How do you Compare to the Top 100 AFL Fantasy Coaches (Finals 2018)?

As I was preparing the statistics for the top 100 AFL Fantasy coaches, I thought that it was a good idea to roast macadamia nuts at the same time. I wanted that smokey taste so I decided to roast the nuts in their shells.  Now I can hear all of you saying, “Magtuto, what does that got to do with AFL Fantasy?”.  Well, let me tell you!  Because I was preparing the stats, I forgot that I was roasting the macadamias.  The smell of fresh roasted macadamias was overwhelming my house, it was a beautiful smokey aroma. I forced myself out of the computer room and I took the nuts out of the oven.  When I cracked the shell open, the nuts were blackened, overcooked, and inedible.  I was devastated!

Now, all year around, I’ve been playing the “lets pick a bargain premium F5 and F6 defender”.  I have rotated through players like B. Ellis, Seedmans, more recently, Goddard and Hurley. While I have maintained a decent ranking this year (1619),  not paying up for players like Laird and Whitfield has certainly cost me a higher ranking.  Every time I bring these players, I looked forward to getting 80’s, 90s and yeah maybe the occasional 100’s from them.  Wouldn’t that be nice?  So to me they are like roasting macadamia nuts, you put them in the oven (you finally select the trade button to bring them in), the roasted aroma is amazing (previous stats indicated that they will be decent), it cooks then you open the shell  (they play) and all you get is burnt nuts (Goddard and Hurley).  My vent is now over – which players have made and broken your ranking this year?

The following data and information will focus on the most selected players in the top 100 AFL Fantasy coaches.  I have filtered the statistics below to count only the players that are “on-field”  and hence bench players are not counted. If you want a full copy of the raw data, make sure you follow me on twitter @magtuto. So again, this year I ask, “How do I compare with the top 100 AFL Fantasy Coaches?”.  My team has 15/22 of the vanilla selection as per listed below.

DEFENDERS

R Laird. (100%), J. Lloyd (99%), E. Yeo (98%), A. Brayshaw (94%), L. Whitfield (94%) & K. Simpson (78%)

MIDFIELDERS

T. Mitchell (100%), Z. Merrett (90%), J. Kelly (83%), S. Coniglio (78%), P. Cripps (51%), A. Gaff (50%), M. Crouch (46%), J. Macrae (43%)

RUCKS

M. Gawn (100%) &  B. Grundy (52%)

FORWARDS

D. Smith (99%), T. McLean (92%), T. Rockliff (72%), P. Dangerfield (78%), J. Westhoff (71%), & I. Heeney (58%)

Defenders

D1 R. Laird $686K Ownership 66% Top 100 Ownership 100%

D2 J. Lloyd $671K Ownership 42% Top 100 Ownership 99%

D3 E. Yeo $713K Ownership 56% Top 100 Ownership 98%

D4 A. Brayshaw $695K Ownership 29% Top 100 Ownership 94%

D5 L.  Whitfield $728K Ownership 22% Top 100 Ownership 94%

D6 K. Simpson $650K Ownership 44% Top 100 Ownership 78%

These six players represent the most common premium defenders in the top 100. The highest averaging player in defence, R. Laird (100%), once again has claimed the number 1 mantle.  If you are trying to gain ground on the top 100, the defence is not the line that you want to attack.  If you are thinking that Simpson is too old and Whitfield will surely get tagged soon, then I offer you Goddard and Hurley. Don’t do it. They are both burnt nuts!

Midfielders 

M1 T. Mitchell $936K Ownership 74% Top 100 Ownership 100%

M2 Z. Merrett $745K Ownership 26% Top 100 Ownership 90%

M3 J. Kelly $731K Ownership 27% Top 100 Ownership 83%

M4 S. Coniglio $700K Ownership 29% Top 100 Ownership 78%

M5 P. Cripps $755K Ownership 25% Top 100 Ownership 51%

M6 A. Gaff $766K Ownership  16% Top 100 Ownership 50%

M7 M. Crouch $710K Ownership 10% Top 100 Ownership 46%

M8 J. Macrae $712K Ownership 11% Top 100 Ownership 43%

These eight players represent the most common midfielders in the top 100.  Tom Mitchell, how good is this guy? His form over the last 5 weeks is amazing. When Mitchell scores above 84 AFL fantasy points this year (13 times)  his average is about 146.  In cricketing terms, once he eyes that century, he keeps going!  In week 18, 99 of the top 100 coaches placed the “C” on Mitchell and 1 of the top 100 selected Gaff.  This week (week 19), No 36 said “I will go against Titch (160) and I will pick Macrae (112)”.  If you are game, picking a unique captain can definitely shoot you up that ranking, but if it doesn’t work, it’s a pretty lonely experience.

Ruck

R1 M. Gawn $730K Ownership 51% Top 100 Ownership 100%

R2 B. Grundy $759K Ownership 32% Top 100 Ownership 52%

Gawn remains the most selected player in the ruck. It’s significant to note that B. Grundy has now overtaken S. Martin as the second most selected player.  If you were one of the coaches that pulled the Martin to Grundy trigger last week, well done!

Forwards

F1 D. Smith $732K Ownership 37% Top 100 Ownership 99%

F2 T. McLean $607K Ownership 26% Top 100 Ownership 92%

F3 T. Rockliff $626K Ownership 27% Top 100 Ownership 89%

F4 P. Dangerfield $667K Ownership 37% Top 100 Ownership 78%

F5 J. Westhoff $660K Ownership 26% Top 100 Ownership 71%

F6 I. Heeney $560K Ownership 43% Top 100 Ownership 58%

These six players represent the most common premium forwards in the top 100 teams.  Now lets get serious, how many of us thought that the Hoff was a top 6 forward? I sure didn’t, but he has been very consistent this year.  Devon Smith never gets the respect he deserves, he has carried the forward line all year round and if you’ve selected him since round 1, you are a very happy coach.  If you want to attack that ranking, J. Dunkley is your man in the forward line. Nothing wrong with picking the number 1 forward in @RoyDT rolling 22.

My final ‘roast’, the most disappointing AFL Fantasy player this year has got to be Dangerfield.   I’ve had Dangerfield since round 5 and it has not been pretty.  If you thought he was the answer to your forward line woes, be prepared to accept that he might be your F6.

Each week, after “lock-out” I do an analysis of the top 100 AFL Fantasy coaches. If you want to get this information, make sure you follow me on Twitter.

How did you compare?

Add me on Twitter @magtuto and go unique!