Jack Steele in action against Essendon in the AAMI Community Series on March 5, 2022. Picture: Getty Images

IF THE Wednesday night season-opener caught you off guard, you can still enter Toyota AFL Fantasy Classic … and have a huge shot at winning a major prize.

You won’t be able to pick any Melbourne or Western Bulldogs players as they’re locked, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

A whopping 57 per cent of the competition locked in Max Gawn as ruck, making him the most popular ruckman in Fantasy Classic. He scored 79, which was well-below his 'priced at' figure of 108, meaning he’ll drop some value when lockout lifts after the round.

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The most popular Bulldogs posted solid scores. Josh Dunkley (103), Jack Macrae (120) and Adam Treloar (95) would have pleased their owners. While their numbers were great, they weren’t a lot higher than what was expected for their asking price.

Moral of the story, there’s a huge chance to pick your squad of 30 players from the teams remaining.

As there weren’t any real ‘must-have’ cash cows or value selections in last night’s game, there are plenty of options to spend your $14.8m on.

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Cash cows under-$300k

We’ve been drip fed news of debutants and returning players who offer plenty of value this season. The long-standing Guns ‘n’ Rookies strategy is in full swing with quite a few options available, but with a twist in 2022.

Coaches are most likely going to need to spend a bit more on their bench this year as one of the key team selection tips is to have 30 green dots to start the season.

The names to consider as last on-field selections and to fill your bench:

Tyson Stengle (FWD, $298,000) – Geelong
Nick Daicos (MID, $284,000) – Collingwood
Joshua Rachele (MID/FWD, $280,000) – Adelaide
Josh Gibcus (DEF, $274,000) – Richmond
Patrick McCartin (DEF/FWD, $271,000) – Sydney Swans
Brady Hough (MID, $230,000) – West Coast
Jake Soligo (MID, $220,000) – Adelaide
Sam De Koning (MID, $190,000) – Geelong
Kaine Baldwin (FWD, $190,000) – Essendon
Corey Durdin (FWD, $190,000) – Carlton
Jason Horne-Francis (MID, $290,000) - North Melbourne 
Josh Ward (MID, $278,00) - Hawthorn
Connor MacDonald (MID, $240,000) - Hawthorn

Essendon's Kaine Baldwin in action during the AAMI Community Series game against St Kilda on March 5, 2022. Picture: AFL Photos

A team made up of players yet to play

After a big pre-season and some nervous moments this week piecing our teams together, picking a squad with players from the 16 clubs yet to play felt easy.

Was it because there’s less pressure? Maybe.

They’re all names that have been in plenty of squads throughout the long, arduous pre-season. Armed with all the information to hand, we should have 30 green dots (players selected) and it looks like it should post a decent score.

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Fitting in Jack Steele as captain on Friday night is a win. The Saints play the Magpies who gave up plenty of points to midfielders last season and that trend continued in the AAMI Community Series.

Structure-wise, it’s not dissimilar to other teams floating around.

A dozen players could end up as keepers (ie. Players you’d like to keep in your squad all season, barring injury). It features consensus value picks such as George Hewett, Wayne Milera, Patrick Cripps and Matt Rowell plus the under-priced premium forwards who could knock on the door as top 10 for their position.

Risks are limited with few rookies on field, but plenty of dollars have been put into bench players for job security purposes. There’s $113k left in the bank.

Take on the players

If you’re looking for some leagues to be part of, consider joining leagues set up by some AFL players who are having a crack at AFL Fantasy this season.

Tom Doedee: LDNRA7LA
Mitch Robinson: X433YUHE
Darcy Parish: KPZ7SAAY
Tom Mitchell: 3RYMPVV5

08:57

'He's going to have a breakout year': Robbo reveals his Fantasy team

Mitch Robinson gives incredible insight as he reveals his AFL Fantasy team

Key team announcement and lockout times

As we know, Demons and Bulldogs have been locked away. The teams for Carlton v Richmond have been announced (don’t pick Hugo Ralphsmith, who appears in 27 per cent of teams, as he’s been named as an emergency).

Late changes are usually announced one hour before the first bounce. Stay tuned to social media for up-to-date information. Last night we saw a couple of late, late changes.

Thursday, March 17

Team announcements: 6:20pm AEDT (St Kilda, Collingwood, Geelong, Essendon, GWS Giants, Sydney, Brisbane, Port Adelaide 22s; Hawthorn, North Melbourne, Adelaide, Fremantle, West Coast, Gold Coast squads)
Partial lockout: Carlton v Richmond, MCG, 7:25pm AEDT

Friday, March 18

Team announcements: Hawthorn, North Melbourne, Adelaide, Fremantle, West Coast, Gold Coast 22s)
Partial lockout: St Kilda v Collingwood, Marvel Stadium, 7:50pm AEDT

Saturday, March 19

Partial lockout: Geelong v Essendon, MCG, 2:10pm AEDT
Partial lockout: GWS v Sydney, Accor Stadium, 5:10pm AEDT
Partial lockout: Brisbane v Port Adelaide, GABBA, 8:10pm AEDT

Sunday, March 20

Partial lockout: Hawthorn v North Melbourne, MCG, 1:10pm AEDT
Partial lockout: Adelaide v Fremantle, Adelaide Oval, 3:40pm ACDT
Full lockout: West Coast v Gold Coast, Optus Stadium, 4:40pm AWST

The Traders’ live Facebook stream

Join our resident experts, Roy, Calvin and Warnie as they chat through the Thursday night team announcements and last-minute tips ahead of Carlton v Richmond. They’ll be streaming live on Facebook running through the key selections for round one, best captain picks and answering your questions.

Get AFL Fantasy updates from The Traders in the Fantasy Hub. Follow AFL Fantasy on Twitter and like the Facebook page to join in the conversation.