North’s two best fantasy players of the year so far in Brent Harvey and Levi Greenwood both had their lowest scores in some weeks on Saturday night.
Harvey managed just 79 points, and Greenwood just 75.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom however. Sam Gibson put the numbers together for North with 28 disposals and a goal, notching 118 points for the evening.
Nick Dal Santo had 30 touches for 112 points, while Todd Goldstein had 48 hit-outs on his way to 100 points for the evening.
Andrew Swallow, who was lucky to play after escaping serious knee injury last week against Melbourne, made his presence count with 23 disposals, 6 clearances, 7 inside-50s, 9 tackles and 2 goals on his way to 104 fantasy points.
Drew Petrie also hit a rich vein of form, booting four goals for the evening and recording 93 points, his best game of the year to date.
Unfortunately for North it was a case of too many going missing when the game was there to be won, with a number of the younger crowd in Cunnington (66), Ziebell (66) and Bastinac (65) failing to have a sustained impact, though the former did come away with a game-high 9 clearances.
One shining light for the Kangaroos was Ben Jacobs, who was a late inclusion to replace a sore Lachie Hansen. In a little over a quarter of footy, Jacobs managed thirteen disposals and two clearances for a total of 30 fantasy points.
All in all it was a disappointing evening for North fans, but a fairytale for Brisbane who sent off retiring legend Jonathan Brown with a win.
North will now look to regroup in time for a big stage clash with Hawthorn on Friday night.
Around the grounds
Speaking of the Hawks, one of the biggest news stories to come from this round was a hamstring injury to Cyril Rioli that will see the two-time premiership player miss 8-10 weeks,
It could mean the end of his season depending on the Hawks’ finals efforts and his recovery.
Plenty of fantasy coaches were smiling this week when Gary Ablett put in a round-topping score of 157 on Saturday afternoon, thanks to 45 touches and 2 goals at Aurora Stadium.
AFL Fantasy’s most popular captain option netted 314 points for those who named him the skipper.
We may well have witnessed the birth of a star, and the goal of the year to boot on Sunday afternoon, as two late goals from first-year player Marcus Bontempelli turned defeat into victory for the Western Bulldogs.
Bontempelli managed just 78 fantasy points for the game, but will be one to watch in the future.
Later that afternoon Adelaide did what no team has done before, knocking off ladder-leaders Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval.
Fantasy’s no. 1 ruckman Sam Jacobs put in a big effort for 36 hit-outs and 3 goals on his way to 119 fantasy points, and won the Showdown Medal.
