Essendon AFL Fantasy Classic Prices 2019

After a poor start to the 2018 H&A season Essendon were able to make adjustments mid-year for improvement, after averaging 374.5 Disposals between Rounds 1-12 the Bombers averaged 390.2 Disposals post their Round 13 Bye (Rank 3).

Essendon won 8 of their final 11 games of the 2018 H&A season, they averaged 392.0 Disposals from winning games & 379.3 Disposals from losing games over the same period.

Many expect the Bombers to be successful next season, an increase in the overall numbers would be likely if that comes to fruition.

Last season only 4 players made their debut at the Bombers, none debuted between Rounds 12-23. The Bombers ranked last on games played once a player made a debut, whilst this is not a definitive indicator from year-year it does provide a bit of perspective on the short leash at Essendon for rookies.

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2019 Potential Targets:

Zach Merrett MID $736K

Removing the concussion related Round 1 & subsequent low scores in Rounds 2 & 3 for an average of just 53.7pts Merrett responded by averaging 109.0pts from his final 19 games of the season, he scored 100pts or more in 73.7% of games & 120pts or more in 31.6% of games between Rounds 4-23.

The addition of Dylan Shiel does provide a different mix on the outside at the Bombers next year, the 2 game JLT Series may be too small of a sample size to gauge any possible negative impact for Merrett next season.

Merrett is value based on his previous fantasy history, he will likely have a high ownership at Round 1 next season which is something to consider.

Devon Smith MID/FWD $774K

After averaging 93.6pts in his opening 7 games last season Smith excelled at his new club averaging 112.7pts from his final 15 games which included an average of 120.9pts from his final 8 games.

Smith scored 100pts or more in 54.5% of games & 120pts or more in 27.3% of games in 2018, he scored 100pts or more in 70.0% of games & 120pts or more in 50.0% of games post the Round 13 Bye.

Smith averaged a career season high 8.5 Tackles last season (AFL Rank: 1), this was a significant increase from his previous average season highs of 4.5 Tackles in 2015 & 2017 at the Giants.

Smith thrived as an inside midfielder in his first year at the Bombers, his role will likely remain the same in 2019 and as a result similar numbers would be expected.

Zac Clarke RUC $270K

This choice is more about the opportunity for Clarke to play in 2019, Tom Bellchambers has played in only 75.6% of games in the last 2 years while Shaun McKernan has also been utilised in the Ruck.

Spending up from a rookie Ruck with little to no opportunity to a veteran Ruck could be rewarding if Clarke were to be elevated to the No.1 spot in the right situation, it does save an in-season trade and could result in a small edge against other coaches less willing to do so.

Obviously as the pre-season evolves we will get a clearer grasp on the Ruck situation at Essendon and the chances of Clarke playing in 2019, until then keep him on your watch-list as a possible bench option to start the year.

 

Download prices, positions and stats pdf.

Player	Position	2018 Avg	2018 Gms	2019 Price
Smith, Devon	MID/FWD	106.64	22	$774000
Heppell, Dyson	MID	101.64	22	$738000
Merrett, Zach	MID	101.45	22	$736000
Zaharakis, David	MID	97.06	17	$704000
Shiel, Dylan	MID	89.19	21	$647000
Hurley, Michael	DEF	83.75	20	$608000
Langford, Kyle	MID/FWD	80.19	16	$582000
Bellchambers, Tom	RUC	79.55	20	$577000
Fantasia, Orazio	FWD	79.46	13	$577000
Myers, David	MID	78.13	16	$567000
Daniher, Joe	FWD	63.86	7	$560000
Parish, Darcy	MID/FWD	74.73	15	$542000
McKernan, Shaun	FWD	74.2	10	$538000
McGrath, Andrew	DEF/MID	71.4	20	$518000
Hooker, Cale	DEF	70.27	22	$510000
Stringer, Jake	FWD	69.35	20	$503000
Brown, Mitch	FWD	67.29	14	$488000
McDonald-Tipungwuti, Anthony	FWD	65.64	22	$476000
McKenna, Conor	DEF	65.06	18	$472000
Guelfi, Matt	MID	63.07	15	$458000
Baguley, Mark	FWD	62.85	20	$456000
Redman, Mason	DEF	81.5	2	$450000
Stewart, James	FWD	60.82	11	$441000
Saad, Adam	DEF	59.18	22	$429000
Francis, Aaron	DEF	65	5	$401000
Dea, Matt	DEF	54.83	12	$398000
Laverde, Jayden	FWD	59	7	$390000
Begley, Josh	FWD	40.2	5	$355000
Mutch, Kobe	MID	60	3	$344000
Long, Jake	MID	62	2	$342000
Ambrose, Patrick	DEF	44.43	7	$331000
Gleeson, Martin	DEF	0	0	$329000
McNiece, Ben	DEF	46.88	8	$324000
Hartley, Michael	DEF	53.5	4	$318000
Ridley, Jordan	DEF	54	3	$310000
Clarke, Zac	RUC	0	0	$270000
Clarke, Dylan	MID	46	1	$250000
Mosquito, Irving	MID/FWD	0	0	$196000
Zerk-Thatcher, Brandon	DEF	0	0	$170000
Houlahan, Jordan	FWD	0	0	$170000
Lavender, Luke	FWD	0	0	$170000
Mynott, Trent	MID	0	0	$170000
Draper, Sam	RUC	0	0	$170000
Ham, Brayden	FWD	0	0	$170000
Gown, Noah	FWD	0	0	$170000
Jok, Thomas	MID	0	0	$170000