Best first year player: Mark Baguley – 7 matches, 458 points @ 65.4. Increased $161,000
Essendon had precious few first year players of substance, but when Baguley was required due to uncountable soft-tissue injuries, he did a job and made a bit of moolah for those that jumped on him.
Most improved: Jobe Watson - 22 matches, 2661 points @ 121. Decreased $34,700
I thought I was on a gold-mine last year when I picked up Jobe Watson, only for him to miss a month with a
Best buy: Brent Stanton - 20 matches, 2092 points @ 104.6. Decreased $159,300
Even though his output dropped off towards the end of the year, you can pat yourself on the back if you had Stanton at round one as he scored 180 points against North Melbourne. Yes, his scoring dropped off after the midway point of the year but overall a coach choosing Stanton would have definitely taken an average of 104.6 at the start of the year. Even better, perhaps he was sold when he was still averaging around 120.
Worst buy: Brent Stanton (round 9 onwards) - 12 matches, 993 points @ 82.8. Decreased $266,600
David Zaharakis – 13 matches, 1149 points @ 88.4. Decreased $14,100
After eight matches, Stanton was averaging 137 points per match. Yes, an incredible 137, second only to Gary Ablett. But shame on you if you jumped on the bandwagon about this time, as he decrease in price an incredible $266,600 from here and average a measly 82.8. Another disappointment was David Zaharakis who injured himself at training and only played 13 games for the year.
2013 prospects
Brent Prismall: This is a tricky one. He showed so much at Geelong, but mainly due to injury setback after injury setback, Prismall could never hit his straps. If he’s still around next season, who knows? He’ll be rookie-priced and hopefully has an incident free pre-season.
David Myers: Played only nine matches in 2012, and that has always been Myers’ problem, getting consistent games together. Adding to this, he was substitute several times, amounting to a frustrating season for both himself and supporters who want to see the first-round pick amount to something. His effort from the green vest against Sydney in round 11 nearly won the Bombers the match.
Ben Howlett: Getting better and better. Breakout year in 2013?
Most prolific:
1. Jobe Watson (M) – 2661 @ 121
2. Brent Stanton (M) – 2092 @ 104.6
3. Dyson Heppell (D) – 1682 @ 84.1
4. Ben Howlett (M) – 1589 @ 83.6
5. Patrick Ryder (R) – 1582 @ 105.5
8. Leroy Jetta (F) – 1446 @ 68.9 (top forward)