21 down, three to go!

We’ve reached semi-final weekend in the AFL Fantasy world and there are only six trades left up our sleeve to improve our squads. Now feels like the right time of year to be throwing away bench positions, but just ask Jack Steele and Connor Rozee owners how important a green dot on the pine can be! In the next article, I’ll dive into the award ballots for the 2025 season, but here’s one last look at the rookie landscape ahead of a do-or-die weekend for a lot of fantasy coaches.

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 21

With another five votes potentially coming his way this weekend, the CCK award is shaping up as Dan Curtin’s to lose. Polling 19 out of a possible 25 votes in the last five rounds, the Crows’ second-year sensation continues to produce at a ridiculous efficiency. He narrowly beat out Tom McCarthy for top-scoring honours in Round 21 – with the mature-aged Eagle doing his best to steal votes from Curtin. A pair of Gold Coast players in Jy Farrar and Ethan Read, plus Dockers DEF Karl Worner rounded out the nominees for the week, but I’m pretty sure we know where the lions share of the votes are heading.

*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 21?

• Dan Curtin (93)
• Tom McCarthy (91)
• Jy Farrar (88)
• Ethan Read (89)
• Karl Worner (87)

View Results

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Round 21 Power Rankings

After 21 weeks of action, these are the top 10 cash cow performers in season 2025!

Power Ranking 2025 #AFLFantasy Cash Cows Round 21 💰🐮

1. Daniel Curtin ↔️
2. Tom McCarthy ⬆️ 1
3. Max Hall ⬇️ 1
4. Levi Ashcroft ⬆️ 1
5. Clay Hall ⬇️ 1
6. Elijah Hewett ⬆️ 3
7. Harvey Langford ↔️
8. Murphy Reid ⬇️ 2
9. Jy Farrar (NR)
10. Luke Trainor ↔️ pic.twitter.com/cC66WRLGWi

— SportsbyFry (@sportsbyfry) August 5, 2025

Making Moves

No one is chasing a rookie as a trade priority this late in the season, so as a result, I’ve streamlined the article before I get stuck into the awards next week. If there’s a cash cow I don’t cover that you’ve got questions about, feel free to drop them below or hit me up on my socials.

DEFENCE

Tom McCarthy ($685K, 91, BE 48) – Coaches who owned Connor Rozee would have been grateful if T-Mac was sitting on their bench with a score of 91. With the Crows, Bulldogs and Swans to come, McCarthy currently sits as the second most traded out player as everyone looks to cash him in and upgrade their on-field scorers. Wise move.

Jy Farrar ($374K, 88, BE -20) – It’s a shame this cameo didn’t come earlier in the season – if it did, then most of us would be chasing Farrar for our backlines. We can’t really justify paying $374K for a bench piece at this stage of the season and I wouldn’t advise playing him at D6.

Finn O’Sullivan ($569K, 68, BE 37) – Shoutout to FOS, who now owns a L3 AVG of 72! This would’ve been really handy like three months ago mate…

Rhett Bazzo ($337K, 45, BE 14) – 45, 48, 40 and 45 in his last four is an elite level of consistency. It’s a shame that these scores start with a four though.

Angus Clarke ($468K, 38, BE 61) – Obviously, Angus Clarke’s money-making days are over. There are still almost 2,000 coaches who are trading out the young Bomber ahead of Round 21, and if he’s still clogging up space on your defensive bench, make sure you give him the flick as well.

Alix Tauru ($407K, 35, BE 57) – I’m really excited to see what type of player Alix Tauru develops into. At this point, he’s nothing more than a heartbeat on our benches.

Jedd Busslinger ($288K, 25, BE 20) – I genuinely thought the Buss would be able to string some decent scores together after his 65-point effort a fortnight ago. To be fair, the ball wasn’t in the Bulldogs’ backline much on Thursday night and he should rebound against Melbourne.

Jayden Nguyen ($231K, 25, BE 23) – Nguyen saw his ownership increase by 7.4% last week after he was picked to debut – with his 25 points potentially coming on handy for Connor Rozee owners. I wouldn’t make him a priority though.

Harry O’Farrell ($413K, 20, BE 25) subbed off – Kicked his first AFL goal in the second quarter and did his ACL later in the match. The brutal highs and lows of footy, get well soon HOF.

MIDFIELD

Jai Culley ($368K, 78, BE 6) – Not a bad return to football for Jai Culley! He scored 64 points in the second half as Melbourne put their foot on the throat. We’ll get a better read on his scoring potential/output in a tougher matchup this round against the Dogs.

Will Lorenz ($325K, 72, BE -3) – Re-entered the fray with a season high score, but the ship has sailed to jump on board.

Hugh Boxshall ($437K, 65, BE 18) – Continues to plug away and recorded his third consecutive 50+ score against North Melbourne. If you need to chop him to facilitate another trade, by all means go for it. However, Boxshall should keep ticking upwards in price and crack the $500K mark before the final round.

Mani Liddy ($459K, 60, BE 43) – Liddy owners would have been stoked to see him not only return to Port Adelaide’s lineup, but to also avoid any form of vest! Cashing him in is still a wise move, but that green dot at M9-M10 may be convenient.

Clay Hall ($571K, 52, BE 58) – Another tip of the cap to the underrated Eagle.

Sam Marshall ($258K, 38, BE 20) – Dodged the sub vest for the first time in his young AFL career, although it didn’t translate to a stellar score.

Murphy Reid ($557K, 31, BE 64) – Came crashing back to Earth with a sub-40 outing against the Blues. Continues to have a positive impact in year one for the Dockers.

Harry Rowston ($425K, 20, BE 71) subbed on – Bummer. Another appearance as the starting sub has all but ruined Harry Rowston’s cash gen and coaches are wisely jumping off. Cash him in before he keeps dropping dollars.

Hugh Jackson ($313K, 17, BE 53) subbed on – His 9th AFL game marked the 5th time Hugh Jackson started in the vest – he can’t be trusted to close the season.

Zak Johnson ($454K, DNP, BE 69) – Abort. In my eyes, the No. 1 rookie trade out option with a lofty breakeven and a tough draw of matches to close the fantasy campaign.

RUCK

Max Heath ($340K, 69, BE -5) – It’s not often there’s an R3 eligible player who offers us with upside, but Max Heath falls into that category. He can certainly co-exist with Rowan Marshall and owners will happily use him as an emergency across multiple lines for the final three weeks.

Archer Reid ($308K, 55, BE 26) – Bounceback, well done Archer.

Lachlan Blakiston ($380K, 45, BE 27) – Solid showing, but we know that Blakiston isn’t the answer.

FORWARD

Daniel Curtin ($816K, 97, BE 64) – Since Adelaide’s mid-season bye, Daniel Curtin has only posted one scored under 90 and has increased a whopping $262K in price. No player has increased their total value by more this season and he’ll feature heavily in next week’s awards ballot.

Elijah Hewett ($624K, 79, BE 60) – Here’s what I said about Hewett last week – Wasn’t at his explosive best last week, but I won’t be surprised if Elijah Hewett pops for another 75-80+ score or two over the final four rounds. I’m not saying I’m Nostradamus, but…

Levi Ashcroft ($669K, 71, BE 74) – A score of 71 is nothing to be sneezed at and Levi Ashcroft’s first AFL fantasy season has been nothing short of terrific. Given Brisbane will have their eyes on the bigger picture come September, I wonder if we’ll see him rested (or vested) for one of their final three games?

Max Hall ($720K, 60, BE 84) – Would you believe this is Hall’s lowest score since Round 15!? Continues to elevate his profile and cement his place in Ross Lyon’s team moving forward.

Ashton Moir ($377K, 56, BE 19) – I watched him first hand on Sunday and liked what I saw from Moir. Reminds me of a Kai Lohmann type and has a bright future – but not from a fantasy standpoint.

Taj Hotton ($407K, 53, BE 24) – I’m still not over the fact that we lost Taj Hotton as a $230K player in 2026.

Jesse Dattoli ($296K, 52, BE 13) – Solid in his debut, however, I can’t see him being a difference-maker over the final few weeks.

Caiden Cleary ($412K, 34, BE 68) subbed on – He’s still alive! Featuring in his first game since Round 12, Caiden Cleary didn’t exactly get a chance to reach the heights we know he’s capable of.

Zac Banch ($241K, 31, BE 15) subbed off – Despite being subbed at half-time with a rib injury, Banch is listed as a test for this week. Hopefully he can contribute from the bench for his owners.

Tyrell Dewar ($525K, 27, BE 95) subbed off – Woof. This is why you don’t trade in a player on their bye round. Dewar scored 115 points in his last match before West Coast’s week off, picking up the Rising Star nomination in the process. A minor hamstring complaint saw him miss the next two games, before he returned for scores of 59, 65, 15 (starting sub) and 27 last weekend (subbed off). Bullet dodged for a lot of coaches.

Hamish Davis ($253K, 18, BE 24) subbed on – Meh. No offence to Hamish Davis, but he needs to develop for another season or two before we target him.

Liam McMahon ($276K, 17, BE 22) subbed off – I genuinely thought that McMahon could put up a few handy scores to assist us at F7-F8 for the final month. That optimism may have been falsely placed though.

Oskar Smartt ($273K, 10, BE 34) subbed on – I did not have the same hope for Smartt. Avoid.

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)
Charlie Edwards (Crows, $230K)
Jed Adams (Demons, $230K)

MIDFIELDERS

Luke Urquart (Kangaroos, $230K)
Josh Smillie (Tigers, $322K)
Lucca Grego (Eagles, $230K)
Cody Anderson (Hawks, $230K)
Ben Camporeale (Blues, $230K)

RUCKMEN

Taylor Goad (Kangaroos, $230K)
Tom Campbell (Demons, $316K)
Kayle Gerreyn (Bombers, $232K)
Lachlan McAndrew (Crows, $302K)
Coen Livingstone (Eagles, $230K)

FORWARDS

Geordie Payne (Kangaroos, $230K)
Jordan Croft (Bulldogs, $230K)
Oliver Hannaford (Giants, $289K)

Fry

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