Happy Easter all.

Ive been away for a while enjoying the sun in Queensland, but now Im back, and though I missed one week of Beat the Best and Best Buys, Im sure most of you are well aware that everything can change in Supercoach from week to week, and to get your benches and captains right, because points are there if you look hard enough.

Just thought Id share the love for the TooSerious Rising Star award by showing all the votes, and the Nominee for Round 4.

Zac Smith was one of the most loved Fantasy selections when we all watched the VFL and saw a big kid with enormous potential.  But then came the preseason, and not a sniff of selection for Smith, leaving many to chance their arms with Broc McCauley, use the safe option of Drew Petrie as a ruck backup, or a combination involving midpricers like David Hale or Ben McEvoy.

But those who did the research and stuck with Smith have been rewarded as he has shone as a shining Sun in an otherwise forgettable few games from the Gold Coast outfit.

Hailing from Rockhampton, Smith fell into the clutches of the recruiting staff at Gold Coast as a regional selection, and though hes a recent convert to AFL having played soccer as his sport of choice, he looks a natural, showing promise not just in the ruck but up forward.  At 206 cm, this guy reminds me of a player of similar height in terms of positional flexibility and thats the Big Fish, Paul Salmon.   Lets see if he can do the job in future rounds to make this prediction seem worthwhile.

More info on the TooSerious Rising Star (and last years results) over the break...

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The Round 4 Votes:

5 - Zac Smith (GC) - Round 4 Nominee
4 - Ed Curnow (CARL)
3 - Nick Duigan (CARL)
2 - Daniel Harris (GC)
1 - Jasper Pittard (PORT)

Giving the overall leadership the following look:

9 - Curnow (R3 nomination)
5 - Smith (R4)
4 - Liberatore
3 - Savage, Duigan
2 - Tapscott, Harris
1 - Heppell, Pittard

This voting system of 5-4-3-2-1 at the end of the year is combined with some other herbs and spices (last year we used factors like highest average, high score, overall points) to add to these votes and come up with the winner.

Last year, Podsiadly cleaned up with the 5-4-3-2-1 voting, but only just held onto the overall award.

There were nominees each round from Round 3 to 22, where the highest non nominated player got selected to add to the list.   In addition to these selections, the highest ranked 2 players in terms of 5-4-3-2-1 votes I added in as "finals nominees" to help catch players who were unlucky enough to get their rising value coming in a week where a freak like Podsiadly or Barlow was nominated.

So last year, the collection of nominees was an eclectic bunch.   Not wishing to bore you but I will list in order the overall votes, the 5-4-3-2-1 votes, and the special votes (given 5-4-3-2-1 for areas including: Year Score, Year Average, High Price Score, High Price Movement and Overall Price Movement), along with their nomination round (R3 being sort of like the No1 Draft Pick):

Podsiadly (GEEL): 30: 21-9 (R5)
Barlow (FREO): 29:  10-19 (R3)
Lake (WB): 19: 6-13 (R9)
Blair (COLL): 18: 11-7 (R16)
Enright (GEEL): 16: 8-8 (R21)
Howlett (ESS): 14: 9-5 (FIN)
N Riewoldt (STK): 13: 5-8 (R20)
Le Cras (WCE):  13: 9-4 (FIN)
Henderson (ADEL): 12: 11-1 (R15)
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All other nominees received less than 10 overall points, and are listed in points received order:
9: Jaensch (ADEL)
6: K Tippett (ADEL), Fyfe (FREO)
5: Stevenson (WCE), Bail (MELB), Armstrong (ADEL), L Thomas (NM), A Smith (WCE), M Johnson (FREO), Ellard (CARL), Gourdis (RICH)
4: P Davis (ADEL)

Giving a Rising Star Team of the Year of:

B: Johnson, Lake, Henderson

HB: Enright, Davis, Smith

C: Jaensch, Howlett, Fyfe

HF: Le Cras, N Riewoldt, L Thomas

F: Playfair, Podsiadly, Blair

RUC: K Tippett, Barlow, Ellard

INT: Gourdis, Bail, Armstrong, Stevenson