Get yourself Fantasy ready for round 3 with this last minute guide!

Round 3 Resources:

• The Weekend That Was: Round 2 – https://fantasy-fanatic.com/2022/03/28/the-weekend-that-was-round-2/
• Buy, Hold, Fold: Round 3 – https://fantasy-fanatic.com/2022/03/29/buy-hold-fold-round-3/
• AFL Team Selections – https://www.afl.com.au/matches/team-lineups?GameWeeks=3

Round 3 results so far:

Western Bulldogs 9.17 (71)

Sydney 9.6 (60)

Turn the volume UP + enjoy 📶

Sons of the WEST! 🎶 pic.twitter.com/4SXUjRjMkH

— Western Bulldogs (@westernbulldogs) March 31, 2022

Vice-Captaincy Loophole Options

With the Dogs again first up on a Thursday night, we were spoilt for choice with Vice-Captaincy selections. Here’s how they all fared:

English (138) – Wow! Timmy was everywhere tonight and cashed in on a Hickey-less Swans line-up after half time. Plenty of coaches out there did Gawn –> English and if you whacked the VC on big Tim, you must have massive aggots – fair play to you! 282, bank everyday!

Dunkley (132) – 31 touches, 5 marks, 11 tackles and a guaranteed 264 points for owners who looped!

Bont (100), Lloyd (93), Treloar (88), Macrae (75), etc. – pass, you can do better elsewhere!

Quickfire Captains Options

Others to consider: Patrick Cripps, Tim Taranto, Josh Kelly, Lachie Neale.

Rookie Radar – Power Rankings:

Defenders

1. Patrick McCartin
2. Josh Gibcus
3. Sam De Koning
4. Joel Smith
5. Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera
6. Sam Skinner

Midfielders

1. Nick Daicos
2. Jason Horne-Francis
3. Josh Ward
4. Connor McDonald
5. Jackson Mead

Rucks

1. Jack Hayes
2. Sam Hayes*
3. Hugh Dixon*

*If named

Forwards

1. Nic Martin
2. Tristan Xerri
3. Josh Rachele
4. Willie Rioli
5. Hugo Ralphsmith

Team Selections – Round 3:

Coaches… we have a conundrum! Whilst we have been provided the full squads for 8/9 games as usual by this time, it was earlier announced that team selections for the Western Derby (Freo vs Eagles) have been delayed. Final squads will now be announced on Saturday 2 April @ 5:30pm AEDT. By this time, we will have had eight teams locked out and players from these sides would have inevitably featured in your trading plans! Clearly there is some serious Rona reproduction going on in the camps over in the West – perhaps it’s time for the East to bunker down and shut off WA completely… 😛

I mean, all you can do here is cross your fingers and toes you aren’t affected! If you ask Harry Edwards (Eagles defender who came 10th in classic last season) none of his team mates are fantasy relevant so hopefully you aren’t running with any of them! Coaches will wait nervously on the availability of popular Freo pick Will Brodie as well as the form player of the competition Andy Brayshaw.

Key Holds

• Joel Smith ($262K DEF, MELB)
• Sam Skinner ($197K DEF/FWD, PA)
• Tyson Stengle ($362K FWD, GEEL)
• Cam Rayner ($397K FWD, BL)
• Corey Durdin ($231K FWD, CARL)
• Connor McDonald ($287K MID, HAW)
• Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera ($284K DEF/MID, STK)
• Josh Gibcus ($280K DEF, RICH)
• Hugo Ralphsmith ($277K MID/FWD, RICH)
• Jack Hayes ($319K FWD/RUC, STK)

Key Ins

• Bailey Smith ($781K MID, WB) – 108
• Nic Martin ($266K FWD, ESS)
• Dylan Shiel ($773K MID, ESS)
• Rory ‘Desk’ Laird ($937K MID, ADEL)
• Jed McEntee ($190K MID/FWD, PA)
• Braydon Preuss ($367K RUCK, GWS)
• Jake Stein ($190K DEF, GWS)
• Lachie Weller ($656K MID/FWD, GCS)
• Reef McInnes ($190K MID, COLL)
• Sam De Koning ($190K DEF/FWD, GEEL)
• Jaidyn ‘Chompers’ Stephenson ($690K FWD, NM)
• Adam Cerra ($749K MID, CARL)
• Jordan Boyd ($190K DEF, CARL)
• Luke Parks ($238K DEF, CARL)
• Ned Long ($190K MID/FWD, HAW)
• Paddy Ryder ($627K RUCK, STK)

Injured/H&S Protocols

• Zach Merrett ($935K MID, ESS)
• Rory Sloane ($715K MID, ADEL)
• Nathan Kreuger ($292K DEF, COLL)
• Tarryn Thomas ($621K MID/FWD, NM)
• LDU ($682K MID, NM)
• Mitch McGovern ($457K FWD, CARL)
• Willie ‘Mr Gatorade’ Rioli ($358K FWD, WCE)
• Luke Shuey ($683K MID, WCE)

Notable Omissions

• Devon Smith ($513K FWD, ESS)
• Luke Pedlar ($211K MID, ADEL)
• Josh Sinn ($270K DEF/MID, PA)
• Xavier Duursma ($530K MID, PA)
• Luke Dahlhaus ($459K FWD, GEEL)
• Harry Sharp ($190K MID, BL)
• Tom Phillips ($611K MID, HAW)

Final Thoughts

Remember… there’s only so much chaos you can plan for! If (for instance) a Will Brodie was out of the Western Derby due to H&S protocols, there will be thousands of coaches in exactly the same position. We won’t know until 5:30pm on Saturday the extent of the damage so there’s no point losing sleep over it… if the last two seasons have taught us anything, it is that we need to be adaptable and make moves on the fly! If you are lucky to have a trade up your sleeve when these teams are announced, chances are you will be able to navigate it and come through unscathed!

Cheers legends and bring on round 3!

Fantasy Fanatic #70