Big winners Hawthorn, Adelaide and West Coast dominated the Team of the Week with 10 selections between them.
There have been two forced changes to the Rolling Team of the Year with Luke McPharlin replacing Jeremy McGovern in the backline and Travis Boak replacing Scott Pendlebury on the bench.
Team of the Round – Round 17:
B: J Lever, L McPharlin, T Hunt
HB: M Boyd, T Lonergan, L Hodge
C: S Motlop, J Lewis, A Gaff
HF: R Douglas, J Gunston, L Breust
F: T Dickson, T Hawkins, D Petrie
FOLL: N Naitanui, P Dangerfield, M Priddis
INT: H Bennell, T Boak, L Hunter, R Laird
Back Pocket: Jake Lever (Adelaide)
The young Crows was outstanding in an inexperienced backline with 24 touches as the third key defender. His ability to cut off Gold Coast attacks, with six intercept marks and a round high 14 intercept possessions, was the key to the Crows restricting Dixon and Lynch to just a lone goal after half time.
Full-back: Luke McPharlin (Fremantle)
McPharlin was given the role on Jack Riewoldt when the Tigers’ spearhead was inside 50 and kept him quiet in a tight match. Riewoldt did not score a goal on McPharlin for the entire match, with his lone goal coming against Garrick Ibbotson while McPharlin was on the bench.
Back pocket: Taylor Hunt (Richmond)
Taylor Hunt was excellent in defence for Richmond opposed to talented small forward Michael Walters keeping him scoreless. Hunt gave him no space inside 50 and kept him to just 12 touches, almost all of which were up-field.
Half-back flank: Matthew Boyd (Western Bulldogs)
Boyd managed to collect a massive 38 disposals off of the half-back flank for the Western Bulldogs. He used the ball at a disposal efficiency of 90% and took 12 marks.
Centre-half back: Tom Lonergan (Geelong)
Lonergan completely blanketed Jeremy Cameron, keeping him scoreless for the first time since round 22 2013. Cameron could only manage 10 disposals and four marks while Lonergan collected 13 possessions and four intercept marks (seven in total).
Half-back flank: Luke Hodge (Hawthorn)
The Hawks’ skipper patrolled the backline with stints through the midfield in his side’s demolition of the Blues. Hodge was free to go where he pleased as he racked-up 32 possessions and 12 marks (4 intercepts and three contested). He also kicked 1.1 and had two goal assists as part of his 12 score involvements.
Wing: Stephen Motlop (Geelong)
In a low scoring match, Motlop’s run and carry was vital to his side’s victory over the Giants. He had 31 disposals but more importantly four running bounces and 637m gained where he was able to break the lines and set up Geelong scores with two goal assists and 2 goals.
Centre: Jordan Lewis (Hawthorn)
Jordan Lewis dominated the Blues with 36 disposals at a disposal efficiency of 81%. He had a massive 13 score involvements which included two goals and a goal assist. He also sent the ball inside 50 five times.
Wing: Andrew Gaff (West Coast)
Gaff was again strong on the wing for West Coast with 32 disposals. He found space all day with 23 uncontested possessions where his run and carry was pivotal. He delivered the ball inside 50 five times and also kicked a goal.
Half-forward flank: Richard Douglas (Adelaide)
Douglas played his best game for the year playing on the half-forward flank and through the midfield with 25 disposals and two goals.
His class in space perfectly complemented the inside grunt of Dangerfield and Thompson as he was able to set up multiple Adelaide scores with three goal assists, equal second for the round. He also had 571m gained for the match.
Centre-half forward: Jack Gunston (Hawthorn)
Jack Gunston was the dominant forward of the round with six goals from 26 disposals. He spent time up the ground and deep inside 50 as he took 12 marks (5 contested and three inside 50). He also had a goal assist in a complete game.
Half-forward flank: Luke Breust (Hawthorn)
Breust was another standout Hawk on Friday night with 3.2 from 19 possessions. He was dangerous forward with a round-high four goal assists to go with his three goals but also handy further up field with 10 contested possessions and three clearances. He also had 13 score involvements.
Forward pocket: Tory Dickson (Western Bulldogs)
Tory Dickson celebrated his 50th game in style with four goals as the most dangerous small forward on the ground. He also had 13 disposals and a goal assist.
Full-forward: Tom Hawkins (Geelong)
Hawkins dominated the undersized Aidan Corr to kick an equal round-high five goals. Hawkins cluncked a round high five contested marks as he rag-dolled the young giant.
Forward pocket: Drew Petrie (North Melbourne)
Petrie was excellent forward for North Melbourne against the Lions with four goals from 16 possessions. Petrie took six marks (four inside 50) and also had two goal assists.
Ruck: Nic Naitanui (West Coast)
Naitanui dominated Pyke and Nankervis with 41 hit-outs as he lead his midfield brigade to a dominant win over a strong Swans’ midfield. He also had an impact around the ground with 12 disposals and four contested marks.
Ruck rover: Patrick Dangerfield (Adelaide)
Dangerfield was ferocious in the midfield for Adelaide with 36 possessions and nine clearances in a best on ground display. Of his 36 possessions, 20 were contested and 11 were hard ball gets (both equal round highs). He also sent the ball inside 50 seven times and kicked an excellent goal out of the ruck.
Rover: Matthew Priddis (West Coast)
Priddis was again dominant through the midfield for the Eagles with 34 possessions (16 contested) and a goal. He was able to extract the ball with ease with 16 contested possessions and seven clearances but he also had a massive 13 tackles.
Interchange: Harley Bennell (Gold Coast)
In his first game back from a club-imposed ban Bennell was excellent with a round-high 39 disposals and nine inside 50’s. He also had five clearances, a goal assist and a game high 673m gained.
Interchange: Travis Boak (Port Adelaide)
The Port Adelaide skipper was outstanding in his leadership and performance with 28 possessions and two goals against the Bombers. Boak was strong at the stoppages, with five centre clearances, and classy on the outside with eight inside 50’s and 678m gained.
Interchange: Lachie Hunter (Western Bulldogs)
Hunter had the best game of his career against the Pies with 32 disposals in a best on ground performance. Hunter found plenty of the ball in space with his hard running with 10 uncontested marks, 25 uncontested possessions and 516m gained. He kicked a goal and had two assists as part of his 10 score involvements.
Interchange: Rory Laird (Adelaide)
Laird worked in tandem with Lever to cut off the Gold Coast attacks with 13 intercept possessions, including four intercept marks, which was the second highest for the round behind Lever. Laird collected 32 possessions and seven marks, 2 of which were contested, in another strong performance.
Season team:
B: M Hurley (4), L McPharlin (4), H Shaw (4)
HB: R Murphy (5), A Rance (5), S Mitchell (6)
C: D Hannebery (6), P Dangerfield (7), A Gaff (4)
HF: D Beams (5), L Franklin (4), M LeCras (4)
F: E Betts (4), JJ Kennedy (4), J Roughead (4)
FOLL: A Sandilands (4), N Fyfe (10), D Sheil (6)
INT: D Armitage (5), JP Kennedy (5), T Boak (5), M Williams (4)
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