22 down, two to go!

We’ve made it to preliminary final weekend, leaving us with one final fortnight of fantasy action before we put our feet up for the summer. Some coaches will be hanging out for the season to end and regardless of what you’re playing for at this point, this year’s cash cow class has greatly contributed to our cause. This week is the start of a two-week award voting process – with coaches able to show their support for the rookies that helped them the most this season. I’ll be back prior to the start of Round 24 with the full award ballot to acknowledge the best cash cows from 2024.

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

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. Zac Taylor, Crows ($378K, 44 AVG, 53 BE)
2. Logan Evans, Power ($556K, 72 AVG, 71 BE)
3. Shaun Mannagh, Cats ($544K, 67 AVG, 57 BE)
4. Lawson Humphries, Cats ($541K, 73 AVG, 54 BE)

Injured/non-playing rookies

1. Bruce Reville, Lions ($344K, 48 AVG, 84 BE)
2. Billy Dowling, Crows ($517K, 66 AVG, 56 BE)
3. Arie Schoenmaker, Saints ($362K, 59 AVG, 15 BE)
4. Andy Moniz-Wakefield, Demons ($380K, 52 AVG, 42 BE)

Cash Cow King – Round 22

We are in for an absurdly close race for the 2024 Cash Cow King award. With three rounds of votes still to be tallied, the top-4 players are separated by just TWO votes and some of our favourite rookies are still putting up huge numbers in an effort to secure the silverware. Jeremy Sharp (112) and Colby McKercher (111) sat at the top of the throne in Round 22 for their 110+ efforts, while familiar faces such as Sam Clohesy (99) and Matt Roberts (91) weren’t far behind their peers. Nate Caddy rounded out the nominees to poll his first votes of the season, but all eyes are fixed on the top of the leaderboard right now.

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Award Nominees

Anyone chasing cash at this point of the season will simply be downgrading to a $200K player on the bench – so instead of focusing on cash cow trades, it’s time to talk awards! To be successful in season 2024, coaches needed the help of reliable rookies and this season gifted us one of the best crops we’ve ever seen. Below you can have your say on which players should be in the mix for the positional MVP awards, and next week I will be back with the final voting ballot for all the rookie/cash cow awards.

Make 2-4 selections (depending on position) for the finalists of each award race.
Voting closes at the conclusion of Round 23

DEFENCE

It wouldn’t be farfetched to say that defence offered the most points for fantasy coaches this year. Premiums like Lachie Whitfield and Harry Sheezel proved to be must-have players, with the defensive rookies equally as important. Starting the year with standalone MID positioning, both Colby McKercher and Matt Roberts added DEF status in Round 6 and went on to serve an important role for their owners. The home run selections didn’t stop there with mid-season draftee Logan Evans and Geelong talent Lawson Humphries bursting onto the scene late, while Blake Howes and Bodhi Uwland were important rookies to own earlier on. Narrowing this position down to just three nominees is tough as you could make a legitimate case for most of them as the best rookie defender in 2024.

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MIDFIELD

I found it tough to determine who deserved a nomination in the midfield group with DPP allowing a lot of our rookies to be swung through multiple lines. However, these 8 cash cows spend most of their season succeeding around stoppages for the fantasy community and making some convenient coin in the process. No rook has scored more total points than Jeremy Sharp and starting the season with him helped coaches get off to a flier – while early season debutants such as Harley Reid, Caleb Windsor, Darcy Wilson and Ryley Sanders were also influential for cash generation. Gold Coast’s duo Sam Clohesy and Will Graham gave us another duo to choose from when Gather Round arrived and Jhye Clark rounded out the nominees after his stellar second season at the Cattery.

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RUCK

As is the way most years, the ruck department wasn’t known for producing great cash cow options. There was some tall timber that put their hands up as money-making options though, with Jordon Sweet finishing second amongst all RUC’s for price increase and Geelong’s prospect Toby Conway clocking in at No. 6 by rising $219K. Outside of that duo, Nathan Kreuger was the only other cheap ruckman who may have entered calculations – with loophole options Harry Barnett and Max Heath just as important for their owners.

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FORWARD

Similar to the midfielders, it was a challenge to determine which cash cows classified as forwards – an area that some coaches may still find themselves fielding a rook. Amongst the uncertainty in the forward line, there have been a few standout rookies with Rising Star favourite Oliver Dempsey leading the charge. Early in the fantasy campaign Dempsey and Dogs youngster Harvey Gallagher were the best investments, with the likes of Harvey Thomas and Kai Lohmann proving to be valuable selections once they got going. In more recent times, Billy Dowling and Shaun Mannagh have aided coaches who still find themselves fielding a cash cow, with their post-bye production significantly helping the bulk of the fantasy community.

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State League Stats

Here are the noteworthy 💰🐮 AFL Fantasy numbers from Round 22 in the state leagues

Hugo Garcia, Saints (162) – 34 disposals, 12 tackles, 3 goals
Mitch Hardie, Cats (141) – 35 disposals, 6 marks, 8 tackles, 2 behinds
Liam Reidy, Dockers (129) – 19 disposals, 54 hitouts
Jacob Blight, Tigers (127) – 32 disposals, 13 marks
Ryley Sanders, Bulldogs (127) – 35 disposals, 8 tackles
Charlie Edwards, Crows (112) – 31 disposals, 6 marks, 1 goal
Lachlan Gollant, Crows (111) – 14 disposals, EIGHT goals
Harvey Gallagher, Bulldogs (111) – 27 disposals, 3 goals
Harry DeMattia, Magpies (107) – 23 disposals, 5 marks, 7 tackles, 1.1 in front of goal
Will Lorenz, Power (101) – 27 disposals, 2.1 in front of goal
James Leake, Giants (100) – 28 disposals, 6 tackles
Lachie Sullivan, Magpies (100) – 31 disposals, 6 tackles, 1 behind
Caleb Mitchell, Swans (94) – 28 disposals
Saad El-Hawli, Bombers (93) – 21 disposals, 6 marks, 1.3 in front of goal
Luke Beeckan, Lions (93) – 22 disposals, 1 goal
Ed Allan, Magpies (92) – 23 disposals, 8 tackles
Alex Mirkov, Blues (88) – 13 disposals, 45 hitouts
Finlay Macrae, Magpies (88) – 29 disposals
Oskar Faulhead, Suns (87) – 21 disposals, 7 marks, 5 tackles
Wil Parker, Magpies (85) – 19 disposals, 10 marks
Billy Dowling, Crows (83) – 21 disposals, 2 goals
Jedd Busslinger, Bulldogs (83) – 20 disposals, 8 marks
Jhye Clark, Cats (79) – 21 disposals, 5 tackles
Jaxon Binns, Blues (78) – 18 disposals, 6 marks, 1 goal
Arie Schoenmaker, Saints (67) – 21 disposals
Dante Visentini, Power (65) – 8 disposals, 29 hitouts, 5 tackles

Remember the Name

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

DEFENDERS

James Leake (Giants, $252K)
Jakob Ryan (Magpies, $200K)
Billy Wilson (Blues, $201K)
Jedd Busslinger (Bulldogs, $200K)
Charlie Edwards (Crows, $240K)
Saad El-Hawli (Bombers, $200K)

MIDFIELDERS

Hugh Jackson (Power, $200K)
Harry Rowston (Giants, $241K)
Harry DeMattia (Magpies, $228K)
Mitch Hardie (Cats, $200K)
George Stevens (Cats, $200K)

RUCKMEN

Coen Livingstone (Eagles, $200K)
Max Heath (Saints, $200K)
Archer Reid (Eagles, $213K)
Will Verrall (Demons, $200K)
Taylor Goad (Kangaroos, $243K)
Mitch Edwards (Cats, $207K)

FORWARDS

James Tsitas (Suns, $200K)
Ashton Moir (Blues, $216K)
Tom Anastasopoulos (Power, $200K)
Brayden George (Kangaroos, $200K)
Max Hall (Saints, $200K)
Campbell Gray (Tigers, $200K)
Toby Murray (Crows, $200K)

Fry

An Australian coffee/burrito enthusiast who is the frustrated owner of 16 fantasy teams. Writer for SportsbyFry and DT Talk ?