AFL Fantasy is back for another season, and the team at Footy Prophet will again be supplying NMFC.com.au with premium fantasy analysis and tips for the 2015 season.
A great week for North fans was also a pretty good week for fantasy coaches. Brent Harvey celebrated his 400th AFL game with a win over the Brisbane Lions.
Showing he is far from finished as a footballing and fantasy force, Harvey was one of North’s best in the win, recording 27 disposals – more than any other North Melbourne player – and kicking two goals for 106 points.
He set some unusual records becoming the first player to kick a goal in a 400th game, recording the most disposals by any player in a 400th game, and becoming the only player to record a triple-digits fantasy score in a 400th game.
Granted he’s not exactly up against a lot of competition to set records like that, but they’ll probably stand the test of time.
Also in great form for North was Drew Petrie who had a day out against Brisbane’s inexperienced backline. The big man kicked four goals – his best return of the year to date – and finished with 114 points.
Todd Goldstein continued his remarkable run of form with an eighth consecutive score of 100 or better, despite copping a lot of attention from Brisbane’s two-man ruck team of Stefan Martin and Matthew Leuenberger.
Goldstein still finished with 39 hitouts, 15 disposals and five tackles in yet another influential display.
North also saw solid performances from Ryan Bastinac – 22 disposals, five tackles and a goal for 92 points – and Shaun Higgins – 24 disposals and seven tackles for 87 points.
However the Brisbane conditions didn’t seem to suit North’s contested ball trio of Andrew Swallow, Ben Cunnington and Jack Ziebell. Swallow (81 points) and Cunnington (82) both scraped in passable scores, while Ziebell (61) was well below his season average.
The trio had just 49 posessions between them – but expect a bounce back this weekend when North faces Carlton at Etihad Stadium.
Luke McDonald and Lindsay Thomas both returned to the team this week and while neither made a huge splash in fantasy circles both looked solid enough in their roles.
Ben Jacobs had a big impact fantasy wise, but not the kind that fantasy coaches would be hoping he does. He restricted Lions captain Tom Rockliff to just 16 disposals and 53 fantasy points.
Jacobs is now the kind of player fantasy coaches fear, a lock-down tagger who can really take his opponents out of the game. Before Rockliff, the Roo had claimed the scalps of Dylan Shiel, Joel Selwood and Dyson Heppell in previous weeks.
Around the Grounds
Jack Gunston was this week’s top scorer with a big total of 161 from a six-goal performance as the Hawks smashed the hapless Blues. From there it was a drop down to Matthew Priddis (142), Luke Hodge (140), Patrick Dangerfield (138) and Liam Picken (136) as this week’s top five.
The bad news for the week came on Saturday when Gold Coast superstar Gary Ablett tore the medial ligament in his knee, seeing him subbed out on 22 points and ending his 2015 season. A fantasy great, Ablett’s demise will mean a hectic week for fantasy coaches.
