Now we’ve gone through the WAFL and SANFL draftee statistics in the previous two posts, time for the main course: the Victorian kids. They’ve mostly been running around playing each other in the TAC Cup this year, and there is plenty of fantasy value to be mined out of this table!
Take these numbers with a big grain of salt. Remember that whereas the Perth and Adelaide kids have been playing against men in a half-serious competition where some teams actually play to win, the TAC Cup is an open free for all that is more of a series of glorified scouting sessions than a cut-throat league. You’ll see scores that most players will never replicate in the real AFL. With those caveats in mind, you can still get an idea of the pecking order in terms of who is a better fantasy player from this draft class. Let’s rip into it, draft order as usual!
| Player | Year | TAC Cup club | Gm | K | H | M | Gl | B | HO | T | FF | FA | DT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Watts | 2008 | Sandringham Dragons | 6 | 80 | 31 | 31 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 3 | 10 | 75.5 |
| Michael Hurley | 2008 | Northern Knights | 11 | 186 | 34 | 63 | 15 | 6 | 5 | 13 | 11 | 13 | 81.5 |
| Tyrone Vickery | 2008 | Sandringham Dragons | 8 | 50 | 86 | 41 | 10 | 3 | 107 | 14 | 6 | 6 | 76.4 |
| Jack Ziebell | 2008 | Murray Bushrangers | 9 | 131 | 35 | 61 | 20 | 15 | 7 | 27 | 14 | 13 | 85.9 |
| Steele Sidebottom | 2008 | Murray Bushrangers | 14 | 227 | 100 | 77 | 21 | 10 | 4 | 42 | 11 | 14 | 90.1 |
| Tom Lynch | 2008 | Sandringham Dragons | 4 | 55 | 33 | 32 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 89.8 |
| Mitch Brown | 2008 | Sandringham Dragons | 7 | 68 | 29 | 42 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 5 | 61.1 |
| Sam Blease | 2008 | Eastern Ranges | 7 | 72 | 48 | 12 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 28 | 15 | 11 | 51.6 |
| Luke Shuey | 2008 | Oakleigh Chargers | 10 | 141 | 108 | 35 | 12 | 10 | 1 | 41 | 16 | 18 | 82.0 |
| James Strauss | 2008 | Oakleigh Chargers | 10 | 137 | 96 | 31 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 43 | 7 | 15 | 75.6 |
| Jackson Trengove | 2008 | Calder Cannons | 1 | 11 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 77.0 |
| David Zaharakis | 2008 | Northern Knights | 10 | 166 | 55 | 43 | 16 | 16 | 2 | 35 | 21 | 8 | 82.3 |
| Nick Suban | 2008 | North Ballarat Rebels | 13 | 158 | 87 | 36 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 53 | 9 | 16 | 62.6 |
| Jaydyn Post | 2008 | Western Jets | 20 | 237 | 144 | 161 | 10 | 6 | 82 | 28 | 15 | 22 | 80.7 |
| Sam Wright | 2008 | Murray Bushrangers | 21 | 279 | 103 | 102 | 32 | 32 | 0 | 45 | 18 | 22 | 74.5 |
| Shaun McKernan | 2008 | Calder Cannons | 10 | 101 | 40 | 41 | 4 | 5 | 121 | 19 | 8 | 31 | 65.1 |
| Dan Hannebery | 2008 | Oakleigh Chargers | 8 | 115 | 79 | 40 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 21 | 14 | 4 | 75.8 |
| Jordan Roughead | 2008 | North Ballarat Rebels | 15 | 110 | 106 | 76 | 11 | 5 | 275 | 38 | 19 | 21 | 73.1 |
| Tom Gillies | 2008 | Dandenong Stingrays | 22 | 175 | 115 | 79 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 42 | 24 | 30 | 44.1 |
| Liam Shiels | 2008 | Eastern Ranges | 14 | 181 | 82 | 43 | 15 | 10 | 2 | 81 | 21 | 18 | 68.3 |
| Ash Smith | 2008 | Dandenong Stingrays | 12 | 163 | 73 | 50 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 25 | 7 | 6 | 70.1 |
| Zachary Clarke | 2008 | Oakleigh Chargers | 18 | 84 | 118 | 48 | 12 | 4 | 270 | 56 | 23 | 23 | 53.6 |
| Mitch Banner | 2008 | Western Jets | 12 | 264 | 82 | 59 | 20 | 9 | 2 | 42 | 16 | 5 | 104.8 |
| Rory Sloane | 2008 | Eastern Ranges | 12 | 151 | 106 | 51 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 58 | 20 | 13 | 75.2 |
| Luke Rounds | 2008 | Geelong Falcons | 16 | 185 | 84 | 50 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 50 | 12 | 16 | 58.0 |
| Nick Heyne | 2008 | Gippsland Power | 14 | 192 | 66 | 90 | 37 | 14 | 5 | 35 | 15 | 23 | 86.4 |
| Taylor Hunt | 2008 | Sandringham Dragons | 14 | 128 | 110 | 52 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 36 | 12 | 17 | 57.6 |
| Jordan Lisle | 2008 | Oakleigh Chargers | 10 | 104 | 59 | 53 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 24 | 17 | 9 | 64.2 |
| Jordan Jones | 2008 | Geelong Falcons | 14 | 121 | 70 | 53 | 8 | 9 | 16 | 26 | 3 | 19 | 53.7 |
| Michael Still | 2008 | Northern Knights | 18 | 127 | 63 | 83 | 41 | 25 | 0 | 33 | 16 | 12 | 56.2 |
| Ben Bucovaz | 2008 | Geelong Falcons | 12 | 99 | 70 | 45 | 20 | 7 | 4 | 46 | 10 | 18 | 59.9 |
| Nathan O’Keefe | 2008 | Eastern Ranges | 7 | 66 | 24 | 48 | 21 | 14 | 2 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 76.3 |
| Luke Stanton | 2008 | Northern Knights | 10 | 127 | 83 | 46 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 21 | 11 | 15 | 71.5 |
| Tom Hill | 2008 | Northern Knights | 9 | 70 | 20 | 37 | 3 | 5 | 89 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 50.8 |
| Campbell Heath | 2008 | Gippsland Power | 19 | 179 | 47 | 54 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 43 | 6 | 19 | 44.6 |
| Luke Lowden | 2008 | Sandringham Dragons | 3 | 8 | 13 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 32.3 |
| Tim Ruffles | 2008 | North Ballarat Rebels | 15 | 126 | 22 | 41 | 32 | 15 | 0 | 17 | 5 | 12 | 50.3 |
| Will Young | 2008 | North Ballarat Rebels | 15 | 145 | 82 | 76 | 23 | 17 | 23 | 28 | 15 | 17 | 65.9 |
| Shane Savage | 2008 | Dandenong Stingrays | 20 | 227 | 135 | 60 | 13 | 20 | 1 | 63 | 12 | 9 | 62.9 |
| Caleb Tiller | 2008 | Murray Bushrangers | 17 | 162 | 76 | 76 | 21 | 13 | 3 | 31 | 18 | 7 | 57.9 |
| Patrick Dangerfield | 2008 | Geelong Falcons | 13 | 193 | 117 | 73 | 32 | 18 | 8 | 32 | 25 | 16 | 92.8 |
Note: I’ve added in Dangerfield to the bottom there for all you fantasy coaches who were wondering about how he fared playing for the Falcons this year.
Wow, that’s a beautiful set of numbers. Try not to get too excited! The only 100+ scorer, Banner, is yet another Port midfielder… it seems like they have loaded up on kids with outstanding junior stat lines. Can Hamish Hartlett, Banner and Matthew Broadbent all get their turn this year? It’s hard to see that happening barring major injury woes at Port. The numbers do tend to gather up the top, not only because the quality of player goes up in the top rungs of that draft ladder, but also because in TAC Cup games those top-10 players were also the leaders on their teams and demanded the ball more, something which for the most part will not be the case in the AFL this year, particularly for key forwards.
Tom Lynch’s numbers look very high to me, albeit from only four games. This tantalises me that given the Saint’s historically shocking run with injuries to tall backs, Max Hudghton aging and Matt Maguire no guarantee to return to full fitness, the 191cm lad could get his chance sooner rather than later. From the looks of the raw numbers he doesn’t mind playing kick to kick in the backline… should fit right in with Brendon Goddard then!
Sidebottom’s numbers don’t include the finals – none of these tables do – so it doesn’t take into account his 10-goal performance in the TAC Cup grand final. Averaging 90.1 is still enough to put him second behind Lynch (and Dangerfield, but he shouldn’t count). The key question with him is how outside he plays once he wears the black and white in anger. Collingwood probably need him to play more inside to cover for the loss of Scott Burns and to cover for the mediocrity of Shane O’Bree, but he may be given more of an outside role in his first year, as happens to many draftees whom coaches tend to feel are not big enough in the body to handle pack work at their tender ages.
Looking further down the list, it’s easy to see why many fantasy coaches were keeping a beady eye on where Heyne was drafted to, because his numbers stick out at that part of the draft. Could we see Lynch running the ball out of the St Kilda defence and bombing it long to Heyne this year? Stranger things have happened.
Enough of me rambling on, time for you to pick the eyes out of this one. Tell me in the comments which numbers you like the look of, and which discourage you.
Rodger
December 10, 2008 at 8:11 pm
whoa reckon mitch banner will get 1/2 that number in afl?
Lakey91
December 10, 2008 at 9:07 pm
I like heyne – i think he slots well into the STK forward line so im shortlisting him as a FW (its more of a long list at the moment though!).
As for lynch his numbers look good, and limited backman rookies (IMO) means i’ll keep an eye on him during pre-season.
Banners numbers are great, but Id take davenport before him.
Dangerfield has caught my eye a bit now, though 124k my same a bit expensive – reckon he will get early gametime?
XztatiK
December 10, 2008 at 9:48 pm
NICE!
You’re a legend monty, this is handy stuff!
SWB
December 10, 2008 at 11:44 pm
I’m still cold on dangerfield despite his good numbers here, I just don’t see him being a significantly better option than sidebottom/rich etc. when you have to pay an extra 30k, particularly given his performances last year (and I know he was doing year 12 but still..)
Chad
December 11, 2008 at 7:03 am
grain of salt is certainly right Monty. Dangerfield 92.8 average, and yet in the AFL he put up a nice game of 7 DT points 🙂
Agree Lakey, Davenport over Banner. Once monty gets the VFL stats up from last year will be interesting. Of Davenport averaged 32 disposals per game would think an average of 100 would be more than obtainable.
Shakin77
December 11, 2008 at 7:21 am
Brilliant Monty!!!!
Batesy
December 11, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Just out of interest monty do you know what sidebottoms score was in the grand final?
m0nty
December 11, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Frontbum got 29 kicks, three handballs, 13 marks, four tackles, one hitout, two FFs, one FA and booted 10.3, making a DT total of 214. Not too shabby.
Lakey91
December 11, 2008 at 9:38 pm
214???????? Thats RIDICULOUS!!!!! I can just imagine him scoring 214 on my bench and rich flopping and scoring 40….
Great work monty
ryz
December 12, 2008 at 9:39 am
nick suban, whats this kid like? looks like the kid likes to taclke, whats he gonna be like at freo? obviously, before the NAB, but is he likely to get gametime and produce? looking between him and lynch for my final bench spot. already got grimesy and petts
Pingback: DT TALK | AFL Dream Team Blog » December Dream Team Ponderings
Pingback: Club by Club: Port Adelaide Power | DT TALK