Round 1 didn't bring about too many surprises, with 6 of the 8 favourites victorious in their respective matches. There was, however, one young bloke by the name of Michael Barlow for the Dockers who had a ripper of a debut game, amassing 33 disposals, 4 clearances, 6 marks, and scoring 2.1. Such was his impact, he eclipsed former Brisbane Lion Bradd Dalziell’s record of 32 possessions on debut. Not a bad way to kick start your career in the AFL! For that effort I feel he's a near certainty to collect votes, whether it's 3 votes or only 2 remains to be seen, as I can't remember anyone in recent memory having scored 3 votes on debut. But if anyone else out there knows otherwise, feel free to comment down below.
Also i'd be interested to hear other peoples opinions on who they'd give their 3, 2, 1 votes to in Round 1, so comment away!
Carlton V Richmond
3. Carrazzo
2. Betts
1. Kreuzer
Geelong V Essendon
3. Byrnes
2. Ablett
1. Bartel
Melbourne V Hawthorn
3. Hodge
2. Lewis
1. Mitchell
Sydney V St Kilda
3. Riewoldt
2. Goodes
1. Gilbert
Brisbane V West Coast
3. Brennan
2. J. Brown
1. Black
Port Adelaide V North Melbourne
3. Kornes
2. Boak
1. Harvey
Western Bulldogs V Collingwood
3. Swan
2. Shaw
1. Boyd
Fremantle V Adelaide
3. Barlow
2. Sandilands
1. Ballantyne
Loving your work so far, especially the player profiles. What are your thoughts on Sam Mitchell's chances?
ReplyDeleteAs for Round 1 your 3s and 2s generally agree with my thinking. The 1s differ but they're always tricky to decide on. I'm not so sure of Byrnes getting 3, I was at his only vote-getting game last season (3 vs Freo) and he smashed them all day whereas I thought Friday night was good but patchy so I'm leaning more towards Bartel.
I didn't get to see Syd/St or Frem/Adel and I'm curious if there was something that made Gilbert and Ballantyne stand out as votegetters in those games because I didn't get that impression from the match reporting and stats sheet.
I also favoured Luke Power over Black for the 1 in the Brisbane game, although that could be risky with Black's polling history
Dean Polo got three on debut. Don't think he's polled since...
ReplyDeleteI have specked Barlow at 400-1 each-way for the Brownlow. Won't happen but if he keeps pulling those sort of numbers then he'll snaffle plenty of votes.
But it's Riewoldt's year. If he plays 22, he wins. Simple as that. Umps know that it's time for a key position player to win.
Thanks for the kind words Adam, glad to see I have some followers out there, and ones like yourself who are willing to contribute to the discussion. I'll be looking forward to seeing your own respective votes in future blog entries throughout the season. :D
ReplyDeleteAs I mentioned in Mitchell's player profile writeup; he is a huge chance. I tried to make a somewhat subdued estimation on my expectations for him in 2010, as it's quite hard to read how a player is going to perform for 22 rounds without any recent form to base it on. But having seen his performance against the Dees, my confidence in him having a great year has doubled - especially considering he still performed well in the absence of Sewell. Granted though, the Hawks were playing Melbourne, so his game this week against a quality team in the Cats will give a rough and more realistic insight into his year ahead.
Gilbert was one of the standouts for me, with Lyon allowing him to play his most damaging style as a loose man in defence. His run and rebound work was superb. And Ballantyne shocked me with his performance, his work up forward was very damaging when he was in possession, and more so when he wasn't; with his defensive pressure outstanding.
Thanks for that bit of info Anonymous! Well I guess the umps won't be any more hesitant in awarding Barlow the 3 votes. Also just on Barlow, he would be offering decent odds on taking out most votes at Freo i'd imagine - and a more realistic chance than what he would be winning the Brownlow.
Not sure if any betting agencies have yet released the Team Votes market, as most won't until closer to the Brownlow, but if anyone does i'd be interested in having a dip myself.
If Barlow maintains this sort of form i'd say he is a huge show to win most votes at Freo. Get on that for sure Anonymous.