Melbourne's Christian Petracca prepares to mark against West Coast in R9, 2022. Picture: AFL Photos

Well, that was a Sunday to forget! Barring a couple of legends like Christian Petracca and Touk Miller, many of the so called premiums were underwhelming to say the least.

We have seven trades up our sleeve before we tackle the first of the three-week bye period in round 12. It is now acceptable to allow your bye structure to dictate trades within reason, attempting to get a healthy balance of players missing per week in order to come out the other side with a better team. Remember if you want to be heavy on bye players in any of the weeks, it’s the last one. Unfortunately for many, the first trade consideration will be for high-scoring Saints skipper Jack Steele.

Fantasy Pig of the week

Swan hard nut Callum Mills made up for a quiet outing last week, laying a whopping 13 tackles to ensure he was the top scorer of the round with 156. He took full advantage of an underwhelming Essendon, collecting 29 possessions and taking seven marks and will certainly be a priority selection post byes. Amid disappointment in every direction, Christian Petracca stepped up in the last game of a horrible Sunday with an impressive 139 which consisted of 28 possessions, six marks and eight tackles. It could have been even bigger considering his six scoring shots only returned two goals, but hey, we'll take it.

Honourable mentions

Josh Kelly has his name in the ring as an under-priced premium selection after another impressive outing with 134. Adam Treloar was on fire for the Dogs and able to put together his first big score as a result, also pumping out 134. Touk Miller and Ollie Wines can also hold their heads high, scoring 128 respectively for their coaches.

TOP ROUND SCORERS

  1. Callum Mills MID 156
  2. Christian Petracca MID 139
  3. Josh Kelly MID 134
  4. Adam Treloar MID/FWD 134
  5. Touk Miller MID 128
  6. Ollie Wines MID 128
  7. Caleb Serong MID 126
  8. Brad Crouch MID 125
  9. Tom Liberatore MID 125
  10. Rory Laird MID 124
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Cash cows of the round

The best player with a starting price under $300k will be awarded the Michael Barlow Medal as the best cash cow of the year.

The votes for round:

5 – Corey Durdin Carlton, FWD - 79
It would have to be the lowest score of the year to earn five votes, but the young Blue will take it, while the rest of us take his reinvigorated cash generation. His 19 possessions, three marks, two tackles and two goals ensured his highest score of the year.

4 – Nick Martin Essendon, FWD - 65
It may be the talented Bomber’s lowest score of the year, but that is a reflection of our rookies drop off this week. Ironically, he did enough to extend the lead over his peers.

3 – Luke Cleary Western Bulldogs, DEF - 64
The young Dog looked right at home running off half-back, taking an impressive seven marks and collecting 13 possessions. He becomes a good downgrade target down back.

2 – Nick Daicos Collingwood, MID/DEF - 63
The young Pie didn’t have his greatest outing, but did enough to keep the score ticking over. He has now scored under 65 on two occasions in the last three weeks and is now a viable trade out as part of an upgrade.

2 – Ben Hobbs Essendon, MID - 63
The big-bodied Bomber backed up from last week’s 95 with a less impressive but serviceable cash-generating score of 63 from 17 touches and a goal.

LEADERBOARD: Nic Martin 24, Nick Daicos 21, Tristan Xerri 14, Tyson Stengle 13, Josh Gibcus 5, Greg Clark 5, Jason Horne-Francis 5, Jack Hayes 5, Cory Durdin.

Rage trades

Lachie Whitfield DEF/MID – A change of coach couldn't come quick enough for the hard-running Giant. He has had an inconsistent year, playing inconsistent roles. If he doesn’t return to a wing/half-back role, he has to go. In 85 per cent game time he managed just 46… that’s not the Whit we have known and loved for years. He had just 12 touches and three marks.

Stephen Coniglio MID – In a similar story to Whitfield, hopefully a new coach helps reinvigorate the former high flyer. He was borderline unrecognisable against the Blues, mainly because we rarely saw him on the way to just 49 from 78 per cent time on ground.

Travis Boak MID – It’s been a great ride with the veteran Power star turning back the clock and absolutely dominating the first eight rounds of the season. Round nine was a far cry from that, however, scoring an unfathomable 38 in an easy match up with the Roos from just 13 possessions.

Zach Merrett MID – The ever-reliable Bomber hasn’t been producing the numbers we have become accustomed to the past three weeks, but his 51 against the Swans is as bad as we have seen from him for a long time. A nightmare for owners, a handy price-plummeting score for bargain hunters.

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