The Stream Team – Round 4

Guys, it turns out that Matty Faz and DT Talk are the draft combo you’ve needed all along. I say this at this early point of the article because I can’t contain my elation over the fact that the Shoe-in of the Week went BOOM for a second week running! And I’m talking another ceiling-style BOOM from a lowly owned player. I’m on a hat-trick; and that’s a feet I have never achieved. I’m putting a lot of pressure upon myself and the Shoe-in selection this round, let me tell you…

Anyway, the purpose of this article is to suggest one-week streaming options for draft leagues. Each week, I compile a team of lowly owned players (<40% ownership) that are worthy of a one-week pick-up-and-play, helping you fill any gaps you may have in your starting squads.

But first, let’s see how I went last round:

HITS

Josh Treacy (120 AF/140 SC) – BOOM! The man I was alluding to in my opening paragraph. What a game, and what was more impressive is that he did it in the wet. He’s got the best hands in footy right now and is an obvious hold for your draft teams.

Oli Hollands (97 AF/112 SC) – some more BOOM here, but for your defense. Now I’m not sure about his prospects moving forward, but with North to come, you could stream him again.

Willem Drew (87 AF/73 SC) – Just doing Willem Drew things as one of our most used waiver pigs. Oink on, Big W.

Heath Chapman (78 AF/81 SC) – not jaw-droppinlgy good, but sturdy enough. I’ve always rated Chapman’s fantasy game, so keep him on your radar.

MISSES

None to report!

Well all things considered, I’m patting myself on the back again this week. Perhaps some more hits would have been nice, but I can’t recall the last time I didn’t have at least one blunder of a pick. Plus, when the Shoe goes big 2 weeks in a row, you’re getting your value for price of admission right there.

Here are the lowly owned players that I like as stream targets for Round 4 (ownership % taken from AFL Fantasy):

DEFENDERS

Lachie Jaques (34%) vs. Essendon – he’s only 19, and you’ve loved him in your classic side so far. He’s playing the EssenDONE this week and we all know what that means…

Logan Evans (12%) vs. Richmond – Richmond are a fantastic matchup for general defenders, and Evans has shown us that he can put points on the board (he got a 108 against the Bombers). This feels like a safe play with some BOOM potential, pending Port’s efforts.

Dan Rioli (26%) vs. Melbourne – the outside runners from defence love playing the Dees, and although Rioli isn’t the scoring machine some thought he might be at the Suns, he can still get it done on his day. I do worry about all the mouths to feed in the Suns’ backline, but on the expanses of the MCG, I reckon they can all feast against Melbourne.

MIDFIELDERS

Alex Davies (10%) vs. Melbourne – here’s your Shoe-in of the Week, kids. With a juicy Melbourne matchup to come, and Rowell and Trac still missing, Davies has a very nice path to points here. He has averaged ~80 AF in his last 2 games, doing this with only ~60% TOG in each. That is some very nice points per minute right there. Davies was a highly touted junior and I see the fantasy chops in him as well, which is why he’s my man to bring home the Shoe-in hat-trick this week!

Levi Ashcroft (34%) vs. Collingwood – now McCluggage is set to return, which may hamper things here, but let me put on my Lions fan hat on for a minute. With injuries to Gardiner and Answerth, I can see Fletcher and perhaps even Berry, spending some more time in defensive roles, allowing access to points on the outside for Levi (the same kind of points he scored last week; 90 AF). The bonus here is that wingers are eating up against the Pies in recent times, AND you can loophole his score from the bench on Thursday night.

Ned Long (30%) vs. Brisbane – for the Pies mids, Long is the second highest averaging CBA attendee at 49%. However last week, when he only atteneded 33% CBAs, he put up his highest score for the season (86 AF); go figure. I like this stream because of Long’s high basement and the fact that you can loophole his score on Thursday night – just don’t expect any BOOM scores here.

Cooper Lord (19%) vs. North – the kid has a fantasy game, plus a nice matchup. He missed the Melbourne game due to illness, but will surely be back in the squad come Friday. If Carlton blow it all up, Lord could be a player worth holding onto.

RUCK

Callum Coleman-Jones (4%) vs. Carlton – with the blood-red hands of the Big X set to take a break tapping footies, I’m pretty sure the door is open for this guy. I don’t know what to expect from him, but he should have a majority of the ruck duties for North, which usually nets you decent points in this game.

FORWARDS

Riley Sanders (30%) vs. Essendon – Libba is still out, but clearly this stream is all about the matchup. We’ve seen Sanders put up some hefty scores in the past too. Imagine a scenario where the Dogs are 80 points up in the 4th and they rest the likes of Bont and Richards just because they can… enter the minnows – minnows such as Sanders.

Logan Morris (17%) vs. Collingwood – Darcy Moore is set to miss, which I’m hoping has a flow on affect for Logan Morris and the rest of the Lions’ forwards. He’s averaging a cool 78.5 AF, which is more than fine for your forward line. This pick feels pretty safe, and if doesn’t to you, you can loophole his score Thursday night.

Tom Papley (9%) vs. Sydney – Papley had a sneaky-good end to 2025, showing me there is a fantasy game underneath all of that bravado. He loves punching down on teams, and I’m predicting the West Coast bubble to burst this week in what should be a slaughtering at the hands of a fresh Sydney team.

Alrighty, folks, I’m on a hat-trick (as you may have read) and this round I care more about Alex Davies’ score more than all of my teams’ results combined! Apologies if I hhave missed your comments on the article the last 2 weeks – I’m more accessible over at X for any streaming queries you may have.

Happy streaming.

Matty Faz

I like draft-style fantasy footy, frisbees and the Simpsons.