Phillip "Molly" Malone is one of the most prolific Web pundits on Aussie Rules footy with his blog Mollyzine and podcast Molly's Monday Machination. He's an engineer and a Hawk fan, and you'll see his name everywhere.
#45: Round 17 2008, live on Talkshoe
Bonjour again, it’s the Coaches Box, where we’re open to any and all seven-figure offers by garlic-flavoured billionaires to fund retirement to the French Riviera!
There is now a FanFooty Facebook group, by the way. Notifications of upcoming Coaches Box shows will be pushed through there, as well as many other things in future.
Before anything else, m0nty has some very harsh words to say about a terrible set of figures. The numbers relate to a certain video podcast put out by a previously reputable media organisation, shedding some very poor light on so-called stars of the industry…
So we move on to the round review. Hawk Talk is right off the bat with Sam Mitchell and Xavier Ellis, with one of this week’s themes being the value of high draft picks in fantasy. The other theme is big injuries to fantasy guns, starting with perennial injury room inhabitant Paul Chapman!
Steve Johnson, Joel Selwood and Jobe Watson are all examined as 2009 prospects to step up to the next level.
For what seems like the umpteenth time the boys mull over the Collingwood ruck committee, with Cameron Wood dropped this week in favour of Josh Fraser with Chris Bryan providing support. Still on the Pies, Molly gives his views on what next year will bring for top 5 picks Dale Thomas and Scott Pendlebury.
Quinten Lynch was rattling his big stick this week, and Mark Nicoski, Brendon Goddard and Richard Tambling are also covered.
The once-strong Brisbane midfield is the next in the sights of the lads, with Simon Black, Luke Power, Travis Johnstone, Jed Adcock, Michael Rischitelli, Justin Sherman, Jared Brennan, Bradd Dalziell and Albert Proud all coming in for their fair whack, not to mention coach Leigh Matthews.
Adam Goodes, Patrick Veszpremi, Nathan Bock and Kurt Tippett are canvassed, while the news doesn’t look good for club-suspended players Graham Johncock and Peter Burgoyne despite their very different days playing for the Port Magpies in the SANFL.
Over at Melbourne Chris A. Johnson and Nathan Jones are following very different form lines at the moment, while the ruck division of Paul Johnson, Mark Jamar, Jeff White and Jon Meesen is again under scrutiny, leading to a discussion about the way the cards will fall in next year’s AFL draft with the likes of Jack Watts, Nick Naitanui and Daniel Rich all likely to fill top 3 draft slots.
Finally, Brad Johnson, Jarrad Waite, Heath Scotland and Andrew Carrazzo are all assessed for their 2009 possibilities.
Between segments, m0nty gets the opportunity to crow about beating 2007 winner casha in his Super Coach league game this week. Next time, mate!
Then it’s the captain segment, with the Pies and Hawks game likely to be not quite as productive in fantasy terms as the Dons v Dees game. The usual suspects dominate talk of the Geelong game, while the Sydney effect is expected to dampen the Dogs’ spirits. Nick Riewoldt is in a hot run of form and Kane Cornes has been running free so the Dome game on Sunday arvo is tasty, but the derby is expected to be a more dour affair.
Trades of the week both involve Bradd Dalziell, and with a breakeven somewhere south of -135 it’s easy to see why!
Good luck in your attempts to make the finals this week!