Chris McDermott’s AFL Round 18 Team of the Week: Big Cat purrs
THE cream of the AFL rose to the top in Round 18 with some of the AFL’s biggest names producing some even bigger performances. See who made Chris McDermott’s Team of the Week and blog live with Bone now.
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THE cream of the AFL rose to the top in Round 18 with some of the AFL’s biggest names producing some even bigger performances.
Reigning Brownlow medallist Dustin Martin continued his improvement and looked closer to his best racking up 30 possessions and giving away three goals in the Tigers huge win over St Kilda.
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The Tigers dropped back into second gear for the second half but Dion Prestia remained in overdrive and after a long lay-off through injury found his best gathering 26 possessions and kicking three goals himself.
Geelong forward Tom Hawkins had a day out in the Cats’ last-kick win over Melbourne at the Cattery, kicking seven goals and having a hand in another two in one of the great performances of the year.
Rebounding defender Tom Stewart continued his great season with another outstanding game to secure his place on a half back flank and strengthen his grip on an All-Australian jumper.
On the home front, the Crows’ narrow win over Brisbane at the Gabba saw the customary strong performances from Rory Laird and Matt Crouch but midfielder-turned-forward Hugh Greenwood was the only player to make the TOTW kicking 4.3 from his forward pocket to earn a berth on the interchange.
The Power for another week went without a player in the league’s best 22 after a horror performance against GWS.
It was a different story for the Giants with veteran defender Heath Shaw a constant power of strength in defence, negating the influence of Lindsay Thomas while accumulating 28 possessions with 10 rebounds from D50.
Fellow defender cum midfielder Lachie Whitfield maintained his strong season dominating this game in the first half before forcing Power coach Ken Hinkley to assign a negator to him in the second half.
Whitfield remained a threat all game and did more than enough to earn a place in defence.
Around the grounds there were some sensational individual performances.
In a big weekend for the small forwards, Collingwood’s Jordan De Goey, Essendon’s Orazio Fantasia, Hawthorns Luke Breust and the Gold Coast’s Aaron Young all won roles in the team after making the scoreboard tick over in very impressive fashion.
In defence Jeremy McGovern was at it again for the West Coast while Gold Coast defender Rory Thompson earned his first jumper of the year with a strong performance on Buddy Franklin, holding the superstar to goalless in the Suns upset at Metricon Stadium.
Special mention to Hawthorn ball magnet Tom Mitchell who makes the team again after yet another 40-possession game.
Fair to say we are running out of fingers to count those games this season!
