North Melbourne claimed its fifth and biggest win of the season on Saturday, belting an undermanned Brisbane Lions outfit by 87 points. The win has put the Roos back on track for finals footy and has proven a bonus for fantasy teams also.
Former rookie Sam Gibson has strengthened his lead as the Kangaroos’ most prolific fantasy player with 35 disposals and 10 marks leading him to 126 fantasy points. The score moves the midfielder to a season average of 108 points – incredible stuff.
Speaking of incredible, we can’t go past Brent Harvey. Somehow, having turned 36 just last week, he’s in the finest fantasy form of his career.
So far this season Harvey averages 102 points per game, which if he keeps it up, will be his highest career fantasy average.
Harvey was best on ground on the weekend in fantasy stakes, recording 39 disposals and kicking two goals on his way to a huge score of 144 points. Fantasy wise, it was his best outing since his match against Fremantle in Round 19, 2010, when he scored 163.
The number 29 is now the third highest averaging fantasy forward in AFL Fantasy after nine rounds, and the highest of any forward to have played every game so far. He doesn’t come cheap at $503,299, but at this rate he looks like a must-have.
Two other North players cracked the 100 points mark, and they were both recent additions to the team. Nick Dal Santo had 34 disposals and scored 119 points, while Robin Nahas had 22 disposals, laid eight tackles and got 110 points.
It was an incredible piece of work from Nahas who has now made himself hot property in fantasy stakes. At $245,009, he is well worth consideration for your AFL Fantasy Classic team this week. He is bound to go up in price as time goes on, and it looks like his fitness is back to its peak.
Todd Goldstein produced a second good game in a row, managing 91 against the Lions. This week he will go up against old sparring partner Hamish McIntosh North plays Geelong, which is sure to be a test of his fantasy credentials.
We also saw more good signs from Luke McDonald on the weekend. After starting as the sub against the Gold Coast, he played the whole game on Saturday and scored an impressive 84 points. If you still own him in AFL Fantasy Classic, hold on to him – he might be getting a second burst.
Probably the highlight of the day was to see skipper Andrew Swallow back out on the turf and wearing the royal blue and white. What a sight. It’s good to have him back.
Swallow scored 62 points off 18 possessions and didn’t waste any time getting back into the crash and bash – nine of his possessions were contested and he won five clearances.
62 points might not seem like a lot but it comes off just 61% of game time. As he builds up his fitness and confidence over the next few weeks, expect bigger returns to come.
Around the Grounds
Bye round madness was in full swing on the weekend with a number of big shocks. The bye rounds are a bit like the full moon of the AFL season… you just never know what you might run into.
Adelaide mounted a stunning comeback against Collingwood to post an electrifying second win at Adelaide Oval. We saw the return of big Taylor Walker ($276,914) and the debut of young Charlie Cameron ($125,430) who should both make some decent money next week.
The full moon struck again when fantasy gun Tom Rockliff was a late out for the Lions. It certainly eased North’s path to victory, but boy, fantasy coaches were fuming.
Last but not least, Steve Johnson, formerly the game’s highest fantasy scoring player copped the Crowley tag against Fremantle and was held to just 56 fantasy points.
Our fantasy time in the desert is almost over though. Two bye rounds down, one to go. Bring on Geelong.
