This is a new weekly feature I’m trying out for the FanFooty blog: a ranking of the top 50 fantasy players. Everyone loves to talk about which player is better than another player and footy is no different, as has been shown by Mike Sheahan’s top 50 in the Herald-Sun newspaper. A big shoutout also should be made to the Big Board feature of Yahoo’s fantasy coverage, maintained by Brandon Funston, which fulfills a similar role for NFL, MLB and other fantasy-flavoured sports in the US.
A word or two on eligibility: the criteria is “pointscoring potential”, but a player’s position does also play a part in his ranking, so that non-centre premiums get ranked higher due to their rarity; price is NOT a factor; injured players do not appear, of course.
1. Jimmy Bartel: Does this man ever have an opponent? Haven’t seen one lately
2. Kane Cornes: Cheapest player in the AFL but consistency is unarguable
3. Matthew Pavlich: Two massive weeks lifts him above BJ for best forward
4. Brad Johnson: Most consistent forward in the game, even with injuries
5. Dane Swan: Last year’s star keeps his mojo even when tagging Bruce
6. Tarkyn Lockyer: Has shaded Swan in scoring but too reliant on Heath Shaw
7. Cameron Bruce: Leaps taggers in a single bound… less goals than 06 though
8. Scott Thompson: Will profit from Goodwin’s demise even under tags
9. Matt Priddis: No question, he’s this year’s Swan… until Cuz returns
10. Andrew Carrazzo: No signs of letting up on fabulous breakout season
11. Nick Riewoldt: Back to his best… 4 100s from last 5
12. Dean Cox: Back to most important ruck in the game
13. Scott West: Will get more attention after Cross’s injury
14. Heath Scotland: Starting to get worryingly patchy within games
15. James Hird: Six 90+s in a row… age not wearying
16. James McDonald: Still benefiting from attention all being on Bruce
17. Leigh Montagna: Saints midfield quietly returning to fitness
18. Chad Cornes: Tagged for first time this week… didn’t cope
19. Joel Corey: Two 100s in a row is pleasingly consistent
20. Chris Judd: 83 and 71 in last two… thigh soreness is real?
21. Sam Mitchell: Too inconsistent to rate in the top 20
22. Dustin Fletcher: 247 in last two means Bombers backline is working
23. Paul Chapman: Recovering steadily from hammy
24. Brad Green: Backed up 162 with 80… a tad disappointing
25. Nick Malceski: Goodes’ return to form is keeping taggers away
26. Scott Burns: Eight 85+ in a row, he’s rock solid
27. Nigel Lappin: 114 and 117 in last two, it’s the old Nigel
28. Sam Fisher: In hot form with 117 and 118 in last two
29. Jason Winderlich: Two tons on the trot means he’s fit and firing
30. Joel Bowden: Four 100s in previous four before this week
31. Chris Knights: Might struggle in future without Goodwin
32. Gary Ablett jnr: Hasn’t cracked the ton in four games
33. Luke Hodge: 80s and 90s don’t cut it for Hodge
34. Adam Simpson: One ton in last six is not impressive
35. Brock McLean: Seems to be over his injuries
36. Troy Selwood: Averaging 96.5 from four… may drop off soon
37. Matt Rosa: Two 120+s in a row, he’s red hot
38. Tyson Edwards: Dependable even without Goodwin
39. Tyson Stenglein: A rising tide lifts all Eagles midfielders
40. Josh Fraser: Consistency is invaluable in thin ruck stocks
41. Peter Everitt: Has taken over from Jolly in Swan ruck
42. Tim Notting: Lions midfield is up and running
43. Josh Drummond: 246 in last two can’t be ignored
44. Luke Ball: Well and truly over early problems
45. Matthew Boyd: Will get more work without Cross
46. Peter Bell: 466 in last four is excellent form
47. Scott Lucas: Moved to FF this week which is a worry
48. Brett Kirk: Building up a string of good numbers
49. Michael Johnson: Looks comfortable in Freo backline
50. Cameron Ling: Run-with roles aren’t stopping production
Warming Up: Shane Tuck, Brad Sewell, Simon Black, Steve Johnson, Adam McPhee, Jordan Lewis, Lenny Hayes, Jess Sinclair, Nathan Foley, Jeff White, Daniel Giansiracusa, Jonathan Brown, Brendon Lade, Andrew Walker, Jake King.
A big part of these lists is reader feedback, so don’t hesitate to attack my ratings of individual players, and suggest changes you’d like to make to either the 50 or the “Warming Up” section, which is players who just missed out on the main list. I’ll be glad to hear your opinions!
i like this new feature!
so will scott west do better now that cross is out or not? i need someone to pick up for the loss or cross…
i forgot to mention i already have k cornes, judd, lappin, s black and kerr.
any ideas?
yes, west will do better now
because in case u havnt noticed
every time theres a ball up or bounce for the bulldogs and the win the tap its either cross or west who get it. also in the midfield, thorugh each run, either cross or west touches it
and with no cross and somone not as experienced as him replacing cross, west should dominate
im in the same problem with the cross injury
i was thinking;
scotland is at a low price now.
bruce is in form if you have the money
ben johnson is also at a low price.
or i could trade selwood for boak or armitage and get money to buy k.cornes.
what do you think???
im a little surprised you have everitt in your top 50 and not jeff white. white’s been very consistant and everitts only just recently found form. And to have him in front of scott lucas is a bit odd. Lucas has absolutely killed it this year!
Jarrad Waite is definitely warming up, 11 weeks into the season. Chris Tarrant is in the mix, although inconsistency is an issue, while my personal favourite Andrew Mackie is not on the list - he’s having a break-out year as well.
For Cross, I reckon Matthew Boyd will benefit most. He’s a reasonable midfielder and should step into some good form.
Chris Knights might struggle in future without Goodwin - i think the opposite. Knights will get more game time now, and he will still get the ball as much as he has been per minute on the ground, even if tagged. His scores will be strong for the time Goodwin is out.
** Sorry to post here - will post this stuff in trade advice from now on **
Hi Tom
Both Ablett and Campbell start for me as I have Harbrow (good pickup) & I played Nietz on the bench this week. My other forwards doing well are pavlich, Fev, Johnson.
I was thinking of selling ablett. but should i wait until the cats mash the lions this week in case he gets a good run?
I think Burton is injured this week so if you guys reckon Ablett might get a last chance I might hold off until burton is back from injury and get him? Thoughts?
[...] Team of the Week is a bit more of a basket case than last week - The Bruce & Sandys is ranked outside the top 50,000. Then we go through a new feature on the FanFooty blog: the FanFooty Fifty. [...]
could it also be Cooney who benefits from the loss of Cross??
Also, im confused bout the goodwin injury… i cant find any exact time frame, and on the adelaide site, it says, “it’ll be decided how many weeks Simon misses, if any…”
It makes me believe that it could just be minor, and trading him a waste… or does anyone have any more substancial evidence than that??
im like you timba, ive heard he could be out for 6 but then ive heard he might play.
the fact is, they are waiting for the end of the week to confirm because he needs to have scans.
id say he’ll miss one at the very least beacuase after this week, adelaide have a week off
Monty, my man
How can you have winderlich over Jordan Lewis..
Okay Lewis has had a couple of sub par rounds but he is still in the top 10-15 scoring players in the league.
If anything he deserves to be in a cooling down position…never the less he is still well ahead of winderlich
Nice work
but perhaps you should add players value, score last week, average score, and then comments.
That would make you twice the Fantasy Expert that Brandon Funston is!!
Sudz, whadda yu bung’n on!!!! . . . Andy is right on the money…. when you’re top of your league for more than ” 1 week in a row “, then we might listen . . .
Monty would ” forget more than you knew ” . . .
I am disappointed with Lewis’s last two weeks, he’s struggling to break tags. And it’s not just the Sydney effect, it happened against Port too.
goodwin had scans yesterday - its a low grade medial sprain. seeing as though they didn’t give a time frame i reckon they’re just waiting to see how sore he is come friday.
sorry for double post, just had a quick thought:
the daniel cross trade: lenny hayes or scott thompson??? - dammit this is causing me sleepless (in seattle) nights.
If criteria is point scoring potential i think J Brown has to right near the top. Sure he’s had a bad start but no-one would be suprised if he rips out 150 soon.
JB wont score any near what he did last year without bradshaw there to draw some of the pressure (in my opinion) - see if patful or clark come on, may improve jb’s chances
I agree with ken.
yeah its time to get jono brown,he is probably at his lowest price now and has only been getin 80’s.
hes set for a big one
BUY HIM NOW!!!
Get on Jarrad Waite. Ticks a lot of boxes at the moment - tackles up (a player with a good tackle count is usually a consistent point scorer), kicks/marks up and kicking goals in a team that is racking up the stats.
Lenny should be in the top 50. I know he’s returning from injury but if Brock is there so should Hayes.. in his pribe is the best dreamteamer
Probably a good point, Brad. If he scores well again this week then he’s a cert.
Stanton a bit stiff not to make the top 50?
Stanton’s injury last week made me wary of his scoring potential.