The Round kicked off on Friday afternoon, with the MCG hosting the traditional ANZAC Day clash between the Bombers and the Magpies. While the numbers were low right across the board for the Bombers, the Magpies players notched up some pretty decent scores. Heading the list was young midfielder Scott Pendlebury (150), a career high. Other top performers were Travis Cloke (129) and Alan Didak (122). The surprise packet for me so far this season has undoubtedly been Paul Medhurst. Any Dream Team coaches that have picked him up must be pinching themselves. He managed to score a very handy 126 (for the second week running), as he continues to have me and no doubt thousands of other football fans around the country scratching their heads in wonder of where this form has been for the last six years.
Friday night saw Fremantle play host to the Cats, who are yet to drop a match. Their good form continued with a win, but Freo sure did give them a run for their money, with the match coming down to a Matthew Pavlich shot on goal in the dying seconds of the match. He missed and Geelong held on by a point. This was the Dockers captains’ only real blemish, putting in a supreme effort to notch up 124. The other notable performer was big Aaron Sandilands, whose score of 128 (surprisingly, only his second hundred of his career) was a career high. Geelong had a number of contributors, with the premier Dream Team Player of 2008, Joel Corey leading the charge with 112, bringing his talky to five hundreds from six starts. James Kelly played a good game to reach 108.
Adelaide met Carlton in the only Saturday afternoon match of the round, and came away easy winners. Scott Thompson (120) was best on ground, with the form the consistency of Brett Burton (99) giving many coaches a reason to smile. For the Blues, their best was Adam Bentick (110), who was a late inclusion for Hadley. I read a few weeks ago that Bentick is statistically the least popular player in the 2008 AFL Dream Team competition, but with numbers like these I’m sure that’s about to change. After a consistent opening five weeks, Nick Stevens (100) has finally cracked the ton.
The Bulldogs showed us all that they’re the real deal with a 10-goal thrashing of the Eagles. Robert Murphy (149) played a blinder and was best on ground, but he had plenty of mates out there. Daniel Cross (131), BrianLake (126), Lindsay Gilbee (112) and Jason Akermanis (110) all provided coaches with some great scores. Little to write home about the Eagles, with David Wirrpunda top scoring with 128. Young midfielder Chris Masten showed some promise, scoring a career-high 96. Anyone with Shannon Hurn (2) will be cursing him for touching the ball before he got injured in the first quarter.
Meanwhile, Port Adelaide dispatched St Kilda in a scrappy affair at AAMI Stadium. An injury to Chad Cornes has been the main talking point to come from the match. His dislocated finger will see him out for at least a few weeks. His brother faired a bit bitter, with Kane (113) being among the best for the Power. Domenic Cassisi (123) continued his good form, while for the Saints, Leigh Montagna (108) was their highest scorer.
Melbourne managed to escape from a rampaging Lions outfit relatively unscathed. The Demons lost by 52 points, but it would have been a lot worse had it not been for the Lions poor goal kicking. Cameron Bruce (133) was back to his best, while Nathan Jones kicked 4 goals and scored 118 points in one of his best matches for the club. For the winners, notable performers were Michael Rischiteli (113), Simon Black (109) and Tim Notting (108). Daniel Bradshaw continued to impress coaches, kicking six goals and notching up a very handy 92 points. Meanwhile the continued poor form of Jonathan Brown (59) has Dream Team coaches around the country pulling out there hair. Surely a big score is just around the corner for the big unit. Fingers crossed!
For the second week in a row, as the final siren blew, players were momentarily unaware of the winner of the match. Last week, Nathan Brown celebrated a Richmond win against the Bulldogs before realizing the scores were level. This week it was Brent Harvey’s turn as he celebrated his sides draw against the Swans. Despite being a fairly exciting spectacle, the match failed to impress Dream Team coaches with only one player, Adam Goodes (108) reaching the hundred mark. Drew Petrie’s 99 was the best the Kangaroos could muster.
In the final match of the round, Richmond kicked more goals, but lost to sloppy Hawthorn by 12 points. Matthew Richardson (130) was best afield, while Brett Deledio (120) finally delivered the kind of numbers he’s been promising so far this year. For the Hawks, Luke Hodge notched up 119 while Buddy Franklin’s 58 could have been double that, had it not been for his 8 shots on goal returning 1.7. Cyril Rioli (87) continued to impress as did Richmond’s Jake King (109).
Top Performers for Round 6
Scott Pendlebury 150
Robert Murphy 149
Cameron Bruce 133
Daniel Cross 131
Matthew Richardon 130