The Pre-Season Buzz: Role changes, midfield minutes & rookies to monitor/consider

Pre-season is always a fun time for fantasy football fans as we start panicking over meaningless scratch matches.

It’s always fun to analyse these and create millions of hypothetical what-if scenarios to make our final starter team selections as complicated as possible.

We had 8 different scratch matches to analyse with the Bulldogs and Giants going rogue and playing their own intraclub matches which won’t be discussed as it was basically the 1’s vs the 2’s so there was some elite stat padding going on (i.e., see Tom Green’s (SC $535k Mid) 50 disposal effort).

I will preface by saying this though, don’t take the performance of players in scratch matches too seriously because, for a lot of the established players, they are just getting rid of the cobwebs and starting to rev their engines while for others it’s a do or die scenario as they want to impress the coach that they deserve a spot in the starting 22, thus there will be a lot of discrepancies in scoring.

So, I wanted to point out a few players that I’ve noted down or some of the popular selections that many coaches have jumped on and discuss how this scratch match has affected their stock.

Extra Midfield minutes

A lot of this information can be found on @mattforrest29 on Twitter as he made the grand effort of counting all the centre bounce numbers for the relevant quarters (some games had 4 quarters+1 or 2 extra for the reserve teams). The first player I want to note was Errol Gulden (SC $472k Mid/Fwd) who had an equal team-high centre bounce attendance alongside Luke Parker in their game against the Lions. Playing extra midfield time has been touted for the talented Gulden for a while now and he certainly looked good playing there. However, come round 1, I can’t see him having 70% CBA attendance especially when you see that the likes of Warner and Mills were resting forward a lot, he probably replaces Tom Papley in the CBA rotation who averaged around 30% last year. 

Popular picks such as Tim Taranto (SC $504k Mid/Fwd) and Jacob Hopper (SC $332k Mid) did not disappoint leading the midfield for the Tigers, while they were missing Shai Bolton and Prestia for half the game. It is a very good sign to see them both play 70% in the centre bounces and then rests up forward which was how they both peaked in scoring in the past at the Giants. 

Second-year breakout Nick Daicos (SC $503k Def/Mid) who played his junior career on the ball is set to receive a different role at the Pies as he attended the 2nd most CBA’s ahead of the likes of Crisp, Adams and even Titchell. Do note though, players getting more centre-bounce appearances do not guarantee a better score, we’ve seen in the past with a player like Jayden Short it can hamper their scores. I have a bit more faith in Daicos as he has the fundamentals to play in the midfield as that was the position he trained in initially and a bonus was that he was still participating in kick outs so there’s plenty of points potential for him. 

The Eagles have a lot of popular selections this year after their disastrous injury-riddled season with the likes of Elliot Yeo (SC $337k Def) and Dom Sheed (SC $332k Mid) racking up plenty of midfield minutes which gives raises their stocks up. It will be interesting to see how they structure all these midfielders into their team as it has been floated around that the likes of Ginbey, Shuey and Yeo would play off the halfback line at some stage. In the same game, it was surprising that Jason Horne-Francis (SC $349k Mid/Fwd) was the leading inside midfielder over the likes of Wines and Rozee. A lot of people have jumped off JHF for the time being but if he’s right in there with the midfield rotation then it is one to consider also how will it affect Rozee’s midfield minutes? Currently, many people have Rozee (SC $514k Mid) just on the basis that he will be up there with Wines as their premier midfielder and that when he’s averaged over 50% CBA’s he’s averaged 105.5 SC points.

Will Setterfield (SC $349k Mid) was initially drafted as a bigbodied inside midfielder but has found himself out on the wing too many times for his liking, now that he’s made the move to the Bomber’s he’s seemed to have picked up more inside midfield minutes and performed well as a missing big body in the Bomber’s engine room. It would take a brave person to consider selecting him, but he could be a late-round draft smoky to jump on if he’s got this new role that should suit him with the likes of Parish and Zerrett feeding him the ball. 

New roles to look out for

Jack Bowes (SC $278k Def) found himself in the calculations of many people’s teams after his move to the Cats, however rather than being played in the half-back flank where he made his trade at the Suns, he’s been pushed as a high half-forward role where he found the ball plenty of times. I would still beware of this as Geelong’s team is super stacked with depth and in the press conferences, they are still open to swinging players around, so for sure it’s a buyer beware. 

Jack Ziebell (SC $357k Fwd) returned to his notable defensive role where he became a fantasy football legend in the 2021 season by becoming an elite stat padder in a woeful North Melbourne side. It was only after he had a 5-goal game against the Swans this year that he was moved up forward to limited success. Now under Alistair Clarkson, he’s gone back to this terrific role and should become a great mid-priced pick especially when he was taking most of the kick outs for North. While Aaron Hall was missing, it shouldn’t make too much of a difference if he returns as they both were able to score well in the same team. 

Lachie Whitfield (SC $474k Mid) who was used in every aspect of the ground last year it seems has returned to his patented floating half-back role which saw him average 100+ in back-to-back years. Injuries and inconsistent roles have robbed him of continuing this streak but under a new head coach, he could very well be a great pick-up come round 6 as he is only midfield eligible (please do not start anyone in anticipation of a DPP, it is way too risky if they don’t end up getting it or underperform). 

Sam Docherty (SC $604k Def) owners will be a bit confused as the whole preseason hyped him up to have a large role in the Carlton engine room, however, he was the 5th string midfielder and did not get a single kick out for the Blues, while he did impress in his short stint as an onballer as he scored 138 and 121 in the 2 games at the end of the season last year, having a part-time midfield role won’t necessarily be a great selling point especially as Sam Walsh is due to return to the midfield at some point

Will Day (SC $363k Def) is another defender who’s been injected into the midfield, while it hasn’t necessarily reaped massive rewards yet, the coaching staff at the Hawks are adamant that they want to add another string to his bow and have even hinted that other players including Sicily (SC $625k Def) maybe thrown into that midfield mix too. I’m not sure how to read this because the Hawks got pumped in their scratch match so I would likely steer clear of anyone that isn’t playing in that back six.

How did the rookies do?

Esava Ratugolea (SC $174k Ruc/Fwd) is one player that no one really had on their radar as a serious option till now, after his impressive performance over the weekend. The key forward now turned defender impressed down back for the stacked Geelong side after taking many intercept marks (although Hawthorn doesn’t really have a key forward at the moment). This is a role he was trialled last year with good enough results to keep him away from a move to Port in the offseason. Furthermore, with news that Jack Henry and Tom Hawkins will miss the start of the season, their stocks should be pushed up even more. Although I still would be aware that with so much depth, it takes one bad game for him to be sent back to the 2s. 

Another player who changed position last year was Charlie Constable (SC $124k Def/Mid), the bigbodied mid has been unable to break into the Gold Coast midfield side understandably, so the suns shifted him to the halfback flank with terrific results. With the likes of Powell and Weller still injured the role has opened for Constable to take and he’s even been entrusted on kick-out duties with Jack Lukosius shifting up forward now. He likely has similar job security as Ratagolea as both are dependent on others’ injury time frame. 

St Kilda’s first-round pick Mattaes Phillipou (SC $167k Mid/Fwd) is almost certain to be selected for Round 1, while he has the traits to become a generational player, he will most likely be parked in the forward 50 at least to start with which could limit his scoring potential. 

Similarly, Kangaroos draftee Harry Sheezel (SC $199k Fwd) is also another player who looked bright against the Tigers kicking a few goals, but again is likely to start life within the forward 50 for the Kangaroos which will most certainly limit his scoring if the ball doesn’t come down there too often. Although it is worth noting that he did get thrown around in different positions in the intraclub match which ranged from half back to inside midfield. Another North Melbourne draftee in Will Phillips (SC $159k Mid) who missed a lot of last year due to glandular fever got to be the 2nd choice midfielder for a weak North Melbourne midfield racking up 66.7% CBA appearances, however, it is to note that both Ben Cunnington and Jy Simpkin did not participate in this game and thus may push him down the pecking order, but overall the job security looks good for him. 

Lachlan McAndrew (SC $124k Ruc/Fwd) is another prospect who may have some impact for Sydney come round 1 as both known ruckmen in Tom Hickey and Peter Ladhams are out with injuries with the latter carrying a knee complaint which may see him miss games periodically. McAndrew battled well against the duo of Oscar McInerney and Darcy Fort which could see him debut for the Swans and be a better R3 option than current popular pick Nic Madden (SC $103k Ruc/Fwd). While his VFL numbers last year were woeful, he just needs to get on the park to make us some bank so definitely watch this space. On the flip side, this could help us select our R1/R2 pick as most players have locked in Rowan Marshall already. The Suns play against the Swans in round 1 this year so I’m not hinting anything but if Sydney doesn’t have a genuine ruckman available then Jarrod Witts might be a logical R1 player to select and even a captain choice who might just break the hitout record.