James Peatling – Deck of DT 2025

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Why should I pick him?

James Peatling moves to the Crows after something of a breakout season at GWS.  He played the 17 (plus 2 finals) games and was heavily involved in the CBA action once Steve Coniglio was injured.  Peatling comes in at a discount as seven of his 17 games were sub affected.  His non-sub game average is 86.5, a 25 point discount – pretty handy upside.

Peatling did his best work in tight, winning a lot of his possessions in a contested fashion, winning centre clearances at a strong rate and averaging the 3rd most tackles per game of all mids over his last ten games. This bloke likes a cuddle more than Lily Phllips, people.

Peatling had a number of suitors in the offseason, and I can’t imagine he chose the Crows because he’d be playing back pocket.  The Crows, with their heavy stoppage game, have been a fantasy friendly team for players who like to lay tackles.  We’ve seen the likes of Rory Laird and Sam Berry in recent seasons be very fantasy relevant with great tackles numbers. I can only imagine as Laird moves to the backline, that Peatling will assume a prominent role within the midfield, even if it’s a role more focused on defence than winning the ball himself.

I’m not going to project an outlandish 100 average, but in my opinion if he assumes the role there’s a healthy floor with the potential for better.  The Crows early fixture is friendly for mids (based on what happened last year) and 6 of their first 9 games are at Adelaide Oval.

Why shouldn’t I pick him?

The Adelaide midfield is one that has a lot of competition for spots – Jordan Dawson, Matt Crouch, Jake Soligo, Izak Rankine, Sam Berry and others. If I was being kind, I’d say Matty Nicks has been reasonably conservative in his team selection and CBA rotations and may not grant the new bloke a locked-in midfield role straight away – especially one who doesn’t have multiple seasons in the AFL of being a solid performer. Even if Peatling is in the midfield, maybe it’s a defensive style role.

Peatling doesn’t have a massive scoring history and really hasn’t shown a polished outside game. Relying on one aspect of the game to build your score can mean a low floor if gameflow goes against you.

I also worry that, like Mr Burns, he could show you his vest.

Deck of DT Rating.

QUEEN

I really like Peatling as a late draft/sleeper pick and as a starting squad selection for Team Hatbro as (at this stage)  I project him to be locked into the Adelaide midfield.  Whilst I’ve projected him with an 83, if he’s indeed in that role, I see that as the scoring floor. The potential is certainly higher.

With a cheap price and no early bye, he looms as a solid value selection, so the argument would really come down to whether you’d prefer to start him or one of the talented kids who are far cheaper.

He is in my squad as of now and is one of my favourite late round targets in draft.

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