This week’s Swans Fantasy looks back at the Swans 22-point win over Essendon and previews our next opponent, Port Adelaide.

What did you take out of our round 19 match, Fantasy wise?

Lotts: It was certainly good to notch up another win and see a few players return to form after the loss to the Hawks. Eight players scored 94 points or more with Mike Pyke (RUC $330,304) with 119 points, Ben McGlynn (FWD/MID $538,241) with 115 and Luke Parker (FWD/MID $507,180) with 114 the pick of the bunch.  

Sub-elite Legends:  It was a fairly congested game over the weekend so it was great to see such a big spread of contributors. More than half of the side scored 80 or above, with great contributions from less popular Fantasy players such as Dane Rampe (DEF $342,485), Heath Grundy (DEF $321,828) and Craig Bird (FWD/MID $432,268).

Who’s your Swans player of the week?

Lotts: It’s got to be Mike Pyke for me this week who recorded his highest score for the year notching up 119 Fantasy points. While Pyke got a few touches and held onto a few grabs around the ground, it was his ruck-work which was particularly impressive. Pykey had 49 hit-outs for the match and also chimed in with six tackles to round out a very successful Fantasy score. 

Sub-elite Legends: Luke Parker continued his ultra-consistent season with a game-high 35 disposals and a 114-point performance. He was dominant through the middle of the ground with his physicality and notched up seven clearances. He also missed two kickable opportunities for goal, which would have rocketed his score up towards the 130 mark so he gets the chocolates from me this week.

Which Swans player would you choose as your captain for the next game?

Lotts: I hope no one listened to me last week and if you did, you fortunately had enough time to change your captain choice, after Lance Franklin (FWD $504,076) was a late withdrawal. So this week I’m going to give the captain’s armband to Luke Parker who is coming off a career-high 35 possession game. The last time we played at Adelaide Oval against the Crows earlier in the year, Parker kicked four goals on his way to 121 Fantasy points. Get on board. 

Sub-elite Legends: I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times, the big ‘C’ is not for speculative choices! To be fair, Josh Kennedy’s 88 was only a marginally better captain’s choice than Franklin’s 0. I will say it again though, JPK is ultra-consistent and averages nearly 10 points per game more than any other Swans player, so you just have to pick him. Josh Kennedy (MID $564,024) for me.

Next up is Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval. Who are the players to look out for from the Power?

Lotts: The Power have a lot of guns in their side who can turn it on at any given stage. Port will come out swinging on Saturday night and I’m sure their four powerful midfielders Brad Ebert (MID $470,993), Kane Cornes (MID $460,335), Ollie Wines (MID $474,901) and Travis Boak (MID $498,755), who have been in great Fantasy form this year averaging 102, 99, 97 and 96 respectively,  will be in the thick of the action. 

Sub-elite Legends: Hamish Hartlett (MID $421,965) is one that I’m going to keep my eye on this week. His best is absolutely elite - his 123 points last week were enough to see that and his booming right foot can cause many headaches. Chad Wingard (FWD/MID $351,012) is another one I’m watching closely. He has seen a drop off in points since his All-Australian season last year but every time I watch him he looks on the verge of breaking a game open. Hopefully the boys can lock him down on Adelaide oval this week.

Are there any changes this week for your team?

Lotts: My total score suffered as a result of a couple of late withdrawals last week as Lance Franklin and Sam Mitchell (DEF $439,269) missed their respective matches. Given the rest of my team has been going pretty well lately, I’m going to hold tight on my chosen players for one more week and see who needs to come in before I head into what I hope will be another Grand Final victory with only a few weeks to go.  

Sub-elite Legends: The last chips have fallen into place for my team this week. I upgraded Xavier Ellis (MID/DEF $368,928) to Jimmy Bartel (DEF/MID $484,798) from the bench and switched out the injured Michael Hibberd (DEF $428,890) to round out the defence. Although I wasn’t as strong through the season as in previous years, I’ve managed to reach finals in each of my comps and my team has come together at the perfect time to make an impact at finals time.