Fry’s Cash Cows – 2025 Cash Cow/Rookie Awards

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Exhale, we made it to the finish line. Another gruelling fantasy season is in the books with deserving coaches celebrating success on Grand Final day. Hopefully, as you read this you are one of those coaches who ended the season on a high, but even if you weren’t, we need to acknowledge the help we received from the cash cow class of 2025. While a clear winner emerged in the majority of the award races, this year will undoubtedly go down as one of the best we’ve had from a rookie perspective – with plenty of keen-eyed dynasty coaches pouncing on prestigious, talented youngsters who can buoy their squads for years to come. So, as we all gear up for a well-deserved break, let’s celebrate the rookies who drove us to success in 2025.

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Before I dive into the award winners, I want to quickly thank the DT Talk and AFL Fantasy community who have read these articles and consumed any of my content in season 2025. Rookies tend to fizzle out as the season draws to a close, but I appreciate everyone who took the time to regularly read my articles, engage with me via social media, or reach out to talk trades, cash cows, or any other fantasy topic under the sun. Fingers crossed my advice was able to help you throughout the season, and I know I’m not the only one who is already crafting a watchlist for 2026! But first, we rest…

Thank you all ❤️

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

Winner – Tom McCarthy, Eagles

Once he made his debut in Round 14, Tom McCarthy wasted no time racking up votes in the CCK race. Incredibly, T-Mac polled votes in seven of the 10 games he played to close the fantasy season – chalking up 32 votes to narrowly pip Levi Ashcroft (31 votes) and Daniel Curtin (27) for the trophy. He was awarded 4 or 5 votes every time he was nominated and a dominant stretch between Round 20-23 saw McCarthy poll 19 of a possible 20 votes to take the lead. Levi couldn’t get amongst the top scorers last weekend and despite polling in 10 games, he was forced to concede defeat to the mid-season recruit.

Game of the Year

Winner – Riley Bice, 125 in Round 4 (44% of votes)

The majority of the votes in this category went to the pair of 125-point outings from Sam Davidson and Riley Bice, with Sydney’s stellar halfback claiming victory. After an encouraging score of 64 against Fremantle in Round 2, Bice was shaping up as a hot trade target following the Swans’ early bye round. Some fantasy coaches were willing to wait before pulling the trigger, but they quickly suffered FOMO once Bice stepped onto Marvel Stadium in Round 4. Sitting on 52 points at the half, a massive 41-point quarter helped Bice tie Harry Sheezel for a game-high score. He finished the outing against the Roos with 26 disposals (20 kicks!) and a whopping 15 marks, much to the delight of everyone who jumped on board.

Cash Cow Coach of the Year

Winner – Brad Scott, Bombers (64% of votes)

After giving us 15 debutants in one season, it’s easy to see why Brad Scott claimed Cash Cow Coach of the Year honours. Some of the fresh faces at Essendon didn’t feature in ANY fantasy teams throughout the season, but there were a few players who bobbed up to play a helpful cameo. The Bombers’ first-round draftee Isaac Kako didn’t offer the greatest scoring potential, although he did help generate cash straight out of the blocks and is poised to play every game for the club this year. Angus Clarke and Zak Johnson proved to be helpful stepping stones during the bye rounds and a handful of the clubs’ mid-season draftees emerged as handy bench placeholders. Archer May stood out the most, but Liam McMahon and Lachlan Blakiston also played a role for coaches when obvious downgrade options were few and far between.

Winner – Tom McCarthy, Eagles (74% of votes)

Another cakewalk count for the Defender of the Year saw Tom McCarthy crowned as the best rookie DEF in 2025. Zach Reid and Riley Bice were serviceable for their owners and their dip in form coincided with McCarthy’s arrival. Swapping out Bice for T-Mac in Round 14 would have netted you a cool $391K and West Coast’s mid-season pick stormed to the finish line with some impressive scores across the second half of the season. McCarthy ended the season with the highest disposal average (23.6) at the Eagles and there is optimism that he can be considered for our starting team in 2026 on the back of his first taste of AFL action.

Midfielder of the Year

Winner – Levi Ashcroft, Lions (88% of votes)

Levi posted the greatest margin of victory in the 2025 Cash Cow Awards by claiming the title as the best midfielder. Xavier Lindsay (6%) and Harvey Langford (4%) saw some love from the fantasy community, but it was clear that the younger Ashcroft brother was a deserving winner in this category. Playing all 23 games this season, Levi hit the ground running to commence his AFL Fantasy career with nine 80+ scores – recording more points total than James Sicily, Shai Bolton, Andrew McGrath and Joel Freijah. While his brother Will recorded a higher fantasy average (82.9) in his rookie campaign, a knee injury restricted him to just 18 games and the durability that Levi has shown in year one will hopefully become a staple of his career moving forward.

Ruckman of the Year

Winner – Loophole R3 (57% of votes)

Lol. For the second straight year, no recognisable rookie ruckman has been able to surpass the loophole R3 option in the polls. Nic Madden had a nice, brief stint in a lot of teams, but it proved to be more beneficial having Harry Boyd sitting on our bench to utilise as a captain choice and cash in a stellar VC score. There were five times this season that Boyd donned the captains armband in my side and I’m sure there are other fantasy coaches who appreciated having a non-paying option at R3 to ensure they made the most of their VC choices.

Forward of the Year

Winner – Sam Davidson, Bulldogs (49% of votes)

One of the tightest votes in the 2025 award ballot still saw Sam Davidson cruise to victory as the best cash cow from our forward lines this season. A preseason score of 102 that featured 29 disposals and a goal saw Davidson become a popular starting pick and he didn’t let us down by recording a 70+ AVG in the first half of the fantasy campaign. His numbers were quelled following the Bulldogs’ mid-season bye, but by that time, Davo had likely served his purpose for fantasy coaches. He finished the season with 19 appearances and a healthy 66.1 average, beating out Max Hall (17% of votes) and Daniel Curtin (34% of votes) for the crown.

The Cash Cow Team of the Year

Choosing the best 15 cash cows from a single season is always a tough task, with a large group of rookies contributing to successful fantasy teams. Some may give more weight to a player who featured in 20+ games and dropped decent scores along the way, while others might view the rookies who showed a higher ceiling for a short period of time as the more worthy picks. After carefully deliberating over which rookies most deserve to be picked, here are my choices for the Cash Cow Team of the Year for 2025!

Honourable mentions: Sam Lalor, Isaac Kako, Riley Bice, Hugh Boxshall

DEF: Jaxon Prior, Zach Reid, Tom McCarthy
MID: Xavier Lindsay, Levi Ashcroft, Harvey Langford, Murphy Reid
RUC: Nic Madden
FWD: Max Hall, Daniel Curtin, Sam Davidson
BENCH: Luke Trainor, Finn O’Sullivan, Elijah Hewett, Connor O’Sullivan

Finals MVP

Winner – Tom McCarthy, Eagles

After scoring 339 points across the final four fantasy rounds, Tom McCarthy adds yet another fantasy accolade to his resume! Scores of 91, 88, 82 and 78 saw a lot of coaches (myself included) opt to keep McCarthy around and there were plenty of opportunities to play the looping game thanks to West Coast’s late fixtures. Levi Ashcroft (315) and Angus Clarke (303) also performed admirably in the fantasy finals, but an average of almost 85 from T-Mac across the final month can’t be ignored.

Cash Cow MVP

Winner – Tom McCarthy, Eagles (50% of votes)

Personally, I gave my vote to Levi Ashcroft as the Cash Cow MVP for 2025 – but the people have spoken. While Tom McCarthy only featured in 10 games this fantasy season, his arrival came at a crucial juncture in the fixture. Consistent scoring mixed with a rapid price rise led to T-Mac ending the year with a 29.8% ownership while he assisted coaches as an emergency, loophole option, or trustworthy on-field scorer. His season low points total of 70 illustrated just how unreal his scoring rate was during the second half of the fantasy season and while players such as Levi Ashcroft and Daniel Curtin were able to play twice as many games, McCarthy’s efforts when the whips were cracking saw him edge out his fellow rookies for MVP honours.

Fry

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