Also, carn the Bombers!!

Finally, we had to go back a day to restore the database, so we lost some of the stuff that happened on Friday. I have the iScent and tips that were entered though, so I’ll transfer all that here.

Sheesh, it’s been a long 14 hours! Here’s hoping we finish up soon.

Let’s check out the major ins and outs for the round

INS: Hille, Trengove, Davis
OUTS: Lockyer, Pods, Bartel, Maguire, Johncock, Hams
Extended: Davis, Sheppard

Two things are standing out to me- A number of people are going to struggle to field a full back line with Maguire, Johncock and Hams going out, particularly if Davis and Sheppard don’t get a call up and; Geelong look like they are kicking off their rest period with Pods and Bartel taking a spell- so keep an eye on those cats!

teams are over the break

FRIDAY JULY 30

Essendon v St Kilda
Etihad Stadium @ 7.40pm

Essendon
B: Heath Hocking, Dustin Fletcher, Courtenay Dempsey
HB: Mark McVeigh, Michael Hurley, Kyle Reimers
C: David Zaharakis, Jobe Watson, Travis Colyer
HF: Kyle Hardingham, Scott Gumbleton, Brent Stanton
F: Angus Monfries, Jay Neagle, Sam Lonergan
Foll: Patrick Ryder, Bachar Houli, Ben Howlett
I/C: Cale Hooker, Alwyn Davey, David Hille, Brent Prismall
Emg: Leroy Jetta, David Myers, Nathan Lovett-Murray

In: Hille, Lonergan
Out: Jason Winderlich (hand), Leroy Jetta

St Kilda
B: Zac Dawson, Jason Blake, Sam Gilbert
HB: Jason Gram, Sam Fisher, James Gwilt
C: Brendon Goddard, Nick Dal Santo, Farren Ray
HF: Clinton Jones, Justin Koschitzke, Leigh Montagna
F: Tom Lynch, Nick Riewoldt, Stephen Milne
Foll: Michael Gardiner, Lenny Hayes, Adam Schneider
I/C: Jack Steven, Ben McEvoy, Brett Peake, Sean Dempster
Emg: Adam Pattison, Jarryn Geary, Andrew McQualter

In: Lynch
Out: Andrew McQualter

New: Tom Lynch (Sandringham Dragons)

SATURDAY JULY 31

Collingwood v Carlton
MCG @ 2.10pm

Collingwood
B: Nick Maxwell, Simon Prestigiacomo, Ben Reid
HB: Harry O’Brien, Tyson Goldsack, Alan Toovey
C: Sharrod Wellingham, Dane Swan, Jarryd Blair
HF: Luke Ball, Travis Cloke, Leon Davis
F: Dayne Beams, Leigh Brown, Steele Sidebottom
Foll: Darren Jolly, Scott Pendlebury, Dale Thomas
I/C: Alan Didak, Ben Johnson, Brent Macaffer, Chris Dawes
Emg: Tarkyn Lockyer, Josh Fraser, Simon Buckley

In: Cloke
Out: Tarkyn Lockyer

Carlton
B: Aaron Joseph, Michael Jamison, Paul Bower
HB: Andrew Carrazzo, Jarrad Waite, Jordan Russell
C: Heath Scotland, Chris Judd, Shaun Grigg
HF: Kade Simpson, Brad Fisher, Andrew Walker
F: Eddie Betts, Lachie Henderson, Shaun Hampson
Foll: Robert Warnock, Bryce Gibbs, Marc Murphy
I/C: Dennis Armfield, Jeff Garlett, Chris Johnson, Chris Yarran
Emg: Marcus Davies, David Ellard, Mitch Robinson

In: Fisher
Out: David Ellard

Port Adelaide v Hawthorn
AAMI Stadium @ 3.10pm

Port Adelaide
B: Paul Stewart, Alipate Carlile, Nick Salter
HB: Nathan Krakouer, Troy Chaplin, Matt Thomas
C: Kane Cornes, Domenic Cassisi, Travis Boak
HF: Cameron Hitchcock, Jay Schulz, David Rodan
F: Justin Westhoff, Daniel Stewart, Brett Ebert
Foll: Dean Brogan, Danyle Pearce, Robbie Gray
I/C: Mitchell Banner, Matthew Broadbent, Andrew Moore, Jack Trengove
Emg: Jasper Pittard, Danny Meyer, Scott Harding

In: Krakouer, Trengove
Out: Tom Logan (concussion), Josh Carr (retired)

Hawthorn
B: Brent Guerra, Stephen Gilham, Thomas Murphy
HB: Grant Birchall, Josh Gibson, Ben Stratton
C: Jordan Lewis, Sam Mitchell, Clinton Young
HF: Chance Bateman, Lance Franklin, Shaun Burgoyne
F: Cyril Rioli, Jarryd Roughead, Michael Osborne
Foll: Brent Renouf, Luke Hodge, Brad Sewell
I/C: Xavier Ellis, Rick Ladson, Wayde Skipper, Brendan Whitecross
Emg: Shane Savage, Ryan Schoenmakers, Matt Suckling

In: Ladson
Out: Campbell Brown (suspension)

Sydney v Geelong
7.10pm @ ANZ Stadium

Sydney
B: Paul Bevan, Ted Richards, Martin Mattner
HB: Nick Malceski, Heath Grundy, Tadhg Kennelly
C: Daniel Hannebery, Brett Kirk, Jarrad McVeigh
HF: Ryan O’Keefe, Jesse White, Josh Kennedy
F: Ben McGlynn, Adam Goodes, Jarred Moore
Foll: Shane Mumford, Jude Bolton, Kieren Jack
I/C: Lewis Jetta, Brett Meredith, Mike Pyke, Rhyce Shaw
Emg: Trent Dennis-Lane, Sam Reid, Patrick Veszpremi

No change

Geelong
B: Darren Milburn, Matthew Scarlett, Josh Hunt
HB: Andrew Mackie, Harry Taylor, Corey Enright
C: James Kelly, Cameron Ling, Gary Ablett
HF: Shannon Byrnes, Cameron Mooney, Travis Varcoe
F: Paul Chapman, Tom Hawkins, Steve Johnson
Foll: Brad Ottens, Joel Selwood, Joel Corey
I/C: David Wojcinski, Mathew Stokes, Tom Lonergan, Trent West
Emg: Taylor Hunt, Simon Hogan, Daniel Menzel

In: Byrnes, West, Hawkins
Out: James Podsiadly (soreness), Jimmy Bartel (ankle), Mark Blake

Brisbane Lions v Melbourne
Gabba @ 7.10pm

Brisbane Lions
B: Xavier Clarke, Daniel Merrett, Ashley McGrath
HB: Luke Power, Brent Staker, Joel Patfull
C: Jack Redden, Daniel Rich, Tom Rockliff
HF: James Polkinghorne, Jonathan Brown, Albert Proud
F: Jared Brennan, Brendan Fevola, Todd Banfield
Foll: Mitchell Clark, Simon Black, Michael Rischitelli
I/C: Pearce Hanley, Cheynee Stiller, Ryan Harwood, Matthew Leuenberger
Emg: James Hawksley, Aaron Cornelius, Justin Sherman

In: McGrath, Clarke, Stiller, Black
Out: Amon Buchanan (quad), Matt Maguire, James Hawksley, Aaron Cornelius

Melbourne
B: Colin Garland, Jared Rivers, Clint Bartram
HB: Cameron Bruce, James Frawley, Joel Macdonald
C: Rohan Bail, James McDonald, Brad Green
HF: Lynden Dunn, Jack Watts, Tom Scully
F: Jamie Bennell, Paul Johnson, Austin Wonaeamirri
Foll: Mark Jamar, Colin Sylvia, Aaron Davey
I/C: Jordie McKenzie, Cale Morton, Liam Jurrah, Nathan Jones
Emg: Addam Maric, Matthew Warnock, Jack Trengove

In: James McDonald
Out: Addam Maric

SUNDAY AUGUST 1

Richmond v Adelaide
MCG @ 1.10pm

Richmond
B: Chris Newman, Luke McGuane, Will Thursfield
HB: Brett Deledio, Kelvin Moore, Daniel Connors
C: Mitch Morton, Dustin Martin, Shane Edwards
HF: Ben Nason, Andrew Collins, Jake King
F: Matt White, Jack Riewoldt, David Astbury
Foll: Angus Graham, Shane Tuck, Daniel Jackson
I/C (from): Ben Cousins, Andrew Browne, Mitch Farmer, Jeromey Webberley, Alex Rance, Robbie Hicks, Troy Taylor

In: Moore, White, Jackson, Thursfield, Taylor, Hicks
Out: Dean Polo, Robin Nahas, Jayden Post

New: Robbie Hicks (Calder Cannons/Rookie list)

Adelaide
B: Michael Doughty, Ben Rutten, Scott Stevens
HB: Brent Reilly, Nathan Bock, Nathan van Berlo
C: Rory Sloane, Scott Thompson, David Mackay
HF: Ricky Henderson, Taylor Walker, Matthew Jaensch
F: Jason Porplyzia, Kurt Tippett, Richard Douglas
Foll: Ivan Maric, Bernie Vince, Patrick Dangerfield
I/C (from): Tony Armstrong, Phil Davis, Jonathon Griffin, Jack Gunston, Chris Schmidt, James Sellar, Brad Symes

In: Sellar, Schmidt, Davis, Gunston
Out: Graham Johncock (suspension)

W Bulldogs v North Melbourne
Etihad Stadium @ 2.10pm

Western Bulldogs
B: Jarrod Harbrow, Brian Lake, Dale Morris
HB: Ryan Hargrave, Tom Williams, Lindsay Gilbee
C: Daniel Cross, Matthew Boyd, Liam Picken
HF: Robert Murphy, Liam Jones, Brad Johnson
F: Jarrad Grant, Barry Hall, Shaun Higgins
Foll: Ben Hudson, Ryan Griffen, Adam Cooney
I/C (from): Dylan Addison, Nathan Eagleton, Andrejs Everitt, Daniel Giansiracusa, Brodie Moles, Jordan Roughead, Easton Wood

In: Dylan Addison, Andrejs Everitt, Liam Jones, Nathan Eagleton
Out: Callan Ward (hip)

New: Liam Jones (Tasmania U18)

North Melbourne
B: Michael Firrito, Scott Thompson, Brady Rawlings
HB: Jamie MacMillan, Josh Smith, Scott McMahon
C: Leigh Adams, Brent Harvey, Sam Wright
HF: Matt Campbell, Aaron Edwards, Ben Speight
F: Ben Cunnington, Lachlan Hansen, Lindsay Thomas
Foll: Hamish McIntosh, Andrew Swallow, Levi Greenwood
I/C: Ed Lower, Todd Goldstein, Ryan Bastinac, Brayden Norris, Marcus White, Leigh Harding, Gavin Urquhart

In: McMahon, Thomas, White, Wright, Norris
Out: David Hale, Ben Warren (back)

New: Marcus White (Calder Cannons/Rookie list), Brayden Norris (Murray Bushrangers)

Fremantle v West Coast
Subiaco Oval @ 4.40pm

Fremantle
B: Chris Tarrant, Antoni Grover, Greg Broughton
HB: Justin Bollenhagen, Luke McPharlin, Roger Hayden
C: Garrick Ibbotson, David Mundy, Nathan Fyfe
HF: Jay van Berlo, Matthew Pavlich, Stephen Hill
F: Adam McPhee, Michael Johnson, Hayden Ballantyne
Foll: Aaron Sandilands, Nick Suban, Paul Duffield
I/C (from): Michael Walters, Dylan Roberton, Matthew de Boer, Paul Hasleby, Jesse Crichton, Anthony Morabito, Kepler Bradley

In: Bradley, Mundy, Walters, Bollenhagen, Tarrant
Out: Rhys Palmer (shoulder), Clancee Pearce (knee)

New: Justin Bollenhagen (South Adelaide)

West Coast
B: Will Schofield, Eric MacKenzie, Ashley Smith
HB: Beau Waters, Mitchell Brown, Shannon Hurn
C: Brad Ebert, Matt Priddis, Matt Rosa
HF: Andrew Embley, Josh Kennedy, Andrew Strijk
F: Mark LeCras, Quinten Lynch, Nic Naitanui
Foll: Dean Cox, Chris Masten, Scott Selwood
I/C (from): Brett Jones, Patrick McGinnity, Ben McKinley, Brad Sheppard, Lewis Stevenson, Tom Swift, Callum Wilson

In: McKinley, Jones, Wilson, Swift, McGinnity
Out: Adam Selwood (shoulder), Ashton Hams (suspension)

Now, the question was brought up on Ben- There’s an underlying feeling in these part that Ben, with his brash style – and constant off topic-ing, is lowering the level of discussion in these part. My personal thoughts on the topic are that I enjoy both forms of discussion- the serious, the too serious and the my-team-is-better-than-your-team.

However, the problem lies in the lack of structure in these parts. Now, I know that once I get the new forum system up, which will go up with the logins, then we’ll be able to segment discussions off nicely and pretty much knock this issue on the head.

So until then, Ben mate, I’ve got to ask you to turn the dial down for the next few weeks. General discussion is a good thing, but not at the expense of upsetting the many good folk in these parts. I know that next year we’ll have the structures in place to deal with it better- but until then, I beg restraint- at least until the season ends.

And if you could send me an email so that we can discuss the issue, that would be great.

Let the debate on trades specifically related to fantasy football follow:

So, originally this competition was meant to last 10 weeks… which means that this week was the last one. However, the good folk at iScent seem to be having as much fun with this comp as the rest of us are, so they are going to be running it til the end of the year. Woohoo! So go give their site a visit, ad if you are in the perfume market, give them a look see, they do good work.

Anyways, onto this week- we had two good tippers this week, but one was a little… gooder… that the other. So, it’s my pleasure to announce that Pickle his taken out the prize this week, with 4 perfect tips, and 2nd and 3 near misses. Great tipping mate!

Also, a special mention goes out to TP for your margain attempt this week, it certainly made me look twice.

Onto the winning squad for this week:

And the full results over the break…

If you have 4 trades left you are in a great shape.  Use one downgrade to upgrade 3 players.  Should be doable.
If you have 3 trades, I’d go one downgrade, two upgrades.
Two trades left and if you’re ok in your leagues I’d sit for a week, then make 2 trades in finals.  Unfortunately likely to be straight swaps.
One trade left, and if you are in the finals don’t trade.  Otherwise you will be pumped in finals.  To be honest unless your team is strong with reserves your goose is already cooked as far as leagues go.

Caveat: Firstly, I assume everyone has Ablett, Hodge and Goddard.  If you don’t have them, get them in that order.  Other players may be slightly less popular and hence your team might need them.

Best Buys per position in Premium and Value

 TOP 5 PREMIUM (in order of who I would get first to last if money is no issue)
DEF: Lake, Kelly, Malceski, Gilbee, Scotland
MID: Swan, Selwood, Judd, Montagna, Dal Santo – if you already have all these guys in your mids, well done.
FWD: Chapman, N Riewoldt, Franklin, Didak, Pavlich (Goodes very close 6th)
RUC: Sandilands, Ryder, Jamar, Jolly, Mumford (last 4 in terms of opponents coming up in SC finals)

TOP 5 VALUE
DEF: Enright, Gilbee, Gilbert, Scotland, Harbrow/Taylor
MID: Cooney, Watson, Bartel, Priddis, Cross
FWD: N Riewoldt, Giansiracusa, Pavlich, Thomas, Betts
RUC: Graham, Hudson, Ryder, McIntosh, Naitanui(Cox said he wanted to ‘understudy’ NN from here on…interesting…)

Happy trading. Finals matches begin next week.

As Supercoach settles down for another week, it’s time to talk football again (you may call it soccer if you must) and to quote James Brayshaw “What a week it’s been in football ladies & gentleman” with some big signings taking place, pre-season injuries/operations, and a whole heap of transfer whispers & rumours going about the place.

I have also decided to give you guys my FPL gold mine…that’s right, all the sites I have been using over my seasoned veteran FPL career, as well as some I have only recently picked up along the way. My advice is to save these links in your favorites for future reference as they will come in very handy.

I would like to make it clear that by no means am I any type of expert on FPL, and my posts are designed to update the masses, and hopefully you all can add to it and we can be an informed community. I have been playing a long time and have had some good seasons, and some bad seasons.

So let’s start with the links shall we and then we can move on to the transfer and injury news.

Firstly, the best site for injuries etc without a doubt is http://www.physioroom.com/news/english_premier_league/epl_injury_table.php This is site is updated in real time and I have not found better. I use this before EVERY lockout and every trade (which you should follow the same rules as in SC, trade as close as you can to lockout.

Keep in mind there are always fixture changes due to cup ties, adverse weather conditions, and sometimes for reasons unknown so always check premierleague.com as well. On that note, some game weeks you will find that some teams play 2 games, and some don’t play any at all. This is why it is critical to check in every few days.

The next gem I have for you all is a site that predicts salary movement (similar to the stats tab here) except the movement in FPL is based on net transfers rather than performance (although you usually find these 2 are related). http://www.fiso.co.uk/crackthecode.php is your salary site.

For strategy, tactics, tools and discussion http://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk/ is your one stop shop and is comparable to sites like TS and FF.

For transfer talk and general info, I like http://www.goal.com/en/ and http://www.tribalfootball.com/ the rest like football365, and especially mirror football are utter crap and are just rumour mills for some shocking journo’s and nothing else.

Lastly, this little gem was just given to me by a very special person (you know who you are ) and is a site that give the most comprehensive match review site, http://www.zonalmarking.net/ so if your looking at trading a player in, or want to know how your players are going in terms of there match day role, etc then this is the site for you.

Also, team pages such as arsenal.com etc and BBC.com are always handy sources of info.

Now on to the trade talk and injury news and lets start with a list of all confirmed ins and outs for the premier league and much like last year, Manchester City are buying up all the talent in the world in there quest to win something…but they need to make the top four first I think.

Those in bold font are ones to watch and come with big reputations.

Arsenal
In: Marouane Chamakh (free, Bordeaux), Laurent Koscielny (undisclosed, Lorient)
Out: Philippe Senderos (free, Fulham), Luke Ayling (free, Yeovil Town), Eduardo da Silva (£6m, Shakhtar Donetsk), Francis Coquelin (loan, Lorient), Pedro Botelho (loan, FC Cartagena)

Aston Villa
In:
Out: Stephen O’Halloran (free, Coventry City)

Birmingham City
In: Ben Foster (undisclosed, Manchester United), Nikola Zigic (undisclosed, Valencia), Enric Valles (free, NAC Breda)
Out: Gary McSheffrey (free, Coventry City)

Blackburn Rovers
In:
Out: Marcus Marshall (free, Rotherham United)

Blackpool
In:
Out:

Bolton Wanderers
In: Robbie Blake (free, Burnley), Martin Petrov (free, Manchester City)
Out:

Chelsea
In: Yossi Benayoun (£5.5m, Liverpool), Tomas Kalas (£5.2m, Sigma Olomouc)
Out: Miroslav Stoch (undisclosed, Fenerbahce), Rhys Taylor (loan, Crewe Alexandra), Tomas Kalas (loan, Sigma Olomouc), Joe Cole (free, Liverpool)

Everton
In: Jan Mucha (free, Legia Warsaw), Magaye Gueye (undisclosed, Strasbourg)
Out: John Ruddy (undisclosed, Norwich City)

Fulham
In: Philippe Senderos (free, Arsenal)
Out: Chris Smalling (undisclosed, Manchester United), Stefan Payne (free, Gillingham)

Liverpool
In: Jonjo Shelvey (£1.7m, Charlton Athletic), Milan Jovanovic (free, Standard Liege), Joe Cole (free, Chelsea), Danny Wilson (£2m initial, Rangers)
Out: David Martin (free, Milton Keynes Dons), Yossi Benayoun (£5.5m, Chelsea), Albert Riera (£3.3m initial, Olympiakos)

Manchester City
In: Alex Henshall (undisclosed, Swindon Town), Jerome Boateng (undisclosed, Hamburg SV), David Silva (£24m, Valencia), Yaya Toure (£28m, Barcelona), Aleksandar Kolarov (£19m, Lazio)
Out: Paul Marshall (free, Walsall), Martin Petrov (free, Bolton), David Ball (loan, Swindon Town), Gunnar Nielsen (loan, Tranmere Rovers)

Manchester United
In: Chris Smalling (undisclosed, Fulham), Javier Hernandez (undisclosed, Chivas de Guadalajara)
Out: Ben Foster (undisclosed, Birmingham City), Ron-Robert Zieler (free, Hannover 96), Zoran Tosic (£8m, CSKA Moscow), Tom Heaton (free, Cardiff City), Matthew James (loan, Preston North End)

Newcastle United
In: James Perch (undisclosed, Nottingham Forest)
Out:

Stoke City
In: Florent Cuvelier (undisclosed, Portsmouth)
Out: Nathaniel Wedderburn (free, Northampton Town), Andy Griffin (£500k, Reading), Diego Arismendi (loan, Barnsley), Ibrahim Sonko (loan, Portsmouth)

Sunderland
In: Cristian Riveros (undisclosed, Cruz Azul), Simon Mignolet (undisclosed, Sint-Truiden), Ahmed Al-Muhammadi (loan, ENPPI), Marcos Angeleri (£2m, Estudiantes La Plata), Titus Bramble (undisclosed, Wigan Athletic)
Out: Jamie Chandler (free, Darlington), Roy O’Donovan (free, Coventry City), Lorik Cana (£5m, Galatasaray), Daryl Murphy (£1.5m, Celtic), Conor Hourihane (undisclosed, Ipswich Town), Nyron Nosworthy (loan, Sheffield United)

Tottenham
In: Sandro Ranieri Guimaraes Cordeiro (undisclosed, Internacional)
Out: Sam Cox (free, Barnet)

West Bromwich Albion
In: Gabriel Tamas (undisclosed, Auxerre), Pablo Ibanez (free, Atletico Madrid)
Out: Luke Daniels (loan, Bristol Rovers), Borja Valero (loan, Villarreal)

West Ham
In: Thomas Hitzlsperger (free, Lazio), Frederic Piquionne (£1m, Lyon), Pablo Barrera (£4m, UNAM Pumas)
Out: Bondz N’Gala (free, Plymouth Argyle)

Wigan
In: Antolin Alcaraz (free, Club Brugge), Mauro Boselli (undisclosed, Estudiantes La Plata)
Out: Tomasz Cywka (free, Derby County), Titus Bramble (undisclosed, Sunderland)

Wolverhampton Wanderers
In: Jelle Van Damme (undisclosed, Anderlecht), Steven Fletcher (undisclosed, Burnley), Steven Mouyokolo (undisclosed, Hull City), Stephen Hunt (undisclosed, Hull City)
Out: Jason Shackell (undisclosed, Barnsley), Mark Little (free, Peterborough United), George Friend (free, Doncaster Rovers), Andrew Surman (undisclosed, Norwich City), Nathaniel Mendez-Lang (loan, Peterborough United)

There are a couple of beauties that have not been included in this list such as Victor Moses who is touted as a star and signed from Palace to Wigan last year, and Jerome Beckford who sunk Manure last year in the FA Cup and signed from Leeds with Everton. You would expect these guys to play a bit this year and while they are unproven, they have a bucket load of potential. Also expect Bent to get a run if he stays at Birmingham, McCarthy at West Ham, and Benjani if he stays at Sunderland

The other big one that everyone is talking about is Ahmed Al-Muhammadi but no-one has actually seen him play, so beware in my opinion.

Now the rumours, and the big one is that Fab is gone but this is not official yet, and I pray Arsenal can keep him but I doubt they will. Sol Campbell is rumoured to be off to Newcastle, City are set to sign Mario Balotelli from Inter, Tottenham (aka the scum) are looking at Scott Parker, Mascherano is set to leave the KOP, Arsenal have made a second offer to the toffees for Phil Jagielka, Keane is set to go to Tottenham, Arsenal Target Ajax Goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg, Real Madrid Defender Royston Drenthe Set To Join Liverpool, Ronaldinho is being looked at by West Ham, Torres could go to anywhere and Real want Stevie G, Vidic has signed a long term contract with manure quashing any transfer rumours, City are making a second bid on James Milner, Liverpool are hunting AC Milan Striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Nice’s Loic Remy, and many more but remember that nothing is certain until you see the words OFFICIAL in front of the report, or you see a photo of the player holding up a jersey with his name on it.

And Manure lost to Kansas City 2-1 bahahahahaha!!! But ex united striker Frasier Campbell scored 4 against Hull in a friendly. And Arsenal LEGEND Thierry Henry scored on his New York debut against former enemy Tottenham.

Confirmed injuries have Chelsea duo Drogba and Alex to miss the start of the season, Ferdinand will miss as well. Rumours are that Cahill, Given, Pavlywhatever, Torres, Duff and Cech to all miss the start of the season.

Until next week

What a round we had, not only in SC leagues but the AFL served up a beauty with a draw (how many were on the bench anyway?), some floggings handed out by a couple of real contenders, some big upsets for sides aspiring to make the 8, and some flop performances from the games superstars.

On to the TS leagues which, like the real stuff, served up an absolute cracker this week and as we get to the business end of the year, wins in leagues this tight are nothing short of gold. To put it in perspective, a team in the Pine Warmers moved up from 12th to 4th in 2 weeks on the back of 2 great wins, and those above him falling at critical times.

The fact of the matter is, both these leagues are wide open and it’s anyone’s game this year.

On that note, I’m thinking of making these leagues inaugural next season (maybe start a third depending on numbers) but obviously would like to go a bit better in the rankings and maybe crack into the top 10 leagues, so I am throwing it out there to those who want to be in one of these leagues next year, drop me a line on this thread and I will file you away for next season (sorry but I cannot post my email publicly).

It will not be a cash league but maybe walsey can dig up some goodies out of his dust gathering prize cabinet. I know there are still 5 rounds left but I thought I would give all an opportunity to get on board. To ensure these leagues remain competitive throughout the season (so there are no teams that get blitzed early then come good, or blitz early and then drop off), players will need to submit their team id (which is the number required to enter the TS Sideways Cup and is shown here in bold – http://supercoach.heraldsun.com.au/?p=other_teams&tid=87492&lid=1 – please click right here to figure out how to get this number) and hopefully we wont get a league with 15 top 2,000 players and 1 top 20,000.

or click right here to figure out how to get this number

On with the review and we shall start with the Orange Boys who had a very interesting round where ladder positions (last round) 1, 4, 7, 8, 9 all lost opening the 8 right up. Portland Players belted finals hopeful Banana Slugs by 300 points and bottom 3 placed sambeno embarrassed pseudonuts (another finals hopeful) by over 400 points. CJs Legends just got over the line against tommys guns by 67 points setting themselves up for a chance at the top 4 while bottom placed at the time Whispering Blaze caused upset of the round knocking off WesternRoys in a 32 point thriller. HFC-Premiers 2010! got over the line in a tight one against top 4 side The Mob Goes Wild and jumped into the 8 on the back of some results going their way.

Next weeks fixtures prove a crucial one for all, as to be expected 1 week out from finals, but all games will have an impact on the top 8. There are still 2 spots in the 4 open and it comes down to 4 teams: Buzz Boys, Half Time Heroes, CJs Legends & The Mob Goes Wild with the last 3 mentioned playing in top 8 battles this week and Buzz Boys playing against bottom placed The Duds, who have been hot and cold this year. The last couple of spots in the 8 are still open and anyone down to 12th can still make it (although those lower teams must win and need some results to go there way).

The Armchair Athletes are set to take the minor premiership out playing the 2nd bottom placed Whispering Blaze while 7th placed HFC Premiers 2010 must beat guaranteed top 3 finisher Portland Players to stay in the 8. Other big pre-finals battles next week include Banana Slugs(8) vs The Mob Goes Wild(6), WesternRoys(9) vs Half Time Heroes(4), & pseudonuts(10) vs CJs Legends(5). Needless to say, this one’s coming down to the wire!!!

On to the Pine Warmers where this week dished up some classics with Prospectus Boy getting over the line against Year of the Cats by 24 points and setting themselves up for a shot at the finals in a must win game for Knightsee next week against top of the ladder Krunchy Nuts. A win for fcmeh would have moved them from 13th into 7th but alas, they got pipped at line by last minute ring-in Thunder Guns by 14 points, all but sealing their fate to miss out on finals while having the second highest overall score in the league (this loss makes it hard as they are coming up against a top 4 side this week, but they are still a chance pending some other results).

Team LiQuiD kept their finals hope alive with a 200 point win over the steamed hams. Tiger4Life convincingly knocked of ladder leader Krunchy Nuts, and snuck into the 8 in the process setting up a crucial game this week against Year Of The Cats. Life Post-Richo was handed an absolute shellacking by 9/11WasAnInsideJob to the tune of 230 points and securing them a spot in the finals, while making if difficult for LPR to stay up after being top of the summit for a long period earlier in the season.

In a top 3 battle, Jackson Harvey FC smashed Whoknows? by 150 points in a bit of an anti climax game and recent mover and shaker Razors continued their surge up the ladder after flogging bottom placed Snotties to the tune of 200 points and booting up to 4th on ladder after being 12th just 2 weeks ago. Game of the round was without a doubt the 6 point thriller that saw Veni Vidi Vici defeat PowerfromPort to keep them out of the 8, and keep VVV’s finals hopes alive with a relatively easy game coming up this week, and if the results go their way they could sneak into the 8.

Next weeks fixture is poised to be a beauty as all games have a bearing on the final 8, but the 4 matchups that will most likely shape up the top 8 are:

1. tiger4life(7th) vs Year of the CATS(8th) – separated by only 0.35%.
2. PowerfromPort(9th) vs LiQuiD(11th) – separated by only 0.53%.
3. Razors(4th) vs Life Post-Richo(6th) – LPR % is below 100 so a loss could see them falling out of the finals, and Razors is looking ominous.
4. Jackson Harvey FC(3rd) vs fcmeh(13th) – fcmeh has the best % outside the 8 and is ranked 2nd overall. A win could see fcmeh jump into the 8.
5. Krunchy Nuts(1st) vs Prospectus Boy(10th) – a win for the Nuts seals the minor premiership but a finals berth should be secured if Prospectus Boy gets up.

The winners of the first two games will most likely take up the 7th-8th spots however there are big chances for teams like fcmeh and Prospectus Boy to make it if they upset their top 3 opponents (Thanks TimmyJ ). Just like the Orange Boys, this one’s set up to be a cracker of a finish!!!

So until next week, the full round 17 game review, updated ladder and the crucial final round fixtures over the break.

PINE WARMERS – ROUND 17 RESULTS

LADDER

ROUND 18 FIXTURE

ORANGE BOYS – ROUND 17 RESULTS

LADDER

ROUND 18 FIXTURE

Swan and Didak continued their double-act with a consecutive 1-2 performance.  Whilst unlikely to actually happen, I have now given Swan 20 votes in the last 7 games, i.e. 20 from 21.  3 of those 7 games are absolute monty’s for the three, and he should be at least top-2 in the remaining 4.  We may see a record count this year…at worst I see Swan on 21 at this stage, and likely to be in the mid to high 20’s.

The other Saturday-day game brought about another three for the inform Selwood, and Ablett’s return to form with his best return in front of goals for the year seeing them both join Goddard and Hayes on equal third with 16 votes.

The rest of this weeks games will have little bearing on the result at the end of the year.  Watson, Swallow and Goodes extended their lead for the most votes in their respective teams, whilst 3 votes to Adam Cooney is really starting to tighten things up at the Bulldogs.

Over to the odds, and the money is shaping up very similar to my leaderboard – Swan now favourite on $4.50, Hodge second at $4.75 and Ablett now out to outright third at $6.50.

All votes over the page:

Hawks v Saints
3. L. Hodge (27)
2. L. Hayes (16)
1. B. Goddard (16)
…S. Burgoyne, L. Franklin

Pies v Tigers
3. D. Swan (31)
2. A. Didak (5)
1. L. Brown (1)
…B. Johnson, S. Pendlebury

Cats v Lions
3. J. Selwood (16)
2. G. Ablett (16)
1. P. Chapman (13)
…T. Varcoe, D. Milburn

Bombers v Roos
3. J. Watson (8)
2. A. Swallow (12)
1.  J. Winderlich (4)
…B. Harvey, C. Dempsey

Blues v Eagles
3. K. Simpson (4)
2. M. Murphy (7)
1. C. Judd (12)
…S. Grigg

Dogs v Dockers
3. A. Cooney (12)
2. R. Griffen (6)
1. M. Boyd (12)
…R. Murphy, J. Harbrow, D. Cross

Dees v Swans
3. C. Sylvia (5)
2. A. Goodes (11)
1. J. Frawley (3)
…B. Green, C. Bruce

Power v Crows
3. D. Cassisi (4)
2. T. Boak (6)
1. S. Thompson (10)
…T. Chaplin, D. Brogan, J. Westhoff, D. Pearce

Leaderboard
31. D. Swan
27. L. Hodge
16. B. Goddard, G. Ablett, J. Selwood, L. Hayes
15. M. Barlow
14. J. Bartel
13. L. Montagna, P. Chapman, N. Dal Santo

And this round got off to a real humdinger, a draw between the Saints and Hawks, and dare I say, with a little less contraversy, could have been a Hawks win- Cue the Hawks fans predicting September glory… Anyways, the game, Hodge top scored with a great 149. Burgoyne rewarded his owners with a 130 while Sewell rounded out the top3 with a 127. It seems I’ve lost my “Roo won’t break 100 til round 20″ bet, with the big man scoring a 106. Maybe one more week and bringing him in for the finals. Looks like we might be picking up a few bargins through the finals. Namely, Dal Santo’s 77 and Montagna’s 49 will see them both drop significantly from their current $600k pricetag, while in the backline a 45 to Gilbert will raise a few eyebrows.

Saturday rolled around and went off with a pair of thumpings. Firstly, a Dane Swan 190 lead the Pies to absolutely cream the Tigers. Holey, pencil in 3 votes for him mate! Macaffer did suprisingly well with a 150 while Didak tabled a 141. Really, it was all Collingwood, with only one Tiger, Morton, who scored above 100. Not too many suprises considering the score line, but for the Martin owners it was a little sad to see him score only 50.

And next up, the Cats missed doubling the lions by 1 point. This time, Selwood led the way with a great 175 off 41 touches. Bravo to all of you who picked his as captain. Milburn got a great 145, while Gaz returned to his Perma captain roots, with a 144. Worryingly though, it took him kicking 5 goals to do it! Personally, I liked having a chance to compare Rockliff to Pods- With the Pod getting ahead early, it good to see the Lobster getting a game back with his 101 to Pods 70.

Saturday night saw the Bombers fall over the line against a valant Roos outfit by 3 points. However it was the Swallow who took the cream as the highest scorer with a 156. Watson and Greenwood took the next two spots with a 139. I hear that someone’s opponent had Greenwood- did you still get the win mate? bloody unlucky though! Hardingham kicked 4 goals on debut for a 89, while MacMillian and Speight both got solid 40’s.

The other game saw the Eagles give the Blues a run for their money, getting out to a big lead at half time, only to get blown away in the 3rd quarter as the Blues kicked a massive 7.9. Simpson top scored with a 139 while Murphy and Grigg came in next with a 129 and 121. Le Cras top scored for the Eagles kicking 3.5 and scoring 113. Waite scored a 102, but scored himself another report in junk time- will he never learn?! Hams did magnificently scoring 95 off 13 touches, while newbie Strijkl did great with a 95. But it wasn’t enough to get them up with a number of disappointing efforts- Priddis 68, Hurn 60, NitNat 52, Cox 33 and Sheppard 27 were all telling of the Eagles game.

So, Sunday rolled around and bam, all of my tips went askew. Despite a trip to the NT last week, the Doggies managed to come back into town and destroy the Dockers. Unsuprisingly, the Dogs dominated the top scores, with the CoonDog top scoring with a 130. Griffen did well with a 124 while Harbrow’s 120 means that any neccessary back upgrades could be looking in his direction. Suban, Pav and Johnson all top scored for the dockers, and all on 99 points. The biggest news though was Sandilands. A 45 to the big man will hurt a lot of SuperCoaches. However, more hurt will be anyone covering with Fyfe, Roberton or Morabito- scoring 26, 16 and 7 retrospectively.

Next game saw the Dees destroy a near guarenteed September for Sydneys. In fact, were they not a game clear of 9th and 2 clear of 10th- with a heck of a lot of percentage, I would have written them off after their efforts today. But with 5 games left, they haven’t done themselves any favors today. Suprisingly, Goodes top scored, with a 141. Green and the maligned Sylvia came next with a 123 and 117. The biggest news for the game though is ROK. 25 points for the guy, anyone got any ideas on how that happened?

The final game for the round say me go 0/3 in tips for the day. The second team today to win from a trip back from NT. Port was lead by Chaplin who scored a 150, Cassisi with a 146 and Ebert with 130. Meanwhile, Adelaide only had 3 players who scored above 80 points. Adelaides barometer, the Tipster lost along with Adeliade, scoring a miserable 32. Not as miserable as Hitchcock or Stewart who scored a 20 and 17 respectively.

So that’s our week. A funny funny week in footy. In non footy news, apparently girls like Julia Gillard and boys like Tony Abbott. Seriously, since when did real life become high, no, primary school where you pick your team on gender lines? Bah, at least Masterchef is providing better watching

Joshy did a great job getting EPL talk into it’s own thread, and I believe he’ll be doing the same thing again this week- so everyone, wait til that thread before you get talking about the Drogba surgery…

I hear the good folk at iScent have extended their comp out to the end of the year, so as a thanks, I reckon you should all at least head over there and see what they have to offer.

So there we go- we’re getting close to the business end. Stats will go up once lockout ends and perhaps more importantly, how are you all doing?