Keays, Sheldrick, Wardlaw
Find out all the Round 18 role changes with our analysis. Read here
Read about the players who impressed in the VFL, WAFL and SANFL over the weekend, including Brodie Grundy’s push for a recall. Read here.
