WITH three weeks of cash generation and two weeks of 'fix-up' trades now in the books, round four spells the start of AFLW Fantasy upgrade season.
Popular rookies have made well in excess of $200k in value, our forwards are starting to look pretty ragged as early-round midfield roles have begun to shift as coaches look to find unique ways to stop losing streaks, and the likely top scorers across all four lines have begun to come into focus. All these factors make it abundantly clear that we have hit upgrade season, and now is the time to turn the increased value of players like Chloe Bown, Sunny Lappin, and Ava Usher into some elite scorers.
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The elite scorers for round three contained some extremely familiar names: Ebony Marinoff dominated the Eagles en route to a 149, Kiara Bowers put to rest any concerns about her age impacting her ceiling scoring with a 146, and popular 2025 midfield value premium Georgie Prespakis showed that her long-term Fantasy prospects are as good as any other player in the AFLW.
So far it seems like coaches have dodged any major injury issues for popular players, making it a week where picking the right trade out option will be just as (if not more) important than picking the right players to trade in!
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Top five price rises
1. Jordyn Allen (MEL, MID, $662,000): +$129,000
2. Darcie Davies (GCS, RUC, $658,000): +$129,000
3. Ryleigh Wotherspoon (MEL, FWD, $656,000): +$127,000
4. Lauren Young (PTA, FWD, $628,000): +$121,000
5. Tahlia Gillard (MEL, $646,000): +$118,000
Top five price falls
1. Gemma Houghton (PTA, FWD, $341,000): -$128,000
2. Indy Tahau (PTA, FWD, $383,000): -$120,000
3. Dana East (RIC, MID, $439,000): -$115,000
4. Katie Lynch (GCS, DEF, $480,000): -$114,000
5. Lucy Single (GCS, MID, $618,000): -$113,000
Top targets
Charlotte Mullins (Brisbane, FWD, $654,000) - 65.3 avg
Round three was the week of the underperforming rookie/cheap forward (more about that in the sell section), meaning that a lot of coaches are looking for an underpriced upgrade target. In comes Mullins, who was a pre-season top six forward after a 90-plus average in the back half of 2025, and who scored two 70s in her non-North Melbourne games this year. She should be at the top of the shopping list for all non-owners this week.
Teah Charlton (Adelaide, FWD, $618,000) - 65 avg
Charlton should also be extremely popular target this week. A corked quad had clearly hampered the Crow in rounds one and two, but which appeared to be in the rearview mirror against the Eagles, as she tackled her way to a 98. With a high-tackling match-up against the Hawks coming this week, and with a 70plus average pedigree when given the midfield time, Charlton looks like she will repay the faith for those coaches that held through her slow start, and benefit those that can get her into their sides ASAP.
Serene Watson (St Kilda, DEF, $672,000) - 65.7 avg
Talk about repaying the faith – Watson proved owners were right to believe that the round two score of 28 was a blip (in classic Watson fashion), by scoring 91 with an exceptionally well-rounded stat line of 21 disposals, five marks, and five tackles. Now that she is priced at only 70 (down from her 77 average from last year), Watson should be the top defensive target this week.
Emma Juneja (Sydney, MID, $315,000) - 72 Fantasy points
Picked up by the Swans as an injury replacement for Alice Mitchell, this ex-Box Hill VFLW and Swans Academy player hardly had the best Fantasy pedigree coming into her debut game. Juneja blew all expectations out of the water against St Kilda, amassing one of the best rookie scores of the season so far. Playing on the wing in place of Lulu Pullar (who is set to miss the next month with injury), coaches can have some hope that Juneja's job security will allow her to generate the cash necessary to make her a solid pick-up.
Sell
Sierra Grieves (Richmond, MID/FWD, $523,000) - 51.3 avg
It all started so well for Grieves owners, who had all the hallmarks of a great forward selection: good draft pedigree, 24 disposals in round one, and a midfield role. Now, that midfield role has all but disappeared, and a score of 44 against Essendon was arguably a flattering final result, as she struggled mightily to find the ball, and saved her score with a goal in the third quarter. With Ellie McKenzie no more than one week away from returning, the time is now to trade out Grieves.
Emilia Yassir (Richmond, FWD, $448,000) - 48.7 avg
Copy and paste the Sierra Grieves analysis for Yassir. After a very disappointing round two score, coaches who held would have been hoping and praying for a return to the 70s of round one. Those prayers fell on deaf ears, and Yassir was jettisoned from the midfield for most of the game. The 40 score was hurt by a couple of poor kicks in Yassir's direction in corridor, and slippery humid conditions making marking more difficult. With the glut of $600k FWD targets, Yassir can be traded.
Chloe Bown (Adelaide, MID, $576,000) - 66 avg
After a solid first two games, Bown had her first 'disappointing' effort in round three. Part of that came from a glut of handballs and a dearth of kicks (four kicks and 10 handballs), but more concerningly, the return of India Rasheed to the Crows line-up as another high half-forward pushed Bown closer to goal than Fantasy coaches would prefer. With a breakeven now sitting close to her average, coaches can start to look at downgrading this rookie to facilitate upgrades elsewhere. The same can be said for Sunny Lappin and Ava Usher, albeit with the two Suns rookies having a marginally better match-up this week.
Ash Centra (Collingwood, MID/FWD, $572,000) - 55.7 avg
Centra was dominating in the first half of the Pies' game against Hawthorn, and looked like a potential target for the 80 per cent of coaches who don't own the 2024 No.1 draft pick. Unfortunately, a hefty hip/quad cork clipped the wings of this Magpie forward, consigning her to a role that involved a lot more warming of the bench than any Fantasy coach would like. Given what we have seen from other forwards suffering from substantial corks (Charlton), now is the time to trade.
Top rookie targets (under $400,000 at start of season)
We have arrived at upgrade season, meaning that rookie targets should be getting a spot on your bench and not a spot on field. We have now burnt through a majority of the top 30 picks from the 2025 draft, so rookies who will debut from here on out will likely lack in the draft pedigree that we so often rely on to predict role and job security. If you are struggling to choose between the top rookie options, make sure you listen to the weekly Free Kick On Air episode, which can help to decode the week's team sheets and identify the cream of the crop.
Defenders:
1. Holly Egan (Fremantle, $241,000)
2. Maya Louvel-Finn (St Kilda, $243,000)
3. Jemmika Douglas (Adelaide, $307,000)
Midfielders:
1. Emma Juneja (Sydney, $315,000)
2. Baia Pugh (Richmond, $259,000)*
3. Noa McNaughton (Fremantle, $225,000)
Rucks:
1. Grace Kos (GWS, $288,000)
Forwards:
1. Finn Dethlefsen (Richmond, $246,000)
2. Sophie Peters (Brisbane, $322,000)
*Pending a return from injury
Captains
In short, this week looks like a very simple one for captaincy and vice-captaincy choices. I talked about it on this week's episode on Free Kick, Ebony Marinoff has the ideal midfield battle this week against the high-tackling Hawks. With that game being on a Sunday, put the VC armband on one of the North Melbourne midfielders in a tantalising game against the floundering Saints, lacking any firepower to quell the Kangaroos midfield dominance. Georgie Prespakis and Kiara Bowers are both smokeys to score in the 120 range, but the timing of their games compared to Marinoff make them tough to pick.
No.1: Ebony Marinoff (v HAW, Sunday 1.05pm AEST)
No.2: Jasmine Garner (v STK, Saturday 1,05pm AEST)
No.3: Ash Riddell (v STK, Saturday 1.05pm AEST)
No.4: Georgie Prespakis (v ESS, Sunday 2.35pm AEST)
No.5: Kiara Bowers (v RIC, Sunday 12.35pm AEST)
Other options to consider: Lucy Wales (v Adelaide), Mim Strom (v Richmond), Charlie Rowbottom (s Port Adelaide), Matilda Scholz (v Gold Coast)
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