So yes, an even 1,800 points in the first week of the byes, that's a ranking of 48,849 for the week. Our total aggregate score is now 22,835 which puts our overall ranking at 22,851. Hopefully the next two weeks are our opportunity to shoot up the ladder (or come crashing down!)

We had 16 scoring players this week, at an average of 112.5 points per player. If we were to extrapolate that to 22 players in a normal week, we'd be scoring 2,475 points. Can't really complain about that!

Defence
H Shaw 127
K Kolodjashnij 120
A Oxley 105
J Newnes 103
Zeroes of J Gibson, J Lever, K McIntosh, and B Smith.
Clearly a good start down back, with all four players topping the ton! Each player was around 20 points above their season average, with Kolo romping it in by an extra 40 points.

Midfield
L Parker 130
S Pendlebury 117 (Captain, 234)
JP Kennedy 97
A Saad 96
J Selwood 89
T Dumont 35
Zeroes of J Nelson, D McKenzie, P Dangerfield, D Beams, and P Cripps
Parker obviously did well, its a shame his teammate, and my namesake, couldn't. Dependles looks like he's slowly becoming less so, as it hurts having 234 from your captain when so many others got 300+ from theirs. Saad was good, new-recruit Ducky was a disaster, while Dumont was clearly still feeling the effects of Razor Ray!

Rucks
N Naitanui 147
T Goldstein 136
M Cox still on the pine with a donut.
Essendon clearly showed that playing without a recognised ruckman is a valid move, being belted at the bounces (although still getting heaps of clearances), and helping every side who has NicNat bump their score. I can't see too many other teams facing the Eagles without a ruckman again this season (although Sandi is doing a damn good job standing above everyone and tapping the ball all over the park). Goldy also pumped out a huge score, with both rucks firing together and outshining our captain by plenty...

Forwards
L Franklin 111
R Gray 95 (VC)
T Mitchell 91
D Swan 84
Zeroes of M Bontempelli, M Clark, D Martin, and J McGrath.
Buddy was having a leggy day with his 111, while VC Gray disappointed and forced the move to use our captain. Titch and Swan were both below par, and for that we're going to give them a week off.

Obviously the only points missed this week was through captain selection. 30 of them for picking Pendles over NicNat. In hindsight, it wouldn't have been such a silly call giving Nic a shot, seeing as he was at home, against a bloke about a foot shorter than him, and with a vertical leap about 2 foot lower. Ah well, everyone has 20-20 hindsight.

Trades
Only the one trade going into bye week 1, with Cam Ellis-Yolmen being dropped for Joel Selwood. It would ordinarily be a good trade, but Ducky stunk it up, with his relatively lowly 89 points.
I'm not going to report the weekly balances over the byes, as players playing and not player really throws things out. I'll give the next proper trade report after the byes are complete, so that things are properly balanced.

Round 12 Preview
There's going to be some trading this week, thats for sure. We have 12 blue dots, meaning a maximum of 18 players this week, but with some injuries and boys outside the 22, we're likely to be down around 15-16 scoring players. Come and join us in the donor forum to help make the big calls on who comes in, who goes out, and how much of a goose Snoz is for suggesting Ducky! (sorry mate, but I couldn't resist the cheap shot!).