Historically, week three of the NAB is when stars are rested and rookies given their final crack before settling down on a line-up for the final pre-season game.





This can turn round three of the NAB into a bit of a noob trap for the uninitiated as rookies play more than expected, while the mid-tier players are given roles that will go to their more highly credentialed team mates come round 1.





So, we'll remember that as we paw over the round 3 data and give a little context on some scores.

<strong style='font-size: 14px;]Rookies, Dollars per point[/b]

I've refined the tables this week, displaying only the players who have played in both Round 2 and 3, to weed out the lightning round, and also the 1 game wonders.





<tbody>

Team
Position
Name
Salary
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Average
Games
$PerPoint




NTH
RUC
Daniel Currie
$102,700
32
58
77
55
3
1556




COL
MID
Kyle Martin
$103,300
36
43
63
47
3
1750




MEL
DEF
Dean Terlich
$102,700
18
58
56
44
3
2054




PTA
F/M
Jake Neade
$108,500
35
53
35
41
3
2086




SYD
MID
Dane Rampe
$89,300
18
61
48
31
4
2126




GCS
MID
Jaeger O'Meara
$108,500
19
42
89
37
4
2170




PTA
D/M
Sam Colquhoun
$102,700
19
78
26
41
3
2185




PTA
MID
Kane Mitchell
$119,300
25
100
31
39
4
2294




MEL
MID
Matt Jones
$102,700
19
43
49
37
3
2388




HAW
MID
Jed Anderson
$108,500
22
46
69
34
4
2411





Brad Scott said earlier in the week that he would be giving Goldstein the week off to see how Daniel Currie would handle the week alone. He did not disappoint, putting in a dominate performance with 38 hitouts and 77DT points to his name. What this does fail to take into account though, is his opposition of Walker and Blicavs. Walker, being a forward who pinch-hits in the Ruck, and Blicavs a 198cm, former Olympic 1500m hopeful, who's played but a handful of competitive games in the last 6 year. Not meaning to be disrespectful to either of these tremendous athletes, but they were clearly outplayed by the specialist ruckman on the day. In short, Currie did all that could be expected from him, but I'd hardly see him competing for the #1 ruck spot at North just yet.




With Alex Johnson going onto the LTI list, Dane Rampe has moved into the prime position to be upgraded from the rookie list. 22 years old, he played footy at Williamstown before moving to NSW last year. He's looked good this pre-season, and given plenty of time on the ball, so while it's a tough midfield to crack into, Sydney have a habit of finding diamonds in the rough.



Jaeger O'Meara is in your team. I think that's all I need to say about him, while Kane Mitchell has earned a few question marks this week, with just 3 disposals after being given a forward tagging role on Hurn. Again though, Round 3 of the NAB, funny things happen.



<strong style='font-size: 14px;]Rookies, <strong style='font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: #ffffff;]Dollars per point[/b] at 100% Game time[/b]



<tbody>

Team
Position
Name
Salary
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Average
Games
$PerPoint




COL
MID
Kyle Martin
103300
58
95
98
83
3
1002




NTH
RUC
Daniel Currie
102700
47
80
102
76
3
1116




PTA
D/M
Sam Colquhoun
102700
43
86
44
57
3
1426




MEL
DEF
Dean Terlich
102700
22
65
83
56
3
1604




HAW
MID
Jed Anderson
108500
36
58
102
49
4
1669




ADE
MID
Brad Crouch
108500
34
75
83
48
4
1695




PTA
F/M
Jake Neade
108500
46
58
44
49
3
1695




GEE
MID
Mark Blicavs
108500
20
98
51
56
3
1722




GEE
DEF
Joel Hamling
108500
28
94
37
53
3
1750




HAW
RUC
Sam Grimley
108500
14
100
69
45
4
1778








I briefly mentioned Blicavs earlier, but I find his story facinating. At this time last year, he was training to qualify for the 1500m at the Olympics, and played his first game in the VFL in round 18 last year. He's certainly come a long way in a short time and looks to be one to watch in the future. At 198cm though, I'm shocked that he was rated a Mid though, but considering his background, can understand Champion Data's thought process.





Terlich really looks to have secured a place in the Melbourne backline, and at 23 and a best-on-ground performance to his name in the SANFL grand final last year, I can definitely see him earning a spot on my list.





Brad Crouch has gone from strength to strenth this pre-season, and is looking fantastic value as a cashcow. The biggest concern is still the green vest, but he did play a full game this week and really showed a strength in his endurance, picking up 45 of his 66DT points in the second half.






<strong style='font-size: 14px;]Midpricers, <strong style='font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: #ffffff;]Dollars per point[/b][/b]




I've lowered my cutoff this week for mid pricers enough to bring Karnezis onto the table, cause boy, his pre-season has been one out of the box.







<tbody>

Team
Position
Name
Salary
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Average
Games
$PerPoint




BRL
FWD
Patrick Karnezis
$238,500
45
80
80
68
3
2873




BRL
FWD
Aaron Cornelius
$269,200
36
94
80
70
3
3282




RIC
MID
Matt White
$218,600
37
67
59
54
3
3312




SYD
DEF
Tony Armstrong
$249,900
30
92
89
52
4
3570




SYD
FWD
Jesse White
$214,300
24
64
87
43
4
3694




NTH
FWD
Aaron Black
$200,900
27
53
55
45
3
3720




SYD
FWD
Andrejs Everitt
$219,800
20
93
61
43
4
3789




PTA
MID
Chad Wingard
$249,500
38
54
60
50
3
3960




ESS
DEF
Mark Baguley
$288,100
33
107
78
54
4
4001




GCS
DEF
Rory Thompson
$221,600
38
25
61
41
3
4103








Karnezis






<strong style='font-size: 14px;]Midpricers, <strong style='font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: #ffffff;]Dollars per point[/b] at 100% Game time[/b]




Last year, Karnezis spent his time in the NEAFL, playing 14 games through the midfield and averaging 28 disposals. Fantastic numbers, but still do beg the question, will he be able to bring that form into the AFL, where he averaged just 8 touches a game? Heck, will he get regular game time? Personally, I think he will, he's been fantastic this season, but still, one to be slightly cautious of.





Mark Baguley has been scoring at ease this pre-season, in fact a good portion of Essendons backline have been scoring above average this season, with Heppell, Hibberd, Carlise and Goddard all doing very well. A lot of short, accurate kicks coming out of the Essendon defense thus far, which does spell an increase in points.







<tbody>

Team
Position
Name
Salary
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Average
Games
$PerPoint




BRL
FWD
Patrick Karnezis
238500
61
100
117
92
3
2110




RIC
MID
Matt White
218600
45
85
73
67
3
2665




BRL
FWD
Aaron Cornelius
269200
41
117
102
86
3
2692




NTH
FWD
Aaron Black
200900
36
71
63
56
3
2954




PTA
MID
Chad Wingard
249500
53
70
73
65
3
3006




SYD
DEF
Tony Armstrong
249900
38
105
100
60
4
3085




SYD
DEF
Alex Johnson
308200
36
53
193
70
4
3278




SYD
FWD
Andrejs Everitt
219800
21
108
74
50
4
3280




RIC
FWD
Ricky Petterd
243400
43
67
70
60
3
3289




SYD
FWD
Jesse White
214300
35
70
87
48
4
3348








Such a shame to see Alex Johnson go down, he was on fire before going down injured with 6 touches and 29DT points in just 15% of the game. Such a shame for such a young talent.





I'm just going to reinterate the form of Karnezis and Cornelius here. Both have had outstanding NAB campaigns and should be well watched in the grand final next week.




You can find the full version of this spreadsheet here, so check it out and let us know what you find.