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Possible 2021 Fantasy position changes

We may lose some premium DPPs, but there could be some replacements.

Fantasy positions will be finalised and revealed in mid-late-December as lists will be ‘finalised’ following the Draft which is set to be held in the week of the 7th December.

As with every year, there will be plenty of position changes ahead of the new season.

Using the position additions throughout the season by Champion Data and their AFL Player Ratings, we’ve tried to find the key changes that will be the most Fantasy relevant in 2021.

WHITFIELD GOES BACK TO DEF

This time last year we saw Lachie Whitfield go from having DEF status in 2019 to MID/FWD status in 2020. According to the Player Ratings, Whitfield will be a DEF next season. He generally lined up at half-back and racked up a lot of his numbers, including those handy +6s, in the back-half of the ground. There is a chance that he’ll have DEF/MID status despite just being named up as a DEF by the Player Ratings (they don’t have any DPP for defenders.

Whitfield with DEF status will place him as the second most expensive defender due to his 2020 average of 86.4. Jake Lloyd averaged 91.5.

OTHERS TO LOSE FWD STATUS

The top scoring Fantasy forward in 2020, one point more than Whitfield, was Christian Petracca. He enjoyed a cracking season due to his midfield role and this is likely to make him a MID only next season.

Other top performing MID/FWDs from this year that are are good odds to be MID only include Hugh Greenwood and Andrew Brayshaw. Their spike in output was because of their midfield usage. Greenwood averaged 77% of centre bounce attendances. While Brayshaw attended ‘just’ 42% of CBAs, he is named up as a MID in the Player Ratings.

Jy Simpkin and Bailey Smith were popular mid-priced players that improved their numbers. They will be stripped of their FWD status and be MID only.

Although David Swallow gained FWD status in the first lot of DPP additions, his season-long 61% CBAs would nearly put a line through him holding that for 20201.

DUNKLEY, DANGERFIELD NOW FWDS?

A big name of the trade period, who remains a Dog is Josh Dunkley. While some joked about him gaining ruck status due to his couple of games where he was the main man in there, despite English playing, he was used as a forward for a lot of the season. A tale is told by the Bulldogs’ CBAs. Dunkley was in the guts for 77%, 80% and 87% for the first three rounds, but coming back from injury, he peaked at 41%, averaging less than 25% for his last 8 games.

While some was bench, he was primarily forward and this should see him as a MID/FWD in 2021.

But, as discussed on last week’s podcast… can we touch (or trust) any of the Dogs?

It’ll be interesting to see whether Patrick Dangerfield gets the DPP he’s been talked up to gain. He missed out on the second round of DPP additions by a few percent, but finals games count towards the positions that Champion Data provide for the Fantasy competitions. In the semi-final he booted 4 goals and played 81% as a forward. Throughout the finals he spent plenty of time forward and it could be very close to him being named as a MID/FWD in 2021.

Steele Sidebottom and Dayne Zorko added FWD to their MID status’ during the season and could be in the mix for dual-position status. One of Roy’s favourites, Zac Bailey, is listed as MID/FWD by the Player Ratings after being a DEF/MID in Fantasy this year.

Two-time Norm Smith Medallist Dustin Martin is called a MID/FWD by Player Ratings, but interestingly, he has the highest percentage of centre bounce attendances for the Tigers with 76%. It will be interesting to see how the numbers come out and whether he is DPP again.

2020 DUAL POSITION PLAYER ADDITIONS

Each year the team at Champion Data adjust the Fantasy classifications for players in a single position to reflect what roles they have been playing. From what we understand, their cut off is approximately 35% in the ‘new’ position (which is what we see give them DPP when they are initially set up in early December).

Due to a shortened season, there was just two rollouts of DPP additions in 2020. The first was prior to round six as per normal, the second was following round 12 rather than before. This was due to the condensed fixtures and that round 12 was at the end of the first block of condensed fixtures.

A total of 48 players added DPP,

PRE-ROUND 6 ADDITIONS

Magpie gun Steele Sidebottom was the biggest name to gain DPP in the first rollout but coaches didn’t really get to take advantage of it. He was suspended for breaching COVID-19 protocols. When he returned, his price was extremely high due to his cracking start to the year. Soon after he left the hub to return to Melbourne to be with his pregnant wife.

PlayerClubInitialAddNew
Brodie Smith DEFMIDDEF/MID
Ben Keays FWDMIDMID/FWD
Cameron Rayner FWDMIDMID/FWD
Chris Mayne MIDDEFDEF/MID
Tom Phillips MIDFWDMID/FWD
Will Hoskin-Elliott FWDMIDMID/FWD
Steele Sidebottom MIDFWDMID/FWD
Jake Stringer FWDMIDMID/FWD
David Zaharakis MIDFWDMID/FWD
Reece Conca MIDDEFDEF/MID
James Aish DEFMIDDEF/MID
Brett Bewley FWDMIDMID/FWD
Lachie Weller DEFMIDDEF/MID
Jack Bowes MIDDEFDEF/MID
David Swallow MIDFWDMID/FWD
Darcy Fort FWDRUCRUC/FWD
Shaun BurgoyneDEFFWDDEF/FWD
Ben McEvoyRUCDEFDEF/RUC
Jay Lockhart FWDDEFDEF/FWD
James Harmes MIDDEFDEF/MID
Christian Petracca FWDMIDMID/FWD
Aaron Hall MIDFWDMID/FWD
Zak Butters FWDMIDMID/FWD
Connor Rozee FWDMIDMID/FWD
Jarryn Geary DEFFWDDEF/FWD
Ben Long FWDDEFDEF/FWD
Harry Cunningham DEFMIDDEF/MID
Tom Liberatore MIDFWDMID/FWD

POST-ROUND 12 ADDITIONS

Lions captain Dayne Zorko has been a Fantasy favourite over the years and his DPP was a welcomed addition. The recently traded Isaac Smith is another that could be a relevant FWD in 2021 as well as Jye Caldwell.

PlayerClubInitialAddNew
Ned McHenry MIDFWDMID/FWD
Dayne Zorko MIDFWDMID/FWD
Cam Ellis-Yolmen MIDFWDMID/FWD
Matthew Kennedy FWDMIDMID/FWD
Orazio Fantasia FWDDEFDEF/FWD
Rory Lobb RUCFWDRUC/FWD
Will Powell MIDDEFDEF/MID
Mark Blicavs DEFMIDDEF/MID
Jye Caldwell MIDFWDMID/FWD
Isaac Smith MIDFWDMID/FWD
Luke Jackson RUCFWDRUC/FWD
Harley Bennell MIDFWDMID/FWD
Adam Tomlinson MIDDEFDEF/MID
Kyron Hayden MIDDEFDEF/MID
Sam Mayes MIDDEFDEF/MID
Kane Farrell FWDMIDMID/FWD
Kane LambertFWDMIDMID/FWD
Shai BoltonFWDMIDMID/FWD
Brendon Ah Chee MIDFWDMID/FWD
Oscar Allen FWDRUCRUC/FWD

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Warnie

Co-captain of DT Talk since we started this thing in 2007. Best finish was 13th in 2009... that was a long time ago. Follow on Twitter: @WarnieDT

7 Comments

7 Comments

  1. Avatar

    Steve

    November 15, 2020 at 8:51 pm

    When can we expect to get some confirmation around positions?

    Reply
    • Warnie

      Warnie

      November 15, 2020 at 9:56 pm

      It’s not usually until after the draft when lists are finalised.

      Reply
  2. Avatar

    Marcus Lawton

    November 16, 2020 at 4:42 pm

    Hi Warnie,
    I’ve been playing the game for a while now and as most people on here, I think I know a fair bit about the game of AFL. I have never really came close to winning as I normally just pick the best players and fill spots around them. But I think next year 2021 I might go with a different stratergy as I might Pick 1 or 2 top scoring players from the Midfield or Ruck ( M Gawn, L Neale) and then 3 Top Scorers from Backline and Forward line (R Laird, Z Williams, J Lloyd) and (P Dangerfield, Petracca, T Boak) then pick the players I think have the potential to have a better year than last year. I know it’s only November and there is a lot of water to go under the bridge so as to speak before the start of next year but is this a good stratergy to go with?

    Reply
    • Warnie

      Warnie

      November 17, 2020 at 7:18 am

      G’day Marcus.

      I’ve always had the theory of every player in my side has some upside. Unfortunately that doesn’t always work out, but it’s a good place to start. The names you have listed there are good – rolling with a typical guns n rookies set up with some midpriced/bargain players in there. That’s the way the best coaches operate.

      In my theory, I wouldn’t be starting with Neale, for example, as he’s basically at maximum price. Look for the improvers, the discounted premiums, those who were a bit down on their usual output (we need to work out who hated the hub!!), etc.

      Fit the most points you can on your field. There’s a lot of water to go under the bridge – and we still need to see prices – but getting a bit of an idea of how you can distribute your coin, while still rolling with the tried and true guns n rookies strategy, will get you set up. It’s a fine balance as the midpricers can win it for you, but they don’t always come off!

      Big pre-season coming up!!

      Reply
  3. Avatar

    Marcus Lawton

    November 17, 2020 at 3:59 pm

    Thanks Warnie,

    Much appreciated

    Reply
  4. Aidan7557

    Aidan7557

    November 30, 2020 at 7:39 pm

    Hey guys I know it’s early but I recently launched my first pre-season video, if any of you guys are bored feel free to check it out! link is :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftpz57w9hig

    Reply
  5. Avatar

    Desslok

    December 2, 2020 at 2:05 pm

    Lots of chatter on SEN this morning about the 2021 preseason .. with the late (post christmas) return of players for preseason training the league is apparently reconsidering the quantity of preseason matches. With possibily as little as one match. Pretty much forcing teams to field a “best 22” for that one hitout before the season proper kicks off.

    Very little exposed form to pick our fantasy sides from .. and good luck picking rookies, your side could be full of relton roberts by round2.

    Reply

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