Five down, 19 to go!

One of these weeks, we will avoid an injury bullet. We should be celebrating a new batch of dual-position players and talking about upgrades and which cash cows we want to offload. Instead, some of us are battling to find 22 green dots as we add names like Zorko, Budarick, Anderson (of the Noah variety) and Robertson to the mounting injury list. Although a crisis creates opportunity, and with a few standout trade targets emerging, coaches can hopefully shuffle some magnets to bring in high-powered scorers to help their quest for a relevant rank.

Rookies/cash cows are typically defined as players priced at $400,000 or lower to commence the season

Cash Cow King – Round 5

Consecutive triple-figure scores have made Jacob Farrow the talk of the town when it comes to rookies. When Lachie Jaques was named out on Thursday, the majority of us slotted Farrow into his place and weren’t mad with the results. He wasn’t the only rookie to have a strong outing in South Australia last weekend, with mainstrem rooks such as Lachlan McAndrew and Willem Duursma continuing their rich vein of form. Angry Angus Anderson rounded out the nominees this week, with 92 points on debut. As a result, he’ll be a coveted cash cow at the trade table this week.

Defenders

Let ’em grow

We’re already flush with fieldable rookie options down back, but a new batch of dual-position players only strengthens our defensive line. Jacob Farrow ($517K, 102, BE -25) and Lachie Jaques ($555, DNP, BE 2) are at the top of the depth chart in terms of on-field selections, but we have enough cash cows in our backline to even consider bringing a third onto the deck. You can now start Tom Blamires ($514K, 69, BE 22) and Jack Carroll ($507K, 72, BE 31) down back after they added DEF status and their efforts in Gather Round will see them hold a spot in our sides for at least a few more weeks.

Sam Grlj ($558K, 59, BE 37) further bolsters our back-6 rookie choices, although there are a few coaches who are moving the talented Tiger on this round. We need to find cash for upgrades by getting rid of someone and there are roughly 1,000 coaches who view Grlj as expendable right now. I’m going to give him a longer run and hope he has another phase of cash generation in him – with Josh Lindsay ($456K, 67, BE 11) in a similar position. I promise you, the 75-80+ point game from West Coast’s budding backman is just around the corner.

Let ’em go

If you haven’t already shown Lachie Blakiston ($449K, 41, BE 44) the door, then the time is now. Nick Byran continues to build towards a return, and Blakiston has halted in terms of scoring output and cash generation. He was booted from over 17,500 teams ahead of Round 6 and if you weren’t one of those coaches, then Blakiston should be a trade priority. Easier said then done given the injury carnage, but hopefully with some DPP action, you move him on. Michael Sellwood ($405K, 67, BE 17) is close to being cut too, although those who rolled the dice on him would have been chuffed to see the Dogs defender surpass 60 again. There wasn’t as much promise from the likes of Bo Allan ($392K, 35, BE 35), Wade Derksen ($265K, 34, BE 8) or Zeke Uwland ($399K, 49, BE 18) meaning they need to remain out of our fantasy sides.

Midfielders

Let ’em grow

I’ve given most the cash cows with MID/DEF flexibility a big pump up, but haven’t yet talked about Jai Serong ($566K, 73, BE 12). Averaging 73.6 points on the season, he is excelling as a rookie right now and adding midfield status only further adds to his appeal. There will be some quarters or even games where Serong is caught on the cold side of the ground and scores poorly as a result. That shouldn’t deter you from trusting him as an on-field option on a near-weekly basis. The same obviously goes for Willem Duursma ($623K, 86, BE 27), who once again finished a round among the top rookie scorers and was even checked by Mark O’Connor vs. Geelong!

I had my doubts over his fantasy ability entering the 2026 season, but Duursma has been one of the best-performing rookies through the first five weeks. Jagga Smith ($586K, 57, BE 40) was the cash cow most believed would be the standout scorer, but spending significant time at half forward has seen his scoring dry up. I’m not ready to pull the trigger on him yet, but Jagga is on thin ice and we will be watching him closely on Thursday night. In that same hitout, most fantasy coaches will have their eyes on Angus Anderson ($285K, 92, BE -23) following his encouraging debut. Most of us are dealing with a stackload of injuries and as a result, we have to wait a week on Anderson. If you have the option though, trading for the mature-aged Magpie will only bolster your cash generation as I expect Anderson to get a consistent run for Collingwood over the next few rounds.

Let ’em go

There aren’t any midfield rooks who demand our immediate trade attention this week – thank god. Josh Lai ($322K, 34, BE 10) is closest to fitting that bill after gathering just nine touches against St Kilda last round, while Dyson Sharp ($316K, DNP, BE 32) is also being offloaded by a few coaches.

Rucks

Let ’em grow

I feel like this section of the weekly rookie check-in is becoming quite repetitive. Once again, Lachlan McAndrew ($675K, 84, BE 12) produced a fieldable score that coaches would have accepted and the other green dots in the ruck line scored somewhere between 20 and 50. Oscar Steene ($305K, 25, BE 16) only just scraped to 25 points, while Cooper Duff-Tytler ($378K, 17, BE 53) virtually went unsighted at Norwood Oval. In that same clash, Mitch Edwards ($325K, 43, BE 9) battled his way to 43 points, failing to make the most of Mark Blicavs’ absence. His ruck contest numbers were impacted by Shannon Neale and Sam De Koning and it’s important to remember that Edwards is still an infant in terms of AFL minutes.

Forwards

Let ’em grow

The injuries that have hit our forward lines mean we need to A) chase upgrades or B) rely on our depth in the front six. Almost all of the Brayden Cook ($548K, 57, BE 41) owners will already have him on field, but now his presence becomes even more important. Hopefully he can find a way to hit 65-70 over the next few rounds before he tops out in price, with Phoenix Gothard ($497K, 67, BE 12) another FWD cash cow that may be leaned upon. Gothard will probably get the call-up from F7-F8 for his owners, and an average of 64.4 on the season indicates he can help us out in a time of need.

I don’t have the same confidence in Port Adelaide duo Jack Watkins ($455K, 41, BE 42) and Todd Marshall ($470K, 62, BE 14), although owners may have no choice but to play them if they have been bitten hard by the injury bug. Watkins adding FWD status comes at an opportune time, as he can be swung down into the front-6 to provide us with a heartbeat. We won’t be expecting Watkins to light it up and an injury to Jack Lukosius may see Marshall swing forward – raising concerns about his scoring potential too. At the end of the day, if you need either (or both) of them to help you field a full 22, it’s better than copping a doughnut.

Let ’em go

Let’s not beat around the bush here – losing Deven Robertson ($511K, 59, BE 23) f%$&ing sucks. I really feel for the bloke who was just starting to find his mojo as a full-time midfielder at his new club and his ACL tear adds another injury issue to the growing list of concerns leading into Round 6. With almost 78% of the comp owning Dev Rob, a lot of us will turn to Leo Lombard ($418K, 39, BE 39) and hope he can produce a decent point total against the Bombers. He desperately needs a pop score, with the Gold Coast FWD averaging a miserable 40.7 points in his last three. We will be keeping a watchful eye on Sullivan Robey ($317K, 36, BE 28) in that same contest, with the hopes that he can become our saviour as a downgrade option. I’m not going to get my hopes up, but desperate times call for desperate trade targets.

Reserves Report

No reserves report this week as the SANFL and VFL had a bye. No one stood out in the WAFL either, with players like Finlay Macrae (59), Adam Swied (54), Harry Barnett (60) and Harvey Johnston (82) the only players that coaches may be looking at.

Q & A

The weekly Q&A section aims to address the biggest rookie/cash cow issues that we are facing. 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 questions below.

Too late for Farrow?

— Vinny Urbancic (@urbvy001) April 14, 2026

In short, no. Obviously, it would have been ideal to jump on a fortnight ago, but as he continues to thrive and score at a rapid rate, we can still find room for Farrow as he has more money to make. Essendon’s chip-mark game style has seen all of the Dons defenders score in healthy doses over the last few rounds and there’s no reason to assume that will change.

Best rooks who you could bring in as a red dot expecting them to play in the coming weeks or around mid season? Preferably forwards.

— Celly (@_Luicelisano_) April 14, 2026

I get a lot of questions similar to this one throughout the season and while it may sound like a cop out, the honest answer is I have no idea. As a Fremantle fan, I followed a lot of their preseason stuff pretty closely and it seemed like Tobyn Murray was in the box seat to get an early debut. I’m sure there were some coaches who looked at him as a bench piece, but instead, we’ve seen Chris Scerri come from the clouds to find a home in the Freo forward line. The point is, I have no idea what AFL coaches are thinking – nor do I know which players from the reserves they are genuinely considering for a call-up. But, if I had to guess here are a few red dot rookies that may be on the cusp:

Lachlan Carmichael (Dogs), Tylah Williams (Eagles), Aidan Schubert (Hawks), Tyan Prindable (Magpies), Sid Draper (Crows)

When sam cumming is in- is he good enough to get as soon as his named?

— Jason I (@jason_isaia) April 14, 2026

Sort of. Sam Cumming should be another rookie who gets ample opportunities to play/score when he inevitably gets promoted to Richmond’s AFL side. However, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Yze give him low TOG minutes for the first game or two as Cumming builds into life as a pro footballer. I always prefer to wait a week on inflated rookies and see how they adjust to the big time and while Cumming showed glimpses of promise throughout the preseason, I’d still prefer to watch him first before taking the leap.

Can any of them save my team?

— Sensual Lettuce (@Lvl40_nerd) April 14, 2026

Honestly mate, they are kind of saving my team right now – and I know I’m not alone! They are making a ton of cash while putting up fieldable scores and the pending return of Milan Murdock this week only strengthens our rookie stocks. I’m hopeful that they will end up propelling us back into relevance as soon as we can focus on upgrade season rather than continuously devoting our trades to injured players.

Remember the Name

In no particular order, here are some of the other rookie-priced players to consider throughout the season.

DEFENDERS

Charlie Edwards (Crows, $230K)
Dylan Patterson (Suns, $334K)
Oskar Taylor (Giants, $294K)
Lachlan Carmichael (Bulldogs, $270K)
Cooper Simpson (Dockers, $340K)
Matt Whitlock (Kangaroos, $230K)
Harrison Ramm (Power, $268K)

MIDFIELDERS

Harry DeMattia (Magpies, $230K)
Josh Smillie (Tigers, $230K)
Luke Urquart (Kangaroos, $230K)
Adam Sweid (Dockers, $254K)
Harry Kyle (Swans, $298K)
Tyan Prindable (Magpies, $230K)
Luke Beecken (Lions, $230K)
Sam Cumming (Tigers, $326K)
Ollie Greeves (Hawks, $230K)
Patrick Retschko (Tigers, $230K)
Ben Camporeale (Blues, $230K)
Sam Swadling (Magpies, $230K)

RUCKMEN

Aidan Schubert (Hawks, $262K)
Kayle Gerreyn (Bombers, $230K)
Max Heath (Demons, $376K)
Callum Coleman-Jones (Kangaroos, $230K)

FORWARDS

Sid Draper (Crows, $307K)
Jesse Dattoli (Swans, $273K)
Finlay Macrae (Eagles, $293K)
Mitchell Marsh (Crows, $266K)
Charlie Banfield (Saints, $230K)
Harvey Harrison (Magpies, $300K)
Jay Polkinghorne (Cats, $230K)

Fry

Australian coffee/burrito enthusiast and the frustrated owner of 16 fantasy teams. Writer for SportsbyFry and DT Talk 🤙