22 down, 2 to go!

As we’re confronted with another week of forced trades (seriously, WTF?!), fantasy coaches are probably going to end up stuck with the rookies still sitting in their teams. Some of the cash cows from 2026 have helped propel coaches to great heights, while a select few are still being relied upon for production with just two weeks of the season remaining. As we gear up for award season and the conclusion of the 2026 campaign, it’s time to start narrowing down our list of nominees ahead of next week’s major award ballot.

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

Cash Cow King – Round 22

For the fourth consecutive game, Dyson Sharp finds himself amongst the votes for the CCK award. His production at F7 continues to provide a lot of coaches with a valuable security blanket and loop option. Sydney duo Jai Serong and Jesse Dattoli made the most of the Swans’ thumping win over Port Adelaide and the ever-reliable Patrick Retschko maintained his impressive season with another nomination. It’s tight at the top and the last round or two of votes will end up determining the winner and the final podium!

Some of our favourite rookies continue to post ripper scores with just two weeks (and 20 votes) remaining in the Cash Cow King award for 2026!

Who gets your vote as the most important cash cow in Round 22? 🤔 #AFLFantasy

— SportsbyFry (@sportsbyfry) August 11, 2026

DEFENCE

The backline has been a happy hunting ground for cash cows throughout the season. We were flush with reliable rooks to start our fantasy campaign, with forgotten heroes such as Sam Grlj (90) and Lachie Jaques (112) producing monster scores in Round 1 to get some coaches off to a flyer. However, our DEF rookie class was so strong that neither of them ended up making the positional ballot. Another popular starting pick, who well and truly deserves a spot amongst the nominees as the best defensive rookie was Jai Serong. The recycled Swan produced epic numbers in our backlines, topping 90+ points on four separate occasions, and at his peak, he generated $489K for his faithful owners.

A lot of coaches would have started the season with Serong in their teams and Michael Sellwood possibly took up residence alongside him. I was pretty quick to point out Sellwood’s lack of ceiling when it came to fantasy production, but the mature-aged Bulldog deserves a ton of credit for his fantasy season. He is the only cash cow in this batch of nominees to feature in every game, with a few pop scores in recent weeks helping coaches avoid a dreaded doughnut. Sellwood didn’t reach the same heights as some of our other rooks, but he should still be acknowledged for his consistency. Cash cows such as Jacob Farrow and Josh Lindsay were able to reach greater heights throughout the year and there were a lot more coaches who fielded this pair throughout the early/middle parts of the fantasy season.

Along with Tom Blamires, I leaned heavily on this group of cash cows to help me climb the rankings prior to the bye rounds and strong scoring from all of them allowed us to leave them at D4-D6 and continue to patch the holes that injured premiums put in our sides. Farrow only left my side in Round 18 as his consistent scores in the 70-point range became invaluable during the bye rounds. I was able to chop him out because another 70-point staple in Hugo Hall-Kahan had emerged, allowing us to continue fielding a rookie at D6 with some confidence. Even this late into the season, HHK continues to play an important role – helping the Wanganeen-Milera owners avoid a 0 over the weekend. You could argue that this year’s collection of fantasy rookies available in defence is one of the best units we’ve ever had. I’m intrigued to see which trio emerge as the finalists in such a competitive field.

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MIDFIELD

The engine room is usually where we find our best rookie scorers, and this season was no exception. A basement-priced Jagga Smith was a gift from the fantasy gods, with the Calrotn phenom producing a memorable first season in the pros. At the time of typing, Jagga is still earning coin and has ticked over $600K profit thanks to an average of 91.1 points in his last six games. We have Michael Voss to thank for Smith being available as a FWD – with the now-former Carlton coach deploying him at 39% of the CBA’s in his eight games at the helm. Under Josh Fraser, the ascending Blue has bumped his fantasy average by eight points and attended an average of 63% of the CBA’s. That enhanced midfield role has been a welcome boost for the coaches who trusted his pedigree and continued to utilise Jagga at M8 or F6.

There was a point in time when Willem Durrsma rivalled Jagga as the best on-field rookie MID. The reigning No. 1 pick burst out of the gates in 2026, averaging 82.4 points from his first seven career games. He maintained that 80+ average until West Coast’s bye in Round 14, with plenty of coaches opting to move Duursma on around that point with his price tag sitting at $777K. It was around that same time that Duursma’s teammate Milan Murdock added FWD status and emerged as a handy Swiss Army knife who could be swung between two positions. There were only 16 days between Murdock being signed and Murdock making his AFL debut, with the versatile Eagle proving to be right at home at AFL level by scoring 95 points in his first career game.

West Coast wasn’t the only team to produce multiple, successful rookies through the midfield, with Richmond duo Sam Cumming and Patrick Retschko playing their part as money makers at an important point of the season. Thanks to a convenient Round 13 bye, Cumming and Retschko were leaned on heavily throughout the best-18 rounds to help us field as many players as possible – a crucial role that saw a lot of coaches avoid a stinky on-field score. Coming out of the bye rounds, mid-season recruits such as Joel Fitzgerald and Marcus Herbert became popular rookie choices, with a now healthy Dyson Sharp also thriving. Over the last 4-6 weeks, these cash cows have provided us with awesome bench cover, with the ability to loop them onto our field for the occasional triple-figure scores. Narrowing this group down to four finalists is going to be tough, with so many MID rookies making an impact at different stages of the season.

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RUCK

We don’t need to spend too long talking about the rucks. There is a clear No. 1 nominee in this position and after we saw Lachlan McAndrew step into the R1 role for Adelaide, some coaches (including me) will argue that McR2 was the best cash cow in 2026. The damage had already been done before he was managed last round. McAndrew generated a whopping $553K at his peak, while also owning the 8th-best average among ruckmen, accumulating 1,699 total points on the season – good for the 5th-highest total from a RUC. To put that into perspective, McAndrew averaged more points than Jordan De Goey, Christian Petracca and Shai Bolton, while scoring more total points than Levi Ashcroft, Izak Rankine and Harley Reid. Not bad from a guy who had only played 2 AFL games prior to this season.

The Crows’ ruck wasn’t the only inexperienced tall who helped fantasy coaches throughout the year, with Mitch Edwards the next best rookie RUC. Earning a debut in Round 1 against Freo, Edwards has featured in 16 games to date while recording a respectable average of 51.9 points. Eagles prospect Cooper Duff-Tytler and another Adelaide tall in Toby Murray also earned a spot among the nominees thanks to their small cameos, but I think we’re in for a landslide victory here. The bigger question that needs to be asked (and answered next week), is where McAndrew ranks for you among the best rookies from this season.

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FORWARD

Unlike the other three lines, the forward line was a source of frustration for the entire fantasy season in terms of reliable rookies. There were a few shining lights in the front-6, but most of the rookies in this group failed to string strong scores together. Brayden Cook was one of the rare exceptions as the Adelaide winger scored 80+ on nine different occasions and provided us with a trustworthy F6 option to commence the season. He has had some scoring lulls during the fantasy campaign, but more often than not Cook was able to put up a score that coaches were happy with on field. Another mainstream starter in Leo Lombard was better suited as a bench pick, although there were points in the season when he ‘popped’ with a 70+ outing too.

Personally, I traded Lombard out of my team in Round 7 as he was coming off consecutive 30-point efforts and it seemed like the pressure FWD was destined to produce more sub-50 scores. The Gold Coast gun proved me wrong by rediscovering his mojo and producing an average of 60.3 from that point onwards – including three scores north of 70 in a four-game stretch after the bye rounds. Coaches also invested in Phoenix Gothard and benefited from his bright moments during the season. His 2026 campaign ended prematurely with a shoulder injury, but before he was struck down, Gothard managed to produce one of the games of the year with a 130-point outing vs. the Lions. His ability to rack up touches, lay tackles AND hit the scoreboard also saw him chalk up a healthy 99 points against Sydney.

Forgotten man Deven Robertson was also capable of hitting ceiling scores and it’s a shame that an ACL tear stopped him from making his presence really felt. Scores of 104 and 90 in the first fortnight made him a must-have and even though he only featured in four games, he still deserves to be acknowledged – giving us another indication of how lacklustre the forward rookies were. Jack Watkins may have played a part-time role for coaches once he gained FWD status in Round 6, but Sullivan Robey was the only other cash cow with forward eligibility who thrived. Through the middle portion of the season, he was crucial to our forward lines as his midfield minutes increased and he produced consistent 70-point games. A purple patch at the start of the byes came at an opportune time and it should help Robey poll more than a handful of votes in this category. It isn’t the strongest group of candidates we’ve seen in the forward line, but there are still enough success stories to make the final vote interesting.

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Fry

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