Four down, 20 to go!

Last week it was ‘Operation Get Christian Moraes’. Fast forward seven days and now Riley Bice is the rookie we covet. Some of our cash cows have popped elite scores early on this season and with 20 weeks of fantasy footy still to come, we MUST pounce on these surefire money-makers when given the chance. A lot of coaches will explore an SDK/Freijah > Bice move this week to unlock a ton of cash for another upgrade and I think the majority of us will be fielding 4-5 rookies rolling into Gather Round. After flirting with plenty of mid pricers in the early portion of the year, the guns and rookies approach is gathering steam as the preferred structure and there are still a ton of cash cow options to invest in.

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 4

I assume most of us are going to vote for the same bloke this week, with 125 points from Riley Bice hard to ignore. There are plenty of coaches out there who didn’t own Bice in Round 4 though and a few other rooks battled their way to strong scores over the weekend. Connor O’Sullivan and Sam Lalor finished just a few stats shy of triple-figure scores and on Saturday arvo a lot of us would have trusted Levi Ashcroft and Luke Trainor to get the job done. My vote goes Riley’s way, but I’m tempted to give Lalor the nod after I successfully looped his score onto my field.

*If you’re having issues submitting your vote try clicking “view results” first and that should resolve the problem 🤞

Making Moves

Let ’em grow

Let’s not waste any time and discuss the most coveted player in the game right now! 26 disposals, 15 marks and a WHOPPING 125 fantasy points will lead to almost every non-owner trading Riley Bice ($387K, 125, BE -41) into their team this week. Sydney’s mature-aged defender had already started to emerge as a decent cash cow before his stellar game against the Kangas, but a price rise of $107K and an ensuing breakeven of -41 makes him a must-have prospect ahead of Gather Round. We’ll welcome back the likes of Jaxon Prior ($464K, DNP, BE 15) and Zach Reid ($381K, DNP, BE -12) to our backline following Essendon’s bye and with that trio performing, coupled with strong games from Luke Trainor ($441K, 74, BE 5) and Connor O’Sullivan ($473K, 96, BE 1) on the weekend, a lot of coaches are shuffling their structure to get multiple rookies on the field in defence.

Fantasy coaches may also find themselves fielding multiple rooks in the midfield line, with recent Rising Star nominee Levi Ashcroft ($541K, 82, BE 21) surely holding down one of those spots. There’s optimism that Xavier Lindsay ($459K, DNP, BE 38) could return as soon as this week to become our M8 placeholder, although a season-high 95 points from reigning Sam Lalor ($498K, 95, BE 12) has given his owners confidence that we can field him moving forward. Christian Moraes ($405K, 54, BE -6) will also find himself thrown on deck as he continues his quick price rise, with Murphy Reid ($462K, 53, BE 22) another one who may enter calculations for his owners.

A portion of the community is finding room for Tom Gross ($261K, 62, BE 0) on their MID bench, with the West Coast debutant performing well over the weekend despite another heavy defeat for the Eagles. Gross has excelled throughout the summer and I’m optimistic that he can hold his place in the team long enough to make his owners some handy coin. Another player suiting up for his first game of the season in Caiden Cleary ($279K, 68, BE -1) is also being coveted as coaches make their moves ahead of Round 5. The Sydney FWD looms as a solid downgrade choice, although I wouldn’t feel too comfortable fielding anyone other than Sam Davidson ($499K, 65, BE -7) in the forward line this weekend.

Watch this space

The scoring didn’t flow for Melbourne duo Harvey Langford ($354K, 36, BE 22) or Jack Henderson ($371K, 37, BE 23) on Friday night, although I wouldn’t explore trading either of them out yet. It’s tough to trust them on field, but I have confidence they’ll reach greater heights against Essendon this round. Sid Draper ($375K, 54, BE 23) is an interesting case – shrugging himself free of the vest, but only registering 60% game time. It’s tough to suggest him as a buy right now, however there is bound to be a game soon where he goes off and that could even come on Thursday vs. Geelong. Speaking of the Cats, Ted Clohesy ($399K, 40, BE 20) has come back to Earth after his stellar showing a few weeks ago and his spot in the team may come under fire. If possible, I’d send him to F7-F8 to take up residence next to the likes of Dan Curtin ($448K, 53, BE 13), Corey Warner ($425K, 42, BE 18) or Conor Stone ($358K, 28, BE 21).

Coaches may also consider benching Max Hall ($459K, 36, BE 23) after his poor showing last round and it feels like he only has a few weeks of growth left in him. Given the heights he’s shown he can reach as a scorer so far this season, I’d give Hall another chance with a breakeven of 23 more than achievable in Round 5. His teammate Tobie Travaglia ($371K, 48, BE 16) keeps chipping away and is another cash cow somewhat stuck in no man’s land – someone we wouldn’t want to trade out yet, nor would we want to invest in him. West Coast duo Sandy Brock ($257K, 57, BE 3) and Archer Reid ($332K, 46, BE 7) are still moving in the right direction and I need to give Tom Hanily ($329K, 65, BE 6) a shoutout after the Swans young gun reignited his cash gen with a career-best score.

Let ’em go

None of our prominent rookies have reached the point where we can cash them in yet, so the players listed in this section are better characterised as ‘dead rooks’. Take key forward duo Ethan Read ($337K, 37, BE 14) and Harry Armstrong ($307K, 69, BE 10) for example – the duo should continue to get senior opportunities, although it’s possible they hover around the $400K mark for the entire season and fail to reach great heights. Before it’s too late I’d prefer to chop them out for a proven cash cow who at least has the potential to make a significant amount of money.

Tigers talent Kaleb Smith ($252K, 34, BE 17) fits a similar bill as he continues to fight for a spot in the senior team while struggling to get it done from a fantasy standpoint, and I’m lumping Clay Hall ($313K, 48, BE 10) in the same boat. While Hall has managed to feature in the starting 22 for the last two matches, he has failed to surpass 50 points – granted he has played the Lions and Giants. Even in softer fixtures, I’m not convinced that he will be a great source of production and until Hall shows that he can score 70+, it’s not worth chasing him for one of our valuable MID spots. Lastly, Isaac Kako ($361K, DNP, BE 26) owners don’t have to panic and quickly find a replacement, although I wouldn’t blame them for wanting to jump off the slow-burn MID/FWD prospect.

Sub status

Subbed On – Ashton Moir, Jake Rogers, Will McLachlan, Riley Hardeman, Hamish Davis, Joe Berry, Angus Hastie

Subbed Off – Matt Whitlock, Isaac Keeler

The starting sub vest screwed Joe Berry ($373K, 28, BE 31) over the most on the weekend from a rookie standpoint – stalling his cash gen and leading a few hundred coaches to give him the flick. Angus Hastie ($257K, 18, BE 27) continues to torment the coaches stuck with him and while I love the DEF/FWD status that Matt Whitlock ($268K, 36, BE 22) owns, it seems like it’ll be a year or two before he becomes a fantasy factor.

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.

Hey! Gross or Cleary?

— Ryan Sharp (@RyanSha06965732) April 8, 2025

Simply put, I feel better about Gross’ job security although I think Cleary has the better scoring potential. We could see the Eagles youngster still put up reasonable scores, although Cleary has a few more preseasons under his belt and will likely reach greater heights. With that said, the best ability is availability so I’d target Gross over Cleary.

Hey Fry, if you have Nod Rankine and day, do you have to miss Bice? Or could you go nod down to a Bice but have 5 rooks on field?

— Monners Mozzies (@MonnersMozzies) April 8, 2025

For what it’s worth, NOD and Day have been confirmed out, Rankine sounds like he’s still going to play. Even if NOD and Day are your two forced trades this week, there’s nothing wrong with grabbing Bice and fielding 5 rooks – a position most coaches will find themselves in this week. Going down to Bice and grabbing another underpriced premium with your other move is an elite pair of moves!

Should I go maric or all the way down to a rookie and bank some cash? If I go all the way down Cleary or Gross?

— Campbell hosgood (@CampbellHo18985) April 8, 2025

Let the record show, I’m a Maric believer and will try to bring him into my team this round. It’s Gross over Cleary for me if you need the extra cash, but I believe Maric can be a 70-80 AVG player from here on out and he’s still only priced at 54. Grab him while you can.

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)
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)

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