A fantastic 134-point best on ground effort has put Sam Gibson on the map as North Melbourne’s highest-scoring fantasy player so far in 2014.
The mature-age runner was instrumental in North’s ANZAC Day win over the Dockers, with 31 disposals and 2 crucial goals.
Gibson now has an average of 104 points per game. However, he’s not alone up the top; many of North’s best are nipping at his heels.
Brent Harvey is in the finest fantasy from of his career and showed it on Friday night as he towelled up Ryan Crowley in emphatic fashion.
The little champion had 29 disposals and was one of North’s most influential, finishing on 99 points. He’s averaging just a tick under 100 points per game so far this year - incredible stuff for a 35 year-old.
Harvey has been one of the most valuable fantasy players of the competition so far this year. He’s got the third highest fantasy average of any forward to have played every game so far this year.
Ben Cunnington had another productive evening against the Dockers with a score of 98 coming off 28 disposals and 7 tackles. He’s running at an average of 112 over his last four games, and having a real breakout season.
Nick Dal Santo is loving life at his new team, with an emphatic goal celebration on Friday one of the most memorable moments. The new born Roo has been in fine form so far this year, running at a fantasy average of 96 points per game – an eight-point increase on his last year with St Kilda.
Shaun Atley put his zip to work, garnering 22 disposals and finishing on 83 points for the evening, while Drew Petrie had probably the best game of his year so far, kicking two goals and finishing on 71 points.
Jack Ziebell made a return from the shoulder injury that had kept him out since Round 2 and was solid, ultimately gathering 23 disposals and finishing on 89 points. Keep an eye on the hard nut who will only improve with another week in the team.
In more exciting news, Andrew Swallow made his return on the weekend, playing three quarters of a game for the North Ballarat Rebels. The skipper is on the verge of returning to AFL level, but have another week in the VFL before returning after the bye.
Around the Grounds
We talked up Dane Swan a bit over the last week, and we hope you were listening, after the fantasy king delivered a medal-winning performance on ANZAC Day. He finished with 26 disposals and 4 goals leading him to 122 points.
It wasn’t all good news however, with popular AFL Fantasy Classic rookie Alex Fasolo injured in the match, and subbed out on just 19 points. He’s likely to miss a few weeks and will either have to be traded or stashed on the bench.
There’s another midfielder on the bounce-back as well – Blues’ captain Marc Murphy. After copping a great deal of criticism in the opening weeks of the year, he’s turned things around and put up scores of 141 & 146 in the last two weeks.
Priced at $518,792 in AFL Fantasy Classic, Murphy is one to buy now.
Mitch Hallahan of Hawthorn looks like a good rookie who could make fantasy coaches some cash in the next few weeks. After debuting as the sub against Geelong, he played a full match against the Tigers and gathered a handy 85 points. At $143,112 he’ll only increase in value from here.
