Jeppa’s Juniors – Round 2

So what was reinforced in Round 2? Teams that play possession football are extremely Fantasy relevant! The mighty Hawks were the first to implement such a game plan and now the Bulldogs, Eagles, Crows, Swans and even the Blues are following suit. Lachie Hunter, Jason Johannisen, Shane Biggs, Jake Lloyd and Nick Graham are a handful of young midpricers from these teams that look to be coming of age. You’d be silly not to consider trading in one of these players before lockout on Friday.

The rookie news this week was mixed. There were some exceptional performances and unfortunately a few insipid ones too. After two home and away games, we’ve now got a pretty good idea of who to keep and who to offload…

Two Gamers

Who knew rookie KEY defenders could ton up! Marcus Adams (Def/Fwd. $216,000, -25 be AF. $121,300, -102 be DT) was sensational against the Saints on Saturday night, racking up 24 possessions, 5 marks, 5 tackles and 101 Fantasy points. The mature age rookie dominated the one on one contests and he led the Dogs in one percenters (7) and rebound out of defensive 50 (6). Coach Luke Beveridge couldn’t sing his praises higher after the game (source). Looking ahead, Adams deserves a spot on your field and I’m confident that he can repay the faith with 70+ scores each week. Get excited because our defender rooks have been pretty poor to date.

It’s easy to see why Darcy Parish (Mid. $319,000, 0 be AF. $206,800, -86 be DT) was taken so early in the draft. When the Bombers v Dees game was there to be won, Parish stood up and showed his class…not bad for a kid in his second AFL match! Blondie finished with 10 kicks, 11 handballs, 3 marks, 8 tackles and 102 Fantasy points at the final siren. The latest NAB Rising Star nominee is a must have for Dreamteam this week before his first price rise and if you don’t have him in Fantasy then try fit him in.

Sydney trio Callum Mills (Mid. $250,000, 19 be AF. $215,800, -10 be DT), George Hewett (Mid. $198,000, -25 be AF. $128,200, -93 be DT) and pocket dynamo Tom Papley (Fwd. $189,000, -24 be AF. $113,300, -91 be DT) all played important roles for Sydney in their win over the Blues. The Pap was at his fearless and crumbing best, kicking two goals and scoring 74 Fantasy points. Named in the bests for the Swans for the second week running means there’s no immediate threat to Papley’s job security. Mills has plenty to work on but even when he’s a little down, he still managed to score a solid 69. I don’t want to create panic but if McGlynn comes in for Round 3 it could be at the expense of Hewett (or Robinson). Hewett worked extremely hard on Sunday but a few clangers crept into his game. He scored a respectable 68 Fantasy points from 15 possessions but I’ll be nervous come team selection on Thursday night.

Popular picks Sam Kerridge (Fwd/Mid. $341,000, 23 be AF. $177,100, -86 be DT) and Daniel Wells (Fwd/Mid. $337,000, 19 be AF. $178,500, -86 be DT) carried on their excellent form scoring 91 and 89 Fantasy points respectively. Owners rejoice.

Ben Kennedy (Fwd/Mid. $269,000, 0 be AF. $250,400, -30 be DT) proved to be a decent trade in option for Fantasy last week. Watching him on the field, he’s a level above the majority of his teammates and he looked super confident versus the Bombers. 90 Fantasy points is a good return for a player at circa $250,000.

Wayne Milera (Fwd. $217,000, 5 be AF. $179,800, -21 be DT) and James Sicily (Fwd. $252,000, 25 be AF. $229,900, 12 be DT) turned around their Round 1 form in a hurry. On the big stage, Milera benefited greatly from his teammates dominance and he finished with 20 touches, 9 marks, 1 tackle, 1 goal and 88 Fantasy points in the Showdown. I can’t see Milera hitting this sort of score each week and I won’t be trading him in as a result. Sicily carved up my Eagles on Sunday kicking 4 majors and registering 81 Fantasy points in the process. I tend to stay away from young key forwards…remember he scored a mere 33 Fantasy points in Round 1.

Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti (Def/Fwd. $189,000, -3 be AF. $105,800, -59 be DT) pleased his owners scoring a very
healthy 81 Fantasy points against the Dees. Playing with an exuberant amount of confidence, Tippa was winning the hard ball and breaking the lines like no other…a massive contrast from Round 1. Hopefully he’s turned a corner! Tippa’s defender teammate, Matt Dea (Def. $216,000, -4 be AF. $163,500, -51 be DT) was solid again scoring 69 Fantasy points and he’ll be my D5/D6 for a while yet. With Hartley coming into Essendon’s 22, Mitch Brown (Def/Fwd. $216,000, 15 be AF. $121,300, -47 be DT) played forward and he registered 61 Fantasy points (better than I expected). MAKE SURE BROWN IS ON YOUR BENCH THIS WEEK, I have no confidence in him when he plays forward and Hartley is sticking around for a while yet.

Connor Menadue (Fwd/Mid. $187,000, -12 be AF. $170,400, -41 be DT) was solid again for the Tigers but it appears it will be a push for him to score greater than 75 Fantasy points in a match. Menadue has averaged 15 disposals, 4 marks, 3.5 tackles, 1 goal and 67 Fantasy points from his two games this season. He’s bench cover only.

Daniel Robinson (Fwd/Mid. $249,000, 5 be AF. $272,500, 3 be DT) 83 and Kyle Langford (Fwd. $209,000, 9 be AF. $208,700, -1 be DT) 72 are a few expensive and less popular juniors that did well in Round 2. None of them tickle my fancy though.

Other notable Round 1 performers include Mitch McGovern (Fwd. $164,000, -9 be AF. $128,200, -45 be DT) 63, Clay Cameron (Def. $178,000, -15 be AF. $140,100, -57 be DT) 63, James Harmes (Fwd. $245,000, 39 be AF. $279,000, 59 be DT) 61, Callum Ah Chee (Fwd. $215,000, 15 be AF. $193,300, -6 be DT) 61, Lincoln McCarthy (Fwd. $172,000, -10 be AF. $134,300, -50 be DT) 60, Eric MacKenzie (Def. $249,000, 10 be AF. $237,000, -15 be DT) 59, Josh Schache (Fwd. $255,000, 26 be AF. $220,300, -3 be DT) 55 and Jacob Weitering (Def. $256,000, 28 be AF. $224,800, -1 be DT) 53. Hold these players for now.

Indifferent form and poor scores from Taylor Garner (Fwd. $258,000, 28 be AF. $258,000, 15 be DT) 52, Jade Gresham (Mid. $201,000, 20 be AF. $148,300, -15 be DT) 50, Dean Towers (Fwd. $256,000, 31 be AF. $255,100, 21 be DT) 50, Josh Dunkley (Mid. $201,000, 6 be AF. $121,300, -55 be DT) 50, Clayton Oliver (Mid. $251,000, 34 be AF. $211,300, 6 be DT) 49, Ryan Davis (Mid. $166,000, -4 be AF. $105,800, -54 be DT) 48, Brent Macaffer (Mid. $204,000, 29 be AF. $214,300, 31 be DT) 46, Lachie Weller (Mid. $184,000, 22 be AF. $231,900, 44 be DT) 44, Jed Lamb (Fwd. $201,000, 28 be AF. $208,700, 25 be DT) 39, Corey Ellis (Fwd/Mid. $192,000, 16 be AF. $197,100, 7 be DT) 39, Zak Jones (Def. $248,000, 43 be AF. $260,200, 45 be DT) 37 and Andrew Phillips (Ruc/Fwd. $225,000, 46 be AF. $258,200, 62 be DT) 29 could see them dropped for Round 3. If you have any of these ‘juniors’ then look to offload them out as soon as possible.

Corey Gault (Fwd. $167,000, 33 be AF. $226,100, 66 be DT) 28, Ryan Harwood (Def. $193,000, 44 be AF. $262,800, 83 be DT) 16 and Dean Kent (Fwd. $187,000, 33 be AF. $218,800, 42 be DT) 10 have failed us and all three need to be traded out immediately!

Please note that if I haven’t mentioned a rookie priced player above, it means they’re not relevant. Remember rooks are classified as players under $250,000 in Fantasy and/or Dreamteam.

One Gamers

Surprisingly, lock down defender Michael Hartley (Def. $147,000, -12 be AF. $121,300 DT) was the pick of the one gamers in Round 2. On debut, the big fella played on Pederson and he finished with 14 possessions, 6 marks, 5 tackles, 1 goal and 74 Fantasy points. Personally, I thought that Hartley was one of the Bombers best on the day so he’s sticking around for a while. Feel free to trade him in as a D7/D8 in Fantasy but wait a week for Dreamteam.

Ed Langdon (Fwd/Mid. $262,000, 41 be AF. $238,300 DT) is a great young player (more opportunities would be nice) but his Fantasy prowess might not be on show for a year or two yet. Against the Suns, he had 13 disposals, 3 marks, 3 tackles and a sound 56 Fantasy points. Langdon has the ability to score 75+ but he’s too expensive to take that risk especially with Ross Lyon at the helm.

I don’t have much love for talls Kyle Hartigan (Def. $225,000, 23 be AF. $226,100 DT) 64, Dougal Howard (Fwd. $135,000, 8 be AF. $128,200 DT) 46 and Charlie Curnow (Fwd. $243,000, 45 be AF. $175,300 DT) 45. Hartigan is a lock down defender and winning possessions is not his priority, Howard will be dropped when Schultz is ready to return and Curnow is incredibly raw. Pass on all three.

Small forward Jayden Short (Fwd/Mid. $132,000, 10 be AF. $121,300 DT) is not Fantasy relevant. He scored 41 Fantasy points, which included 3 goals! Nick Kommer (Fwd. $125,000, 21 be AF. $128,200 DT) is an angry little man isn’t he? The defensive forward gave away six free kicks on the weekend contributing to his Fantasy score of just 25. I traded Kommer in last week in Fantasy and I’m nervous about what lies ahead.

Keep Your Eye On

Injury problems at the Lions means Ben Keays (Mid. $176,000, 32 be AF. $121,300 DT) will debut on Sunday. Keays had an impressive 39 disposals in the NEAFL on the weekend and I reckon he’d slot in nicely on a wing or half forward flank. The highly rated youngster has been slowly building form and fitness over the preseason and I suspect it will be a steady initiation into the AFL also. Consider.

Harwood out, Josh McGuinness (Def. $125,000, 23 be AF. $128,200 DT) in? I hope so! It’s no secret that the Lions lack footspeed and McGuinness can burn the floor. He looks to be a good replacement for the out of touch Harwood and 25 possessions in the NEAFL on Saturday justifies his selection. Cheap as chips!

Josh Cowan (Def. $130,000, 24 be AF. $161,700 DT) is a chance to make a return to senior football after a solid performance in a VFL practice match on the weekend. Cowan was an emergency for Rounds 1 and 2 and a couple of Cats players may get the chop after their substandard performance against the Giants. If Cowan doesn’t get a gig then Tom Ruggles (Def. $125,000, 23 be AF. $105,800 DT) might after his 25 possessions and 10 marks last Saturday. Watch this space.

The previously mentioned Christian Petracca (Fwd/Mid. $238,000, 43 be AF. $128,200 DT) and Ciaran Byrne (Def. $125,000, 23 be AF. $144,900 DT) have continued their good form in the two’s and both are in contention for Round 3 selection. I’m trading in Byrne for Fantasy if he’s named.

 

There you have it. Feel free to ask me a question below and don’t forget to add me on Twitter @JeppaDT for all things Fantasy and more. Happy trading!