Nick Hind has enjoyed a great start to 2021 at Essendon. Picture: AFL Photos

THE 2100 club was the place to be for coaches wanting to increase their overall rank this week as we saw the second-highest scoring Fantasy round for the season.

A whopping 2338 points was scored by Dan’s team who racked up the most for the weekend. 14 of the starting 22 scored 100 points or more and the coach, who appears to be a fan of ABC broadcaster Aaron Bryans, moved up to the top 300 overall off the back of the monster score.

Although the round didn’t have the big 150+ individual scores we’ve experienced in recent weeks, there was some consistency across the board.

Of the 22 most selected players priced at $700k or more, all but five scored 100 points or more.

It’s not just the premiums that helped see some massive scores in round eight. Some of the unsung heroes that week in, week out rack up the points and perform above their price are what can win league match ups. Nick Hind (100) is averaging 88 this season and has proven to be one of the mid-priced picks of the season.

Alongside him this week was Oleg Markov (102) and Ben McEvoy (86) who have been great picks for their respective coaches.

Some players saved their scores with big quarters. On Sunday afternoon, Caleb Daniel (92) was being cursed by some of his new owners as he was quiet in the game with a sporadic role. His 45-point final term saw him almost double his score.

Daniel’s effort wasn’t the biggest score in a quarter for round eight. Matt Guelfi (59) came on as medical substitute to score all 59 points in the last quarter. Jack Crisp (126) and Jack Billings (137) each scored 58 points in a quarter while Tim Taranto (125) had 55 points in the opening term.

Fantasy Pig of the week

With just three per cent ownership, Mitch Duncan (135) could be the best Fantasy player that almost no one has in their Fantasy Classic teams. The Cat missed the first two rounds and is averaging 121 for the last six rounds and a competition-high 132 in the last three. His 135 in round eight came from 30 disposals, 10 marks and seven tackles. Duncan is doing all the right things for his coaches, including heading down back and getting the cheeky +3s by taking the kick-ins.

Honourable mentions

The second-most traded-in player for round eight was Aaron Hall (133). He proved his value as he controlled the ball in North Melbourne’s back line, disposing of it by foot 30 times while taking eight marks. In the same game, Darcy Moore (134) moved back to his natural position in the defensive 50 to take 19 marks. To keep the trend of big scores from defenders going, Callum Mills (133), Daniel Rich (131), Jack Crisp (126) and Sam Docherty (123) showed that upgrading to premium DEFs is the way to attack this season.

TOP SCORERS – R8

  1. Cam Guthrie 139
  2. Andrew Gaff 137
  3. Jack Billings 137
  4. Jack Steele 136
  5. Mitch Duncan 135
  6. Dom Sheed 135
  7. Darcy Moore 134
  8. Daniel Rich 134
  9. Aaron Hall 133
  10. Callum Mills 133
  11. Marcus Bontempelli 131
  12. David Swallow 130
  13. Zach Merrett 128
  14. Jack Crisp 126
  15. Tim Taranto 125
Geelong's Cam Guthrie in action against Richmond in round eight, 2021. Picture: AFL Photos

Cash cows of the round

The best player with a starting price under-$270k will be awarded the Michael Barlow Medal as the best cash cow of the year.

The votes for round eight:

5 – James Jordon (95) Melbourne, MID
Playing every game this season for the undefeated Dees, Jordon is putting his hand up as the cash cow of the year as he posted his third 90-plus score for the season. His 23 disposals, which included 13 contested possessions along with eight tackles, made him the sixth-highest scoring Demon in round eight.

4 – Connor Menadue (91) North Melbourne, DEF
Cashed in like most defenders do versus the Pies, collecting 25 disposals.

3 – Tom Campbell (88) North Melbourne, RUC/FWD
Eight marks and a goal helped him to the fourth-best score of his 50-game career.

2 – Jy Farrar (68) Gold Coast, FWD
Back taking marks this week and keeping his cash generation going.

1 – Riley Collier-Dawkins (64) Richmond, MID
The most popular traded-in player tackled his way to another sound score.

LEADERBOARD: James Jordon 16, Tom Powell 15, Chad Warner 13, Errol Gulden 11, Matt Flynn 8, Jy Farrar 7, Daniel McKenzie 5, Archie Perkins 5, Connor Menadue 5.

Rage trades

Taylor Walker (20) – The run at the start of the year was amazing… but the last couple of weeks have been nothing short of shocking. Get off now before he loses all the cash he’s earned.

Zac Williams (28) – How frustrating. A ‘value’ option who has missed three games and dropped cash each week he’s played. The role is there, but the points don’t appear to be. Averaging just 66 for the season.

Patrick Cripps (55) – Saved his score somewhat with a goal in the dying stages of the game. Just the one Fantasy ton this year. If he can turn it around, Cripps could be a bargain option.

Dustin Martin (67) – Holding Dusty for his week off with concussion was probably the right long-term play, but coming back rested for a sub-standard score hurts.

Reilly O’Brien (73) – If you couldn’t afford to get up to a big ruck and went with the budget option in ROB, then you’d be let down, as he’s scoring around 30 points less than he should be each week.

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