Footy is back and week 2 of the JLT Community Series proved to be an exciting and eventful one for AFL fans.
The team at Fantasy Stars has summarized some of the best performances over the weekend, some of the surprises, injuries and players to watch going forward for SuperCoach, Dream Team and Daily Fantasy play.
The scoreboards across the board
Six games were played over the weekend this weekend though there were a few blowouts and the quality of Football at times appeared to be lackluster.
The Tigers unveiled a string of new recruits who all impressed in their win over the Adelaide Crows.
The Roos and Hawks ripped in at Arden St in a physical contest while the West Coast Eagles thrashed their rival Fremantle Dockers.
Gold Coast held off the Bombers in an entertaining game to round out the weekend.
RELATED: Week 1 JLT Community Series Wrap
St Kilda Saints 57 defeated Port Adelaide 56
The Saints dominated early and were able to take a good chunk of their stars off during the second half that enabled Port to get back into the game. The final score was flattering in the end.
Saints Coach Adam Kingsley;
“The defence was our big opportunity to improve (from last year) and I thought tonight we defended really strongly, particularly when the ball was through the midfield and at our end,” Kingsley said.
A great mix of young and old did the job for the Sainters.
Armitage, Steven and Savage were prominent as were Billings, Ross and Dunstan.
Ex-Bomber Jake Carlisle had 11 disposals and six marks in his debut for the Saints.
Port Coach Ken Hinkley;
“There was a fair bit of rust. I’ve watched most of the JLT Series, and I’ve seen that in every game. Both sides again tonight were rusty at times,” Hinkley said.
Highly touted Port youngster Sam Powell-Pepper racked up 12 possessions while Joe Atley didn’t take the field until the second half.
Port Adelaide ruck-forward coach Brendon Lade wants to use Charlie Dixon in the ruck… https://t.co/h834cw5kOq
— CJ Henderson (@SportsHubOz) February 26, 2017
An inspired 10 tackles for Ollie Wines and 16 handballs wasn’t enough to drag the Power to victory into the contest while senior players Travis Boak and Chad Wingard were also quiet busy.
Nathan Krakouer (Port Adelaide) was reported for forceful front-on contact with Sean Dempster (St Kilda) in the third quarter.
There were no listed injuries from the game.
From a fantasy perspective Chad Wingards role in the midfield is intriguing and he has risen up our draft boards in both formats.
Richmond Tigers 92 def Adelaide Crows 73
The Tigers were slow to get out of the blocks against the Crows but rallied to win comfortably in their first JLT clash.
Adelaide had the benefit of the free kick count throughout and were somewhat disappointing on face value despite having a few key senior players on the sidelines.
The Tigers released new recruits Toby Nankervis, Josh Caddy and Dion Prestia and all impressed while David Astbury did a stellar job on Crows star forward Taylor Walker.
Tiger outside mids Grigg and Ellis both accumulated the ball at will while Dustin Martin had a stellar final term when some of the sting had gone out of the game.
EXCLUSIVE
Dustin Martin has received a mega opening offer, via @JakeNiallFOX: https://t.co/sh4Ccm8WbS pic.twitter.com/n3IGbTlRZG
— FOX FOOTY LIVE (@FOXFootyLive) February 28, 2017
Four Crows found themselves on the injury list Jacobs (stiff back), Ellis-Yolmen (knee), McGovern (knee), Beech (calf).
Rory Laird was the standout player for the Crows grabbing 33 disposals and looking like an elite rebounding defender. He looks to be a premium priced SuperCoach defensive option that will have high ownership.
Key forward Josh Jenkins booted four goals while Matt Crouch and Brodie Smith also gathered their fair share of the pill.
Caddy and Prestia look to attract SuperCoach and DreamTeam attention while Toby Nankervis might just be the number one Richmond ruckman come round one.
Melbourne Demons 116 def Carlton Blues 62
The Demons were clearly the better side in what looked to be an ominous sign for Blues fans hopes for season 2017.
At $405,000 Christian Petracca would need to break out strongly to be a SuperCoach option at forward but he certainly played well at the weekend.
19 disposals and four goals from the strong bodied utility along with the usual production from Jack Viney and veterans Lewis, Vince, Jones and Melksham helped to set up the victory.
Melbourne Coach Simon Goodwin
“Our competitiveness around the ball was on show again, so it was a building point from last week.
“We understand it was Carlton’s first hit-out as well, so we’re probably one week ahead (of them) in terms of that stuff.”
@melbournefc @cpetracca7 kicks a goal from the boundary line 4th term #crisp @superfooty @theheraldsun #casey fields ⭐️???✌️ pic.twitter.com/L9UzNCpUAp
— Wayne Ludbey (@WLudbey) February 25, 2017
The Blues skipper Marc Murphy had 20 disposals in his 2017 debut and is a player we have a close eye on for our SuperCoach lineups this season.
Bryce Gibbs had 29 disposals and laid five tackles while Matthew Kruezer was very busy filling the stat sheet in many ways.
Carlton Coach Brendan Bolton
“We had some inconsistencies in the game but it was a really good opportunity to try some different things,” Bolton said,
“We gave some first-years an opportunity today – young (Zac) Fisher and (Kym) Lebois got an opportunity.
“We moved (Jacob) Weitering up forward for a quarter and put Marc Murphy on a wing … that’s what the JLT Series is about.”
Murphy is a SuperCoach only play while Petracca’s performance will see him in plenty of teams come round 1.
West Coast Eagles 107 def Fremantle Dockers 52
West Coast is a team that should be able to challenge for the top four this season and they were far too good for Fremantle at the weekend.
Josh Kennedy booted five majors while Marc LeCras had 22 disposals, 13 marks and three goals in a best on ground display.
Shuey, Masten and Priddis all looked sharp as did Gaff and Wellingham.
New recruit Sam Mitchell was at his best as well racking up 28 quality touches.
West Coast Coach Adam Simpson
“Obviously we’ve inherited a pretty good player (Mitchell). We’re pleased with him and we’re pleased everyone in the midfield today.
“There’s some experience there and the chemistry is starting to click too, which is pleasing.”
The Dockers let the Eagles kick away early and were never able to make in-roads.
Nat Fyfe was the only Docker to have more than 20 disposals and it certainly wasn’t a signature Fyfe game.
They lacked potency but the Eagles did have almost double the amount of inside 50’s during the game (45 to 27).
Fremantle Coach Ross Lyon
“Michael Johnson will get better, McCarthy will get better and Fyfe will get better.
“I thought our second half was a lot better than the first half, obviously… we were on the back foot and we couldn’t really get near them.”
Andrew Gaff is on our radar for both fantasy formats while Nat Fyfe getting through unscathed was a great sign for those wanting to pay up in the midfield for the West Australian stud.
There were no listed injuries in the game.
North Melbourne Kangaroos 95 def Hawthorn Hawks 74
The intensity on display in the North v Hawthorn clash was hard to miss. Evidenced by Taylor
Evidenced by Taylor Durea running into Ben Cunnington’s knee and receiving a large cut to his eye.
The latter going on report and is set to miss one AFL match.
Trent Dumont (25 disposals), Shaun Higgins (24) and Mitchell Hibberd (25) were busy while the ruck duo of Braydon Pruess and Todd Goldstein dominated the Hawks.
Once again the North Melbourne ball movement was a feature and they dominated the inside 50 count.
North Melbourne Assistant Coach Josh Drummond
“It was a big day for the club playing our first game here for over 30 years. I thought they handled the occasion well and put in a strong performance,” Drummond said.
“The win is great … but at the end of the day we’re all building for round one so it was a key stepping stone for those guys just gaining some match fitness and building for West Coast in round one.”
The Hawks new recruits O’Meara, Vickery and Mitchell all impressed in the clash.
Jarryd Roughead got through unscathed while Hodge, Bruest and Gunston all got through their debuts smoothly.
14 disposals in just over a quarter and now this! Jaeger O’Meara is tearing it up ? #JLTSeries pic.twitter.com/eqjOcjushW
— AFL (@AFL) February 26, 2017
Ryan Clarke (North) went onto the injury report with a corky to the thigh while James Frawley and Will Langford copped knocks to the head.
Hawthorn stand in Coach Cam Bruce
“It’s a good start, they were solid today. They’ve still got areas we would like them to get better at, and they’re building relationships with a group of players that they’ve just started playing with,” Bruce said.
O’Meara will be highly owned in both DreamTeam and SuperCoach while Roughead is a tough player to grade in SuperCoach as is fellow forward Tyrone Vickery.
Gold Coast Suns 79 def Essendon Bombers 76
The late game for the weekend ended up being a bit of a thriller. A see-sawing affair where the stats showed exactly how close the game was.
Michael Barlow (Ex-Docker) was instrumental in the victory with 31 disposals for the Suns.
Will Brodie who was the number 9 pick in the 2016 draft kicked two goals and had 18 disposals and fellow draftee Ben Ainsworth impressed as well with two goals.
Gold Coast Coach Rodney Eade
“The result is not the be-all and end-all, but where we’re coming from, it was pleasing to win in the end,” Gold Coast coach Rodney Eade said.
“I think it was a step up from our last game as far as our improvement.
“There were still some areas to work on. I thought our efficiency going inside 50 was average … shots at goal, we probably kicked four out on the full and missed some we should have kicked, so there’s certainly some things to work on.”
Essendon Coach John Worsfold
“It was a real mixed performance,” he said.
“Our ability to defend under real pressure was outstanding at times, and some of our rebound from the back half, we were really pleased with the ball movement.
“The reason those things had to be good was because we were giving Gold Coast first use of the ball and field position and we had to do our work from there.
“The way the boys adjusted after half-time and stepped up to the challenge in addressing that was a real positive as well.”
Veteran Bombers Jobe Watson and Brent Stanton look to once again be integral parts to the Bombers success accruing possessions at will in an otherwise even team performance.
Michael Hurley (ankle/foot) was the only player on the injury report.