So, Ive been locked to the laptop this weekend, with strict instructions from Jo- Fix the damn speed issues- Theyre painful and nobody likes the feeling of getting lockout every damn week. Well, Im paraphrasing a little, Im pretty sure there were a few more f-bombs in there, but the idea comes across just as well when translated to a PG-13 audience. Anyways, the end result Im hoping should speed the site up a little during the non-peak hours, but should help out the servers significantly once the masses come in to get their trades on. Of course, with such changes is always the risk of me breaking stuff, so keep an eye out and let me know if anything sucks.

Now with that done, lets jump over the break and see what happened this week
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We kicked off the round with the match of the round and boy, did it live up to the hype! A hugely spirited contest which saw Geelong almost kick themselves out of the game, only to hold onto a slim 3 point victory. As Leigh Matthews once pointed out, if it bleeds- Which means the 2011 season is now officially open for business! The top scorer for the game was joel Selwood, whos 29 touches, 17 of which were contested, secured him a 153SC. Favored replacement for Grimes, Heath Shaw rewarded his coaches with a massive 149SC, and while Im talking Grimes replacements, he was a far cry from Enrights 68SC. StevieJ was the third highest scorer with a very nice 136SC, his recent midfield time has been a real boon to his scoring. Daisy picked up a 127SC while Joel Corey had a nice return to form with a lovely 122 off 33 touches. The biggest suprise package for the though was Simon Buckley, I know Jo was contemplating holding Grimes this week and playing Buckley, but his 52 average wasnt inspiring confidence, that said though, his return of 94 would have more that put a smile on her face. Outside of Enright, there were a few other disappointments, Chappy continued his poor post-bye behaviour with a 70SC, Dawes didnt do much better with a 71SC while Didak kept up his poor poor form, scoring a mighty 44SC! hell be sub $300k soon and well be faced with the same call we had last year with Davis- Will he make it back from here? or will it take a few injuries to the Pies awesome midfield?

Game two for the round was a strange one, after being dominant early, Melbourne decided to head home early and allow North to score the last 16 of 21 goals for the game. Daniel Wells smashed it, with 29 touches and 3 goals bringing him a massive 175SC for the week, while Goldstein put in a huge one with 30 hitouts and 26 touches- I guess Melbournes cold ruck tick only applies with Jamar in the team- could be something to think about when looking at the Melbourne Ruck tick over the next few weeks (You guys do look at the <a href="http://tooserious.net/ticker.php">ticker[/url] right? Its one of the most powerful tool in this place, used by famous coaches the world over!). Martin top scored for the Dees with a fantastic 125 off only 20 touches- thats a good conversionn rate. It seems wrong that someone who kicked 6 goals would come in 4th, but thats what happened to Aaron Edwards who wracked up a nice 122SC. Colin Sylvia rounded out the top5 with a very respectible 114SC to back up his 159SC from last week. A couple of poor games hurt us coaches this week- people who replaced Grimes with Rawlings would be hurting with his return of 63, while Green (52) and Petrie (50) owners will be feeling the hurt. Finally, Tapscott- hes done up very well up to now, but I reckon hes fast approaching cull-oclock.

The other Saturday game saw the GC come out of the blocks with a rah, only to don the ol caps at quarter time and be overrun by 60 points by the Crows. The result is irrelevent though, the one huge result from this game was Gaz. 41 touches, 4 goals and a massive GAZ like performance leaves him as the big conundrum for the next two weeks, priced as low as hes going to be, and the ability to knock out some huge fricking scores- whos gunna take the chance on him? Other people scored stuff, but seriously GAZ! Wait, no- Dangerfield delivered with 6 goals and 138SC, Thompson scored a 136SC, Van Berlo a 129SC and Reilly rounded out the top5 with a 121SC. Plenty of rookies in this game, as youd expect with the GC, saw Smith once again go great with a 92SC- seriously, when is the Rising Star hype going to start up on this guy? We all know its a popularity competition- so hes no chance unless the machine fires up! Stanley did very well with an 87SC while Lynch was great, adding an 82SC to last weeks 95SC, bringing him up to the bubble with a -84BE. Sadly, Patrick couldnt live up to last weeks hype, securing only 5 measly points, two less than Adelaides Brodie Smith.

Saturday night and I was drinking beers and watching the goings on at the Gabba on the ol telly as once again the Lions lead a spirited charge up to half time, before falling away to give the Bombers a 26 point win. Zaharakis top scored the game with 4 goals to make 138SC. Top scoring for the Lions was the Tom the Rocklobster whos 30 touches saw him score a lovely 133SC. David Myers played the game of his career, 31 touches and a mighty 129SC- keep playing like that and Essendons recruiting will be seen as visionaries rather that the regular mocking they currently get for picking him over Rioli. Monfries put in a good one, 21 touches for 123SC, while Hocking, though he posted a 62DE still managed a 107SC- though he is a good chance to miss next week, and the week after. Of course, Hurley hurt a few, coaches as a late withdrawal- and the pain comes again next week with Hird calling him likely to miss next week. his replacement though was Michael Hibberd, who while he got 22 touches, could only convert to a 57SC. On the Brisbane side of things, Redden continued his poor form, returning a 54SC- are his halycon days of 100s behind him!?

Before I move onto the next game, I just wanna pat myself on the back again for the speed increases- it really does seem to be going faster! Let me know what youre experiencing.

The other Saturday night game was in Sydney, and once again, Jude Bolton top scored for the Swans this time with 33 touches and 12 tackles for a big 146SC. There were two other 140s for the game though, Chaplin with a 143SC off 23 touches and Kennedy with a 140 off 31 touches. Goodes returned a 124SC to his owners while McVeigh rounded out the top5 with a 121SC. There werent too many disappointments in this game, Mumford didnt lead up to the heady heights that we expected from a premium ruck playing port, but hey- 90SC still aint too bad, while Ben Jacobs debuted for only a 38SC.

Sunday started with what seemed a replay of the GC game... or the Melbourne game, St. Kilda started super strong, only to be crushed by the Hawks by 30 points. Although they lost, Sam Fisher top scored, another good choice for the Grimes trade, with a 156SC amassing 31 touches with an elite 90% DE. Top scoring for the Hawks was both Brent Guerra and rookie Shane Savage, who thumbed his nose at the coaches who traded him out last week with a very tidy 136SC. Roughead scored a nice 126 off only 20 touches while Suckling had the 5th highest score for the round with a 124SC. Plenty of footnotes from this game though, Hodge did well with a 121SC, though I think that might be a little kind considering his 59% DE. Puopolo did very well with 14 touches and 70SC- a very nice down grade option if youre looking that way this week, while Smiths 57SC might be a bad sign to those coaches who jumped the gun last week, while first gamer Luke Breust came on as an early sub and managed a very nice 70SC. On the other side, Siposs putin a 79SC off 11 touches at a DE of 91%.

The next game saw the Dogs knock Richmond off their dizzying heights of the past few weeks, with Lindsay Gilbee returning to form, this time though he kicked himself 6 goals for a 153SC. Boyd once again made the top5, this time it was 32 touches for a 123SC, while big Will Minson was awesome collecting 4 goals and a 121SC- His recent for has been absolutely outstanding!. Liberatores return was beautiful, 25 touches and a 117SC- Hands up if you were clever enough to hold onto him? Meanwhile Callan Ward was great with a 115- though like Hodge, I though it was kind considering his 59% DE. Lucas, you still holding Ward mate? Not too much bad news from this game, RooJ only made a 75- though its a worrying sign that it took him 4 goals to get it! Hes gunna be an absolute powerhouse when his goals start consistantly winning Richmond games- that alone will push his average up 20 points. The other sub standard performance was Newman whos 67SC wasnt quite what his coaches were hoping.

The final game of the round was one that many of us were waiting for, the result was a fantastic 30 point victory to the Eagles, but its not the result were after- its the performers, and the many captains choices and premiums and rookies that were running- and with the exception of the subbed off Nick Lower and his 41SC, none of them disappointed. Priddis top scored for the game with 27 touches and 126SC, next was the big Q-Stick, whos 125SC was a return to his glory days. Fyfe top scored for the Dockers with 28 touches and 2 goals for a 121SC, followed by Mundy whos 28 touches saw him score a 119SC. McPharlin rounded out the top5 with a 114SC off a 94% DE. Of course, Sandi (110SC) and Pav (109) both did well, while Cox did fine with a 103SC. Darling was his awesome self, further instilling himself as an F8 in many squad- personally, Ill be using Petrie, but hey- his 80 average and ability to knock out near tons is just awesome.

Anyways, were still waiting for lockout to end, DreamTeam is open so it wont be long, but while we wait- why dont we all look around and see if the site is faster If its not, take the time to grab a copy of Google Chrome- seriously, its awesome.

Or take a look at the Sportsbet comp, I moved up to third this week, but fell further behind the leader- annoying, I reckon had I picked up Selly last week instead of Chappy, Id be within striking distance. Ah well, ifs and buts and all that. I scored a 2133 in SuperCoach this week, which looks about par- howd you guys all do?