So, through all the doom and gloom that was supposed to be the first round of multibyes, it looks like some premium performances to a number of rookies have set us in good stead.

<!--more-->

The week started off on Friday night as Collingwood once again steamrolled their opposition, this week it was Richmond in line for a smashing, and smashed they were, to the tune of 71 points. That said though, the Tigers showed a lot of heart in the 3rd quarter, but their supporters are still in for another long year. Swan top scored for the game, with 33 touches, 18 of which were contested and 4 goals for a massive 163SC. Lids came in for the next highest score, smashing his BE with a very nice 33 disposal, at a 94% efficiency 138SC. In fact, there were three more 130+s, Thomas on 137, Sidebottom with 135 and Pendlebury, who concerned us all early when he was sighted on the bench with a big ol ice pack on his knee, with 132. Conca and Batchelor made their coaches smile with a solid 75 and 69 respectively, while Grimes at a stretch could be used to moo, continuing his 54 average. The disappointments from the game were Riewoldt (though he was always going to struggle against the Pies) - with a 77, which will cause a huge drop in dollars and maybe even be enough to get him under $300k. Krakouer once again disappointed after his solid round 1 score, he is definitely raising some question marks with his 54 this week. Hopefully he can keep getting games until either a DG target appears, or the multi-byes are finished!

Saturday opened with two ripping games, one of which occurred on the chilly shores of Aurora stadium. West Coast held the led at the end of the 1st and 3rd quarters while Hawthorn led at the main break, and more importantly, the end of the game. Franklin was the Hawk of the moment with 24 touches and a mighty 6.2 for 146SC, its amazing what a difference 6.2 makes to kicking 2.6! Priddis led the way for the Eagles with solid 26 touches for 134SC. Mitchell let us down a little after a fantastic start, missing is last two-game bench mark of 40 touches, but still collecting 37 for a very nice 127SC. Not bad for someone with a 2 week hammy! Hawthorn stalwarts, Birchall (113) and Sewell (108) rounded out the top 5 with some solid performances. Looks like Hodge (98) and Rioli (76) will be coming down in price a bit, and pending their results next week, could be ripe after the round 6 bye. Cox put in his worst effort for the year with an 87, but you cant have 130s every week! We did have some very nice rookies this game, Darling (99) and Gaff (73) did very well for their owners, sadly though, Savage and his 36 means that he didnt capital on his big ton from last week and will probably be ready for culling in round 6 or 7.

The other game for the day saw an undermanned Bombers outfit scrape through for a draw against the Carlton Blues. The hero of the day was old man Fletcher, who kicked a 70 meter goal at one end, and a game saving run-down of one of footballs fastest, Jeff Gartlett, at the other end - all for an 18 touch 136SC. Heath Scotland got a 133SC off 25 touches and an 84% DE while Stanton scored a 124 off one less touch and the same DE. Andrew Turnover got himself a 121SC off a 142DT score, with 24 touches at a 67% DE. To be fair though, he managed 11 tackles and 7 inside 50s so it was deserving of a ton. Rounding out the top5 was Jobe Watson- 30 touches at a 73% DE but just didnt seem to have his usual influence- perhaps a little more scoreboard pressure would have seen him pick up the 3 votes. We saw some legendary rookie performances this game with Duigan (107), Heppell (105), Curnow (99) and Laidler (81) all doing very well for their owners while Yarrans 105- his third ton in a row- will make his owners smile. Judd put in a disappointing 84, while Gibbs has his second poor game in a row with a 74, while Hurley couldnt continue his 91 average picking up a 63. The biggest disappointment however, outside of the tragic injuries to Dempsey and Winderlich- who are all but gone for the year, was the 8 touch 32SC that went to Paddy Ryder- A couple more of them and hell be great value in 2012.

Saturday night and its a bitter night at the SCG, after raining all day, we get treated to a Cats v Swans wet-weather hack-a-thon. After starting very well, the Swans only managed two behinds in the second quarter and wound up 27 point losers. That said, the biggest winner for the game was Sydneys Shane Mumford who turned it on against his old team mates, collecting 36 hitouts, 14 disposals @ 86% DE and two goals for a 146SC. Chapman put in a typically heroic Chapman performance with 27 touches and a well deserved 138SC. While he might drop a little bit, hes certainly not going to be significantly cheaper by the round 6 bye. Ottens is looking rejuvenated this year, adding a 131SC to his current 112SC average- Very nice returns for the journeyman. Josh Kennedy did very well for his coaches with a mighty 129, one of the main mid-pricers to perform this week, while StevieJ rounded out the top5 with a 24 touch, 120SC. Not too much here on the rookie front, nor on the disappointment front- Christensen did well for a 64, while Bartel let down his lofty standards (131 ave) for a lowly 75.

Saturdays other game started with what looked like it would be a whitewash, and finished as a complete whitewash the other way. Port Adelaide did themselves proud in another showdown, getting themselves their first win for the season- not only that though, but they passed a few of the question marks that were hovering over their heads onto their cross town rivals, which has got to make a Port fan smile just that little bit more. Troy Chaplin top scored the game with 31 touches and a 139SC while Justin Westoff had a day out, with 24 touches and 2 goals- for 131SC. Van Berlo top scored for the crows with a 122SC while Scott Thompson backed up last weeks big game with a 120SC this week. Rounding out the top5, and for sheer determination and awesomeness is one of my favorite players, David Rodan racked up 14 touches and 4 game changing goals on his way to 117SC. Pittard (88), Otten (77) and Smith (74) all did enough to make their owners smile, while defender, Luke Thompson will be making a few watchlists with a 73SC on debut. Bernie Vince disappointed with a 67, and could be a unique upgrade target if youre feeling like bit of risk.

Roll around to Sunday and once again the Witches Hats do their darnedest to stand really still and let their opposition run around them- this time to the tune of 90 points. On the plus side for them though, they did win their very first quarter for the year, the 3rd- by a single point- Melbourne, for shame! Brent Moloney had *another* BOG performance after a week of contraversy, amassing 20+ touches in the first half, and finishing with 32 disposals for a 152SC. In fact, there were 10 Demons to crack the ton and none from the GC to hit that magic mark, so rather than list them, Ill just skip over that to pointing out the awesomeness of Zak Smith- 11 touches, 2 goals and 83SC points- hes a definite chance for a fantasy Rising Star nomination, and if he can keep up this for, my sneaky tenner on him for the actual RS might get up- hes been fantastic for such a tall young fella. Swallow finally rewarded his coaches with a very solid 95SC, while Harriss 69SC, Materas 50SC, Stanleys 49SC and Prestias 40SC probably disappointed their coaches after seeing such delicious performances by other rookies this round! On the Demons Tapscott got a suprisingly high 84SC, which after his slow start should make his coaches smile.

The final game for the round saw Fremantle take out the Kangeroos by a solid 5 goal margin. Fyfe has been threatening to explode all year, and explode he did with a massive 164SC this week with 32 touches and 2 goals. Hes going to get a lot of coaches considering him after round 6 if he can do it again next week. Pav managed a magnificent 158SC with 34 touches and kicking 0.3 - could have been bigger! Frodo snagged 4 goals for a 136SC, Mundy picked up 121SC and Sandi came back from his eye issue with a 117SC off 38 hitouts. Petrie was food early, kicking the first goal, but was very quiet after that, which will worry coaches who are expecting him to cover for their rucks in the next two weeks, while Rawlings piked up a terrible 41SC and will be falling from his high price very quickly in the next few weeks.

Looks like were open and have a new leader- a massive 2500 brought by Saintly Blues saw them jump from 113th to first this week, while last weeks #1, Snowdogs fell to 13 with a 2257. A solid 2404 saw Impromptu jump back up to 3rd, I was sure it was gunna get him on top, but a couple of big risers had me beat. I dont recognise any of the other top 20, so let us know if youre in there. Jo took a fair drop to 38th, but is still well in the hunt, and perhaps most amusingly, on a single extra point, but 2 positions up, my brother, Grantus, climbed from 66th with a solid 2329.

Funnily, three of the top 10 scores for the week were entered just this round- big suprise really! But Im happy to see that the winner for the round wasnt a round-4 built team, but someone who has managed to climb themselves into the top 1000 with a massive 2585.

The Platinum League is sitting in 2nd place with a massive effort, while the SuperLeague climbed up to 6th, TS Donors up to 9th, Donor Kebabs up to 11th, TS2- 2Secs TooSlow a massive climber up to 12th, TS - I am serious in 15th and TS Trading Games in 19th. Yes, that is 7 of the top 20 leagues are all TS, just plain open to the general public (well, except for the Platinum league), leagues. It just goes to show how great this community is at what it does! Well done guys!

So, how did you go this week? As with last week, dont forget to switch your byes around early to prevent and mix-ups with the long weekend (from memory, its a staggered lockout, so keep your ear to the ground with the captains loophole!)

Looking good for coverage next week? Or are you hanging on Krakouer covering for Goodes/Tapscott/Darling?