It has been an absolute trainwreck of a week for so many coaches- not only have we had to deal with the byes (See: Goodes/Rok/Sylvia/Tapscott/Darling), but a number of select outs after lockout- krakouer, Broughton and Batchelor- AND a horrible sub-effected 11 for Cam Richardson in the forward line have all contributed to a horrible horrible week!

And next week it looks like its all going to happen again- Freo, Geelong and the Hawks will all be sitting out, along with a potential sitout of both Heppell and Stanley means that again, our backs are going to be pressed to the walls!

Now, before I get into the review, I just want to remind you all- lockout is in two days. TWO! Though it is a partial lockout, so we dont *need* to get our trades done, what we do *need* to do though is get our Eagles and Demons back onto the field! If you miss the window, and leave those guys on your bench- its season over, so get in there as early as you can and get that bench sorted! (And chuck the VC on Cox while youre in there. )

<!--more-->

So, the week started long long ago, on Thursday night with the Lions taking on the Saints up at the Gabba. The Lions mounted a valant effort, even going into the final quarter 5 points up, but sadly it wasnt enough as they fell 2 goals short of the mark. Still good signs for the Lions as three mid pricers took the top3 spots this game, Adcock was prolific early and 28 possessions saw him top score for the game with a 127SC. Redden (125SC) and Merrett (122SC) both continued their magnificent seasons so far. 4th and 5th were both St. Kildas with Goddard picking up a very nice 120SC and Montagna rounded out the top5 with a 119SC, though I reckon he was a little lucky with 33 disposals at a poor 58% DE. Coaches that have sat of Polec will be smiling if he can keep knocking out 80s and anyone whos holding McCauley at R4 will be laughing with his 88SC- I guess with a couple of talls sitting on the Lions injury list, it was only going to be a matter of time before he started performing, but boy- 36 hitouts, not bad at all! There were the only good rookies though with OBrien (33), Bewick (22) and Smith (35) all disappointing their coaches.

Saturday rolled round and with it came both the *real* lockout and a historic victory by the Gold Coast. How the Power gave up their led, Ill never know- but the footage of the GC boys after their first win was awesome to see. Leading the way for the GC was Michael Rischitelli- 31 touches, 2 goals and 132SC. Matera in a game winning effort scored 4 goals on his way to 127SC while Hartlett led for the Power with a solid 23 touch 122SC. Next came Brennan on a 115SC and it was Ablett who rounded out the top5 with a 26 touch 109SC- and here starts the Ablett fall- heres hoping for 3 more big falls before we all nom him up come round 10. Pittard again did well as the shining light on Ports side, but at the GC, Harris (107), Stanley (97), Swallow (91), Bennell (87), Dixon (80), McKenzie (78), Smith (69), Toy (67) and Weller (64) all did themselves proud. No real disappointments on the GC front, but for Port, Boak (74), Gray (62) and Cornes (49) really missed out on a game where they should have cleaned up. Just to wind up the game review, well done GC- youre off the mark! Whos next?!

A tight game on Saturday night saw an extremely inaccurate Blues outfit fall over the line against the crows, 11.19 to 12.7. Thats ONE less goal and TWELVE more points- the media would have gone to town on their kicking had they lost it! Marc Murphy was outstanding, collecting 34 touches for a 137SC, while Johncock had an amazing return to form, with 22 touches at an unbelievable 100% DE for a 134SC. Scotland (114), Simpson (113) and Judd (110) rounded out the top5 in what is a classic Carlton midfield dominance. Curnow did very well again, scoring a 94- hes fast becoming the Barlow of 2011 while Luke Thompson is looking the obvious downgrade target of the week, hitting his average and scoring a 78 - should be a great target. Duigan (53) and Yarran (45) disappointed this week, but Smith (67), Otten (65) and McKernan (58) probably just earned themselves a pass mark.

Sunday saw the arrival of both easter eggs and a fantastic come from behind victory for the Tigers. Martin was magnificent with a 33 touch 168SC performance while Petrie picked up 6 goals on his way to a huge 149- gotta feel for all those suckers (ie- me) who had him warming the pine this week when a Krak to JTip trade could have covered a donut and brought about a huge score. Ah well... Swallow had a big game with his 32 disposals making a 143SC score. JRoo kicked 5 goals of his own on his way to a big 136- definitely bottomed out now and on his way back up, while Harvey rounded out the top5 with a 125SC- though a late injury will have his coaches worrying this week. No real sandout rookies this game with Atley (61), Conca (63) and Grimes (54) all hitting a good enough score- but it was the sub- Cam Richardson who scored an 11 and shattered the forwardlines of many the SCers this week.

Anzac day came and it was a typically spirited outing with the Bombers really taking it to the reigning premiers- still, just like everyone else before them, the Pies ran over them in the end. Cloke top scored with 134SC with some important goals and a DE of 82%, Pendles, who amassed a mighty 166DT looked to get ripped off only scoring 130SC- not a bad score by a long shot, but I reckon we were all expecting better. Perhaps the DreamTeam inflation of 10 uncontested grabs was at play? Crameri top scored for the Bombers, and was the only one to ton up with 4 goals and a 126SC. The top5 was rounded out by Jolly (117) and Davis (111) who both had a welcome return to form for their owners- anyone feeling gutsy enough to try out Leon after his bye? From an SuperCoach perspective, the 3 Bomber rucks experiment looks pretty poor with Ryder (70), Bellchambers (63) and Hille (57) all coming well under what their owners would be hoping, but for mine, the gameplan was sound and had they been able to actually ground a few of the marking opportunies that came their way, it would have been a different story. I guess that just goes to show just how able the Collingwood defence is- and I reckon itll stretch a lot of the "lesser" defences. The other major disappointments for the game was Hurley whos 42SC was again due to the Pies defence and Didak whos 45SC- and less midfield time, is making him look less and less like a good upgrde target, but whos price will soon be just too good to refuse. Some good news from the game was Heppell, who brought in a nice 97SC- however, the Wird from Hird is that hes a good chance to be rested next week, so between Heppell, Stanleys maybe suspension and the byes of Enright, Broughton and Lower- could seriously stretch some defenses next week. And finally, Lucas- what are you thinking of the Bombers now? contenders yet?

Anzac night saw a fantastic clash as the Dockers got up in a close one against the Dogs, and many the Supercoach was delighted to see the final quarter heroics of both Higgins- who salvaged a passable game, and Lower, whos game winning goal gave the most delightful of bonus points to our totals. The night however, belonged to Boyd, 45 disposals for a massive 162SC. Then it was all Dockers, Mundy with a 140SC, Fyfe with a 129SC, Duffield with a 128SC and Sandi, whos 53 hitouts secured him a 122SC. Lower (106) and Libertore (84) both did a great job of it, while Pitt (41) and the sub, Wallis (22) didnt go enough. Wards 77 means hes probably due for a culling this round if you can swing it, while Brian Lakes 66 puts him firmly ontrack to upgrade town.

The last game in this marathon of a round saw Geelong pull out a huge victory over the Hawks after looking down and out several times over the match. Jimmy Bartel top scored with Chapman on 120SC, while Selwood with 32 touches knocked up the third highest score with a 115SC. Suckling top scored for the Hawks with a 111SC and is looking in marvelous form for a mid pricer. Not too many disappointments from this game, Bruce and his 48 sees him slide further down in price, but hes going to need to show a lot more before he becomes an upgrade target I reckon. Cyril went down in the 4th with a hammy, so hopefully his bye next week sees off the worst of it, but Ive a feeling that hes still going to miss a game or two for us, I guess time will tell though.

So, lockout is done, and seeing only 4 TS leagues in the top20 tells me that weve been hit pretty hard this round, so I reckon a good number of you guys will be licking your wounds- Ive already heard a couple of absolute horror stories, which tells me its time to lift your heads, take the safety off and start trading like there is no tomorrow- Thats right, the cows are in and its time to start the harvest!

Annoyingly, we only have a couple of days to make up our minds on how we want to go, so we need to buckle down and figure out where we are going, STAT!

With all the ugly of this round, a couple of good stories might be what the doctor ordered- Meataxe managed to climb this round back up to 35th with a solid 2189, while Jo climbed a couple of spots to 30th with a 2193. Nice work guys! Over in the sportsbet comp, I moved up to second overall with a 2952, which might just be enough to get the $500 monthly freebet after I struggled in round 1, fingers are crossed, and Im thinking its time to start trading heavily to make a move on that coverted #1 spot!

So- if youve made it this far, first- switch your bench players onto the field, then let us know- was it as much of a nightmare for you as it was for me!?