By Rob Dauth and Footy Prophet
Right
The Doggies have been a revelation this season. In addition to their first year coach, they were also missing two of their key midfield contributors from last year in Ryan Griffen and Tom Liberatore, and the outlook for the season was bleak. Against the Magpies, we saw exactly why they have been impressive, as a remarkable nine players scored over the 90 point mark. Liam Picken continued his incredible run with a huge 136-point effort, rewarding the Dogs for relieving him of his usual tagging duties. Matthew Boyd's resurgence also rages on, his backline role allowing him to rack up 129 points in a huge performance. Numerous others, such as Lachie Hunter (122 points), Jack Macrae (116) and the underrated Shane Biggs (105) also gave both the Bulldogs and Ultimate Footy coaches reasons to smile.
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Optimism was aplenty for the Lions and their influx of talent over the off-season, but the results have been far from ideal. Blown away by the Roos on Saturday night, a number of key players were relatively quiet. Old hand Jed Adcock continued his poor season with a meagre 44 points and could muster only six disposals. The talented but inconsistent Daniel Rich also struggled, being held to only 10 kicks and 54 points. One of the big-name recruits, Allen Christensen, was only marginally better with his 63 points. Most disappointingly, one of the brightest fantasy stars in the entire competition in Tom Rockliff was also poor. Although injury has undoubtedly played a role, he failed to take a mark, gave away four free-kicks and only managed 53 points – a lacklustre showing which sums up Brisbane's underwhelming season so far.
Ridiculous
After roaring out of the blocks, the Dockers have looked slightly more vulnerable in recent weeks. However, they were brilliant on the weekend as they capitalised on a howler from Bachar Houli to beat the Tigers by four points. Although it was tightly-contested, the usual midfield stars were again prolific. Michael Barlow was rock-solid with 26 disposals, five marks and a goal on his way to 100 points. Fellow big-bodied midfielder David Mundy, who showed great composure to score the winning goal, was also terrific with 19 handballs, six tackles, the aforementioned match-winner and 101 points. Last but not least, Nat Fyfe bounced back after a couple of down weeks and stamped his authority on the game with 25 disposals, 10 tackles and 117 points – continuing his incredible season.
Regrettable
The Blues were as thoroughly beaten on Friday night as one could ever imagine. They scored four goals and were beaten by 138 points, the largest losing margin in their long and proud history. Eight Hawks players hit the 100 point mark. The misery was shared by any Ultimate Footy coaches unfortunate enough to own Carlton players. Although 200-gamer Marc Murphy was tireless and finished with 37 disposals and 117 points, amazingly 11 of his teammates failed to pass 50 points. With the likes of Bryce Gibbs, Dale Thomas and several others missing for the season, it is going to be tough for the Blues. The only real saving grace will be the considerable exposure that their youngsters will enjoy in the remaining games.
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