well, its been a huge first week, and before I get into anything, can I just say- man its great to have the footy back!!

Its been an interesting week though, the Sub rule looks to have been a success I reckon, the concussion rule is going to come under a fair bit of scrutiny this week- I cant remember a week with so many of them happening before.

yep, concussions and huge ruck performances is what this round will be remembered for.

Now, before I go into the review, just a quick reminder to the new coaches out there. Salary changes dont happen until *after* a player plays their third game, so there is no real need to jump on any of the rookies that youve missed just yet, youve still got another week to see if its fo realsies or not.

Full review is over the break
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The season opened, as it always does, with the Carlton Blues taking on the Richmond Tigers, and as weve seen in the last few years- the Blues took out the 4 points. That said, the Tigers showed a lot of heart in the third, but once they lost their 100% conversion rate, the Blues had enough to get over the line. Unsuprisingly, Carlton dominated the DreamTeam points, but thats not what were playing here. Bryce Gibbs should have been a lock in everyones squads, but if you gambled against him, youll be lamenting his 138. He was everywhere, particularly in the final quarter. Newman scored an excellent 132 and top scored for the Tigers. Simpson (124) was prolific while Riewoldts 6 goals got him up to a 122. Do we think he can continue with that form? or will he be very up and down as he gets double/triple teamed?. The biggest result from the game though was Carlton rookie, Ed Curnow who brought in a massive 118. I can see a lot of coaches jumping the gun and trading him in this week, but as weve seen in years past- it might pay to wait one more week before doing it- his price wont move til his third game, and the more info you can get- the better! The other rookies (rookie priced) playing this game were Duigan (59), Laidler (7&), Conca (69), Batchelor (52) and Helbig (13), who with the exception of Relbig, all did a fine job. Others to disappoint were Waite (15), who was subbed off early with a concussion, Morton who just didnt get enough of it and Foley, who was subbed off but really shouldnt have been playing with a nasty case of gastro.

Friday night saw one of the boringest games ever. Were it not for the tight end to the game, I would have spent the rest of this paragraph deriding it as a spectacle. However, the Cats ended up with the cream after falling over the line by a single point. Harry Taylor top scored with a 142, and is looking to be a very astute pickup for the coaches who took the risk on him. Though they wont be playing the Saints every week, so I expect that to move around a fair bit. Bartel looked great on his way to a 127 and looks like one of the bargains of the year if he can keep it up. Enright scored a 125 (and top scored for DT), getting a lot of the pill. Finally we get to the Saints with Lenny Hayes (124) and Goddard (119) top scoring for them. Ottens (105) and McEvoy (100) both cracked the tons in what has become a might round for rucks. Riewoldt was closely watched and I though was a little lucky to get his 86, though he was fairly prolific early. Milburn scored a 59 coming in as a sub for the very unlucky J. Selwood, who went off with a sickening head clash. Word is that he wont make the trip next week. Travis Varcoe disappointed with a poor 42, hardly inspiring confidence after all the talk of him benefitting most from Abletts departure in the off season.

Saturday started with the Pies smashing Port at Ethiad Stadium, though the Power did rally in the third with a 6 goal performance. Swan was dominant with a captains 166 off 34 touches. Just gotta lock him in as C from here on in I reckon, he was fantastic resting up forward. Dawes was great, 20 touches, kicked 4.3 for a 140 while Ben Johnson would have suprised a lot with 33 touches and 139SC. Luke Ball (123) and Pendlebury (120) round out a top 5 thats dominated by Pies. Matt Thomas top scored (and was the only Power to ton up) with a 119 with 27 touches and 3.0. Krakouer got subbed off in the last quarter and still managed a mighty 102- great start lad! Irons (68) and Pittard (58) also impressed, while Buckley (44) did alright considering how horrible his first half was! Didak could be a great target if he takes a few more weeks to break into form I reckon, while Jolly should probably be avoided- he was fantastic in the first quarter, but just went missing after that.

Adelaide v Hawthorn was a great game to watch. Hawthorn got out to an early lead at half time, but Adelaide looked buoyed by the crowd to come back in the last and take out a 20 point win. Mitchell (122) was magnificent collecting 38 disposals, while Delicious was simply delicious with a 117. Im already regretting leaving him out of the team, I love watching him kick the thing. Dangerfield top scored for the Crows, but a lot of that was due to weighting as his 17 touches were instrumental in the Crows win, I doubt hell be able to sustain it. Ladson was prolific early, but was quiet in the second half- still managed 24 touches and 105 point, exactly the same as Clint Young. Smack McKernan put in an outstanding first outing with a 98, though we do have to worry with the bye next round, and Tippett looking to come back in round 3. Savage (75) certainly didnt to his chances of keeping his spot any harm and neither did Otten with a 67. Smith (48) is another one who could be giving up his spot come round 3, but he certainly did alright. Johncock disappointed with a 41 and was looking pretty sore come the end of the game. Nowhere as sore as Porplyzia, whos shoulder went yet again, gotta feel for the bloke. Franklin put in a pretty disappoint 2.6 for 72, but I wouldnt worry too much, a couple of bad call FAs not being called and kicking 4.4, and its a 120 game. Bruce however didnt earn his bickies with a 58.

Up at the Gabba we got to see the new look Lions after a horrible per-season saw them lose stars left-right and center. Still, they performed admirably, and if not for the injury count, probably would have gotten up. Sadly, when you lose such names as Brown, Clark, Staker and the first gamer, Beams- its always going to make it tough and they went down by 2 points due to a last minute goal to Walters (whos 56DT was upgraded to a 96SC for his efforts). Mundy (138) top scored the game with only 24 touches, while Sandi dominated the ruck, 41 hitouts and 137 points. Jack Redden top scored for the Lions while a suprising D. Merrett managed 120. If anyone told me hed ton up, I would have laughed in their face, but hey- footys a funny game sometimes! The top five was rounded out by Nathan Fyfe, who continued his excellent pre-season form with a might 117 and is looking great value. Lower was magnificent, coming off the rookie list and scoring a 110- brilliant.The other rookies who played were Lester (65)- whos game time should improve with Brown and Staker looking to spend a fair while on the sidelines, Obrien (63), Bewick (51), Beams (45), Pitt (47), and I reckon that youd have to be pretty happy with any of them as a pick right now. The biggest story for the night though was big J Brown. Looks like hes gunna be out for 8 weeks with another sickening head injury for the round, still- the tough bloke that he is, didnt want to leave the ground after it happened. Tough as nails he is and an absolute star- hopefully he can make it back soon and show up his best. Anyone on Duffield might be worried about his 71, but dont be, he travels poorly and in general, is away games will get averaged out by his excellent home game performances. Meanwhile, anyone on Spudler Spudley- hang your head in shame.

Come Sunday, come Essendon. Seriously, Ill try to keep it in check, but wow they were good. Just a completely different team from last year. Im actually interested to hear some impartial reviews, were we that good and I should be getting my hopes up, or were the Dogs just terrible? Anyways, the game started close, with the Dogs going into the first break with a slim lead, but after that, it was all Essendon- half way through the 4th quarter, there was a stat that said they had the ball in their half for 70% of the match, their forward pressure was just devastating. Jobe top scored for the game with a 35 touch 142. Give him the three votes now. Next two scores were the Essendon rucks, Ryder (141) and Hille (134)- guess the Ryder ruck setups could have some merit, though it was said before the game that Paddy should dominate with the Dogs not having a real second ruck to play on him- I dont think other teams will be making that mistake. Zaharakis and Stanton were both 4th and 5th, both scoring 113. The dogs best performers were Murphy and Hill, both scoring 101- though Im not going to get sucked into Murphys early year form again! Heppell ws magnificent with a 90, while those coaches who picked up Liberatore (73) or Markovic (56) will be very happy with their performances. Coaches who took a risk on the mid-priced Easton Wood will be pretty upset, not only with his 60, but also with a 6 week ankle that will cost you a trade. Barry hall started the game well, but just didnt get enough chances and finished the game on 39. And finally- Bombers on top! YEAAaaahHH!!!.

We had an absolute cracker unfold on the MCG, with Sydney leading the whole game, only to fall behind late- and finish up with a draw from a Ryan OKeefe behind. That behind help his to a mighty 141 who looked completely unconcerned with last years injuries (that said, hi 31 touches probably had more to do with it!). Blitzer Moloney (all skinny and boney) top scored for the Dees with 27 touches, a phenominal 21 of the contested! Nathan Jones (119) suprised me with only 16 touches, as did Sylvia (114) with only 17 touches, but I guess against he Swans, you dont play high-possession. Rookie, Tapscott (who Ive whinged more than once about cause I have him on the bench), starred with 113 points. Im expecting that well see a lot more of this kid in the coming weeks! Grimes was very good in defence, but I think he was a little bit ripped off with only 83 points for his effort. Speaking of ripped off, 2 goals 3 behinds, 14 touches, 8 marks and only 63 points. I guess his 57% efficiency really hurt.

The round finished late of Sunday with the delayed West Coast game, it was a tight game all the way to the very end, but the Eagles got the win by 4 points. North came to the table with the bizarre strategy of letting Cox run free with no competition, and as such, he scored a mighty 165, but his last quarter was spent deep in the forward pocket with what was called a cramp- watch this space. Swallow got the second best score with a 136. Cant believe I last-minute-traded him to Selwood cause I had the cash to! Embley (131), Priddis (129) and Tarrant (119) rounded out the top 5. Tarrant being the notible one as he was rookie priced. Speaking of rookie priced, Coxs free-running opponent, Cam Pedersen scored himself a fantastic 114. The other rookies on field were Richardson (69), darling (80) and Atley (39), with Atley being slightly disappointing. Brent Harvey was the most disappointing onfield with a 64, hardly what you want to see from a premium, but the worst news from the night was the week groin injury to Le Cras- gotta feel for that!

So that was the round, there were a truck load of points score by rookies this week, so if you went GnR, and picked the right ones, you should be laughing right now!

One thing that has been tossed around the forum a whole bunch are unique names for the various ruck combinations. This weeks winning combination was: Lady Gaga.

In other news, I hear that Sav Rocca took out the celebrity race over in the grand prix- we can still count that as a win for our code right? (Hear that Hodgy!)

So, how has everyone gone? What did you get? I got a 2292 but was stung pretty bad by Selwood and Goodes. Who avoided all the pitfalls of the round?

(ps- dont know when lockout will be over, but if it does happen soonish, Ill endevour to get the stats up tonight, but since its the first run in TS3.0, it could take a couple of hours, so bare with me!!)