16 down, 8 to go!

Not gonna lie, I didn’t expect Rory Laird, Josh Dunkley and Tim Taranto to be outscored by a trio of Darcy Wilmot, Josh Weddle and Ryan Maric last weekend! With the final third of the 2023 fantasy season upon us, the mantra of ditching your on field rookies is still ringing in coaches ears as we all chase a completed team. However, it’s clear that some of the mainstream cash cows are still capable of generating additional wealth and putting up strong scores in the process. It will undoubtedly go quickly, but a lot can unfold in an eight-week span so it pays to make sure you have a contingency plan if your premiums keep failing to fire.

Rookie/cash cows are defined as players who started the season priced at roughly $300,000 or less

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Mooooving On

Part of our weekly trade focus is to remove the rookie-priced players who are no longer making money. When a cash cow sees their average fall in line with their breakeven or they find themselves on the outside looking in for multiple weeks at a time, that’s a good time to give them the axe.

Fattened cash cows

1. Bailey Humphrey, Suns ($523K, AVG 57, BE 86)
2. Alex Cincotta, Blues ($375K, AVG 51, BE 62)
3. Harvey Harrison, Magpies ($291K, AVG 40, BE 42)
4. Will Ashcroft, Lions ($685K, AVG 82, BE 78)
5. Harry Sheezel, Kangaroos ($769K, AVG 98, BE 97)

Injured/non-playing rookies

1. Blake Drury, Kangaroos ($234K, AVG 31, BE 31)
2. Lachlan Cowan, Blues ($327K, AVG 41, BE 29)
3. Jacob van Rooyen, Demons ($434K, AVG 51, BE 50)
4. Alwyn Davey Jr, Bombers ($300K, AVG 40, BE 44)
5. Harry Sharp, Lions ($332K, AVG 59, BE 5)

Cash Cow King – Round 16

The established rookies once again featured in the CCK scorers list, with Harry Sheezel (106) expanding the gap between him and the field thanks to his 100+ score. Will Ashcroft (95) and ascending Swan Angus Sheldrick (93) weren’t too far behind him thanks to their heroics early in the round while popular bench pieces Matthew Johnson (87) and Darcy Wilmot (87) maintained the strong form they displayed during the bye rounds.

Round 16 Power Rankings

After 16 weeks of action, these are the top 10 cash cow performers in season 2023!

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Making Moves

Money makers

There aren’t many rookies left on the field for coaches but after his successful scores in the past month, Angus Sheldrick ($465K, 93, BE -23) is gaining a lot more trust in the fantasy community. Over a quarter of the comp started the Sydney rook on the field in Round 16 with a healthy portion of the fantasy faithful opting to loop his score onto their field as well. That percentage should only grow thanks to Sheldrick’s 90+ average in the last four games and a date with the Tigers on Thursday should hopefully lead to another impressive score. If Sheldrick isn’t on the field, then it’s possible coaches are still playing Matthew Johnson ($531K, 87, BE 28) as the Freo MID managed to top 85 points for the third time in four weeks. I’d feel safer starting Sheldrick over his discounted Dockers counterpart, although these two will be featured in some capacity by the majority of their coaches this weekend.

West Coast hasn’t been scoring in great doses this season, however a trio of young Eagles are set to assist coaches greatly over the final two months of the fantasy campaign. Last week, Elijah Hewett ($269K, 65, BE 9) was the most traded in player and he rewarded those who invested in him with a season-best score that included a ripper third-quarter goal. I’ve got confidence in Hewett continuing to climb in value and serve as handy bench cover in the process, similar to his teammates Ryan Maric ($273K, 71, BE -2) and Campbell Chesser ($314K, 61, BE 23). Chesser has taken a while to find his groove and I wouldn’t be expecting a great deal of additional growth from him or Maric, but they still loom as some of the best bench picks available right now. Jaspa Fletcher ($361K, 77, BE 8) also falls into that category with Brisbane’s budding midfielder standing out last Thursday with 18 touches and seven marks.

Keep the faith

The rooks in this section have made the majority of their cash and there are a handful of coaches who still may be trusting them to contribute to their weekly point total. Standout cash cows Will Ashcroft ($685K, 95, BE 78) and Harry Sheezel ($769K, 106, BE 83) were the top-2 scorers last round and there’s no reason to think they’ll change their tune heading in to Round 17. With the Eagles on the horizon, a perfect play would be to take Ashcroft’s score and then upgrade him to a gun midfielder, while Sheezel has a longer leash thanks to his DEF/FWD status and the ability to access points in a hurry.

Sheez’s draft peer George Wardlaw ($496K, 86, BE 39) rewarded the fantasy crew that decided to hold him following North’s bye, as Wardlaw helped himself to 22 disposals and seven tackles against the Crows. Most coaches would have already moved on from the Roos rook and Darcy Wilmot ($520K, 87, BE 34) is another cash cow who has kicked into another gear to ensure he still rises in price. Both Wardlaw and Wilmot are risky on-field options and if you can afford to stash them on the bench, they’ll provide coaches with a nice cash boost when it comes time to offload them. Some even took a chance on forgotten Blue David Cuningham ($344K, 74, BE 13) and after he scored 61 points in the first half vs. the Hawks, it’s fair to assume he still has a role to play for the fantasy community.

Speaking of Hawthorn, defenders Josh Weddle ($527K, 83, BE 54) and Seamus Mitchell ($596K, 79, BE 56) put up strong scores that would’ve been an asset to some of the coaches out there. Weddle is still the inferior rookie compared to Seamus if you ask me, although a pair of breakevens in the 50’s mean you can prioritise other players as trade out options. Often mentioned in the same bracket as the Hawks duo, Dylan Williams ($572K, 75, BE 58) continues to produce at an eerily similar rate. With another group of coaches axing the Port backman this week, Williams’ ownership has now dipped below 3% and even though he may still produce some decent scores, I can understand why he is being ditched as we near the pointy end of the season.

GameDay Squad – Create. Coach. Compete.

Cut them loose

Honestly, any of the rookies mentioned in the ‘keep the faith’ segment can be sent packing for the right upgrade, however there are some cash cows that are much more pressing issues to address at the trade table. Samson Ryan ($366K, 25, BE 73) is trending backwards after chalking up just five touches last round and Alex Cincotta ($375K, 24, BE 62) finds himself in the same boat after he too dropped a sub-30 score. These two along with Gold Coast prospect Bailey Humphrey ($523K, 45, BE 86) have seen their BE shoot way above their season average and as a result, trading any combination of them is the smartest play. There are still over 16,000 coaches who have Will Phillips ($535K, 61, BE 65) in their squad of 30 and while most of those teams are likely ghostships who have punted on the season, anyone reading this who still owns the Roos talent must act swiftly and give him the flick.

Thin Ice

Last weekend saw the triumphant return of Hawks forward Fergus Greene ($361K, 68, BE 50) for his first game since Round 8 and he responded with a strong score fuelled by 2.2 in front of goal. Greene made most of his money in the early portion of the season and was then sent packing, so I can’t imagine there will be too many coaches interested in his updates. It’s possible a few coaches rolled the dice on Bulldogs pair James O’Donnell ($219K, 34, BE 15) and Lachlan McNeil ($246K, 42, BE 18) although I wouldn’t advise trading in either of them. Lastly, to cover the rookie ruck stocks, we saw Harry Barnett ($241K, 9, BE 45) and Dante Visentini ($200K, 9, BE 49) crack the rotation for their AFL debut in Round 16, although they’re a few years away from fantasy relevance. If you have a player who has risen a healthy amount sitting at R3, then ditching them for one of these RUC products or even Jack Williams ($202K, 49, BE 32) is a fine move to generate extra cash.

Sub status

Subbed On – Harvey Harrison, Ryan Angwin, Harry Barnett

Subbed Off – Jye Menzie, Dante Visentini

As mentioned, two ruckmen saw an AFL field for the first time in the most recent slate of games, but their TOG was limited thanks to the sub vest. Some familiar names were among the substitutes in Round 16, with Magpies rookie Harvey Harrison ($291K, 4, BE 42) seeing his cash generation stall after he managed two handballs in 35% game time vs. Gold Coast. Spare a thought for Ryan Clarke as well with the Sydney utility becoming the second sub this year who failed to see the field.

Reserves Watch

Straight off the bat, we’re going to be blessed with two basement-priced debutants this round thanks to Richmond finally giving them a berth. Jacob Bauer and Sam Banks are in line to play their first AFL game on Thursday against the Swans, with a combined 3,000+ coaches already opting to trade one or both of the untried Tigers into their squad. I lean slightly towards the DEF/MID in Banks, who averages over 19 touches and 78.8 points from his 12 VFL games – although key swingman Bauer is another fine pick showcasing his talents at both ends of the ground, averaging almost 14 disposals a game and 62.6 points.

Outside of the Tigers duo, Elijah Tsatas and Jaxon Binns remain the best possible options should they break into their respective AFL sides. Budding Bomber and last year’s No. 5 pick Tsatas scored 125 against Gold Coast in the VFL, gathering 33 disposals, five clearances and laying eight tackles. Binns also maintained his elite form for the Blues’ reserves with 29 touches, five marks and six tackles equalling a score of 128. That helped inflate his VFL season average to 112.6 with the first-year Carlton prospect recording 21 kicks a game in the two’s. Come on Vossy, enough is enough.

Here are the state league stats from Round 16 for all the relevant fantasy cash cows:

Jacob Bauer, RIC (123) – 24 disposals, 12 marks, 3 goals
Jaxon Binns, CAR (128) – 29 touches, 5 marks, 6 tackles
James Borlase, ADE (102) – 18 touches, 13 marks
Lachlan Cowan, CAR (83) – 25 disposals
Cam Fleeton, GWS (88) – 21 touches, 8 marks
Will Gould, SYD (84) – 19 disposals, 9 marks
Cooper Harvey, NTH (128) – 20 disposals, 9 marks, 5.3 in front of goal
Max Heath, STK (108) – 12 touches, 4 marks, 4 tackles, 44 hitouts
Mitch Knevitt, GEE (120) – 20 touches, 4 marks, 12 tackles
Kai Lohmann, BRIS (99) – 20 disposals, 7 marks, 4 tackles
Finally Macrae, COLL (123) – 27 disposals, 10 tackles, 1 goal
Cam Mackenzie, HAW (97) – 23 touches, 5 tackles, 2 goals
Lachlan McAndrew, SYD (80) – 12 touches, 5 tackles, 32 hitouts
Oisin Mullin, GEE (70) – 19 disposals, 4 marks
Luke Nankervis, ADE (74) – 22 touches, 8 marks
Harry Sharp, BRIS (72) – 23 touches, 1 goal
Josh Sinn, PA (71) – 21 disposals
Elijah Tsatas, ESS (129) – 34 disposals, 8 tackles
Jacob van Rooyen, MELB (100) – 16 disposals, 8 marks, 4.1 in front of goal
Taj Woewodin, MELB (113) – 31 touches, 6 marks, 3 goals
Karl Worner, FREO (98) – 29 disposals, 7 marks

Remember the Name

In no particular order, here are some of the other rookie-priced players to consider throughout the season.

DEFENDERS

Jake Stein (Suns, $288K)
Rhett Montgomerie (Bombers, $200K)
Jakob Ryan (Magpies, $246K)
Sam Banks (Tigers, $200K)
Karl Worner (Freo, $200K)
Sam Durdin (Blues, $213K)
Darragh Joyce (Lions, $241K)

MIDFIELDERS

Connor Blakely (Suns, $235K)
Billy Dowling (Crows, $216K)
Elijah Tsatas (Bombers, $292K)
Ed Allen (Magpies, $264K)
Hugh Bond (Crows, $202K)
Mitch Hardie (Cats, $200K)
Jack Peris (Saints, $200K)
Henry Hustwaite (Hawks, $228K)

RUCKMEN

Jacob Edwards (Kangaroos, $200K)
Alex Mirkov (Blues, $200K)
Hamish Free (Kangaroos, $200K)
Max Heath (Saints, $200K)

FORWARDS

Jaxon Binns (Blues, $238K)
Joe Richards (Magpies, $206K)
Finlay Macrae (Magpies, $290K)
Hugh Jackson (Power, $200K)
James Willis (Cats, $200K)
Jaiden Hunter (Bombers, $200K)
Patrick Voss (Bombers, $200K)

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