Three down, 21 to go!

What a weekend for the rookie class of 2025! Sam Davidson and Xavier Lindsay highlighted the opposite ends of the spectrum and we are lucky that a few of our non-performers dropped off in another best-18 round. It’s important to cast an eye forward with the early byes almost in the rear vision mirror, especially when it comes to identifying which rooks will be on our field starting in Round 5. A handful of them are emerging as fieldable options for future rounds and there’s still enough time to make a move to ensure you’re getting the best combination of cows contributing to your weekly point total.

Rookie/cash cows are typically defined as players who started the season priced at $400,000 or lower

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Cash Cow King – Round 3

The first rook to top triple-figures this year did so in epic fashion against the Pies, with Sam Davidson (125) providing us with a massive boost in the FWD line. Another mainstream option in the forward’s in Max Hall (89) benefitted from the Richmond fixture, while Christian Moraes (93) started Round 3 with a stellar performance and will be a sought-after cash cow this week as a result. In that same game, Zach Reid (83) helped provide us with a boost down back and Dan Curtin (81) rounded out the nominees with tw0 goals and 15 touches contributing to his score. It’s hard to go against the Doctor this week for a vote, but if he was stuck at F7-F8, some coaches might look elsewhere for their votes this week.

*Sorry to the coaches who have been unable to vote in these polls recently. If you still have issues voting, try and click ‘view results’ first, but if these problems persists I’ll come up with a Plan B.

Who's gets your vote as the most important cash cow in Round 3?

• Christian Moraes (93)
• Zach Reid (83)
• Sam Davidson (125)
• Max Hall (89)
• Daniel Curtin (81)

View Results

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Round 3 Power Rankings

After 3 weeks of action, these are the top 10 cash cow performers in season 2025!

Power Ranking 2025 #AFLFantasy Cash Cows Round 3 💰🐮

1. Sam Davidson ⬆️ 8
2. Max Hall ⬆️ 4
3. Levi Ashcroft ⬇️ 1
4. Christian Moraes (NR)
5. Zach Reid ⬆️ 5
6. Jaxon Prior ⬆️ 1
7. Ted Clohesy ⬇️ 3
8. Murphy Reid (NR)
9. Xavier Lindsay ⬇️ 8 😢
10. Daniel Curtin (NR) pic.twitter.com/5h108alDI8

— SportsbyFry (@sportsbyfry) April 1, 2025

Making Moves

Let ’em grow

No rookie performed better than Sam Davidson ($412K, 125, BE -39) in Round 3 with his UNREAL display on Friday night forcing some coaches to edit their trades and pocket his score after he was stranded on their bench. He seems to be a safe F6 option for us once the early byes conclude, with Max Hall ($416K, 89, BE -16) emerging as another option as he continues to prove me and his other doubters wrong following his second 80+ score of the season. Conor Stone ($332K, 68, BE -4) and Dan Curtin ($398K, 81, BE -6) put forth strong games to keep their price moving in the right direction and even though Ted Clohesy ($367K, 44, BE 1) didn’t reach great heights against Brisbane, he still managed to make a handy $49K on the back of his efforts at the Gabba.

Our backline cash cows continued to produce decent point totals as well, with most of us relying on some combination of Luke Trainor ($381K, 78, BE 2), Zach Reid ($381K, 83, BE -13) and Jaxon Prior ($464K, 72, BE 14) last round – all of whom probably contributed to our best-18 scores over the weekend. The Essendon duo will put their feet up in Round 4, but they still have cash to make so it’s not time to explore a trade-out just yet. I’ve somewhat buried the lead by not talking about Christian Moraes ($338K, 93, BE -27) yet. The Port Adelaide young gun is currently the most traded in player on the back of his 27 disposals and seven marks vs. the Bombers, with almost 20,000 coaches pulling the trigger on Moraes.

You can understand why everyone is pouncing on the discounted MID, thanks to his absurdly low breakeven and I’m hoping this recent showing is enough to keep him out of the vest for another few games. First-round draftees Murphy Reid ($420K, 75, BE 3) and Harvey Langford ($335K, 75, BE 13) produced the best fantasy numbers of their young careers in Round 3 and while Jack Henderson ($345K, 42, BE 5) didn’t produce the greatest score, I still have faith in him as a rookie option moving forward. Finally, Sydney duo Riley Bice ($280K, DNP, BE -3) and Corey Warner ($385K, DNP, BE -6) return to action after their week off and there is optimism around their place in Dean Cox’s team. Let’s hope the two of them can maintain a place in the Swans’ 22 and keep climbing rapidly in value.

Watch this space

One of the biggest questions on the minds of coaches this week is what they should do with Xavier Lindsay ($459K, 12, BE 37). The budding Demon has been cleared of a serious knee injury, although he is still poised to miss at least a week or two. Personally, I’m leaning towards fixing red dots around Lindsay in the hopes that he returns and continues to play his role at M6-M8 for the fantasy community, but with a few dollars already on his head I can see why some will give him the flick. Trading him to Moraes for example is a quick way to make over $120K and if Lindsay misses more than a fortnight of footy, we could see the Power speedster overtake him in price before Lindsay returns to AFL action.

Moraes’ draft peer in Joe Berry ($361K, 57, BE 13) had his best fantasy game of the season last week and keeps slowly climbing in price, however there isn’t the same amount of hope associated with another slow burn FWD in Isaac Kako ($361K, 40, BE 25). While he continues to gradually climb in price, a week off for Essendon provides us with a decent chance to offload Kako for another cash cow who is poised to reach greater heights. I wouldn’t look to pivot to an Eagle such as Tyrell Dewar ($411K, 59, BE 7) or Archer Reid ($293K, 64, BE -1) and Gold Coast tall Ethan Read ($306K, 46, BE 0) hasn’t convinced me he’s a stellar rookie option through two games either.

If Kako is residing in your utility or MID rotation, you could consider a move for St Kilda debutant Tobie Travaglia ($343K, 63, BE 14) who helped himself to 18 disposals against Richmond. The wise move is to wait until we get further clarity around Travaglia’s place in the team after he was poised to start as the sub, only for a late out to force him into the 22. If Travaglia avoids a vest against Port Adelaide in Round 4 and scores 60+ again, then there’s still plenty of time to jump on and benefit from the bulk of his price rise. Another pair of rookies in Sam Lalor ($440K, 46, BE 25) and Connor O’Sullivan ($405K, 47, BE 14) find themselves in limbo after scoring 40’s over the weekend. Neither are players I’d explore trading just yet, although their $400K+ price tag means we shouldn’t be looking at them as trade targets this week either.

Let ’em go

By now, we’ve probably all racked up a few red dots on our bench which makes what I’m about to say a bit taboo. However, it’s time to cull Finn O’Sullivan ($376K, 52, BE 26). There are likely more pressing trade issues for almost every coach at the moment, but the No. 2 overall pick just isn’t getting it done from a fantasy standpoint. Yes, he’ll add DEF status in a few weeks, yes, he has shown flashes of brilliance and yes, it appears as though his place in North’s side is safe. Let’s face it though, he’s just not hitting the scores we need from our cash cows – even if they are sitting on the bench.

FOS isn’t a must-trade, but with the emergence of Moraes, Langford and a few others in other lines, I think we can toggle O’Sullivan out of our teams and be better positioned in the long run. Naturally, he’ll probably come out against the Swans and score 65-70 to make me look silly, but I think it’s smart to cut him now that cheaper and let’s be honest, better options are emerging as cash cow investments. Full disclosure, if you are looking to bring in another rook, I wouldn’t go chasing Isaiah Dudley ($251K, 50, BE 7), Isaac Keeler ($273K, 37, BE 10) or Aidan Johnson ($262K, 30, BE 15) at the minute, despite all of them owning low breakevens. Dudley in particular impressed during Freo’s derby triumph, however the trio don’t provide great scoring potential so it’s smart to leave them on the outer unless they force our hand with consistent, impressive scores.

Sub status

Subbed On – Saad El Hawli, Tom Cochrane, Josh Dolan, Jake Rogers, Angus Hastie, Kaleb Smith, Sid Draper, Elijah Hewett

Subbed Off – Tom Edwards, Xavier Lindsay, Liam O’Connell, Harry Armstrong, Robert Hansen Jr

It felt like every game this weekend saw a cash cow or two affected by the sub vest, with Sid Draper ($352K, 46, BE 27) the rookie that I continue to monitor the closest. An injury to Josh Rachele could pave the way for Draper to shake himself free of the fluro and if he pops against Gold Coast, I’ll surely be talking about him as the most traded-in player a week from now.

The poxy trend of players debuting as the sub continued which has ruined Saad El-Hawli ($230K, 17, BE 36) and Tom Cochrane ($230K, 13, BE 43) in the short term, while the owners of Liam O’Connell ($242K, 4, BE 32), Elijah Hewett ($369K, 22, BE 38) and Angus Hastie ($256K, 28, BE 17) should be looking to get off. Spare a thought for Tom Edwards ($275K, 22, BE 15) too, with the SSP addition subbed out on Thursday night only to tear his ACL at training on Tuesday morning.

Q & A

I’m adding a Q&A section to the weekly articles to help address the biggest issues we have with our rookies/cash cows. If I don’t get to your answer in the article, I promise I’ll answer it on Twitter – and as always, you can drop your follow-up question below.

Is it too early to trade Prior or Kako?

— oliver fox (@oliver22fox) April 1, 2025

I give the all-clear to coaches looking to trade Kako this week, but Prior is a different case. Even though Trainor and Reid have shown promise, I still feel safest with Prior at D6 coming out of the byes. That being said all of these guys have to go eventually, right? If trading Prior helps you unlock a ripper upgrade, trading him is a fine tactic.

Who’s the better option out Moraes and Langford??

— Anthony Ellul (@anthonyellul) April 1, 2025

A question that I’m struggling with myself this week! While I’ve been one of Langford’s biggest fans through the offseason, I think the answer is Moraes thanks to his scoring potential and extremely low breakeven heading into Round 4.

Is it too late to grab Hall?

— deaqavius (@f41164413) April 1, 2025

I think so mate. If you’re flicking Lindsay to him to make a few bucks that’s the only way I’d feel good about chasing a $400K+ player.

Lindsay a hold or fold? I feel like 2 weeks is too much with the cash gen available this week.

— Golazo2000 (@cfc15000) April 1, 2025

I did half address this above, but putting it simply yes you can trade Lindsay – especially with so many promising downgrade options emerging this round.

Remember the Name

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

DEFENDERS

Josh Gibucs (Tigers, $230K)
Luke Beecken (Lions, $230K)
Jedd Busslinger (Bulldogs, $230K)
Bo Allan (Eagles, $295K)
Alix Tauru (Saints, $313K)
James Barrat (Saints, $247K)
Ben Jepson (Suns, $230K)

MIDFIELDERS

Hugh Boxshall (Saints, $230K)
Tom Gross (Eagles, $230K)
Luke Urquart (Kangaroos, $230K)
Jaxon Binns (Blues, $230K)
Sam Marshall (Lions, $268K)
Cooper Hynes (Bulldogs, $283K)
Josh Smillie (Tigers, $322K)
Caleb Mitchell (Swans, $230K)
Zak Johnson (Bombers, $230K)
Ben Camporeale (Blues, $230K)

RUCKMEN

Max Heath (Saints, $230K)
Taylor Goad (Kangaroos, $230K)
Tom Campbell (Demons, $316K)
Kayle Gerreyn (Bombers, $232K)
Lachlan McAndrew (Crows, $302K)
Nic Madden (Giants, $230K)

FORWARDS

Cooper Simpson (Dockers, $230K)
Cody Angove (Giants, $230K)
Ashton Moir (Blues, $230K)
Will Hayes (Magpies, $230K)
Hamish Davis (Eagles, $230K)
Ty Gallop (Lions, $230K)
Caiden Cleary (Swans, $244K)

Fry

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