Five down, 19 to go!

Another festival of footy in South Australia is behind us, with a handful of our favourite cash cows scoring in healthy doses during Round 5. A fresh batch of dual-position players will allow us to toggle rookies through multiple lines in an effort to unlock our best possible trades and potentially change up our structure once again. There is still time to axe our failed mid-pricers with coaches moving them to cash cows who are scoring at a similar rate. If you’re fielding more than 5 rooks in your starting 22, the risk of someone dropping a 40 becomes greater, however there are enough promising players on the rise for us to have confidence in our cows ahead of Round 6!

Rookie/cash cows are typically defined as players who started the season priced at $400,000 or lower

You can find more fantasy advice from Fry by joining the Fantasy SportsbyFry Patreon community!

Cash Cow King – Round 5

I’m sorry Jye Menzie, but there were only 411 coaches who benefitted from your score last week so I’m giving the nod to more mainstream rookies. I’m predicting a relatively close vote this week with some coaches potentially benefitting from four cash cows scores in the 90’s. Defensive duo Luke Trainor and Zach Reid gave their owners a handy boost, while the ever-reliable Riley Bice and Levi Ashcroft tied for the best rookie score in Gather Round. A strong 83-point outing from Caiden Cleary sees the young Swan take out the final nomination, with my vote this week going to the younger Ashcroft brother.

*If you’re having issues submitting your vote try clicking “view results” first and that should resolve the problem 🤞

Who's gets your vote as the most important cash cow in Round 5?

• Caiden Cleary (83)
• Riley Bice (94)
• Levi Ashcroft (94)
• Zach Reid (90)
• Luke Trainor (90)

View Results

 Loading ...

Round 5 Power Rankings

After 5 weeks of action, these are the top 10 cash cow performers in season 2025!

Power Ranking 2025 #AFLFantasy Cash Cows Round 5 💰🐮

1. Riley Bice ⬆️ 1
2. Levi Ashcroft ⬆️ 1
3. Sam Davidson ⬇️ 2
4. Luke Trainor ⬆️ 3
5. Zach Reid ⬆️ 3
6. Connor O’Sullivan ⬇️ 2
7. Caiden Cleary (NR)
8. Christian Moraes ⬇️ 2
9. Max Hall (NR)
10. Harvey Langford (NR) pic.twitter.com/ToNy3Ed8DO

— SportsbyFry (@sportsbyfry) April 15, 2025

Making Moves

Let ’em grow

Downgrade options are emerging in every line for fantasy coaches ahead of Round 6, with a lot of us opting to chase a BIG upgrade on the other side of the coin. In defence, we’re hopeful that Saad El-Hawli ($260K, 73, BE -4) will get a full game on Friday night after Essendon were forced to deploy their sub earlier than expected against the Demons. El-Hawli quickly got to work once he hit the ground by racking up 18 touches in his 62% TOG and if he avoids the sub vest, his ownership percentage should only continue to climb. A second straight promising showing from Caiden Cleary ($349K, 83, BE -20) and Tom Gross ($321K, 72, BE -14) has seen them enter calculations, as both cash cows find themselves in the top-5 for traded-in players at the time of typing.

Due to the fact they both own absurdly low breakevens, there is optimism around their potential to be a handy source of cash gen on our benches. Will White ($295K, 69, BE -9) and Matt Carroll ($266K, 68, BE -4) received the “West Coast bump” last round in their Gather Round triumph and I want another look at the Carlton young guns before investing in either of them. Carroll in particular intrigues me, but we seem to have enough DEF rookies to choose from at the moment. Hitting 90 points on the weekend has given Luke Trainor ($512K, 90, BE 5) and Zach Reid ($466K, 90, BE -10) owners confidence that we can play them BOTH alongside Riley Bice ($499K, 94, BE -28) in our backline – however, it’s certainly a risk to opt for 3 cash cows down back.

Two rookies in defence still appears to be the safest/smartest tactic, although that probably means you have 2-3 rooks across other lines. A new batch of DPP additions will allow the likes of Sam Davidson ($553K, 57, BE 26), Levi Ashcroft ($602K, 94, BE 24) and Sam Lalor ($498K, DNP, BE 13) to be toggled between our midfield and forward lines and that trio stand the best chance of continued cash generation. They will likely be fielded by most of their owners this week, although there are almost 2,000 coaches who are trading Doctor Davidson out of their team this week. Outside of that popular trio Harvey Langford ($400K, 77, BE 8) is the other cash cow I want to heap praise on after the Melbourne talent produced his second score of 75+ in the last three weeks.

Watch this space

Speaking of promising Demons youngsters, Xavier Lindsay ($469K, 49, BE 49) made his return to the lineup against Essendon – showing some signs of rust with his sub-50 score. I’ve still got confidence in Lindsay’s cash cow prospects, but those who decided to move him on shouldn’t look at re-buying. Similar could be said for those who missed Christian Moraes ($444K, 40, BE 25) with the Port winger coming back to Earth registering just 12 touches last time out. Moraes and the likes of Corey Warner ($461K, 61, BE 27), Max Hall ($492K, 62, BE 36), Connor O’Sullivan ($515K, 51, BE 28) and Murphy Reid ($483K, BE 42) can reside in your team for another few games before they reach their optimal price. If any of them are starting on your field, I’d want to act quickly to remove them but if they’re on the bench, they should still move up in price for another fortnight.

I personally have confidence that Jaxon Prior ($489K, 45, BE 36) fits the same bill, however it’s going to be hard to trust him after a 0-point final quarter in Round 5. The Dons’ offseason recruit sits 6th on the trade-out list right now and with a few dollars already on his head, axing him does make a lot of sense. I’m praying he’ll get a points boost against the Eagles on Good Friday, but I don’t blame coaches for trading him out. His teammate Isaac Kako ($379K, 47, BE 28) is another rookie that owners are moving off of, with the small FWD unable to surpass 50 points on a weekly basis. While trading Kako out is a fine move, I wouldn’t want to invest in Tom Cochrane ($233K, 46, BE 14) or Sandy Brock ($285K, 37, BE 7) just yet with the duo showing glimpses of promise coupled with their own scoring struggles.

Let ’em go

It’s time to start pulling the trigger on some rookies who may have been in our starting teams. FOS aka Finn O’Sullivan ($399K, 54, BE 26) is at the top of the list for me with the North Melbourne rookie failing to reach great heights with his score each round. Vest concerns have halted any potential cash that Jack Henderson ($362K, 12, BE 50) or Ted Clohesy ($398K, 19, BE 48) are going to make and you could still save a few dollars by flicking them to a Cleary type. Adelaide pair Sid Draper ($384K, 33, BE 35) and Daniel Curtin ($460K, 27, BE 42) faltered on the weekend and while they might not be immediate trade concerns, I’m losing faith that Draper is going to be worth buying at any point this year.

The highly-acclaimed Crow is averaging just 43.5 points in his two non-vest games and we need to see a serious shift if he’s going to live up to the fantasy hype (yes, this is my version of a rocket – incoming 65-70 score). The initial optimism we had in Tobie Travaglia ($388K, 36, BE 30) has faded too as the cash cow becomes Ross Lyon’s “Mr Fix It” while touted Bulldogs debutant Cooper Hynes ($266K, 10, BE 34) went unsighted in his first AFl appearance. Sticking with lacklustre rookies, a heavy dose of CBA’s hasn’t helped Clay Hall’s ($335K, 37, BE 19) scoring ability and Conor Stone ($376K, 43, BE 30) feels like he’s one more disappointing game away from being dropped. A DEF/FWD red dot would probably be a welcome sight for fantasy coaches though…

Sub status

Subbed On – Ted Clohesy, Riley Hardeman, Hamish Davis, James Dolan, Will McLachlan, Saad El-Hawli, Isaiah Dudley, Jacob Bauer, Angus Hastie, Joe Berry

Subbed Off – Oisin Mullin, Jack Henderson, Lance Collard

Most mainstream rooks dodged the dreaded sub vest last weekend, with all eyes focusing in on Saad El-Hawli now. Surely he did enough to shake himself free of the fluro, but the other starting subs Essendon has used this season also performed against the Dees (Jade Gresham – 18 touches, 1 goal; Jye Menzie – 15 touches, 4 goals). Also, Angus Hastie deserves a special shoutout with the Saints youngster rocking a vest for the 8th time in just his 9th AFL game. Poor bugger.

Q & A

I’m adding a Q&A section to the weekly articles to help address the biggest issues we have with our rookies/cash cows. 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 question below.

Time to go for Conor Stone and FOS?

— Digby (@lucdig01) April 15, 2025

In a word, yes. DPP is a handy boost for those who opt to hold, but neither of them are scoring well enough to justify holding.

Rank Saad El-Hawli, Tom Gross & Caiden Cleary for me

Assume they’re going on-field for this week

— Mitch Casey (@ballboysfantasy) April 15, 2025

For me, Cleary, El-Hawli, and then Gross.

All three are good buys this week, but I’ve got Grossy at the back due to the lacklustre point totals West Coast rack up. The next two are harder cases to unpack. A matchup against Port Adelaide gives me concerns regarding Cleary’s output and if El-Hawli dodges the vest he should feast against the Eagles at Optus. However, while SEH may outscore Cleary this week, the Swan is the best buy in my eyes with a proven scoring track record at VFL and now AFL level. The extra $100K between the two may be the determining factor, but if you want a rookie who stands the best chance of scoring 65+ on a weekly basis, it’s Cleary.

Is Gross an alternative to Lindsay next week at M8? Lindsay will be better for the run but Gross looks like 1 of 3 eagles players who’s actually trying.

— A (@fantasyfossil) April 15, 2025

I don’t hate the call, but I think we still have to trust Lindsay over Gross. You’re right about Gross’ effort compared to his teammates, so perhaps see if you can loop his score onto the field? If that’s not possible, Lindsay gets one more chance over the Eagles youngster.

Trainor, reid & bice all options to field this week?

— Johnny 🤙 (@llcooljohnny91) April 15, 2025

A lot of coaches will play all 3 this week and for those wondering, I’d rank them Trainor, Bice, then Reid.

Cleary or gross or bank 100 and go saad

— StewThaDon (@EnvyAU_) April 15, 2025

If Saad is out of the vest Friday, target him. If not, it’s Cleary.

Remember the Name

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

DEFENDERS

Josh Gibucs (Tigers, $230K)
Luke Beecken (Lions, $230K)
Jedd Busslinger (Bulldogs, $230K)
Bo Allan (Eagles, $295K)
Alix Tauru (Saints, $313K)
James Barrat (Saints, $247K)
Ben Jepson (Suns, $230K)

MIDFIELDERS

Hugh Boxshall (Saints, $230K)
Luke Urquart (Kangaroos, $230K)
Sam Marshall (Lions, $268K)
Josh Smillie (Tigers, $322K)
Caleb Mitchell (Swans, $230K)
Zak Johnson (Bombers, $230K)
Ben Camporeale (Blues, $230K)

RUCKMEN

Max Heath (Saints, $230K)
Taylor Goad (Kangaroos, $230K)
Tom Campbell (Demons, $316K)
Kayle Gerreyn (Bombers, $232K)
Lachlan McAndrew (Crows, $302K)
Nic Madden (Giants, $230K)

FORWARDS

Cooper Simpson (Dockers, $230K)
Cody Angove (Giants, $230K)
Ashton Moir (Blues, $230K)
Will Hayes (Magpies, $230K)
Ty Gallop (Lions, $230K)

Fry

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