Get yourself Fantasy ready for round 1 with this last-minute guide!
Round 1 results so far:
Melbourne 14.13 (97)
Western Bulldogs 11.5 (71)
Carlton 14.17 (101)
Richmond 11.10 (76)
Vice-Captaincy Loophole Options
As all you astute coaches know, we should be aiming for as close to 30 green dots as possible in our starting squad for round 1. As I continue to rave on about, cash generation is critical in the early rounds, setting you up nicely for a successful season. This early cash generation will ultimately give you more options and flexibility with your trades, regardless of whether you are looking to upgrade or downgrade. The key to success in this game is accumulating as much cash as quickly as possible so you can upgrade your rookies and mid-pricers to uber premiums before everyone else. You will reap the fruits of your labour as the season progresses!
As I’ve touched on previously, our conundrum here is that the loophole is the riskier ploy in the longer term given you are forgoing a green dot (therefore cash generation) and taking a donut. With all the good news at the selection table and 30 green dots a realistic scenario, I would only be entertaining the thought of looping Bazlenka Smith’s massive 154 on Wednesday night. Mainstream options such as Petracca (146), Macrae (120) and Cripps (112) are a pass for mine.
Okay, you talked me out of doing the loophole… who else can I whack the ‘C’ on?
Quickfire Captain Options:
- Jack Steele (Friday night vs COLL @ Marvel) – Had a massive 157 on the Pies last season. Pies give away a lot of points to mids. GWS mids racked up in the AAMI series – think Kelly (122) and Cogs (120).
- Touk Miller (Sunday night vs WCE @ Optus) – Should be an easy match up against a depleted Eagles. Amassed 134 in the AAMI series with his trademark gut running a real feature. Small flag is he only managed 68 vs West Coast in round 1 last season…
- Ollie Wines (Saturday afternoon vs BL @ Gabba) – The Brownlow medallist had 126 on the Lions in a 50 point loss last season. He’s the main man in that engine room!
- Tom Mitchell (Sunday arvo vs NM @ MCG) – Can’t see a partially disrupted preseason effecting the Pig too much… Did post his 3rd lowest score of the season on the Kangas (84) last season – small flag.
- Zach Merrett (Saturday afternoon vs GEEL @ MCG) – Had his second highest score (143) on the Cats last season in a heavy defeat. Started off 2021 with 8 consecutive tons.
Rookie Radar: Confirmed Debutants and Key Ins
*Ownership (%) as of Thursday 17th of March @ 9pm
Plenty of good news on the selection front, with several rookies confirmed debutants for round 1! Including rookies we have already seen play, here is the lengthy list:
- Josh Gibcus ($274K DEF | RICH | 24.04% ownership) – 35
- Jack Hayes ($190K FWD/RUC | STK | 44.01% ownership)
- Mitch Owens ($226K MID | STK | 0.44% ownership)
- Nick ‘Whisper’ Daicos ($284K MID | COLL | 69.07% ownership)
- Nick Martin ($190K FWD | ESS | 8.45% ownership)
- Kaine Baldwin ($190K FWD | ESS | 26.35% ownership)
- Angus Sheldrick ($256K MID | SYD | 0.37% ownership)
- Jackson Mead ($190K MID | PA | 10.9% ownership)
- Connor McDonald ($240K MID | HAW | 8.07% ownership)
- Joshua Ward ($278K MID | HAW | 46.27% ownership)
- Jason Horne-Francis ($290K MID | NM | 65.62% ownership)
- Joshua Rachele ($280K MID/FWD | ADEL | 58.34% ownership)
- Jake Soligo ($220K MID | ADEL | 9.79% ownership)
- Hugh Dixon ($190 FWD/RUC | WCE | 25.56% ownership)
- Brodie Hough ($230K MID | WCE | 21.79% ownership)
- Jack Williams ($190K RUC/FWD | WCE | 1.03% ownership)
- Callum Jamieson ($190K RUC | WCE | 1.25% ownership)
- Ned Moyle ($190K RUC | GC | 0.37% ownership)
Other key ins on the rookie front include:
- Joel Smith ($220K DEF | MELB | 18.07% ownership) – 49
- Corey Durdin ($190K FWD | CARL | 23.97% ownership) – 59
- Sam De Koning ($190K DEF/FWD | GEEL | 59.78% ownership)
- Tyson Stengle ($298K FWD | WCE | 6.43% ownership)
- Paddy McCartin ($271K DEF/FWD | SYD | 34.95% ownership)
- Willie Rioli ($293K FWD | WCE | 5.33% ownership)
Key outs/named as sub:
- Hugo Ralphsmith ($258K MID/FWD | RICH | 20.79% ownership) – 25 (subbed on in Q2)
- Will Kelly ($191K DEF/FWD | COLL | 43.01% ownership)
- Cooper Stephens ($190K MID | GEEL | 18.03% ownership)
- Sam Hayes ($190K RUC | PA | 40.03% ownership)
- Josh Sinn ($268K DEF/MID | PA | 16.33% ownership)
- Sam Skinner ($190K DEF/FWD | PA | 25.46% ownership)
- Nathan O’Driscoll ($190K DEF/MID | FREO | 32.49% ownership)
- Elijah Hollands ($190K MID/FWD | GCS | 41.65% ownership)
We should see the ownership of these popular rookies plummet over the weekend! Goes without saying but make sure you get them out of your team before their respective lockouts. Stay up to date with team selections and any late changes… it happens and you don’t want to be left with a needless red dot to kick off the season!
Final Thoughts
Remember, we have a long season ahead of us! Don’t panic if things don’t go to plan over the first few rounds – we have plenty of time to play catch up. This is Fantasy, not everything will go your way – my advice is to roll with the punches because chances are, there’s bound to be many coaches all over the land in a similar predicament! Hold your nerve, back your research and trust the process.
Cheers legends and best of luck for season 2022!
Fantasy Fanatic #70
Fantasy Fanatic 
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