GameDay Squad – Round 5 Trading Targets

Absolute carnageeeeee coming out of round 4 and the world of fantasy footy is up in virtual flames… this is why we love this game… right? 2022’s D1 and everybody’s cosy safety blanket Sam Docherty, is out for 4-6 weeks after sustaining an inconspicuous knee injury. Budding Hawthorn star Will Day has been flagrantly shafted by the MRO, ruling him out for 2 weeks. Oh, and to top it all off Toby Nankervis, who is averaging a cool 122 GameDay Squad points per game, now has to have ankle surgery. I mean, round 4, get in the absolute bin!

Maybe my biggest question from the weekend is – is Jezza Cameron the reincarnation of like a Gary Ablett Sr, James Hird, Nick Riewoldt hybrid robot superstar? The only thing he isn’t doing for the Cats right now is pinch-hitting in the ruck… Yet!

Now that round 4 is thankfully behind us we are going to look forward to *hopefully* greener pastures for round 5! GameDay Squad is a little bit different to your more traditional AFL Fantasy and AFL Supercoach platforms. Some features that make it a little bit of a different experience are:
There are no weekly trade restrictions, which means that you can take your MRO frustrations out stress-free.

In GDS the cards you use to play are virtual player cards which you can collect from player card packs, with that, there is a fully functioning peer-to-peer transfer market in which you can trade, auction and sell player cards that you own. Yes, this means that you can not only rage trade but rage sell all of your Rory Laird cards!

It’s also essential to keep in mind that GameDay Squad is a dynasty fantasy football platform and that will be heavily taken into consideration in this article.

GameDay Squad – Create. Coach. Compete.

BUY!

Noah Anderson

Gold Coast Suns – Midfielder (MID)

It took him three weeks but I think Noah Anderson has finally opened up my Instagram DM’s! I won’t disclose everything I said, but it went something along the lines of “I love you… pls lift… stop hiding from the ball… Matt Rowell is better than you now… Get a touch you *****… ect. Restraining order aside, I am happy to take on the monicker of the biggest Noah Anderson truther in the country amongst those close to me. While the first three weeks were a disaster, Anderson reminded the entire fantasy community of just how powerful of a fantasy scorer he is. In 2022, Anderson took a massive leap, ranking 16th overall amongst all GDS midfielders with an average of 119 GDS fantasy points per game. He reminded us of why so many fantasy coaches had him in their early off-season and pre-season plans in round 4, scoring 187 GDS fantasy points off the back of a 25 kick, 13 handball, 3 mark, 10 tackle and 1 goal outing in the Suns loss to the league-leading Saints. Noah’s play style and fantasy profile of high kick-to-handball ratio, goal-scoring ability, high centre-bounce-attendance percentage and high scoring ceiling makes him one of the more promising players at the midfield position. If he can string some more of these big games together, he could be a great player-of-difference option, and while doing a little bit of GameDay Squad market research I can see that the lowest-priced Noah Anderson card at the time of writing is a silver card for $6.99, which I think is incredible value for classic owners given his round 4 score!

Sam Walsh

Carlton Blues – Midfielder (MID)

It’s been easy to forget about Sammy Walsh but now might be the best time to go out and secure a Walsh card! We now know the Walsh will return in round 5 from his back surgery that he had over the off-season and from what we have seen from Carlton and their midfield rotations, it’s very easy to see where Walsh will fit in. Outside of Patty Cripps, the four highest-averaging CBA attendees for the Blues has been Ed Curnow, Adam Cerra, George Hewett and Matt Kennedy. Now, while those four have been serviceable for Vossy… Walsh has talent and skillsets that those four combined probably couldn’t top. While we can expect Walsh to rocket up the depth chart of Carlton’s midfield ranks, it might be best to give him a week, just in case his time-on-ground percentage takes a bit of a hit, given he had like back surgery and stuff over the off-season, but definitely pencil him in a spot in your lineups and go get him before the crowds do!

SELL!

Andy McGrath

Essendon Bombers – Defender (DEF)

We have been down this road many times but still, there was genuine excitement coming into the season when it was announced that Andy McGrath was going to be returning to the half-back line for the Essendon Bombers… lol. His role in the backline has proven to be true, not recording a single CBA through the first four rounds, but his scores have not even touched the surface of the excitement McGrath owners generated. His average now through the first 4 rounds is 90 GDS fantasy points per game while positional teammates in Jordan Ridley (102 GDS points per game) and Mason Redman (119 GDS fantasy points per game) are quietly killing it. Even with the round-four defender crisis, McGrath won’t be getting a single iota of thought for selection, and I can’t see his season getting any better for owners.

Ben Keays

Adelaide Crows – Midfielder (MID)

Turns out some centre-bounce-attendances do not fix Ben Keays’ problems at all! Keays saw his highest CBA percentage game so far this season in 2023 (46%), and while he managed to put up his second-highest score of the season, scoring 91 GDS fantasy points, a score like that still renders Keays unusable while he is still considered a midfielder in GameDay Squad Aussie Rules. If there ever is a time to sell Keays, now might be the best time. I can’t see Keays cracking 60+% CBAs consistently like he used to, there’s every chance he gains a position change in 2024, but with his high scores so dependent on impacting the scoreboard at the moment, I would sell high while it is still somewhat possible.

For AFL fantasy it’s a little bit of a different story! While in GDS his time spent forward is a little bit of a kick in the guts, putting my AFL fantasy hat on, he’s odds on to see forward DPP and in that case, he’s a must hold.

HOLD…

Bailey Smith

Western Bulldogs – Midfielder (MID)

I’m sorry Baz, this is more of a personal vendetta I have against Luke Beverage right now. It is insane to me, that Bailey Smith, one of the most damaging players in the AFL at his best, is averaging just 32% centre-bounce-attendances per game… 32%! With that level of opportunity, Smith is unfortunately un-startable, but because of his age and how talented he is, Baz remains a hold in your squads until Bevo stops Bevo’ing him out of consideration. It feels like a timely time, to remind everyone of just how good this guy is when he isn’t stashed in the forward line for the dogs. In 2022, Smith ranked 10th league-wide in GameDay Squad scoring, with an average of 124 GDS fantasy points per game at just 21 years old. So yes, Smith is a must-hold for the time being, do not sell!

And like Keays above! From an AFL fantasy perspective, Smith is a good shout for forward DPP as well! Even more of a hold!

Sam Docherty

Carlton Blues – Defender (DEF)

I’ve been banging this drum every buy, sell, hold blog so far this season, the message is simple. Do not sell your premos because of an injury! 4-6 weeks for Docherty hurts so bad, I get it but do not use absence as a reason to sell. The same was said for Tom Stewart, Max Gawn and Jack Steele, no different here with Doch. Now owning and starting Doch has been frustrating, to say the least so far this season, we’ve seen games as low as 85 GDS fantasy points in round 4 (Potentially injury related?) and as high as 160 GDS fantasy points in round 3. The volatility in his scoring has been due to him playing this weird super high half-back flank-to-rover role, that we haven’t been used to seeing Docherty play in the past. When he’s back, Carlton will have Sam Walsh back in the side, fit and firing as well as George Hewett, Adam Cerra, Matt Kennedy and Ed Curnow all playing a role inside, so hopefully that means Docherty can revert back to the high volume kick/mark and intercept marking role we all know and love as fantasy coaches.

The information contained in the article is not intended and should not be understood or construed as financial advice. As always please do your own research, my placing history suggests you should absolutely do your own research!