15 down, nine to go!

The home straight is almost here as we welcome the final round of the mid-season byes. At this stage, most of the rookies who have been fantasy relevant over the first two-thirds of the season have been culled from our teams and we’re chasing a few lesser-known types for cash generation. Plenty of coaches opted to pounce on Tom McCarthy last week (despite the Eagles’ bye) and some may do the same this week with Harry Rowston while his feet are up. Either way, it’s still too early to punt on our benches and with thtree trades at our disposal, it’s important to ensure we still have some money makers residing in our squad.

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 15

Everyone has surely got rid of him by now, but if not Sam Davidson would have provided coaches with a massive boost last round. Doctor Davo finished as the top-scoring rookie ahead of popular downgrade picks Harry Rowston, Mani Liddy and Archer May – all of whom put up their best scores of the season in Round 15. Coaches who gave Levi Ashcroft one last life before his bye round wouldn’t have been disappointed with his 79 points and the higher ownership percentage for these players saw me overlook Karl Worner (75) for a nomination.

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

Who's gets your vote as the most important cash cow in Round 15?

• Archer May (74)
• Levi Ashcroft (79)
• Mani Liddy (74)
• Harry Rowston (83)
• Sam Davidson (108)

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Round 15 Power Rankings

After 15 weeks of action, these are the top 10 cash cow performers in season 2025!

Power Ranking 2025 #AFLFantasy Cash Cows Round 15 💰🐮

1. Daniel Curtin ↔️
2. Elijah Hewett ↔️
3. Sam Davidson ⬆️ 3
4. Levi Ashcroft ↔️
5. Zak Johnson ↔️
6. Kai Lohmann (NR)
7. Sam Butler ↔️
8. Kane McAuliffe ⬇️ 5
9. Harry Rowston (NR)
10. Nic Madden (NR) pic.twitter.com/ovzevqzwRY

— SportsbyFry (@sportsbyfry) June 24, 2025

Making Moves

Let ’em grow

After clamouring for viable cash cows over the past month or so, it seems as though the rookie options are plentiful with the bye rounds drawing to a close. Those who haven’t bought into Harry Rowston ($327K, 83, BE -21) over the last fortnight wouldn’t be too keen to bring him in during GWS’ week off, with Bombers FWD Archer May ($296K, 74, BE 10) falling in a similar category. Both Rowston and May may become sought-after targets a week from now, but if you need assistance in Round 16, then the answer is clearly Tom McCarthy ($293K, BYE, BE -25). The budding Eagle finds himself in nearly 50,000 teams, with over 33,000 of those fantasy coaches pulling the trigger on the mid-season draftee in the last few rounds.

If you’re one of those coaches and you already own McCarthy, then you may turn your attention this week to Port Adelaide’s own mid-season draftee, Mani Liddy ($296K, 74, BE -10). The 23-year-old midfielder had another strong showing last time out against the Swans, racking up 17 disposals and shooting his breakeven into the negatives. The versatile DEF/FWD status of Alix Tauru ($327K, 49, BE 23) will see some target the St Kilda prospect as a bench option and with Charlie West ($230K, DNP, BE 25) being handed a long awaited debut, he’s also bound to see a spike in ownership. Fellow talls Vigo Visentini ($262K, 63, BE -1) and Nic Madden ($382K, 63, BE 1) may already clog up your R3 spot, but West should get a chance to feast against West Coast’s backline on Saturday.

Watch this space

The arrival of the Round 16 bye is leading to a lot of coaches jumping off Essendon and Brisbane rookies in an effort to find the best on-field combination for the weekend ahead. Kai Lohmann ($471K, 84, BE 29) saw a scoring spike last round, however it’s fine to move on from him – Lohmann has done his job. Bombers pair Angus Clarke ($460K, 66, BE 35) and Zak Johnson ($441K, 35, BE 9) are a different case study, with the young guns still poised to rise in cash as soon as they return from their week off. Depending on how the cash generation on your bench looks, it may be wise to keep them in your team for the post-bye stretch to help with future upgrades.

Some of the ‘plodders’ who have been residing in our team for months might be in the firing line, with Joe Fonti ($486K, 39, BE 63) one cash cow that springs to mind. He joins the likes of Matthew Carroll ($452K, 55, BE 29), Kaleb Smith ($414K, 47, BE 15) and Finn O’Sullivan ($511K, 59, BE 35) as viable trade-out candidates if you need to find cash for another upgrade trade. Hell, even Sam Davidson ($673K, 108, BE 46) can be used in this scenario if he has somehow still survived in your team. I’d advise against trading into the likes of Lachlan Blakiston ($230K, 33, BE 30) and Cooper Hynes ($238K, 51, BE 12) just yet, with Carlton duo Jaxon Binns ($516K, 73, BE 32) and Orazio Fantasia ($415K, 58, BE 19) also falling into the basket of rookies I’d rather leave out of my team.

Let ’em go

The majority of these characters have already been axed by their owners and with the final best-18 round upon us, now is the best time to maximise your three trades and cull the dead weight. Jaxon Prior ($646K, 64, BE 68) and Levi Ashcroft ($689K, 79, BE 91) are obvious standouts thanks to their week off – with Isaac Kako ($402K, 52, BE 31) in the same basket. Rising Star chances Murphy Reid ($529K, 58, BE 56) and Connor O’Sullivan ($527K, 52, BE 47) will have also departed most fantasy sides and Riley Hardeman ($522K, 57, BE 58), Christian Moraes ($437K, 42, BE 55), Max Hall ($505K, 38, BE 71) and Luke Trainor ($511K, 43, BE 58) can all be ditched if any of them are still left sitting in your squad of 30. From a cheaper standpoint, I wouldn’t go targetting the likes of Luamon Lual ($312K, 46, BE 12) and Will McLachlan ($230K, 33, BE 35) – even if they’re still in their respective sides following the bye round.

Sub status

Subbed On – Riley Bice, Tobie Travaglia, Jasper Alger

Subbed Off – Isaac Keeler, Ethan Read

Riley Bice ($546K, 6, BE 92) continued his fall from grace after being named Sydney’s starting sub, but there weren’t a lot of rookies affected by the sub vest last round. Tobie Travaglia ($426K, 8, BE 61) and Isaac Keeler ($373K, 31, BE 30) toggled throught he vest for St Kilda while another debutant in Jasper Alger ($230K, 10, BE 47) saw his cash gen dramatically affected after he was handed the fluro to start the game against the Bulldogs.

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.

would u rather get a top 6 premium and rookie this week and field mccarthy/rowston/johnson in best 22 next week, or get mckercher and mills this week and have no rookies next week?

— albert mason (@albertmason27) June 24, 2025

Even with the recent scoring successes of some rookies, I still think the best tactic is to get them off our field. McKercher and Mills are two great value picks at the moment, so my advice is to pounce on them and use the other cash cows as convenient bench cover.

Get Liddy or save 66k and get West?

— Riley Noble (@Noble4Riley) June 24, 2025

Charlie West finally earning his AFL debut we see him become a coveted rook ahead of Round 16, although I still have more confidence in Mani Liddy. West may be able to impact the scoreboard against West Coast, but I’d rather spend the extra $66K and land Liddy.

Is Dewar worth sideways trading from Johnson to desperately get an extra player on field and for cash generations as M9/F7?

— Adrian DT/SC (@GarrysBshorts) June 24, 2025

Tyrell Dewar is being acquired by almost 5,000 coaches ahead of Round 16 and his efforts against Carlton and North Melbourne give me confidence that he can be a handy source of points and cash gen moving forward. Sideways trading from Johnson will help this week, but there are no guarantees that he’ll outperform the Dons rookie to close the fantasy season. If you’ve already got 20 or so green dots this week, I’d be tempted to look elsewhere with my trades. However, Dewar should be able to push a 65+ score out against Collingwood this weekend, which may be a handy addition to your best-18.

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)
James Barrat (Saints, $247K)
Ben Jepson (Suns, $230K)

MIDFIELDERS

Luke Urquart (Kangaroos, $230K)
Josh Smillie (Tigers, $322K)
Cody Anderson (Hawks, $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)

FORWARDS

Zac Banch (Kangaroos, $230K)
Ashton Moir (Blues, $230K)
Liam McMahon (Bombers, $230K)

Fry

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