The Easter Bunny treated us to a smorgasbord of quality footy over the weekend, with wild comebacks, upsets and final second finishes among the tasty treats on offer for footy fanatics.

The SuperCoach gods smiled kindly on those who held faith with their premos, particularly the Jordan De Goey and Max Gawn owners. That trust is going to be tested again this week for many, with Brodie Grundy’s lacklustre start to the year now firmly on the radar.

Upgrade season is upon us! The time is now to start making some tough decisions on the likes of Matt Rowell, Jarrod Berry, Jason Horne-Francis, Patrick McCartin, Jake Bowey and Josh Rachele, particularly with some superstar mids – Callum Mills, Sam Walsh and Tom Mitchell among them – at the cheapest you’re ever likely to get them.

Just to make things even more confounding, position changes have finally hit the agenda as well. Swinging Nick Daicos in to D5 should carry an R18+ rating it feels that good. Also, is it illegal to have six ruck-eligible players in your side? Asking for a friend.

Enough waffle – let’s get stuck in to the week that was.

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Brisbane v Collingwood

Collingwood are a plucky young side and will test the top teams this season, but ultimately the class of the Lions proved too much for them.

Popular vice captain option Lachie Neale (117 SC) shook off some tight attention from Scott Pendlebury (98 SC) to put up his usual numbers and he was assisted by quality performances from veterans Dayne Zorko (133 SC) and Joe Daniher (97 SC).

It wasn’t just the old guard though – Hugh McLuggage (129 SC) and Zac Bailey (104 SC) were also brilliant. Daniel Rich (84 SC) was slightly down on his usual production, while Jared Berry (76 SC) continues to do jusstttttt enough to make it feasible to hang on to him.

For the Pies, Jack Crisp (114 SC) now looks firmly at home in the midfield rotation, which is a great sign for coaches who kept the faith. Jordan De Goey (125 SC) was largely unsighted for three quarters but kicked three late goals to boost his score, while Nick Daicos (71 SC, 27 disposals) was his usual brilliant self.

Reef McInness (68 SC) and Nathan Kreuger (78 SC) both did plenty of nice things – Kruger is on the bubble this week.

Brodie Grundy (53 SC) was awful. Darcy Fort and Oscar McInerney are hardly the most formidable opposition duo in the league, but Grundy could not get out of second gear. Major concern.

Injuries

Darcy Cameron was subbed off in the third quarter with a rib injury.

Zorko’s ankle/Achilles is clearly hampering him, but he’s still racking up disposals at will.

Reports

Darcy Gardiner was reported for rough conduct when bumping Josh Daicos in the first quarter.

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North Melbourne v Western Bulldogs

Ugh. I’m definitely not team “take Good Friday away from the Kangaroos”, but jee whiz it’d be nice if they could show some semblance of competitiveness. This was a rort from start to finish, with a 10 minute rally in the second quarter really the only sign of life from an overmatched North Melbourne outfit.

Jack Macrae (153 SC) and Bailey Smith (135 SC, 43 disposals) were unbelievably good for the Dogs, but all of their big names did the business – Adam Treloar (103 SC), Josh Dunkley (100 SC), Tim English (138 SC) and Marcus Bontempelli (102 SC) were great.

No real winners for the Roos, apart from Tristan Xerri (103 SC) who continues to excel in his ruck/forward role and Nick Larkey (4.2, 94 SC). Jason Horne-Francis (39 SC) had the first “bad” game of his career, struggling to find the ball despite a stack of midfield time.

Aaron Hall (71 SC) looked set for a massive score, but ripped a hamstring during the second quarter.

Injuries

Hall’s hammy looked bad. He will be out for a while. Jack Mahony hurt his ankle in the third quarter and didn’t return.

Riley Garcia hurt his knee in the second quarter and was subbed out.

Reports

N/A

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West Coast v Sydney

Sigh. Objectively I wonder who played worse today – West Coast or North Melbourne? Probably North, but the fact that the Eagles are in the ballpark should tell you all you need to know about how bad they were.

The usual suspects were magnificent for Sydney – Luke Parker (123 SC), Callum Mills (117 SC) and Isaac Heeney (112 SC) did as they pleased. Heeney is now clearly in the upper echelon of footballers in the league, while Mills is priced as cheap as you’ll ever get him – jump on now.

Errol Gulden (84 SC) might be a premo option as early as next season, while Jake Lloyd (105 SC) and Justin McInerney (84 SC) continue to look like Sydney’s preferred options in the back half. Paddy McCartin (68 SC) only had 10 possessions but did brilliantly on Josh Kennedy (40 SC).

For the Eagles, Alex Witherden (134 SC) continued his fantastic start to the season – he’s now averaging 108 for the year.

Rookie options Patrick Naish (76 SC) and Hugh Dixon (54 SC) have been excellent cash cows and may reach maturity in the next couple of weeks.

Injuries

N/A

Reports

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St. Kilda v Gold Coast

Workmanlike performance form a Saints side that looks ready to compete again in 2022 after a dismal 2021 campaign.

It’s hard to beat St. Kilda when their guns fire and they certainly did today – Jack Steele (131 SC), Rowan Marshall (125 SC), Brad Crouch (98 SC) and Jade Gresham (117 SC) taught the young Suns midfield a lesson in workrate and class ball movement.

Gresham now has one sub-100 score for the season (a 51) and without that he’s averaging 109 for the season (97 including it).

Without Paddy Ryder in the side, Jack Hayes (105 SC) looks as good a R3/F7 option as we’ve ever had. He will be hard to leave on the bench next week, with Ryder out again.

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Touk Miller (107 SC) had 32 disposals but 0 tackles for a second straight week. This is now officially a stat to watch going forward. Oleg Markov (90 SC) was excellent in his first game for the year, and priced at $412k as a defender, he’s worth a second glance.

Jarrod Witts (88 SC) gets a pass mark against a tough opposing ruck duo. Matt Rowell (64 SC) does not, and it might be time to move him on. Regardless of the role, 18 disposals as an inside mid does not cut the mustard.

Malcolm Rosas (74 SC) is on the bubble this week. Averaging 73 in his two games, priced at $130k as a forward, he’s a legitimate option.

Alex Davies (19 SC) started the year brilliantly but is probably due a run in the reserves – is it Elijah Hollands time?

Injuries

Rowan Marshall got a corkie in his right quad early, but played through it.

Mabior Chol tweaked a hammy and was subbed off – he’s likely to miss a week or two.

Reports

N/A

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Adelaide v Richmond

Phew, what a game! The Crows flew out of the blocks, were reeled in by a determined Richmond side, but steeled themselves and ran out fairly comfortable winners in front of a heaving Adelaide Oval crowd.

Ben Keays (106 SC) continues to be a revelation, with the inclusion of Rory Laird (120 SC) only having a marginal effect on his output. Taylor Walker (116 SC) now has two straight 100+ outings to start his season – at $469k is he worth a look in the forward line?

Jordan Dawson (101 SC), Reilly O’Brien (115 SC) and Matt Crouch (102 SC) were all comfortable winners as well. Josh Rachele (49 SC) couldn’t get near it, but two late goals (both of them clutch) helped his score.

Trent Cotchin (121 SC) wound back the clock to be Richmond’s best, but it was a pretty dirty day for an aging Tigers outfit. Daniel Rioli (64 SC) and Jayden Short (56 SC) both crashed back to earth and Dion Prestia (104 SC) was the only other Tiger in triple figures.

Thomson Dow (55 SC) and Hugo Ralphsmith (51 SC) were both serviceable.

Injuries

Ralphsmith copped a massive hit to the ribs in the last quarter and was subbed off. Toby Nankervis had his head stitched up after a collision in the second quarter but played out the game.

Jordan Butts hurt an ankle ealy but played through it. Rory Sloane may have done an ACL – we’ll wait for news on that one, but it didn’t look good.

Reports

N/A

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Melbourne v GWS

You can basically throw the rest of the home & away season out at this point – Melbourne are the best team in the league and nothing in the remaining 18 rounds of the season will do anything to dissuade that opinion.

The stars are endless for the Dees. Max Gawn (130 SC), Steven May (131 SC), Clayton Oliver (118 SC) and Christian Petracca (116 SC) are four of the best 20 footballers in the league and continue to show it week in week out. The Gawn hysteria in the SuperCoach community has – predictably – proven to be overblown.

Jake Bowey (86 SC) bounced back nicely from a poor game last week, while Angus Brayshaw (72 SC) had to see his scoring dry up at some point.

For the Giants, Callan Ward (134 SC) and Tom Green (115 SC) tried their guts out, while it was nice to see Lachie Whitfield (73 SC) fight his way through a painful rib injury.

Stephen Coniglio (96 SC) and Tim Taranto (92 SC) will both likely finish the year as top six forwards.

Rookie options Jake Stein (55 SC) and Finn Callaghan (48 SC) on debut were both serviceable. At $198k, Callaghan is probably too expensive to invest in but might be worth a look in draft leagues.

Injuries

Keep an eye on Whitfield’s rib knock but he should be fine.

Jake Lever had a sore ankle but played through it.

Reports

N/A

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Carlton v Port Adelaide

Another crazy game, with Port miraculously fighting their way back from 50 points down, threatening to take the lead late but ultimately falling short against a shaky Carlton side.

Sam Walsh (128 SC) had another monstrous game, including 16 possessions in the first quarter alone. Priced at $610k and now averaging 110 for the season, with a breakeven of 134, is now the time to jump on?

George Hewett (111 SC) was again superb. The one knock on his game from a scoring perspective is his reliance on handballing – 23 yesterday vs. just 10 kicks. It’s a very small gripe though, because he may well be the SuperCoach MVP of the season so far. Charlie Curnow (104 SC) was brilliant and is now averaging 77 for the season, just three points less than Jarrod Berry. Just sayin’.

Sam Docherty (86 SC) non-owners will be breathing a sigh of relief – he’d been averaging 125 per game prior to this week, so this was a welcome reprieve.

This was the Zak Butters (130 SC, 32 disposals, 1 goal) we were advertised in the preseason. Whatever had been ailing him over the last two weeks was a thing of the past and he was a big reason for Port’s resurgence in this game. Connor Rozee (91 SC), Ryan Burton (111 SC) and Dan Houston (108 SC) were also huge for the Pear.

Travis Boak’s (88 SC) enormous start to the season came to a halt, while Sam Hayes (75 SC from just five possessions) looks like a downgrade lock when he hits the bubble next week. Jackson Mead (28 SC) may be due a week or two in the SANFL.

Injuries

Tom Jonas copped a knock to his right knee but finished the game and looked fine.

Reports

N/A

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Essendon v Fremantle

Disgraceful performance by the Bombers, make no mistake, but there is a world in which Freo are a half-decent team this year.

The Dockers’ midfield balance is excellent, led ably by Andrew Brayshaw (132 SC) who predictably tore up a Dons engine room seemingly allergic to hard work. Sean Darcy (121 SC) gave Grundy owners something to think about, while Matt Taberner (115 SC, 7.0) destroyed Essendon as he usually does.

Surprisingly, the big story out of this game from a Freo perspective was again the performance of their cash cows – Will Brodie (94 SC) was excellent, but it was Nathan O’Driscoll (103 SC) who jumped off the page. The lanky-left footer was in the perfect spots all day and his classy disposal by foot was a real problem for Essendon. He might be the perfect D6 going forward.

Not a heap of positives for the Bombers. Dyson Heppell (143 SC) had stacks of it, but somehow 0 tackles off half-back which is a pretty good representation of where this club is at. Darcy Parish (113 SC), Andrew McGrath (93 SC) and Jye Caldwell (79 SC) were okay through the midfield and Nick Martin (76 SC) tried hard, but that’s about it.

Jordan Ridley (82 SC) has been disappointing, as has Sam Draper (67 SC). Archie Perkins (21 SC) was terrible. First-gamer Ben Hobbs (65 SC. $153k) showed flashes and will be worth a look next week when he’s on the bubble.

Injuries

O’Driscoll was winded late but played out the game.

Andrew Phillips did a hammy early doors and was subbed out.

Reports

N/A

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Hawthorn v Geelong

Another cracker of the game, with the Hawks riding a hot start and a determined finish to hold off a pretty underwhelming Geelong.

James Sicily (126 SC) was simply magnificent, particularly early – he had nine (9!!) marks in the first quarter alone, before Chris Scott eventually realised it might pay to man him up.

Tom Mitchell (142 SC) had a slow start but a monstrous second half to finish as the Hawks’ top scorer. Priced at $567k and firmly bottomed out, now is the cheapest you’re going to get Titch for quite some time.

Josh Ward (65 SC) and Connor MacDonald (53 SC) were both reasonable and should hold their spots on the back of a great team victory.

Joel Selwood (149 SC) and Tom Stewart (129 SC) showed their class for the Cats, but too much was left to too few – Mitch Duncan (95 SC), Cam Guthrie (86 SC) and Patrick Dangerfield (79 SC) were all less than stellar.

Sam De Koning (48 SC) and Tyson Stengle (66 SC) showed flashes of promise and should be locks in the side moving forward.

Injuries

Ned Reeves popped his shoulder out in the first quarter and did not return – it looked very bad. Jacob Koschitzke hurt his knee in the second quarter but soldiered on.

Guthrie and De Koning both copped knocks but played out the game. Jack Henry was subbed off in the last quarter.

Reports

N/A

Weekly wrap: Round 5 studs, duds, injuries

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