2020 Hindsight: Round 5

Wowee, what a stinker of a round! We all faced rookie madness before the first bounce, then Matty Rowell went down (sad) after a few minutes, THEN Bazlenka was concussed after even less minutes (sad), THEN the rookies that did play were trash (SAD). The only thing that made me happy this round was Eddie McGuire sounding like a fool.

Ahh, that was fun to watch. Let’s break down the round, then breakdown together.

The Top

Brodie Grundy (151) is such a good footballer. You pay top dollar and he delivers all the time. He had 20 touches and 37 hit outs, as well as 10 clearances. Lock. Adam Treloar (119) returned and had 30 touches but at just 40%. His TOG was 74%, so hopefully as he gets fitter he’ll bump that up and shake off some rust. Brayden Maynard (116) looked fantastic in Howe’s absence and hopefully will keep scoring well. He had 24 touches at 62%. Dylan Shiel (156) has had two monster games and is providing a good POD option, collecting 29 touches and a goal.

Elliot Yeo (121) has flicked the switch and had a great game. He had 21 touches and five tackles, providing the Eagles with some grunt. Dom Sheed (119) had 24 touches and 10 marks to go with a goal. Jake Lloyd (132) had 26 touches off the half back line at 92%, proving why he’s the top-priced defender for the last few years. Callum Mills (119) had 18 touches and played his second great game in a row, featuring down back and through the midfield, while Luke Parker (110) had 19 touches and 6 tackles.

Mitch Duncan (117) had 25 touches for the Cats, continuing his amazing start to the season where his point differential between lowest and highest scores is 9 points (114-123). Pat Dangerfield (104) had 20 touches and a goal, while Tom Hawkins (152) had 3 goals from 17 touches and ate up Charlie Ballard a couple of times. Hugh Greenwood (132) had 21 touches and 11 tackles in a permanent midfield position.

I don’t know why I can’t just lock Lachie Neale (130) in here and not have to write about him every week. 29 touches and a goal. Gun. Jarryd Lyons (124) had 27 himself, while Hugh McCluggage (116) has come alive the past few rounds, collecting 19 touches, seven tackles and a goal. Travis Boak (133) continued his hot start to the season with 24 touches (17 contested), while Dan Houston (117) finally pulled through with 21 touches.

Josh Bruce (138) kicked six goals for the Bulldogs, for anyone who has him that’s a great return. Tim English (125) has been on fire recently, finishing the game with 22 touches and 15 hit outs. Caleb Daniel (107) had 22 touches off the half back line, while Todd Goldstein (137) continued his great season with 31 hit outs, 15 touches and two goals.

It was the battle of the Spuds on Sunday, and Andrew Brayshaw (144) fuelled the #BrayshawBreakout fire with a fantastic performance. He had 23 touches and eight marks, but what was so promising was the 86% TOG, up from his usual 68%. Adam Cerra (134) was fantastic as well, collecting 19 touches and providing a great doppelganger for Brayshaw. Matt/Brad Crouch (113/110) had 27 and 28 disposals for the Crows, while Rory Laird (107) had 25 in defence.

Max Gawn (163) provided owners with another Captainable game, with 22 touches and 33 hit outs. Christian Petracca (111) started like a house on fire but cooled off, with 20 of his 27 touches handballs. Kane Lanbert (158) had 27 touches and three goals in an out of the box game.

Nick Haynes (148) had 21 touches and 11 marks as an interceptor against the Hawks, while Harry Perryman (136) is going to the Coleman/Brownlow double with 28 touches and 11 marks. Josh Kelly (122) had 30 touches and 12 marks, while Harry Himmelberg (122) and Jeremy Finlayson (111) kicked four goals each. Jack Gunston (118) had three goals himself, and soon-to-be the first Triple Position Player Ben McEvoy (115) kicked two goals, had 17 hit outs and 13 touches as a key defender.

The Flop

Jack Crisp (68) was disappointing off the half back line, collecting just 13 touches at 53% efficiency, while Scott Pendlebury (84) had 22 touches, but 14 were handballs, which hindered his scoring ability. Darcy Parish (62) is concerning owners with his lack of midfield time, only managing 4 CBA’s and 12 touches.

Isaac Heeney (79) has been decreasing his output after a stellar start to the season, managing 15 touches and a goal. He’s playing deep forward with Buddy out, which is concerning for his owners. Shannon Hurn (68) is a different player at the moment, but a return to Optus Stadium might cheer him up. He had just 16 touches. Andrew Gaff (83) was tagged and managed just 18 touches, which is much lower than the high 20’s he’s been getting.

Matt Rowell (6) popped his shoulder out and will probably miss a couple of weeks, at the absolute minimum. Even if you wanted to wait it out, his breakeven is 150+. Time to trade. Gary Ablett jnr (49) had minimal impact with his 14 touches, despite kicking a goal. He went at 57% efficiency.

Connor Rozee (53) has disappointed ever since Wines returned, and that form continued with 13 touches and a goal as a forward flank. Justin Westhoff (30) had just 5 touches, while Brandon Starcevich (38) had five.

Shaun Higgins (35) had just 14 touches at 57% efficiency, while Ben Cunnington (50) only managed half the game after coming off injured. Bailey Smith (3) was concussed in the first quarter and didn’t return, while Marcus Bontempelli (55) had 12 touches at 58% after copping a tag.

Taylor Walker (40) had 6 touches and should be dropped, while Stephen Hill (55) had just 12 touches.

Jack Viney (60) will start bleeding cash after six clangers from his 18 touches, while Clayton Oliver (96) had 18 handballs from his 26 touches.

Chad Wingard (76) would’ve disappointed owners who brought him in, finishing with 12 disposals (50% efficient) and two behinds. James Sicily (44) was barely sighted, finishing with 10 disposals.

Cheapskates

Jordan Ridley (122) was so efficient with the ball in hand, going at 83% for his 18 touches. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when McKenna returns, but you’d think Ridley would remain in his role. Josh Daicos (95) is playing good footy, and had 21 touches and a goal. Tyler Brown (29) has reached the end of his cash making and needs to go after just 9 touches.

Oscar Allen (117) kicked three goals from his 11 touches, providing a focal point for the Eagles’ offence. Nic Naitanui (107) had 39 hit outs to go with 11 touches, while James Rowbottom (81) had 16 touches in the midfield.

Jack Steven (95) had 17 touches and a goal despite the slow start to the year, so hopefully he can now turn it around. Sam Menegola (116) had 23 touches and a goal, while Darcy Fort (107) had 25 hit outs. Lachie Weller (97) kicked two goals from his 11 touches.

Jarrod Berry (121) has been underappreciated this season, but his form has been great. He had 19 touches (11 contested) and five tackles, while Brad Ebert (84) had 15 touches and four tackles. Zak Butters (124) kicked two goals to go with his 18 touches.

Patrick Lipinski (94) has played Dunkley’s role pretty well, and finished on 20 touches. Curtis Taylor (100) locked himself in for a few more weeks of cash generation with 2 goals, while Tristan Xerri (42) just managed 6 touches and two hit outs.

Luke Ryan (109) has had a poor start to the year, but he had 18 kicks and is now playing predominantly in Perth, so hopefully will get back to his former self. Caleb Serong (53) played his 2^nd game, but had just 10 touches and 58% TOG.

Steven May (118) had 20 touches and 8 marks for his best game of the season, while Trent Rivers (46) has been questionable the last two weeks, finishing on 8 touches.

Lachie Ash (56) had 15 touches but went at 60% efficiency, while Tom Green (71) had 14 at 64%. Lachie Whitfield (93) had 28 touches and 10 marks, and his price won’t go any lower after that 8 has rolled out of his breakeven.

First Dates

Mitch Hibberd (39) played his first game of the season and had 10 touches at 90% efficiency. Hopefully he can string some games together and churn out some cash. Andrew Phillips (110) also made his club debut and had 11 touches and 13 hit outs against Grundy.

Jamaine Jones (63) was looking good in his second game before hurting his hamstring. Jarrod Brander will probably replace him on that wing. Not his first game, but Justin McInerney (51) had just 13 touches at 53% efficiency.

Tom Berry (90) played again, and had 11 touches. It’s not a first date, but I’m running out of debutants to put in this section.

Jack Mahony (50) played his second game, and had 9 touches and copped a sling tackle from Crozier, which saw him get a week.

Shane McAdam (64) played his second game and had 7 touches and a goal, while Ned McHenry (55) had 12 touches and two behinds.

Jake Aarts (76) had 15 touches at 77% efficiency in his debut game, and will be looked at heavily by anyone making a downgrade. With five injuries to senior Tigers (Prestia, Nankervis, Broad, Cotchin and Lynch), and two not making the trek to the hub (Edwards and Houli) Aarts should play senior footy for a while.

Harry Jones (54) was impressive in his debut, with 11 touches at 100% efficiency. He played plenty of on ball, which is promising. He should keep his spot with Scrimshaw, Shiels and Lewis all getting injured.

I feel so sad. Hopefully next week is better.

*Carlton vs St Kilda’s stats on FanFooty aren’t loading, but Cripps, Butler and Martin were good, Doch disappointed, and Max King was good for a couple of snags.