Jack Steele is an elite option for any Fantasy format. Picture: AFL Photos

DRAFT is fast becoming one the biggest platforms in AFL Fantasy and in 2021 you can customise your settings to suit your needs.

My work colleagues are passionate football fans and Fantasy players. They have been playing Fantasy football for many years but believe the game is structured in a way that it doesn’t always reward the 'better players' as much as it should. This has changed and now it’s up to you.

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With 22 scoring features, league commissioners now have the power to choose which statistical categories they want for their league and the amount of points allocated to each.

Once you have made the adjustments that suit your league, the new scoring format is automatically applied to each player so you can see what they would have averaged in 2020 if the new scoring system was in place. This gives you a clear picture of what scores you might expect from these players in 2021.

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As my colleagues and I get set to battle for the Nielson Cup, our league settings were made. Traditional Fantasy scoring was applied, but with value of kicks and handballs were reduced by one point each, as we added the following categories in an effort to reward the 'better players.'  

Goal Assists +3
Effective Disposals +1
Clearances +1
Spoils +2
Contested Possessions +2
Contested Marks +1
Clangers -3

Top 10 averaging players after the above changes have been applied

Player

Position

New Average

ADP

Max Gawn

RUC

141.4

1

Lachie Neale

MID

135.1

3

Jack Steele

MID

130.4

8

Clayton Oliver

MID

129.2

6

Brodie Grundy

RUC

128.6

2

Jack Macrae

MID

122.8

7

Taylor Adams

MID

122.5

10

Todd Goldstein

RUC

120.8

29

Jarryd Lyons

MID

120.2

34

Christian Petracca

MID

120.1

23

 

Some players greatly benefited under the new scoring system such as the Melbourne duo of Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca who ranked No.2 and No.3 respectively in contested possessions last year. Lachie Neale was one of the most effective players last year with his disposals, averaging 20 a game and subsequently receives a boost to his previous average of 122.

However, our league settings are set to reward players and their skills but to also penalise those for their errors.

Jaeger O’Meara ranked No.2 for clangers last year. While most player averages have increased, O’Meara’s remains the same due to the 4.33 clangers he averaged in 2020.

With the opening bounce for round one just days away, many Fantasy coaches are preparing for their Draft Day this week. This day is a highlight of the Fantasy pre-season as coaches get set to take on their group of mates for the ultimate bragging rights.

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Eager coaches and their leagues have already drafted their teams. This allows us the see where other coaches are currently selecting players by looking at their Average Draft Position (ADP).

From the Top-20 drafted players so far, we can see that only three defenders, three rucks and two forwards make the list.

This can assist you with your strategy on Draft Day making sure that you are not picking someone too early but grabbing those players who slip through the cracks.

Top 20 players as sorted by their APD

Player

Position

2020 Average

ADP

Max Gawn

RUC

123

1

Brodie Grundy

RUC

113

2

Lachie Neale

MID

122

3

Zach Merrett

MID

115

4

Jake Lloyd

DEF

114

5

Clayton Oliver

MID

114

6

Jack Macrae

MID

112

7

Jack Steele

MID

114

8

Reilly O’Brien

RUC

108

9

Taylor Adams

MID

114

10

Lachie Whitfield

DEF

107

11

Steele Sidebottom

MID/FWD

113

12

Tom Mitchell

MID

107

13

Patrick Dangerfield

MID/FWD

102

14

Matt Crouch

MID

110

15

Lachie Hunter

MID

119

16

Andrew Gaff

MID

108

17

Tom Rockliff

MID

114

18

Adam Treloar

MID

109

19

Rory Laird

DEF/MID

100

20