Tag: Stefan Martin

AAMI Community Series Review | Bulldogs Vs Demons

If you believe in changing your team mid AAMI community series, then this clash would’ve given your fantasy footy apps a workout. With premiums delivering big numbers, we got alot to take away from the Bulldogs and Demons game.

Bontempelli

He’s not bad at football hey? Just remember he did the exact same thing in last year during the preseason.

Macrae

He also goes ok at this game, for those who hadn’t noticed yet.

Dunkley

Ok let me elaborate on this one because there have been questions raised – by his own coach no less – about Dunkley’s current footballing ability. So nevermind the score and the fact he played mids, the key thing here is that he played mids with a clearly defined run-with role and he thrived on it. Playing accountable means he plays, and he plays near a man to cuddle. Double figure tackle numbers in preseason is an excellent display which makes me (and hopefully Bevo) very happy.

Daniel

Rocketed out of the gates but slowed down as he copped a little more attention. Expect him to cop a lot this year. Depending on whether you were keen on him or not, confirmation bias is easily found in one of the two halves of today’s match.

Martin & English

Double-teamed Gawn and nullified influence. Martin looks like he has a new lease on life while English did a pretty good impression of a key forward at times. The two will give a lot of teams a lot of grief in the ruck this year, meaning the Dogs aren’t necessarily giving up bulk points in that department like they have in recent history. Given English played a lot forward, keep in mind that forwards might score well against Melbourne but perhaps less so against other teams. Handy if he does gain DPP in the formats which allow that.

Hunter & Smith

On the eye test both were pushed out of the midfield a lot tonight; Hunter to the half-forward line and Smith to the wing. Both did a lot of damage in their respective roles. Does this allow Treloar to slot straight into the mid rotations?

Scott

Not often we get a bottom priced 25 year old rookie in the mix for rd 1. This is exactly what we got. Scott didn’t do his chances any harm at all in this game. He kicked a couple of goals, rotated through the flanks. He obviously was rookied (from the dogs VFL squad) for a role.

McNeil

Played the pressure small fwd role through the game. Wasn’t prolific but did snag himself a goal. This game he didn’t bang the door down but will stay in contention for early games.

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May

Mopped up everything that went into the forward line that didn’t go through the big sticks. Unfortunately went off very sore after a marking contest and missed the last part of the game, so monitor news in the coming days.

Gawn

Dominated the ruck but had little of his trademark influence around the ground. As noted above, the Martin and English combo will annoy a lot of big men this year.

Harmes

Not the best player, but maybe the most enthusiastic. Spent a lot of time dancing without finding a partner or a possession and there must be questions about a midfield role once Brayshaw Viney & Oliver return. Does he go back to tagging, or back to the backline, or back to the VFL?

Petracca

Barely got out of first gear but got well acquainted with Dunkley for awhile. No reason not to pick him if you were already keen.

Langdon

Ok yes I know, but hear me out. If this week is anything to go by (and that does remain to be seen, it is a small sample size after all), it does appear as though this is the sort of year where running half backs who can create space and overlap and nail the 45 kick are getting a lot of easy marks and possessions. And that’s what Langdon did. Make of that what you will.

Draft Free Agents | Round One

By the time the ball has bounced on Thursday night and our glorious game has returned to us, it will have been 81 long days since the conclusion of round 1. This is clearly the longest in season break we have ever seen and it is unknown what affect it will have on the performances of the players.

What is clear, is that there is a raft of players who will benefit from the break to recover from long term injuries. I have been pondering which players will have benefited the most and how that affects those who are playing in Draft leagues across the formats.

Below is a list of players who would have had almost no chance of suiting up for round 2 had we not had the break and therefore are potential nuggets if they are available in your league as Free Agents:

Please note for the purposes of the article, I have used scoring stats from RDT and AF but the info is still relevant for SC

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David Mundy – MID – Fremantle

Mundy’s relevance in fantasy circles has diminished in recent years due to his age and the loss of DPP eligibility but he is a warrior and hasn’t averaged less than 80 in a season since 2009. The former captain broke his leg in December in a freak accident and wasn’t expected to be back until early in the season. He missed round 1 but is now ready to go and would be a very handy back up for your midfield.

Blake Acres – FWD/MID – Fremantle

Acres is another Docker who has benefitted from the long break as he has now recovered from his 8 week hamstring tendon injury. Initially set to be out until round 5 at least, the former Saint was one of the standouts on the track during his first pre-season at Fremantle before sustaining the injury at training in early March. Acres is expected to roam the wings for the Dockers this year and would be a terrific addition to your squad.

Callan Ward – MID – GWS

After tearing his ACL in round 4 last season, Ward was not expected to return until at least round 3 and would have been overlooked in many Drafts. The Giants’ games record holder is now raring to go and after averaging in the mid to late 90’s for the better part of a decade, he is a no brainer off the scrap heap!

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Harley Bennell – MID – Melbourne

In what would be one of the feel-good stories of the season, Bennell is very close to finally playing AFL again. Picked up by Melbourne in what is likely to be his last chance at the highest level, Bennell suffered more setbacks with his troublesome calves and wasn’t expected to be available until mid-season at best. He’s now ready to play and coach Simon Goodwin is tossing up whether to debut the former number 2 draft pick this weekend against the Blues. Just as a reminder, the last time Bennell played more than 2 games in a season, he averaged 92!

Dyson Heppell – MID – Essendon

There was a lot of uncertainty facing Heppell’s availability in pre-season as he recovered from foot surgery. Initially expected to be right for round 1, the Essendon captain missed and didn’t look like returning for up to a month. Here we are nearly 3 months later, and it will still be touch and go whether he gets named for round 2. He averaged 94 last season but averaged 100+ in the 4 seasons he played before that. Would be a great get for your midfield

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Tom Liberatore – MID – Western Bulldogs

Libba was expected to put his hand up for selection in the first few weeks of the season as he recovered from post-season knee surgery. The 27 year old has now had nearly 3 months of extra rest for his troublesome knees and should add some much needed grunt to a Bulldogs midfield that was towelled up in round 1. He averaged over 100 in the opening month last season and you could do a lot worse than grab him for a stint in your midfield.

Stef Martin – RUCK – Brisbane

Big Stef’s season was in real trouble after suffering a tear to his PCL in the round 1 loss to the Hawks. He was set to miss half the season and was in a brace for 6 weeks but incredibly, the 33 year old veteran is now likely to play in round 2! If he was dumped in your league after round 1, he may still be available for you as a free back up ruck. Although, unless you have one of the big dogs (Grundy, Gawn, Witts etc), he should be your new number 1

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Tim Taranto – MID – GWS

Taranto had a shoulder reconstruction earlier this year after a bad dislocation in the Marsh series and looked set to miss most of the season. It’s highly unlikely he’d be a free agent even with that prognosis, but it is still worth a look because he is now listed as being just 4-6 weeks away!  If you could get the young gun, it’d be the steal of the century!


Grant Birchall – DEF – Brisbane

Birchall was a late withdrawal with hamstring soreness in round 1 and considering his age and recent injury woes, would have been no guarantee for round 2. He now looks set to play this weekend and if he can remain healthy, will be good for some decent scores. In his last full season, he averaged 81 which would make him a handy pick up for your back line.

SuperCoach Player of the Decade | Brisbane Lions

We’ve decided to look at who I believe has been the best SuperCoach performer from each AFL club over the past ten years. Here’s who I believe it is for the Brisbane Lions.

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Tom Rockliff

Longtime SuperCoach players have a special place in their heart set aside for Tom Rockliff. The now Port Adelaide midfielder was a SuperCoach beast for the best part of his time at Brisbane.

His 2011 year averaging started the love affair where he averaged 113 across the season. However, it was the way he ended the year that players loved. He scored 11 consecutive tons, had a top score of 179 and averaged 124. Two seasons later (2013) he averaged 109. These seasons along with 2016’s average of 111 are strong scoring seasons. However, they are nothing in contrast to his 2014 year.

That year was a SuperCoach master class. Despite only playing 18 games, if you didn’t own Rocky, it would’ve been near impossible to have league or rankings success. He averaged 131 and posted 15 tons and had only once score below 91 all year. Of those 15 scores of 100 or more, he had six scores over 150. They were: 155, 158, 158, 168, 175 and 182.

Rocky is also a member of the SuperCoach 200 club. In 2016 against Carlton he racked up 48 disposals, had nine tackles, eight marks and registered a 204.

Over his eight seasons at Brisbane in this decade he averaged 105. Five of those years he averaged over 100, three of them over 110 and an additional two years he averaged between 96-97.

Who Missed Out

Current skipper Dayne Zorko was arguably the closest to taking the title from Rocky. In his eight seasons in the league five of them, he averaged 100 or more including his debut season of 2012. A decade average of 100 and a career-high season of 110 in 2017 is certainly nothing to sneeze at but not enough to chase down Tom.

Stefan Martin has had a few premium seasons at Brisbane. In 2014 and 2015 he averaged 111 and 110 to be one of the top-scoring ruckmen across the competition. He also averaged 105 back in 2018, but three premium scoring seasons weren’t enough to be a serious contender.

Pearce Hanley was a premium defender between 2012-2014 with a career-high 103.7. However, like many other Lions, he wasn’t a dominant SuperCoach performer consistently.

Former Lion and now premiership Eagle Jack Redden was a premium midfielder in the early half of the decade. He averaged 102, 102, 97, 103 and 95 before an eventual trade to West Coast. Had a stayed at Brisbane, he may have been a genuine contender.

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