JANUARY might be a time of lapping up the sunshine, but for many AFL Fantasy coaches, it is all about hanging off every bit of news coming from track watchers at training sessions around the country.
Who is fit? Who isn't? Who is getting more midfield time? And more recently, who is getting a nice role off half-back to rack up plenty of Fantasy points?
Harley Reid (MID/FWD, $300,000) was already going to be a highly selected player but the word out of the Eagles is that he may spend time off half-back. The same goes for Colby McKercher (MID, $297,000). Finding out roles for players can help with selecting our teams running into round one.
AFL.com.au's correspondent in Perth, Nathan Schmook, is a keen Fantasy coach and has been putting in the hard yards keeping coaches informed of all the happenings out west. He tells Roy, Calvin and Warnie on the podcast that Nat Fyfe (MID/FWD, $491,000) could be a cheap forward option as he's back in the midfield, as is Elliot Yeo (DEF/MID, $633,00) who is looking sharp for the Eagles. If both remain injury-free, there's plenty of value.
The Traders run through some of their ideas for strategy regarding the early byes and give some takes on the team released this week featuring the most popular players in the game.
Listen to the AFL Fantasy Podcast with The Traders at Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts.
In this week's episode …
1:30 - Grab the pre-season AFL Record on Thursday, February 8.
3:35 - Recap of Opening Round and Fantasy.
6:45 - Roy discusses his strategy for the early byes including whether he'll pick Sam Walsh or not.
10:00 - Don't forget players who play OR and R1 will have two price changes after round one.
12:15 - Is there a line for what players need to score in Opening Round to consider them despite the bye?
15:30 - "I'm maybe even Twenty20 mode chasing ceilings".
16:25 - Tips for Draft coaches for the early byes.
19:00 - There's nothing better than January track watching and the boys share some of the things that they've heard.
21:45 - Watch Connor Budarick and his potential half-back role under Damian Hardwick.
24:00 - "I've got my eye on him" - Roy is watching Darcy Jones at the Giants.
27:30 - Finlay Macrae and Reef McInnes are two cheap forward options to monitor from the Pies.
31:15 - Hawthorn track watchers suggest Karl Amon will be playing off half-back.
33:05 - Calvin isn't have a piece of Trent Rivers running through the midfield.
36:00 - A couple of small injury issues at North Melbourne with some popular picks.
38:50 - Tim English has missed some training.
40:35 - There's a crew of coaches who like Jordon Sweet as their bench ruck.
42:40 - AFL.com.au's Nathan Schmook joins the show to chat about the WA teams.
45:00 - Harley Reid looks to be playing a mix of midfield and half-back.
48:20 - Will Schmooky pick Elliot Yeo at this point of the pre-season?
50:15 - Nat Fyfe is running through the midfield.
53:10 - "I have him as their leading winger" - Jeremy Sharp looks like he's got a spot in Fremantle's line up.
55:20 - Jordan Clark is the improver from Fremantle that could be a POD.
58:25 - What does the Mr Popular team look like and who are we not selecting?
1:00:05 - Can you pick Keidean Coleman and Zac Williams with the round two bye?
Get expert advice from The Traders during the pre-season in the Fantasy Hub. Follow AFL Fantasy on Twitter and Instagram and 'like' the Facebook page to join in the conversation.
