The Drongo Wrap-Up: Round 4

This article is part of our The Drongo Wrap-Up series.

Hello fellow Footy fans!  We're introducing The Drongo Wrap-Up as a fun way to review the prior Round from a fantasy viewpoint, through the eyes of a bloody seppo. We'll report on the top performers at each position and end with some extra good oil. That said, let's dive into Round 4:

TOP RUCKS

1. Toby Nankervis, RIC, 118 DraftKings Fantasy Points
2. Brodie Grundy, COL, 117 DK FP's
3. Timothy English, WES, 102 DK FP's

English was the only Round 4 winner of the top three rucks. RW's own Erik Siegrist predicted a strong game from Nankervis in his weekly Draft Kings column last Friday (see "Value Plays"). The well-coifed Grundy had an enormous game despite the return of Coxzilla, Mason Cox. (Side note: for what it's worth, Cox (knee) looked awfully rusty in his post-pandemic debut.)  English's fantastic run was overshadowed by an awe-inspiring effort from Marcus Bontempelli.  Bont's bone crushing mark was easily the "Moment of the Week" -- "You can't teach this..."

 Ah hell, enjoy this sweet chiseler from the golden-haired English:

TOP FORWARDS

1a.  Michael Gibbons, CAR, 106 DraftKings Fantasy Points
1b.  Sam Menegola, GEE, also 106 DK FP's
3a.  Hugh McCluggage, BRI, 105 DK FP's
3b.  Charlie Dixon,  PA, also 105 DK FP's

Fantasy players who rolled with Gibbons or Dixon were the big winners, as their DraftKings salaries were $4,500 and $4,000, respectively. Gibbons' strong play, and three goals from Levi Casboult, helped the boys in blue deliver a nice upset over Essendon (-12.5).  

Dixon's six goals were a major reason for our LA correspondent, Bill Sperling, to recommend the following article headline: "PAP Smears Eagles".  Hard to argue with that.  Also from Bill:

The star of the game was easily forward Charlie Dixon, with six goals. One report: Will Schofield of the Eagles used his scone to knock Zak Butters in the noggin.  No claret drawn, but it could keep Schofield out next week after a review.

Liam Jones' fair dinkum falcon behind was, arguably, the difference:

Geelong snuck by the struggling Demons, with Menegola's 25 disposals leading the Cats attack. But the Cats have lost Tony Stewart for multiple weeks due to a broken collarbone. Get well soon, Stewey:

TOP MIDFIELDERS

1. Lachie Neale, BRI, 123 DraftKings FP's
2. Jarrod Berry, BRI, 116 DK FP's
3. Cameron Guthrie, 106 DK FP's

No surprise to see two Lions atop the points standings after they faced the woeful Crows.  Superstar Neale though clearly felt bad that he didn't score a goal:

Also some GOAT trash talk here from Neale:

Rookie mid Sam Philp earned his navy blue guernsey and made his debut for Carlton (2 K's, 3 H's).

TOP DEFENDERS

1. Sam Docherty, CAR, 110 DraftKings Fantasy Points
2. Mark O'Connor, GEE, 102 DK FP's
3. Jeremy Howe, COL, 92 DK FP's

Howe, Grundy and Taylor Adams were the lone bright spots during the Magpies' disjointed effort on Thursday. Sadly, Collingwood has lost Howe for the season after he suffered an ugly knee injury (it was not pleasant watching his lower leg bend in the wrong direction):

We'll see how this impacts the Magpies' stalwart defence.

Docherty earned his $7,500 DK Salary, providing a decent 14.7x return. But it's O'Connor with the Cats that was really the fantasy defender stud of the Round. His 17 kicks and 14 marks were by far season highs.  Before this week, his prior DK FP high was 58.0 in Round 1 versus GWS.
 

SOME EXTRA GOOD OIL

Thursday's Western blowout over the Swans overshadowed Josh Kennedy's 250th game.  Kennedy posted one goal, 19 disposals, three marks and eight tackles in his milestone game.  More importantly, hours before the game, Josh's grandfather and Hawthorn legend John Kennedy Snr passed away at age 91. After the game Swan's Coach John Longhorn said "Josh had the attitude that 'it's what grandad would have wanted.' He was very close to John."

And in more bad news for the Swans, returning ruckman Sam Naismith seems to be lost for the year with a ruptured ACL. It's been a terrible three years for Naismith, who missed almost all of 2018 and 2019 due knee injury. He then returned for Round 1 before the pandemic stoppage. During the stoppage, Naismith lost his sister to pancreatic cancer. And now in Round 3 his season again ends prematurely. Let's hope Cray can make a speedy recovery. Expect Callum Sinclair and Hayden McLean to receive a boost in stats with Naismith out.

Of course, we can't end things without mentioning yet ANOTHER stellar performance from hot shot rookie Matt Rowell.  Here's his first of two goals (plus 20 disposals and five kicks):

So here is your Round 4 Ladder.  With the Suns miraculous second place standing, we'll give them the ending fight song: