The biggest news to come out of this week has been the suspension of Patrick Cripps, even though it seems Carlton are doing all they can to appeal the decision, it’s likely he’ll be missing games.
Thus, with only two weeks left in the year we must get a replacement for him. Choosing a captain this week has never been more crucial as well with your finals games on the line, should you go for a safe secure pick or someone outlandish?
Finally, I’ll be continuing the three-part series of 2023 starter picks and explain why they’ll be good value.
Cripps replacements
Patrick Cripps (AF $809k SC $553k MID) has been given a two-week suspension, which means he will miss the rest of the fantasy season and thus will be on the trade block for everyone who still has a trade left over. But with Cripps having a dip in form lately, who’s available to pick up at his awkward price?
Like-for-like swaps
Two names come to mind if you have some left over change to turn Cripps into another premium midfielder and they are Darcy Parish (AF $790k SC $561k Mid) and Callum Mills (AF $909k SC $573k Mid).
Parish is currently the most popular option to bring in and with good reason as he’s statistically been one of the most consistent midfielders this year as he’s only had one poor score which came from an injury-affected game. He returned without any problems producing a 98/120 on the weekend against the Giants so he’s still got the ability to produce when need be. Considering that teams are looking to shut down Merrett before Parish, he’s an option to run that will give you a decent return.
Mills is also another player who’s had a dip in price after his monster year. He’s shown that he can still score well playing a variety of roles that range from being a pure inside midfielder to being a +1 in defence. These variable roles have hurt his scoring at times as he doesn’t get his hands on the ball but he’s still a reliable option to have in your midfielder who has shown he can go 130+ on five/six (AF/SC) occasions this year. He is playing Collingwood this week which does leak points to opposing midfielders.
POD Options
Luke Davies-Uniacke (AF $835k SC $550k MID) is owned by <1% of the competition and provides an excellent option as in his last nine games he’s only gone under 100 on two occasions. This impressive run of form also includes two/three (AF/SC) scores over 120 which shows off his high ceiling as well. Furthermore, he’s not very likely to attract attention from a defensive tag with Jy Simpkin in the team, with Ben Cunnington’s return to the team he doesn’t need to win the ball as much and can be involved in more scoring chains.
Chad Warner (AF $766k SC $544k MID) is another one who’s got low ownership which has had an impressive run home with four/five (AF/SC) scores of 100+ in his last six games with the only sub 100 in SuperCoach coming from when he got tagged against the Giants. What’s more impressive is that he’s got a high ceiling too with 2×140+ scores in SC in that six-game sample. With the Pies to come this week it should be a feasting ground for Swans mids as they are one of the teams that conceded large amounts of points to opposition midfielders.
DPP Options
With plenty of players being available as a Def/Mid or Mid/Fwd, you could help yourself to other options in other positions which may score better than the midfielders currently available. Luke Ryan (AF 782k SC $565k DEF) is currently the highest-scoring defender over the last five weeks in SC and there shouldn’t be a reason this doesn’t continue. He has a monopoly on the Freo kickouts and has had some big numbers which has seen him hit 20+ disposals and 10+ marks in the last few weeks.
Another defensive option I like is Angus Brayshaw (AF $793k SC $544k D/M). The winger has enjoyed a hot streak of 111.33/119.3 in his last three which has been kickstarted from an increased role in the midfield as he’s been pushed into centre bounces with Petracca pushed to a 50/50 mid/fwd split. If you can afford to swing one of your rucks into your forward line and move a forward to your midfield, Max Gawn (AF $806k SC $574k RUC) is only a $21k upgrade in SC. Since returning from injury, he made a slow start but has fully returned to form with a three-round average of 124/132.3 which is well clear of most other midfielders besides Rory Laird and Touk Miller.
The Avoids
You might be wondering where Andrew Brayshaw (AF $900k SC $555k MID) is in all these conversations and that is because he’s got a big red flag in Round 23 when they take on the Giants, we just saw on the weekend Harry Perryman completely shut down Zach Merrett and the week before Lachie Ash go shut down Warner. This same scenario will likely happen to Brayshaw and you’d probably not want a poor score in the final round of the season.
Brad Crouch (AF $891k SC $556k MID) is another that has seen a dip in SC form after the return of Jack Steele, he had a five-game period where he scored over 110 in four of those five games but since the captain’s return he’s only gone above 100, three times in seven games. Even though he’s got a three-round average of 120.7, I would have my doubts that he can reproduce these numbers on a consistent basis.
Josh Kelly (AF $766k SC $504k MID) who surprisingly has dropped a ton in price to be available as a downgrade for Cripps, however the GWS midfield roulette is in full swing as in the past two weeks, he’s been forced to play a wing role instead of inside mid which has limited his scoring. Don’t bother picking him unless you turn on the telly on Saturday afternoon and he’s at the first centre bounce.
Captaincy Choices
VC choices
If you require a VC on Friday night then Jack Steele (AF $934k SC $601k MID) is likely the best option to fit that bill, Steele’s record against the Lions is impressive with a 149 and 167 in SC in his last two games against them. Even though Steele was down on his output last week, so was every other Saint and they’ll be looking to bounce back with a finals spot on the line. I would ignore the Saturday game between the Dogs and Giants because there’s too many question marks about which Dogs midfielder gets tagger and which Giants player gets to play their best position.
However, the best VC option this week will be Rory Laird (AF $1.07m SC $712k MID) who’s had an impressive streak of 7×125 scores in a row and presents as the best option as they take on the bottom of the ladder North. With a 129/156 (AF/SC) on in the year and a SC 149 last year and being played at Adelaide Oval where he’s scored 124+/130+ (AF/SC) in his last four visits, this is the easiest VC or C option.
Touk Miller (AF $903k SC $658k MID) is the final VC option that is worth talking about as it seems that he’ll either score around 100 or 150+, the Cats aren’t an easy team for mids to score against, but his last visit resulted in a 133 in SC which you’ll definitely take with your VC
C Choices
Take your pick out of whatever Melbourne midfielders to chuck the C on with a decimated Carlton midfield to play against. Max Gawn (AF $806k SC $574k RUC) is another one who you could have the captaincy on as he has scored a 184 in SC against the Blues in 2020 and with a three-round average of 124/130+ he’s looking to have found a comfortable role playing almost as a 60/40 split in the ruck and forward. What has made his last few weeks impressive is that he’s been playing as an extra midfielder getting 30 touches and 10 marks last week. On that same night Freo take on the Eagles who should feast on them.
Andrew Brayshaw (AF $900k SC $555k MID) is the one who’s likely to get most of the pill however his scores against the Eagles haven’t been too impressive with a 96, 121 and 102 in the last three games they’ve played in.
As mentioned above, Collingwood conceded a lot of points to opposition midfielders which means Callum Mills (AF $909k SC $573k MID), Luke Parker (AF $834k SC $532k MID) or even Chad Warner (AF $766k SC $544k MID) may be on for a big score and finally in the final game of the round where the Bombers take on the Power, Zach Merrett (AF $955k SC $639k MID) or Darcy Parish (AF $790k SC $561k MID) will be happy to avoid a tag this week. Even though the threat of Willem Drew is there I don’t think he’ll be used in a defensive role.
Avoids
You might have noticed that I’ve omitted Lachie Neale (AF $806k SC $608k MID) from both these picks, having dipped in AFL Fantasy, while he’s scored 120+ in three of his last four games in SC. Well, the Lions will be playing the Saints this week with who knows how many taggers the Saints will use, Cam Guthrie and Tom Stewart both had run with roles by Marcus Windhager and Mitch Owens and we could see a very similar scenario this week, you could still roll the dice with Neale however I would not be wasting it unless you have no other loophole options.
Similarly, Jackson Macrae (AF $797k SC $545k MID) may cop some attention from a Perryman or Ash with the Dogs taking on the Giants this week, but even still the ever so reliable midfielder has been shifted out to a wing role in the last few weeks and has yet to hit that ceiling we are so accustomed to seeing.
2023 options
Again, like last week I want to point out some options to keep on your radar for 2023, even though there’s a long was to go, you can keep an eye on these players throughout the off season.
Defenders: Lachie Whitfield (AF $713k SC $445k D/M)
Yes, I know we have all gone through the pain of owning him this year, however he’s been hampered by an ankle injury all year. But once he was unleashed and playing a more familiar role rather than a permanent forward, he’s averaged 105.2 in SC in non-injury affected games. He’ll be even cheaper than his 2022 starting price so it will be worth seeing if he gets a clean run at it with a definitive role with a potential new coach at the helm, because we all know how well he can score as seen in previous seasons.
Midfielders: Tom Green (AF $575k SC $387k MID)
You could say 2022 was a bit of a false dawn for Green as he started the year on fire with two scores of 140+ that sucked a lot of coaches in, however since then he’s only scored 104+/110+ on two occasions and has loads of scores of sub 100 in that time frame as well. But don’t be disheartened by this, he will continue his upward trajectory as he continues add pre-seasons to his belt. His current average of 85.7/97.7 will mean he’ll be a great M4/5 option for next year as a Giants exodus is predicted to happen.
Rucks: Brodie Grundy (AF $802k SC $545k MID)
Grundy is likely to be ruled out for the rest of the year with an ankle injury which sees the set and forget ruckman stuck on a 93.3/103.5 average, what makes this very good for 2023 sides is that he is set to have a further discount on his lower than normal average as he’s only played six games this year. Take out the one poor game he played against the Lions he still would be averaging 101.2/113.5 which would have made him second of all averaging ruckman. However, there are rumours he’s being shown the exit door at the Pies, so if he can land a number one ruck gig at another club then we could see a resurgence from the former number one ruckman in the fantasy game.
Forwards: Dylan Moore (AF $804k SC $531k M/F)
If Moorekeeps the same role, he’s currently playing with the additional midfield time, we could have a very nice F1/2 debate next year because his last five games he’s gone on to average 108.8/108.4 (AF/SC) which includes an outlier of 69 in SC, without that he would be averaging 115.8 in SC in the small sample size. The Hawks should be continuing to improve furthermore Moore is currently a top 10 forward even when you consider his first half of the year where he played as a high half forward.
