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Thank God the split round is over! The boys are glad to get that out of the way and they’re happy to look towards sunnier times in finals for both fantasy and real footy.

The show starts with a discussion about rolling lock outs - i.e. where fantasy competitions allow trades after the first lock out for players whose games have not started yet - which always seem like a good idea at this time of year with a whole week of no trading allowed.

Onto the round review where we begin with Lord Voldemort… oops, I mean Chris Judd. Ryan Houlihan and Jarryn Geary were both given defensive roles in the game the Friday before last, and Molly doesn’t like the chances of them being freed up in future. Robert Murphy was also moved into the backline, which has done interesting things to his fantasy output, while Daniel Cross and Kane Cornes enjoyed their day out in Darwin as they did last year.

Mitch Morton leads the race to please new Tiger coach Jade Rawlings, with Shane Tuck prospering as well. Dean Cox is once again the subject of serious injury rumours, which has his owners wondering about Nick Naitanui as a possible backup.

Despite their desire to put the Brisbane game out of their memories the boys soldier on with Hawk Talk, starting with Xavier Ellis who is still cheaper than the injured Chad Cornes. Ben McGlynn and Beau Muston put in fantasy shockers in that game, but Molly is looking at a young Hawk to return this week to return the Hawthorn structure to one in which McGlynn and Muston can thrive again. On the Lions side, m0nty is eyeing off Jonathan Brown but is already carrying too many key forwards in his teams.

With the imminent return of Brett Burton to the Adelaide team, apparently after a week in the SANFL, m0nty asks what this means for important fantasy forwards Jason Porplyzia, Chris Knights and Taylor Walker. For the Kangaroos’ new coach Darren Crocker (ding dong, the witch is dead!), Molly tries to scry the future of the North list, with Liam Anthony prominent in the crystal ball, and Brent Harvey about to return as well.

Andrew Welsh has already been set for the Judd tag this Friday, bringing a much-needed senior body into the Dons’ tagging ranks. Scott Lucas has posted a second consecutive DT ton since his return from VFL side Coventry - oops, I mean Bendigo - while m0nty wants to know if lithe, slim-hipped modern-day ruckmen like Patrick Ryder can last a full AFL season of physical punishment. Liam Jurrah scissor-kicked his way into Demon fans’ hearts in his debut game, but his fantasy status is less certain.

If Cox does miss then owners of Jesse White will get a huge boost over the rest of the comp, causing some rumination over the rookie-focused bench ruck strategy that has blown up in the faces of countless good fantasy coaches. Scott Pendlebury delivered a donut, but Molly has faith that he is worth sitting of while he gets over his knee ligament strain. Steele Sidebottom is also in Molly’s good books as a keeper in the absence of Jack Ziebell.

Finally, some coaches are talking up Greg Broughton as a seventh back keeper, as Gary Ablett jnr showed that even the greatest might not be automatic captain choices. Meanwhile, Shannon Byrnes has crept up out of nowhere to contend for top seven fantasy forward status.

There is another full captaincy wrap at the end of the show, followed by a teensy bit of industry chat.