Former Australian Survivor player Conner Bethune takes on the team at TTHS in a 3 way battle for power rankings glory! Who will have what it takes to claim ultimate victory?

Conner may have been able to outlast both a disastrous tribe swap and Phoebe to survive for 33 days on the island in Season 1, but will he be able to outrank our resident commentators at TTHS – Tristan and Gorny? Reputations are on the line as the 2017 Australian Survivor Power Rankings battle continues!

It was a tough opening week for our three power rankers, as they witnessed the loss of two great Survivor characters well before their time. On Sunday night, Conner, Tristan and Gorny all suspected that Tarzan might fall on his sword for the benefit of Dr. Tessa… However, they still decided to rank in hope of a happier alternative, and as a result were left heartbroken with mediocre scores of 16, 14, and 15 respectively. On Monday night it was all about the #blindside rolling in to town to make crumble out of some severely smug faces – tremendous viewing all round… Unfortunately our power rankers didn’t predict that the Parma Queen Aimee would fall as collateral, resulting in a despicable combined score of 20 points between them. So after Round One, it’s Gorny in the lead with 23 points, followed by Conner and Tristan on 21 points each… The lead is anyone’s for the taking!

Format:

Every Sunday, Conner, Tristan, and Gorny will individually rank the remaining Australian Survivor contestants in order from least likely to most likely to be voted out of the game. Over the next two episodes, they will score the corresponding points for each player that is booted out (adjusting the highest obtainable point value for each elimination). For example if Sam and Tara are voted out this week, Conner and Tristan will score 36 points, and Gorny will score 30 points. At the end of the season, the competitor with the most points will earn lifetime bragging rights as the inaugural TTHS Power Rankings Champion!

Conner SCORE: 21 Jarrad 1 Jarrad is playing one hell of a game… He’s shown last episode that he’s not afraid to make big moves, and knows when the wind is blowing in another direction – everybody wants him on board with their plans. Jarrad is playing the middle ground perfectly and at this point, I’d argue he is playing smarter than anyone. Sarah 2 Sarah is still in a safe position within her tribe. The fact that Jericho wanted to share cookies with her, means that people clearly see her as a powerful number. I do not doubt that she will be a major player moving forwards. She ain’t going nowhere. Mark W. 3 Mark W’s physical ability is priceless to any tribe. However, their winning streak could result in the tribe rethinking what they value in their members. Ultimately I think he is safe. Henry 4 Henry has been playing a strong and ambitious game so far. However, if the ads are anything to go by, then the jig is up on his yoga secret. In saying that, I don’t think Sam will be able to knock out one of the strongest and most deadly players in the game at this point. Jericho 5 My favourite story line at the moment is the Sesame Street bromance. I love how Jericho has utilised his reward, however, if either Sarah, Henry or Luke share the cookie story to anyone else, his tribe will be wondering why they weren’t invited and what that means for their place in the tribe. Luke 6 Let’s face it… Everybody loves ‘happy go lucky’ Luke. He is invaluable in challenges and close with Jericho. If he doesn’t do anything crazy, he will be sitting pretty for a long time. Peter 7 Peter made a bold move last week, which has put him in the middle of a new majority alliance. Can’t see him going anywhere yet. Ziggy 8 Ziggy has been strong in challenges, proving last episode, that she is an asset. She is also a part of the new majority and will be safe for the time being. Michelle 9 Haven’t seen a lot of Michelle for a while – hard to gage her standing. If the Alliance cheat sheets are anything to go by, then she is lacking a close partner, which might leave her without power and out in the cold. Tessa 10 Tessa has impressively clawed her way back from the brink of elimination, surviving yet another group of tribal councils. She may be safe for now, but I don’t think she is out of the woods just yet. Jacqui 11 I’m loving Jacqui – she’s playing a very clever game. However, I’m concerned that the tribe, pre-merge, will notice the power couple relationship she has with Henry and want her gone. If she can make the merge, the shield will flip in her favour and Henry will become the target instead. Ben 12 Not a lot of air time for Ben so far. He also seems to have not found safety in an alliance yet. This could be a blessing for Ben or an absolute curse when the tribe looks for an easy vote. AK 13 A.K. has been playing hard and playing it well! What a player! He certainly deserves MVP. He clearly has the intelligence to pull it off, has been taking risks left right and centre and I am absolutely loving watching them succeed. However, the more risks you take the more likely it is that one will fall against you eventually. Turns out last episode that A.K.’s move against Aimee was essential to his own survival. I’m not comfortable putting him in close to the top, as he’s playing just too close to the edge. However he has proven that he has mad talent. Odette 14 I know absolutely nothing about Odette or her place in the tribe. Cheat Sheet suggests that she is either an easy number to collect or an easy target to take out. Time will tell. Locky 15 Everyone in Samatau is aware of how valuable Locky is for the challenges and therefore their life in the game. However, he is on A.K.’s radar, but still wields a large degree of political capital. Kent 16 Kent wasn’t safe last tribal and he probably won’t find high ground for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, he cannot be relied upon in challenges. He will need to be on the right side of the numbers if Sam is the target. Anneliese 17 A more obvious choice for the next tribal council, as she has picked up votes in the past. She is also a part of the new bottom alliance and less valuable in challenges. Her saving grace might be the fact that Tara has created more than one enemy on her tribe. Sam 18 I’m putting a lot of money on Sam being eliminated in the next couple of episodes. Whether she knows it or not, there are some very powerful players against her. Perhaps her suspicions for Henry’s profession will move the target. But I think this is unlikely. Any revelation against Henry she might make to the tribe, will probably only create a sense of urgency to have her eliminated. Tara 19 I think Tara will be likely to go home next if Samatau find themselves losing another challenge. Tara has been very combative and knee deep in drama from the moment Adam went home. It will be a smart move for Tessa to advocate her removal from the game.

Tristan SCORE: 21 Sarah 1 Sarah’s comment to Jericho at Cookie Club said it all – she doesn’t need to scheme yet… She knows exactly where she stands in the game without being overconfident, and is saving her moves for when they matter most post merge. Jarrad 2 Emerged as a legitimate contender last episode… Jarrad’s social game has been flawless to this point, and he knows how to make a big move without being perceived as a threat. A lock for the merge. Ziggy 3 It turns out Ziggy was just playing Captain Locky with her earlier ditziness, and as a result demands respect in this game. She’s starting to look more and more like Amber every day…. Jericho 4 Jericho was faced with a dilemma that was fraught with danger, but impressively managed to turn his jar of cookies into a game changing advantage. He now has established bonds with the most powerful players at Asaga in addition to his loyal ally and shield in Elmo Luke. Still a high risk to self combust, but should be safe for this week at least. Peter 5 Graduated from his one sassy comment per week to cast a sensible swing vote in the right direction. If he can resist the urge to skulk back to Tara and Locky, he’ll be well positioned to make a big impact on this game. Mark W. 6 Continues to do what Locky can’t by winning immunity challenges for his tribe. Despite drifting into the strategic ether, it would be a shock to see him culled so early in the game. Dr. Tessa 7 Dr. Tessa is back from the death! Played her position on the chopping block to perfection, and now has some breathing space to develop a long term plan. Expect her to keep on hustling. Henry 8 With an idol in his pocket, Henry would have to do something catastrophic to go home anytime soon – but it’s not beyond him… Looking forward to seeing what he has prepared for the big yoga scam reveal. Jacqui 9 Jacqui’s playing a strong game, but is about to enter a dangerous run of tribal councils due to being Henry’s collateral. If she can find a way to limit the impact of his antics, she’ll be well poised for a late game charge. Odette 10 I still don’t think that she’ll have much of an impact on this season, but there’s no logical reason for anyone to get rid of her anytime soon… Her downfall will likely come when she decides to become an ‘honourable’ liability for someone later in the game. Luke 11 Elmo is enjoying his Samoan holiday so much that he’s unable to see that The Cookie Monster is pulling on all of his strings to set him up as a disposable joker sidekick. Heartbreak will be tough when it eventually comes around. Ben 12 The editors have shown us more footage of crabs than they have of Ben so far this season. Is he trying to be a hidden immunity idol? Not going to win but probably not going anywhere yet either. AK 13 AK has finally decided to start playing again but there are still big question marks surrounding his perception of timing. He’s going to be labelled as a strategic threat for the entirety of the season, so will need to keep finding extra gears if he wants to have any chance of taking this thing out. Locky 14 If it wasn’t for his body, Locky would have been well gone by now… And if Samatau lose the next immunity challenge, he might discover that his free pass is about to expire. Best chance now is being dragged along to the end as an overconfident goat. Anneliese 15 Anneliese always seems to be just a move or two behind the pace, and doesn’t really have anything to put on her resume to date. She has the potential to turn it around, but needs to get moving soon if she’s to avoid the same fate as Aimee. Michelle 16 Not getting much airtime but has already had her name thrown around a couple of times… The next Asaga vote looks like it will be a complicated one, so there’s a big chance that Michelle will fall victim to Henry’s idol. Kent 17 Enjoyed the two weeks off to work on his social bonds, but until the game reaches the individual stage, Kent will remain on the chopping block as a challenge liability. Sam 18 I still don’t think Sam will be able to recover from her early ‘control freak’ misdemeanours, and the person she’s likely to target has an immunity idol in his pocket. Not looking good. Tara 19 Broke the first rule of Survivor by prematurely declaring her intended blindside of AK as the biggest move of the game so far, and was punished accordingly. Tara would be wonderful to sit next to at Final Tribal, but her unpredictability is unconscionable. She’s well and truly playing on stolen time.