Melbourne… Unfortunately not a grand old flag in season 2022 as they were bundled out in straights sets. From a fantasy perspective, we had the usual suspects post their 100+ average seasons and a few ‘blue moon’ standout performances from others in between!

In these reviews, we will take a closer look at each club’s Fantasy snapshot for season 2022, whilst I nominate players for MVP, best rookie and biggest flop. I will also provide my two cents on what to look out for in 2023!

*For the purposes of these articles, Fantasy numbers are from the H&A season only.

Most Valuable Player (MVP)

C… Oliver! Another elite season from the fiery ginger who capped off a stellar campaign as equal Champions Player as voted by the coaches. The man is a machine having averaged 100+ every season since 2016! Claytonne only dropped below 90 points on two occasions, a testament to his elite consistency which is what every coach looks for in an uber-premo! His 151 vs (you guessed it) Norf in R10 was not only an absolute piss take, but his highest score of season 2022. Yes, we’ll be paying top dollar for Clarry again in 2023, but I can’t seem him averaging anything less than 105! Beast.

Best Rookie

Given the Dees list profile and solid playing 22, we didn’t see a lot on the rookie front in season 2022. The only names that spring to mind here are Joel Smith (Averaged 40 over five games) and Toby Bedford (Averaged 43 over eight games – now traded to BWS). Elsewhere we had Dan Turner play on Queen’s Birthday before copping a head knock and not returning to the 1’s for the rest of the season! Hardly inspiring stuff from a rookie perspective but probably an insight into how tough it is to crack into the Dees AFL team.

Biggest Flop

Arguably, we saw a couple of big name Dees such as Gawn and Petracca return slightly underwhelming fantasy seasons… Not enough to be dubbed ‘Biggest Flop’, however. I look at a guy like Christian Salem, who would have been on plenty of watchlists heading into season 2022, only to finish the season with 11 games at an average of 74. Granted, he had his injury woes which affected his scoring in R1 (posted 3 points in 13% time on ground before sustaining a knee injury). Coaches were understandably licking their lips at the prospect of picking up Salem post-bye at a massive discount. Unfortunately, these coaches were left with a bitter taste in their mouths which included a six round patch of one 85+ score… These frequent dud games just don’t cut the mustard when you are looking to field a ‘complete team’ heading into fantasy finals and beyond. On the brightside, depending on your outlook on Salem, he could be under-priced in 2023!

2023 Watchlist

2023 shapes as an interesting year for the Dees given their straight sets exit in the 2022 finals series. Undoubtedly, the off-season arrival of big Brodie Grundy will be the talk of the town, extending beyond fantasy circles! I’ve never been a huge fan of selecting a ruck man who is sharing up to half of the ruck duties but we are talking about the two best big men over the past five seasons… I will be keeping a close eye on the preseason which should give us a hint as to how Goody will use his two big Uces. Elsewhere, given the late season success of Angus Brayshaw as a pure on-baller, I suspect we’ll see more of the same in season 2023 with Petracca playing more forward of the ball! Coaches will be salivating at the prospect of selecting Petracca as a ‘forward’ if it came to fruition. Hopefully for coaches there will be a bit more fresh meat to go around to help with our rookie selections, both on field and bench.

So there you have it folks, the elevent of the Fantasy Fanatic’s 2022 Reviews! Stay tuned for more new content, Norf are up next.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below! Feedback, comments and banter welcome.

Cheers legends,

Fantasy Fanatic #70