Cole managed just 45 in West Coast's 30-point home win over Essendon at Perth Stadium — barely scraping past his 44 BE by a single point in a game his team controlled from start to finish. A premium-priced DEF producing 45 in a 30-point home win is a damning data point. The R9 bounce-back 77 now looks like the outlier, not the 24 disaster from R8, as he has immediately regressed back to sub-50 output. Cash gen is hemorrhaging at -$5,100/wk and his price has collapsed from $416k to $298.8k. The inconsistency makes him unownable at any price point where better DEF options exist. Avoid — let him prove three consecutive good games before even reconsidering.