17 down, 7 to go!

If you needed any extra motivation to get the remaining rooks off your field then look no further than the most popular cash cows still circulating in teams. Yes, Will Ashcroft bucked the trend and scored well, but the rest of the rookie class flopped across the board with Seamus Mitchell, Angus Sheldrick, Harry Sheezel and Matthew Johnson ALL scoring less than 60. There are a clear dozen or so fantasy stars that are defining themselves as must-have players and getting those 120+ scores onto your field is a priority at this point of the season. Don’t let that distract you from the main objective though, rookies go first – usually.

Rookie/cash cows are defined as players who started the season priced at roughly $300,000 or less

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Mooooving On

Part of our weekly trade focus is to remove the rookie-priced players who are no longer making money. When a cash cow sees their average fall in line with their breakeven or they find themselves on the outside looking in for multiple weeks at a time, that’s a good time to give them the axe.

Fattened cash cows

1. Bailey Humphrey, Suns ($500K, AVG 56, BE 81)
2. Matthew Johnson, Dockers ($542K, AVG 55, BE 63)
3. Seamus Mitchell, Hawks ($598K, AVG 70, BE 74)
4. Harry Sheezel, Kangaroos ($749K, AVG 95, BE 106)
5. Will Ashcroft, Lions ($712K, AVG 84, BE 62)

Injured/non-playing rookies

1. Harvey Harrison, Magpies ($291K, AVG 39, BE 42)
2. Kade Chandler, Demons ($479K, AVG 61, BE 74)
3. George Wardlaw, Kangaroos ($496K, AVG 68, BE 39)
4. Jacob van Rooyen, Demons ($434K, AVG 51, BE 50)
5. Harry Sharp, Lions ($332K, AVG 59, BE 5)

Cash Cow King – Round 17

There was Will Ashcroft and everyone else in Round 17. Thanks to 71 first-half points, Brisbane’s ascending talent was a cut above his rookie peers with teammate Darcy Wimot the next closest cash cow with his score of 76. There weren’t too many others who stood out over the weekend, although Anthony Caminiti scored 70+ for the first time since Round 2 and Campbell Chesser earned his maiden nomination with a season-best 66. Technically, Josh Weddle outscored Elijah Hewett by a point last round, but I’m giving the West Coast rookie the nod for the last nom given his greater ownership percentage.

Round 17 Power Rankings

After 17 weeks of action, these are the top 10 cash cow performers in season 2023!

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Making Moves

Money makers

Son of a gun Cooper Harvey ($228K, 63, BE 0) is shaping up as the pick of the cheaper cash cows up for grabs after he held his own against Geelong by chalking up a respectable 63 points. His arrival comes at a convenient time for coaches looking to offload a maxed-out rookie and there’s no reason to suggest he won’t be in North’s side to take on Hawthorn on the weekend. Another pair of first gamers in Richmond pair Sam Banks ($211K, 39, BE 15) and Jacob Bauer ($200K, 6, BE 45)  had two very different experiences with the former hopefully able to find a regular place in the Tigers’ outfit. Bauer unfortunately pinged his hamstring just minutes into the game which stings for the 2,700 coaches with him in their side.

West Coast duo Campbell Chesser ($345K, 66, BE 15) and Elijah Hewett ($308K, 62, BE 1) look set to maintain their steady increase in price as the Eagles continue to give their youngsters experience at the top level. Serving as convenient emergency cover in multiple lines, both Chesser and Hewett should have access to solid scores moving forward. We aren’t used to the Cats gifting fantasy coaches with rookies and Oisin Mullin’s ($272K, 47, BE 11) return was a nice bench boost for over 20% of the competition. After gathering 11 touches against North Melbourne, we’ll have our fingers crossed hoping Mullin gets a chance to keep his cash gen trending in the right direction.

Keep the faith

I keep waiting for the Darcy Wilmot ($551K, 76, BE 42) stinker that forces his remaining owners to give him the flick, but the Brisbane utility keeps producing impressive scores. Filling up the box scores against the Eagles gives Wilmot a three-round average nudging 80 and there’s no urgency to trade him out while he’s climbing in value. By all means, ditch him to facilitate another upgrade and you can do the same with Will Ashcroft ($712K, 113, BE 62) despite his strong showing last round. Over 44% of coaches still have the Rising Star favourite in their team even though his 113 against the Eagles was his first triple-figure score in his last six games.

At this point of the season, I can see the appeal in holding onto an established rookie like Ashcoft or even Harry Sheezel ($749K, 52, BE 106) for that matter. Sheez’s DEF/FWD status makes it easier to justify keeping North Melbourne’s young gun in your team and with only seven weeks left in the fantasy season, I’d rather trade for a gun midfielder instead of keeping Ashcroft. If you have the cash to jump on the Sicily bandwagon then Sheezel can be sent packing, although he does have a juicy run of fantasy-friendly fixtures on the slate.

GameDay Squad – Create. Coach. Compete.

Cut them loose

The time has come to part ways with Matt Johnson ($542K, 41, BE 63) after he was subbed out of Freo’s embarrassing loss to Carlton. Jonno held his own in 56% of game time and the suspension of Caleb Serong could lead to a one-week spike in his midfield clock. Still, a date with the Pies and a toughish breakeven are enough to warrant giving him the flick. Some desperate to find extra cash may look to offload Angus Sheldrick ($516K, 46, BE 32) following his strangely similar performance to Johnson.

Providing he’s named for Thursday night’s game against the Bulldogs, you don’t have to prioritise trading out Sheldrick but you need to start thinking about an exit strategy. If you still own either of the Hawks defenders in Josh Weddle ($535K, 63, BE 60) or Seamus Mitchell ($598K, 56, BE 74) then this is the week to cash them in. Their cushy upcoming run may tempt some coaches to hold onto them, however now that’ve reached their peak value the smartest strategy is to turn them into a cheaper alternative.

Thin Ice

Still residing in over 25,000 teams, Geroge Wardlaw ($496K, DNP, BE 39) isn’t being talked about anymore in the fantasy community. The majority of his owners would’ve ditched the rugged North midfielder following his bye-round efforts and he missed last week with the flu. With all that said, if you happen to still own the Roos rook then he should surpass his breakeven this week against Hawthorn. If Wardlaw isn’t on your MID bench, it’s possible you could have Jaspa Fletcher ($383K, 37, BE 31) sitting there and his 77 in Round 16 feels like a distant memory after he struggled to feast against the Eagles.

There is hopefully still room for Fletcher to grow, however he’s no certainty to stay in the Lions’ top side as they gear up for the finals push. In that same game, Ryan Maric ($304K, 41, BE 13) did well to even get to 40 points given Brisbane’s dominance. It’s still clear that Maric isn’t an ideal bench piece, as I only expect him to continue churning out 40’s and 50’s. He’ll keep slowly growing and Lachlan McNeil ($270K, 50, BE 13) falls into the same basket as someone to ignore even if he maintains a place in the Dogs’ best 22.

Sub status

Subbed On – Kai Lohmann, Joel Smith, Ollie Dempsey, Karl Worner

Subbed Off – Jacob Bauer, James O’Donnell, Matthew Johnson

It was business as usual for the fantasy subs last week, as no one managed to surpass Johnson’s 41 points in their limited game time. I’m still off the idea of players making their debut as the sub, but Worner did look like a deer in the headlights at times against the Blues. Special shoutout this week to Joel Smith who managed to run around for 17% of the clash against St Kilda and fail to record a single stat!

Reserves Watch

It will come as no surprise to learn that Jaxon Binns and Josh Fahey maintained their impressive scoring rate in the VFL last weekend as a number of discounted players bobbed up for selection. Last weekend also saw the return of players like Matt Roberts and Ollie Hollands while Essendon youngster Elijah Tsatas sat out due to the Bombers’ VFL bye.

Here are the state league stats from Round 17 for all the relevant fantasy cash cows:

Jaxon Binns, CAR (130) – 33 disposals, 8 marks, 1 goal
Jack Buller, SYD (27) – 9 touches, 1 goal
Jack Bytel, STK (118) – 30 touches, 10 tackles
Sam Darcy, WBD (142) – 21 disposals, 11 marks, 15 hitouts, 4.2 in front of goal
Josh Fahey, GWS (108) – 26 touches (23 kicks), 5 marks, 5 tackles
Will Gould, SYD (80) – 22 disposals (18 kicks), 6 marks
Ollie Hollands, CAR (91) – 23 disposals, 5 marks
Hugh Jackson, PA (96) – 22 touches, 10 tackles
Finlay Macrae, COL (120) – 38 disposals, 5 tackles
Lachlan McAndrew, SYD (96) – 18 touches, 21 hitouts
Ned Moyle, GCS (125) – 20 touches, 40 hitouts, 6 marks
Will Phillips, NTH (112) – 30 disposals, 7 tackles
Matt Roberts, SYD (44)- 15 disposals, 1 goal
Harry Sharp, BRIS (126) – 30 touches, 9 marks, 2.1 in front of goal
Jeremy Sharp, GCS (156) – 39 disposals, 11 marks, 5 tackles
Josh Sinn, PA (91) – 19 disposals, 7 tackles, 4 marks
Sam Sturt, FREO (87) – 18 disposals, 6 marks, 6 tackles
Elijah Tsatas, ESS (DNP) – BYE
Dante Visentini, PA (132) – 19 touches, 30 hitouts, 8 tackles

Remember the Name

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

DEFENDERS

Jake Stein (Suns, $288K)
Rhett Montgomerie (Bombers, $200K)
Jakob Ryan (Magpies, $246K)
Sam Durdin (Blues, $213K)
Darragh Joyce (Lions, $241K)

MIDFIELDERS

Connor Blakely (Suns, $235K)
Billy Dowling (Crows, $216K)
Elijah Tsatas (Bombers, $292K)
Ed Allen (Magpies, $264K)
Hugh Bond (Crows, $202K)
Mitch Hardie (Cats, $200K)
Jack Peris (Saints, $200K)
Henry Hustwaite (Hawks, $228K)

RUCKMEN

Jacob Edwards (Kangaroos, $200K)
Alex Mirkov (Blues, $200K)
Hamish Free (Kangaroos, $200K)
Max Heath (Saints, $200K)

FORWARDS

Jaxon Binns (Blues, $238K)
Joe Richards (Magpies, $206K)
Finlay Macrae (Magpies, $290K)
Hugh Jackson (Power, $200K)
James Willis (Cats, $200K)
Jaiden Hunter (Bombers, $200K)
Patrick Voss (Bombers, $200K)

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