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The Traders have previewed every club as players work on their Fantasy teams ahead of the 2023 season.
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This year in AFL Fantasy we have one "Million Dollar Man" and it's the great Rory Laird (MID, $1,066,000). OK, I'll state the obvious … Laird is the ultimate Fantasy jet and has his eyes on "Pig Status" if he can continue his 2022 form where he averaged 120 and only dropped under 100 on four occasions. Read Calvin's full Crows preview here.
Lachie Neale (MID, $947,000) has been a mark of consistency for a number of years, averaging triple figures in seven of the past eight seasons. He is coming off an impressive 22-game season where he averaged the third-highest total of his career at 107. He showed last year that he is still capable of scoring with the best in the game, averaging 117 between rounds five and 13. He is once again an option to start in your midfield. Read Roy's full Lions preview here.
Sam Docherty (DEF, $977,000) completed one of the all-time great comeback stories and as a result, had a ridiculously good Fantasy season. Back in 2017, Doc was rewriting the record books for a defender, racking up possessions at will on his way to a career-high average of 117. Last year, he smacked any lowered expectations out of the park , playing all 22 games and finishing with the second best average of his career at 110. Read Roy's full Blues preview here.
New stripes, right price! Last year, Tom Mitchell (MID, $853,000) produced his lowest return since 2014, when he was at the Swans. He was pushed out of the midfield mix, attending just 53 per cent of centre bounces, down from 70 and 74 per cent in the two seasons prior. Mitchell's average of 96.2 sees him offer plenty of value considering his career average of 107 is the highest of all listed players. Read Warnie's full Magpies preview here.
Did you know that Zach Merrett (MID, $949,000) is the only player in the competition to average more than 100 points in every season from 2016? He will be remembered by 2022 Fantasy Classic winner Matt Mottram for his epic score of 172 in round 20 against North Melbourne. Read Warnie's full Bombers preview here.
What are we doing with our rucks? Could Sean Darcy (RUC, $760,000) be an option? Of all the rucks who went at sub-90 last season, Darcy might be the best. He averaged 85.8 last season, a slight drop from his 93.9 in 2021. There will be a few questions over Darcy’s output with Luke Jackson’s arrival. Read Warnie's full Dockers preview here.
With all the uncertainty in the ruck department this season, maybe versatile Cat Mark Blicavs (MID/RUC, $800,000) deserves consideration with his rare MID/RUC DPP status. He is coming off the second best average of his career after scoring 90 points per game playing a variety of roles. He scored over 90 in four of his last five games, including three hundreds, highlighted by 111 and 120. Read Roy's full Cats preview here.
The surprise ruck selection of the year was Jarrod Witts (RUC, $801,000). Coming off an ACL, most were worried about his output as he hadn't completed a full pre-season on the track. Witts played every game and finished second behind Max Gawn for most points scored in the season of all rucks. In the world of increased dual-ruck set ups, Witts should continue to be the main man for the Suns with Mabior Chol helping out where needed. Read Warnie's full Suns preview here.
The obvious choice for who steps up in the midfield is young gun Tom Green (MID, $752,000) who enters his fourth season following a career-best average of 85 from 21 games. Read Roy's full Giants preview here.
Talk about rise and fall! James Worpel (MID, $463,000) had a remarkable second season at the top level back in 2019, playing 22 games for the only time in his career while averaging 97. At that stage it looked like he would be a Fantasy stayer, but the demise hasn't been pretty, bottoming out last season with just 11 games and an average of 52, which included a five-disposal effort for a score of 10. Although this isn't a good sell, I'm a Worp fan and I think he will bounce back with increased responsibility through the midfield. Read Roy's full Hawks preview here.
Last season we saw the lowest number (18) of midfielders averaging 100-plus than we have in the past nine years. Surprise, surprise… Clayton Oliver (MID, $994,000) was one of them. In fact, excluding his debut season, Oliver has now averaged over 100 in every single year he has played. Read Calvin's full Demons preview here.
Some of the highest-ranking Fantasy Classic coaches have picked players who became premium stars of the game. We've seen plenty to like from Jy Simpkin (MID, $846,000) and Luke Davies-Uniacke (MID, $824,000) - North Melbourne's top two players from 2022. Read Warnie's full Kangaroos preview here.
Zak Butters (MID/FWD, $764,000) has increased his average each and every year since debuting in 2019. Butters averaged 86 last year, a 10-point improvement on his 2021 season. Butters, like Connor Rozee, enjoys time in the middle. In games where he attended over half of the centre bounces, he averaged 98. Butters did have some games to forget last season though. He scored a 34 (coming off illness) and 44 (subbed off injured) which dramatically affects his average. In fact, if you take these scores out (something I like to do), he would have averaged 92. Read Calvin's full Power preview here.
Exciting news Fantasy fans... Tim Taranto (MID/FWD, $846,000) has held his forward status and will slot straight into the Richmond midfield! Taranto has been a Fantasy star over the past four seasons, averaging 104, but his role at Greater Western Sydney during that time was somewhat inconsistent. Read Calvin's full Tigers preview here.
It's no secret Rowan Marshall (RUC, $808,000) has scored over 20 points per game more when playing as the sole ruck as opposed to sharing with another big man like the recently retired Paddy Ryder, so all eyes are on the Saints' new coaching regime as to what their plans are in the big man department. Read Roy's full Saints preview here.
In AFL Fantasy we are always looking for value and abnormal seasons. When we look over Jake Lloyd's (DEF, $807,000) last five years you can see a number that doesn't match the others. Last year, Lloyd averaged 91 and before that he went 98, 114, 107 and 102. Read Calvin's full Swans preview here.
At the ripe old age of 27, Dom Sheed (MID, $591,000) still has plenty to offer. He played just one game last season which gives him a 27 per cent discount, pricing him at an average of 67. Sheed played all 22-games in 2021 to average 91, a number not out of the question if he is back firing this pre-season. Read Calvin's full Eagles preview here.
Most pundits think that Tim English (RUC, $901,000) will be the No.1 Fantasy ruck in 2023. It's not a bold call considering he started the season with five straight tons including his season-high 138. English averaged 100 for the season and his poorest scores were in games when he shared ruck duties with Jordon Sweet and Stefan Martin. Read Warnie's full Bulldogs preview here.