TooSerious

A massive 171 for Jack Steven this week. Imagine what he could have done with a *real* surname!?!?
Gotta say, this weekend was going to script til this afternoon with Melbourne and Richmond pulling of some tidy upsets.
That said, spent last night at a 50's costume party that contained an open bar. So while the bash was real swell. A real blast, the noggin is a little grody today.
Dig?

GEELONG v. CARLTON

Recent game: Round 21 2014 Etihad Stadium – Geelong 82 defeated Carlton 76.

Selwood v. Carlton

Rd 21 2014: 110 SC points, 21 disposals
Rd 12 2014: 122 SC points, 18 disposals
Rd 3 2013: 74 SC points, 14 disposals
Rd 11 2012: 154 SC points, 29 disposals
Rd 9 2011: 121 SC points, 29 disposals
Rd 21 2010: 110 SC points, 27 disposals
Rd 5 2010: 98 SC points, 19 disposals
Rd 19 2009: 124 SC points, 28 disposals

Average is 114 SC points with 23 disposals.

Note: Most recently tagged by Carrazzo. He had been tagged by Gibbs in the Round 12 game last year and his score was boosted by kicking the winning goal in a close game. He had been tagged out of the game by Carrazzo in the game in 2013. He had been tagged by Ellard in the games in 2012 and 2011. Played head to head against Murphy in the Round 21 game in 2010.

Murphy v. Geelong

Rd 21 2014: 117 SC points, 19 disposals
Rd 12 2014: 88 SC points, 20 disposals
Rd 3 2013: 114 SC points, 27 disposals
Rd 9 2011: 145 SC points, 32 disposals
Rd 21 2010: 103 SC points, 30 disposals
Rd 5 2010: 96 SC points, 17 disposals
Rd 19 2009: 116 SC points, 24 disposals

Average is 111 SC points with 24 disposals.

Note: Most recently tagged by Guthrie in the two games last year. He had been tagged by Taylor Hunt in the game last year. Missed the game in 2012 but scored a massive 145 in Carlton’s 2 point loss to Geelong in 2011. Played head to head against Selwood in the Round 21 game in 2010.

ST KILDA v. WEST COAST

Recent game: Round 14 2014 Etihad Stadium – West Coast 103 defeated St Kilda 70.

Priddis v. St Kilda

Rd 14 2014: 131 SC points, 30 disposals
Rd 3 2014: 120 SC points, 28 disposals
Rd 11 2013: 119 SC points, 27 disposals
Rd 17 2011: 106 SC points, 27 disposals
Rd 9 2010: 120 SC points, 34 disposals

Average is 119 SC points with 29 disposals.

Note: Great record against St Kilda with no scores below 100 and at least 27 touches in each game....

Another friday night, another Blues game.

Ah well, perhaps we need to run a poll on how much Geelong are gunna win by?

Winner gets a cyber pat on the head.

I'm gunna go with: 42 points.

Round 8 teams.


GEELONG v CARLTON



Friday May 22 at Etihad Stadium, 7.50pm (AEST)



CATS



B: J.Rivers, T.Lonergan, J.Bews



HB: J.Kelly, C.Enright, H.Taylor



C: A.Mackie, J.Selwood, M.Stokes



HF: S.Motlop, M.Clark, J.Murdoch



F: C.Gregson, T.Hawkins, D.Lang



Foll: R.Stanley, S.Johnson, J.Caddy



Int: S.Kersten, J.Thurlow, M.Blicavs, C.Guthrie



Emg: J.Kolodjashnij, S.Blease, J.Walker



In: J.Kelly, A.Mackie, T.Hawkins



Out: S.Blease, M.Duncan (foot), J.Walker



BLUES



B: D.Buckley, S.Rowe, S.White



HB: Z.Tuohy, C.Yarran, E.Curnow



C: D.Thomas, C.Judd, K.Simpson



HF: D.Armfield, B.Gibbs, J.Tutt



F: T.Menzel, L.Jones, P.Cripps



Foll: C.Wood, A.Carrazzo, M.Murphy



Int: A.Everitt, S.Docherty, L.Casboult, T.Bell



Emg: D.Ellard, N.Graham, R.Warnock



In: K.Simpson, L.Jones, D.Buckley, P.Cripps



Out: D.Ellard, M.Watson, K.Jaksch, M.Dick



ST KILDA v WEST COAST EAGLES



Saturday May 23 at Etihad Stadium, 1.45pm (AEST)



SAINTS



B: C.Shenton, S.Dempster, J.Webster



HB: J.Newnes, S.Fisher, D.McKenzie



C: M.Weller, D.Armitage, D.Roberton



HF: J.Billings, J.Bruce, L.Montagna



F: E.Templeton, T.Hickey, T.Membrey



Foll: B.Longer, J.Steven, L.Dunstan



Int: B.Acres, S.Savage, J.Sinclair, A.Schneider



Emg: D.Minchington, T.Curren, T.Simpkin



In: L.Montagna, T.Membrey, B.Acres



Out: N.Riewoldt (concussion), L.Delaney (hip), J.Lonie (concussion)



EAGLES



B: S.Butler, W.Schofield, S.Hurn



HB: J.Bennell, J.McGovern, S.Selwood



C: B.Sheppard, M.Priddis, A.Gaff



HF: J.Cripps, F.McInnes, C.Masten



F: J.Hill, JJ.Kennedy, M.LeCras



Foll: N.Naitanui, E.Yeo, L.Shuey



Int: S.Wellingham, M.Hutchings, L.Duggan, C.Sinclair



Emg: J.Nelson, B.Colledge, T.Barrass



In: S.Selwood, J.McGovern



Out:...

Overview
The Champions League has 48 teams as per the pre-season nominations blog (http://tooserious.net/Blog/tabid/90/Post/7402/2015-TS-Champions-League-Nominations.aspx)

The format of the comp is covered in full in the nominations blog. In the 1st Group Stage 8 groups of 6 teams battled it out in a round robin of 5 matches each from Rounds 3 to 7.

The comp then moved to a 2nd Group Stage from Rounds 8 to 15.(http://tooserious.net/Blog/tabid/90/Post/7580/Champions-League-2nd-Group-Stage.aspx)

After the completion of the group stages the 12 remaining teams will meet in knockout competition to decide the Champions League title:-
(http://tooserious.net/Blog/tabid/90/Post/7747/Champions-League-Knockout-Rds-16-to-19.aspx)

During the 1st Stage teams in Groups A to H were ranked 1-6 as per regular league standings - ie W/L/D then % from all group matches. The top 3 teams in each group qualified for the 2nd Group Stage.

Firstly this week we have to thank Tom Mitchell for finally breaking the Best Buy curse, and even managing his highest score for the year to date. Given it's a small sample size, but we still appreciate the effort. Secondly, apologies for the delay.

The Best Buy for this week has been close to it for a while now, Demons defender Tom McDonald. Topping the charts for defenders this season by 5 points-per-game he has really stepped up to a new level this year, while he was consistent previously (with an average in the seventies for each of his past 4 seasons) he wasn't especially fantasy relevant. That has all changed now though, as is made pretty clear by his stats. Averaging 20 disposals with a kick:handball ratio of 2:1 and a disposal efficiency of 77%, 8 marks and 6.6 rebound 50's per game, for a key-position defender he's going alright.



DEFENSE
ROOKIES

[span style='color: #1a1a1a;]



[span style='color: #1a1a1a;]Jake Lever (ADE) DEF 157.3k 66 +46k

[span style='color: #1a1a1a;]Lever has looked good in his first 2 games at the top, averaging 66 and facing a quick price rise of around 46 grand. With Jaensch going down for the season and Smith continuing to head-butt things he shouldn't, Lever looks set to keep getting games as long as he performs.

[span style='color: #1a1a1a;]

[span style='color: #1a1a1a;]Alex Pearce (FRE) DEF 123.9k 50 +34k

[span style='color: #1a1a1a;]Pearce has joined the other two Pearce's at Freo, and has seemingly fit in fairly well. Averaging 50 flat over his first 2 games means he will increase his worth by around 34 grand after his next game, which hopefully will be this weekend. For rookie players under Lyin it seems the hardest part is just getting a game, a feat which Pearce has now managed twice.

[span style='color: #1a1a1a;]

[span style='color: #1a1a1a;]Matthew Dick (CAR) D/M 123.9k 27 +3k
Dick has an amusing surname, but isn't in a very amusing situation. Having played his first 2...

Let me begin by saying: To anyone who had Pendles as captain this week, we're sorry. He was our captain too, and as you'll all know by now, whoever the donors pick is guaranteed to do sh!thouse, so its always best to pick someone else.
What makes things worse, is that at this rate I'm going to run out of analogies for this team very soon. Anyone with any ideas, can you please post them in the comments, to help keep me going.

The donors did manage to break 2,000 points this week. We had a lovely little rollercoaster of scores, ranging from 16 to 141.
For round 7 we scored a total of 2,036 points.
We had a ranking of 62,719 for the week.
Our aggregate score is 14,420 for season 2015.
In the overall standings, we're at 35,273.

Now lets have a look at our rollercoaster team, with all the ups and downs that were involved.

Defence:
H Shaw 118
J Newnes 95
J Gibson 83
K Kolodjashnij 81
A Oxley 64
B Smith 16
Bench of K McIntosh 61 (emergency), and A Saad 0.
Cheater did well, Newnes wasn't as disappointing as he's been this year, and Smith is clearly the best trade we've made all year! A total of 102 points spread across our defensive players this week, with the highs of Shaw, the lows of Smith, and the loops of Newnes and Oxley. We probably wouldn't have made the selection, even those he has been a disgrace since joining the side, but benching Smith and bringing McIntosh into the team would have given us an extra 45 points this week.

Midfield:
D Beams 141
JP Kennedy 122
P Dangerfield 116
N Krakouer 104
T Miller 98
S Pendlebury 85 (C, 170)
A Vandenberg 37
P Cripps 0
Bench of J Nelson 46, D McKenzie 31 (emergency in place of Cripps), and C Ellis-Yolmen 0.
There were some high points in the middle run of our rollercoaster, with Beams, JPK, and Danger all doing the job we expect of them. Krak and Touk were the smooth bends at the top of each section of the coaster, where you get to take a breather and see whats coming up...

<p style='color: #424242;]I love Where Are They At threads. It's a chance for a loud-mouthed, ill-informed pundit to back-seat drive all over the list-management decisions of other coaches he has no quarter speaking on. And given the midseason period is fast approaching, what better time to start the long-range sniping.
<p style='color: #424242;]
<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]


<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]TARWIN LOWER PIGS
<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]It's said that the night is darkest just before the dawn, which is erroneous because the night is actually darkest in its middle at around 2 am. The question is at what point are the TLP at in their long sleep? Probably around about 2 am on the rebuild/premiership clock, though that's not say that their dark night of the managerial soul persists without flickers of hope. Which is no doubt the proverbial meaning of that irrelevant digression above.
<p style='color: #424242;]
<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]I'm quite strong on the opinion that some positions on the ORFFL field are harder to fill than others. M5's are a dime a dozen. D1's and F1's on the other hand are always in short supply. In Docherty, Lever, Hogan and Stringer Tarwin Lower have 4 8-10 year players some of the hardest to fill positions on a team list.
<p style='color: #424242;]
<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]An injury free Hogan strolling into TLP's FWD line as a ready-made CHF or Dunstan and Sheed continuing their steady progression in the midfield aren't the revelations of the 2015 season for me though. That belongs to Elliot Yeo's last 3 weeks of football. Normally a move from DEF to MID forecasts significant loss of value to your team, yet even if Yeo's position...

Birdsville 1367 d Larrikin Lagoon 1348

Best: Battlers - Treloar 139, T McDonald 124. Lefties - Priddis 196 (yes, 196), Mitchell 128.

The Skinny: What the hell? How can a team boasting a near double ton from the curly-haired man still lose? Two words: Red Vest. Thanks to the (hopefully) soon to be abolished subs rule, Larrikin Lagoon lose out on points to Suban (36) and Lloyd (54) after both were subbed. Overall however, a top notch game from two of the most improved teams in the league.



Darraweit Guim 1479 d Powlett Plains 1081

Best: Dirigibles - Mullet 139, Edddiiieee 134, five others scoring 110+. Packers - Sandi 109, Pearce No. 1 109, Agent Scully 102.

The Skinny: Darraweit's players click on the same day and fuel a return to the top of the table. Eddie Betts and Michael Walters (112) a dazzling double act up forward. Packers without any luck, and with 3 late withdrawals - including having a player earmarked to replace a late withdrawal also pull out just before game time.



Cradle Mountain 1322 d Whitsunday 1058

Best: Devils - Grigg 143, Shiels/Hair Heppell 121. Warriors - Gibson 117, Lobbe 99

The Skinny: A stunning late game effort from the oft-maligned Shaun Grigg put the cherry on top of the Devils' win over Whitsunday. Seven centuries, with Dustin Fletcher scoring the first post 40yo ton in ORFFA history, helped Cradle Mountain along the way. For the Whits, Sam Gibson played a fine game but without Sloane, Hrovat and Wines the Warriors depth is being tested.



Charlie's Opening 1310 d Marble Bar 1130

Best: Spelunkers - Nicholls 114, Thurlow 119, Hansen 106. Misfits - Yeo 146, Rich 122, Steak Knives Laird 101.

The Skinny: The less celebrated Spelunkers' players had a party at the Misfits' expense, with Nicholls, Thurlow and a returning Hansen leading the way. Jack and Grundy also topped the...

The dude had it on a string and scored 196SC points this week, however, only 9,963 coaches had the Brownlow medalist.

Wonder if anyone was crazy enough to put the big C on him though? It *was* against the Suns.

Anyways, feels like every week I'm lamenting the brutality of this game, and with guys like Lumumba, Lonie, Barlow, Griffen, B. Smith, Salem, Vandenberg and the upcoming Oxley.

Gosh, think I might need a drink!

How have you fared this weekend?