So, round 9 has come and gone, with two major things happening- firstly, we had some HUGE scores this round- seriously huge scores; secondly, it looks like the king is dead! Captains choice is now officially a major point for us all to deal with!

So, lets get into it and see whats transpired.

<!--more-->

Carlton v Geelong
Result: Geelong by 2 points, 15.12.102 to 14.16.100

Started off on Friday night with Carlton showing us all that they are definitely top 4 material this year, going head to head with the cats for 4 whole quarters, and were it not for an errant 20 meter kick at the dead, would have won. However, the Cats managed to keep their lossless record alive, walking away 2 point victors. Marc Murphy top scored for the game, his 32 touches at an 84% DE were enough for him to make 145SC points. Hot on his heels was Heath Scotland who racked up 34 touches for a 140SC. The Cats top scorer for the round was Joel Selwood- with 29 touches and a very nice 121SC. Waite put on 2 goals for a 120SC and the Chapster had a decent return to form with a 112SC. We saw a decent performance by Duigan, whos 92SC and a fantastic run of games to come will see his salary move up nicely. plenty of disappointing scores in this game though, Carrazzos 77SC, Bartels 61 was a real stinger, Duncans 55SC and Vardys 31SC were all pretty bad.

Heros: Murphy, Scotland, Selwood.
Villians: Bartel, Yarran, Taylor.

St Kilda v Melbourne
Result: St Kilda by 20 points, 16.10.106 to 13.8.86

Saturday rocked up, and the Saints managed to stick it to the Dees, walking out with a 20 point victory. If you tuned into the Captains Choice this week, you would have noticed that Joey Montagna was our 31 choice holding a 150 average against the Dees in recent matchups- and boy, he didnt disappoint, running rampant with a 38 touch performance and a 151SC. Riewoldt collected a massive 31 touches and a 141SC while Goddard also returned to form with 37 touches and a 127SC. Were all hoping that they can keep this form up! Gilbert broke into the top5 this week with a solid 106SC while Martin top scored for the Dees with a 105SC. Green found himself with a pretty welcome return to form, making up 93SC off two goals. A couple of disappointments though, Fishers recent form couldnt be held with only an 84, while Dal Santo could only get a 78SC- meanwhile the rookies really disappointed, Siposs first of all could only collect a 31, though if he can play out the year, he should improve, while Tapscott looks to have run his race, a hammy putting him out in the first quarter for just a 20SC- makes you lament what could have been!

Heros: Montagna, Riewoldt, Goddard.
Villians: Tapscott, Dal Santo, Davey.

Port v Fremantle
Result: Fremantle by 52 points, 21.16.142 to 14.6.90

The other game on Saturday saw Freo head over the Port and walk out as 50 point victors. Yep, its a long way to go for the Power. Nick Lower has me absolutely regreting my "upgrade" trade this week, punishing me (and rewarding many others) with a massive 143SC- so let me hear your laments! Is he on your bench, or worse- have you traded him out already!?). Mayne got an amazingly huge score, a 134SC off only 17 touches at a 59% DE with only 2 goals. Duffields 95% DE was enough to see him score a 128SC while Crowley (123SC) and Pavs 119SC were enoughto see them round out the top5. Robbie Gray top scored for the power with a pretty solid 114SC. Looking though the list of disappointments though, theres not much to list- sub, Mzungu could only manage a 14 off his limited time, but considering he only came on in the last, aka- junktime- his 6 quick touches bode well for his future. Meanwhile, Ports DPP rookie, Ben Jacobss 75SC (Off a 91DT) will see him traded into many teams this week!

Heros: Lower, Mayne, Duffield.
Villians: Hill, Pearce, Salopek.

Brisbane v North Melbourne
Result: Brisbane by 14 points, 10.13.73 to 8.11.59

Lots of tons this game as the Brisbane Lions got their first win for the season! Really it was due, but the return of big JB and his 4 goals were enough to give them the win. Just think how they would have gone with brown over the past 8 weeks! Petrie top scored for the game with 20 touches and 2 goals for a solid 123SC. Adcock top scored for the Lions with a very nice 122SC, while Redden managed a 121SC off 19 touches. Swallow collected 33 touches for a 119SC while SDT had a huge SCT ratio turning his 64DT into a 117SC. Because of the huge number of tons, there wasnt many who disappointed, but Rockliff getting subbed saw him only secure a 59SC. On the rookie front, Atley (47SC), Harper (31SC) and Bewick (35SC). That said though, OBriens 58SC was decent and Delaneys 76SC certainly bodes well for his future.

Heros: Petrie, Adcock, Redden.
Villians: Clark, Rockliff, Hansen.

Richmond v Essendon
Result: Richmond by 16 points, 16.9.105 to 13.11.89

A hugely spirited competition saw the Richmond Tigers walk out 16 point victors over the Bombers. While as an Essendon fan, Id love to make excuses for the loss, but the Tigers deserve a lot of credit for their win- when the chips were absolutely down, they stuck fat and their defence was magnificent. Heck, the top 3 scorers for the game were Richmond defenders. Alex Rance top scored for the Tigers, 22 touches for a very nice 125SC, Newman collected 27 touches for a 124SC while Deledio racked up 34 touches for a 113SC. Cotchins 29 touches only got him a 112SC, which was the equal of McVeigh who top scored for the Bombers. Heppell was magnificent- 111SC has him still holding his own against the defender premiums, while Conca got himself a 93SC, Batchelor got a very nice 76SC while Hibberd broke his bubble with a 75SC. The poor efforts for the game saw Stanton manage only a 66SC, Ryder made a 55SC while Daveys 4 touches saw him score a 0SC and Riemers -1DT saw him score a 5SC.

Heros: Rance, Newman, Deledio.
Villians: Stanton, Ryder, Jackson.

Collingwood v Adelaide
Result: Collingwood by 43 points, 20.15.135 to 14.8.92

So, Sunday rolled round, and it was a bit of a shock seeing Collingwood 30 points down at half time to the Adelaide Crows. Honestly, I would love to know what Mick said at half time because the Pies went bananas kicking 18 goals to 6, including an 11.3 final term! Daisy stared, his 24 touches translating to a very nice 151SC. Pendles did himself a good job with 27 disposals and a 124 while Ball posted the third highest score for a 118SC. Doughty top scored for the Crows with an elite 95% DE and a 115SC while S. Thompson continued his good form with a 113SC. Rookies again performed well here with Krakouer scoring an 87SC, Buckley an 85Sc and Smith bouncing back from last weeks 7 to score an 84SC. Didaks disaster of a season continued, this time he was the sub and onlt managed a lowly 33SC, hell be in the mid $200s soon and nearly a sideways trade from one of the slow burning crapcows. Could be an interesting option for the M8/F9 spot once injuries really start to bite! Other poor performances were Swan, who could only turn a 94DT into an 80SC, Shaw who has been traded into heavily managed a 67SC, Cloke got a 58SC, Dangerfield a 64SC and Tippett a 59SC.

Heros: Thomas, Pendlebury, Ball.
Villians: Didak, Cloke, Shaw, Swan.

Sydney v Hawthorn
Result: Hawthorn by 46 points, 15.16.106 to 8.12.60

Inaccurate kicking saw the Swans stay alive againt the Hawks, particularly Buddy who at one stage was 1.6 up at the SCG, however the Hawks didnt let up, and Buddys eye got in, kicking 6.6 of Hawthorns 15.16. This performance was enough to see him level on top of the tree with a very nice 146SC. The other on 146SC was Grant Birchall whos 30 touches at a fantastic 90% DE was a great performance. Roughead continued his excellent form, with 21 touches and 15 hitouts, for a 121SC while Liam Shiels managed a very nice 119SC. Hennebery top scored for the Swans with a 107SC. While he wasnt top5, he deserves a special note, 13 touches saw Cyril Rioli turn a 55DT into a 100SC- what a machine! Hodge made his BE this week with a 99 and will be a bargain mid for anyone at about $450k. Puopolo put in a good effort with a 71SC while Savage did enough scoring a solid 68SC, but those scores just arent enough for our premiums with Mumford disappointing with his 71 against limited ruck opposition. Sure, he dominated the rucking with 30 hitouts, but with only 6 touches- hes never going to hurt the score board. Grundy hurt his coaches with a 46SC, as did Burgoyne with a 66SC, however the story for the game for mine, even though he was subbed off, was Max Bailey who did very well in his first game for the year scoring a 52SC. If Sandi misses a couple of weeks, theres going to be a tough decision for coaches that were looking to trade Smith down to Bailey in two weeks!

Heros: Birchall, Franklin, Roughead.
Villians: Grundy, Burgoyne, Mumford.



West Coast v Western Bulldogs
Result: West Coast by 123 points, 26.19.175 to 8.4.52

Wow, who would have thought at the start of the season, St. Kilda and the Bulldogs really struggling, while Carlton, Essendon, Richmond and West Coast are going hard for the finals this year, and this performance simply cant be ignored- it was a huge win for the Eagles, who will ride this form into a battle with the Pies next weekend. Josh Kennedy top scored for the game, and the round, kicking a massive 10 goals for a 190SC! Dirty_Whorks- you got the wrong Josh Kennedy mate! . Shuey came next with 27 touches and 5 goals of his own for a 154SC, while Cox managed a might 149SC off 23 touches, 2 goals and 33 hitouts. Embley managed on 120SC off 34 touches while the Frenchman, LeCras scored a 113 off his 29 touches- Bargin prehaps? though the Eagles wont win by 120 every week! Boyd top scored for the Doggies with a valiant 32 touches and 110SC. On the rookies front, Darling did very well with a 84SC, while Liberatore did nicely considering with a 74SC. In such a drumming though, theres always going to be bad scores, and none of them were Eagles. Hargraves 56SC brings his average back to earth, Gilbee with a 53SC, Ward with a 45SC, Markovic with a 36SC, Murphy with a terrible 35SC and Higgins who was subbed off after notching up only 20SC. Stings real bad for those of us who kept the faith!!

Heros: Kennedy, Shuey, Cox
Villians: Higgins, Murphy, Ward

So, thats the week that was- Im seeing personal bests *everywhere* - so many people getting 2500s, heck Ive seen a couple of 2600s this week! Its a *huge* week. Just for the sake of the brag, I managed a mighty 3287 in the Sportsbet comp this week- and to put that in perspective, last weeks top score was a 2900. Fingers are crossed for a move into top spot this week!!

So, what did you get? Post a personal best? Or net a lowly 2300 which will probably see you move backwards (curse you Higgins/Tapscott!!) Regardless of my score though, I cant wait til lockout to see some of the monsters!