Round 7 recap: Well Ablett responded to the “will he, won’t he??” and returned with a solid but slightly disappointing (by Ablett standards) 125 SC points from 33 disposals. Despite all the talk about him playing in the forward line, he only managed one behind. I was a lot more happy with my smoky pick of Franklin who continued his fine form against Melbourne with a great 140 (which would have been much higher had he kicked better than 3 goals and 7 behinds).

Round 7 regrets: Whilst Swan did well with 141, Pendlebury disappointed with only 107. Cox had an underwhelming average against Essendon (91), whilst Watson and Stanton did not fare much better against the Eagles with 100 and 73 respectively. All three, however, smashed it over the weekend: Cox with 141, Watson with 149 and Stanton with 164.

The question this week seems to be whether Ablett has reclaimed his perma-captain title – or is he playing on one leg hence his relatively low 125 last round?
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Goddard v. West Coast

Rd 17 2011: 106 SC points, 30 disposals
Rd 9 2010: 157 SC points, 30 disposals
Rd 15 2009: 112 SC points, 25 disposals
Rd 3 2009: 175 SC points, 28 disposals
Rd 17 2008: 103 SC points, 26 disposals

Average is 137 SC points with 27 disposals.

Note: Fantastic record against West Coast. Most recently played head to head against Shuey (2011) but was tagged by Adam Selwood in the 2010 game. Seems to be slowly finding form with recent scores of 113, 120, 58 and 93.

Ablett v. Western Bulldogs

Rd 14 2011: 121 SC points, 24 disposals
Rd 3 2011: 141 SC points, 34 disposals
Rd 20 2010: 154 SC points, 39 disposals
QF 2009: 131 SC points, 31 disposals
Rd 21 2009: 122 SC points, 40 disposals
Rd 9 2009: 149 SC points, 38 disposals
PF 2008: 116 SC points, 29 disposals
Rd 16 2007: 127 SC points, 35 disposals
Rd 1 2007: 97 SC points, 24 disposals

Average is 129 SC points with 33 disposals.

Note: Fantastic record against the Bulldogs. Only one score below 100 back in 2007. Since 2009 has been tagged by Picken in all games except for Rd 20 2010 (154 SC points playing against Boyd) and Rd 9 2009 (149 SC points playing against a combination of Griffen and Boyd). Will likely cop the Picken tag but should still score big.

Mitchell v. Fremantle

Rd 19 2011: 117 SC points, 24 disposals
Rd 11 2011: 123 SC points, 31 disposals
EF 2010: 103 SC points, 34 disposals
Rd 21 2010: 98 SC points, 35 disposals
Rd 8 2009: 124 SC points, 34 disposals
Rd 2 2008: 103 SC points, 27 disposals
Rd 7 2007: 151 SC points, 31 disposals

Average is 117 SC points with 32 disposals.

Note: Most recently tagged by Crowley. Solid record against Fremantle but only one big score over 125 which was 151 back in 2007. Not the best recent record with scores of 101, 117 and 55.

Pendlebury v. Geelong

GF 2011: 143 SC points, 33 disposals
Rd 24 2011: 135 SC points, 30 disposals
Rd 8 2011: 109 SC points, 20 disposals
PF 2010: 126 SC points, 24 disposals
Rd 19 2010: 110 SC points, 24 disposals
Rd 9 2010: 96 SC points, 18 disposals
Rd 3 2009: 95 SC points, 25 disposals
Rd 9 2008: 141 SC points, 26 disposals
PF 2007: 55 SC points, 13 disposals
Rd 15 2007: 90 SC points, 20 disposals

Average is 110 SC points with 23 disposals.

Note: Solid record in 2011 and 2010. Only one big score prior to that back in 2008. Recently played head to head against Kelly and Corey (Grand Final last year) or head to head against Selwood (Rd 24 last year). Poor game last week with only 107 which had followed great scores of 145, 140 and 134).

Cox v. St Kilda

Rd 17 2011: 137 SC points, 22 disposals, 36 hitouts
Rd 9 2010: 107 SC points, 21 disposals, 34 hitouts
Rd 15 2009: 62 SC points, 11 disposals, 14 hitouts
Rd 3 2009: 112 SC points, 24 disposals, 27 hitouts
Rd 17 2008: 85 SC points, 18 disposals, 27 hitouts
Rd 21 2007: 112 SC points, 23 disposals, 33 hitouts
Rd 12 2007: 125 SC points, 22 disposals, 25 hitouts

Average is 106 SC points with 20 disposals and 28 hitouts.

Note: Solid average against St Kilda. Poor score in Rd 15 2009 when he was well beaten by Michael Gardiner and then rested in the fourth quarter. His other sub-100 score was in 2008 when he started cramping up in second half. Has had two huge weeks in Naitanui’s absence with back to back scores of 141.

Selwood v. Collingwood

GF 2011: 145 SC points, 28 disposals
Rd 24 2011: 121 SC points, 21 disposals
Rd 8 2011: 153 SC points, 29 disposals
PF 2010: 83 SC points, 21 disposals
Rd 19 2010: 94 SC points, 23 disposals
Rd 9 2010: 83 SC points, 27 disposals
PF 2009: 108 SC points, 29 disposals
Rd 3 2009: 101 SC points, 26 disposals
Rd 9 2008: 68 SC points, 17 disposals
PF 2007: 46 SC points, 15 disposals
Rd 15 2007: 115 SC points, 23 disposals

Average is 102 SC points with 24 disposals.

Note: A great recent record against Collingwood, averaging 140 in his past three games. Prior to that game, however, he had 5 games under 100 (in 8 games). Most recently played head to head against Ball and prior to that game head to head against Pendlebury. Solid form recently with scores of 144, 140, 114 and 114.

Judd v. Adelaide

Rd 5 2011: 110 SC points, 32 disposals
Rd 4 2010: 148 SC points, 30 disposals
Rd 22 2009: 77 SC points, 23 disposals
Rd 9 2009: 66 SC points, 19 disposals
Rd 18 2008: 84 SC points, 15 disposals
Rd 6 2008: 71 SC points, 15 disposals
Rd 17 2006: 129 SC points, 21 disposals
Rd 2 2006: 134 SC points, 23 disposals

Average is 101 SC points with 21 disposals.

Note: Poor record against Adelaide with only four scores over 100 in eight games. Has always been tagged by the Crows (most recently by Douglas but also by Reilly, Doughty or Shirley). Had a great game last week with 144 after being rested the week before. Prior to his rest, however, he had only managed scores of 87 and 91.

Swan v. Geelong

GF 2011: 71 SC points, 20 disposals
Rd 24 2011: 89 SC points, 25 disposals
Rd 8 2011: 98 SC points, 30 disposals
PF 2010: 159 SC points, 33 disposals
Rd 19 2010: 131 SC points, 32 disposals
Rd 9 2010: 106 SC points, 25 disposals
PF 2009: 79 SC points, 17 disposals
Rd 3 2009: 116 SC points, 30 disposals
Rd 9 2008: 109 SC points, 29 disposals
PF 2007: 80 SC points, 25 disposals
Rd 15 2007: 67 SC points, 16 disposals

Average is 100 SC points with 26 disposals.

Note: Terrible record in his past three games against Geelong averaging only 86 whilst being tagged by Ling. Will obviously be free of the Ling tag this year. Coming off a huge 141 last week.

Stanton v. Richmond

Rd 16 2011: 121 SC points, 27 disposals
Rd 9 2011: 66 SC points, 16 disposals
Rd 9 2010: 62 SC points, 16 disposals
Rd 17 2009: 105 SC points, 17 disposals
Rd 9 2009: 59 SC points, 20 disposals
Rd 16 2008: 162 SC points, 27 disposals
Rd 9 2008: 92 SC points, 15 disposals
Rd 21 2007: 91 SC points, 21 disposals
Rd 9 2007: 139 SC points, 26 disposals

Average is 100 SC points with 21 disposals.

Note: Typical Stanton numbers. Some big games amongst many shockers with three games under 70. Tagged by Jackson in both games last year (when Watson wasn’t playing). Previously been tagged by Shane Edwards or Matt White. Coming off huge scores of 164 and 154.

Watson v. Richmond

Rd 9 2010: 124 SC points, 28 disposals
Rd 17 2009: 66 SC points, 22 disposals
Rd 9 2009: 130 SC points, 24 disposals
Rd 16 2008: 103 SC points, 25 disposals
Rd 9 2008: 80 SC points, 20 disposals
Rd 9 2007: 94 SC points, 21 disposals

Average is 100 SC points with 23 disposals.

Note: Three scores over 100 and three scores under. Solid numbers in the past couple of years. Poor 66 in 2009 when he was tagged by Jackson. Coming off scores of 149 and 134.

Murphy v. Adelaide

Rd 5 2011: 137 SC points, 34 disposals
Rd 4 2010: 115 SC points, 32 disposals
Rd 22 2009: 76 SC points, 20 disposals
Rd 9 2009: 109 SC points, 23 disposals
Rd 18 2008: 69 SC points, 26 disposals
Rd 6 2008: 93 SC points, 24 disposals
Rd 9 2007: 81 SC points, 17 disposals

Average is 97 SC points with 25 disposals.

Note: Not a great record against Adelaide with only one big score which was last year. Has only scored over 100 three times in seven games. Has had two very poor back to back games this season with 89 against the Giants followed by 73 against the Saints last week.

Franklin v. Fremantle

Rd 19 2011: 63 SC points, 19 disposals
Rd 21 2010: 129 SC points, 17 disposals
Rd 8 2009: 109 SC points, 11 disposals
Rd 2 2008: 74 SC points, 13 disposals
Rd 7 2007: 69 SC points, 14 disposals
Rd 18 2006: 54 SC points, 9 disposals
Rd 9 2005: 49 SC points, 11 disposals

Average is 78 SC points with 13 disposals.

Note: Terrible record against Fremantle. Normally manned up by McPharlin or Tarrant. He is coming off scores of 140 and 131 in his two most recent games.

My opinion: Well Ablett is back in the team and showed his fitness with a 33 disposal effort at 64% efficiency against the Giants. His knee has probably had another week of rest and he has shown in the past that he has the ability to score big despite the Picken tag. I am going to lock him in as captain this week.

Following Ablett, the choice becomes very difficult. Good options would probably be Cox, Stanton, Watson or Pendlebury. Based on recent form and historical numbers, I would pick Cox. Following Cox, I am finding it hard to ignore Stanton’s recent form. Next in line is perma-captain in waiting Pendlebury.

My smoky pick this week is Ryan Griffen who is leading the SC average at the Western Bulldogs. I am expecting him to have a huge game against Gold Coast. He is coming off scores of 123, 152 and 155 (with disposals of 31, 33 and 37 respectively).

Good luck to all!!