Classic finish for AFL Fantasy's 2026 champion

A GRUELLING season featuring plenty of ups and downs for coaches came to a climactic conclusion that saw Tyler Wagner win the official Fantasy game of the AFL by three points.

The South Australian teacher beat more than 140,000 coaches at the end of round 24 to see his Fantasy team 'Wagmantle' crowned the AFL Fantasy Classic champion for 2026.

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"It took a while for it to sink in, and now it still doesn't feel real," Tyler told The Traders' podcast.

Tyler went into the final weekend of the home and away season unsure whether he would hold onto top spot. He had a fast start, finding himself inside the top 10 at round eight, and eventually hit first spot at the penultimate round of the season.

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Early in the round he realised he was the underdog and made some bold calls. Patrick, coach of The Powerhouse, had Jordan De Goey score 117 and Sam Swadling rack up a career-high 110 in his eighth game, to change Tyler's strategy.

"I knew I was going to be down, so I rolled the dice," he said.

Instead of taking Bradley Hill's 133 as vice-captain, he opted for Bailey Smith who posted his season-high of 159 as captain. On Sunday, he pivoted from trading in Zach Merrett to match Patrick's team and went with Jase Burgoyne, who finished with 137 against the Bombers, for an extra 14 points.

These points would be important.

It came down to the final game. 'Wagmantle' scored 2523 for the round. 'The Powerhouse' needed 63 points to overtake the top team with one player remaining. It was Jarman Impey. The Hawthorn defender averaged 91.8 leading into the clash against the Eagles.

A score of 59 from Impey meant Tyler won the Toyota Tundra Platinum, an allocation of $20,000 to his Crypto.com account and a Toyota AFL Grand Final package for two. The last piece of the $207,500 prize could be the most important part as a Fremantle supporter.

"Don't jinx it!" said Tyler, who would take his father to the Grand Final if the Dockers make it. "I reckon I would be ranked No.1 of the siblings."

Tyler's starting team wasn't perfect, but he was happy with his season-long survivors featuring Sam Walsh, Dyson Sharp and Luke Jackson.

Making some great calls with initial trades helped 'Wagmantle' climb from 33,111th after round one to 156th after the early byes at round five and was ranked seventh at round eight.

Wayne Milera, Josh Daicos, Nick Daicos, Archie Roberts and Chad Warner were among excellent premium selections as well as bringing in Brayden Cook, Jacob Farrow, Milan Murdock and Patrick Retschko as cash cows in the first third of the season.

The key mid-season inclusion was Tom Sparrow.

Not everything went to plan. Sam Banks was a disappointing selection but Tyler traded him one week later following a score of 46. He also traded Zach Merrett in and out of his team a couple of times.

The new time on ground rule that sees a player who plays less than 50 per cent time on ground replaced by the emergency if their score is higher helped get some bonus points. When Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera went down in round 22, Colby McKercher came in clutch off the bench for 87 points and backed it up a week later with a score of 77 when Harry Sheezel was injured.

Tyler's tip for coaches as they look towards 2027 is to find value picks.

"You’ve got to start with value picks early in your starting squad. Find who is going to increase their value the most whether they are mid-pricers or even premiums who are under-priced," he said.

"I think with all the injuries and how fast the game is, injuries are going to happen more so I don't think looking too far ahead is the wisest thing. I think you need to play it week by week and pick the best player that you can for the next two to three weeks."

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