Gold Coast coach Guy McKenna had Harley Bennell locked in months before the AFL draft, but how about fantasy coaches?
Think back to the start of this year when fantasy coaches were hemming and hawing over whether to get one or both of Tom Scully and Jack Trengove, where the smart move was to get both. Many will be scared off Bennell by his low WAFL Dream Team average in conjunction with his high price, but the fact that all of his 12 games as a mid-sized midfielder came in the seniors means those numbers are a lot more impressive than they look. By way of comparison, David Swallow averaged just on 65 in Dream Team in the VFL last year (more on that in another post).
Jack Darling had been winning all the headlines pre-draft and duly fell down the board to West Coast, who evidently still don’t mind taking kids with alleged character issues despite their recent history, but his junior history is littered with starring performances. Please note that the following tables are split in two due to many players playing in both seniors and colts (reserves) grades of the WAFL. Understandably, there’s a discrepancy in averages, the biggest of which is for Darling himself, suggesting that he hasn’t got the body to dominate with the big boys just yet, as you’d expect.
| Player | Tm | Pos | Recruited from | Ht | Wt | G | K | H | M | T | HO | FF | FA | G.B | DT avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Darling | WC | F | West Perth | 191cm | 87kg | 6 | 74 | 46 | 34 | 20 | 14 | 15 | 7 | 17.9 | 102.5 |
| Alex Fasolo | CO | F | East Fremantle | 180cm | 80kg | 9 | 165 | 64 | 55 | 20 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 6.11 | 98.8 |
| Ben Newton | PA | M | South Fremantle | 184cm | 77kg | 6 | 73 | 62 | 30 | 17 | 1 | 11 | 6 | 10.5 | 93.3 |
| Reece Conca | RI | M | Perth | 185cm | 79kg | 7 | 99 | 59 | 36 | 15 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 4.3 | 84.0 |
| Kirk Ugle | CO | F | Swan Districts | 172cm | 69kg | 4 | 39 | 28 | 4 | 24 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 7.6 | 82.0 |
| Tom Ledger | SK | M | Claremont | 178cm | 73kg | 15 | 175 | 163 | 33 | 34 | 0 | 33 | 26 | 8.13 | 73.5 |
| Jayden Schofield | WB | B | East Fremantle | 179cm | 75kg | 21 | 247 | 131 | 105 | 40 | 2 | 25 | 26 | 15.8 | 72.6 |
| Jamie Cripps | SK | B | East Fremantle | 183cm | 75kg | 1 | 6 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1.0 | 69.0 |
| Angus Litherland | HW | B | Claremont | 190cm | 86kg | 16 | 122 | 59 | 29 | 32 | 1 | 10 | 20 | 1.0 | 41.0 |
| Player | Tm | Pos | Recruited from | Ht | Wt | G | K | H | M | T | HO | FF | FA | G.B | DT avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jamie Cripps | SK | B | East Fremantle | 183cm | 75kg | 6 | 73 | 50 | 31 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 9.10 | 84.5 |
| Alex Fasolo | CO | F | East Fremantle | 180cm | 80kg | 9 | 114 | 45 | 43 | 32 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 14.8 | 84.2 |
| Reece Conca | RI | M | Perth | 185cm | 79kg | 5 | 54 | 38 | 29 | 10 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 0.1 | 72.4 |
| Jack Darling | WC | F | West Perth | 191cm | 87kg | 12 | 96 | 69 | 63 | 36 | 7 | 15 | 15 | 13.8 | 68.5 |
| Jacob Brennan | WC | B | East Fremantle | 193cm | 83kg | 19 | 195 | 101 | 75 | 74 | 2 | 16 | 25 | 2.1 | 66.5 |
| Harley Bennell | GC | M | Peel Thunder | 185cm | 74kg | 12 | 98 | 104 | 32 | 21 | 9 | 13 | 13 | 13.11 | 62.8 |
| Tom Derickx | RI | R | Claremont | 201cm | 100kg | 22 | 112 | 108 | 63 | 53 | 330 | 26 | 37 | 10.4 | 57.4 |
The quiet acheiver amongst this lot is Fasolo. It seems Collingwood can never get enough small forwards on its list, so I would be wary of Fasolo’s job security, especially if Brad Dick makes a full recovery from this year’s ongoing problems. However, his recruitment may point to the Magpie coaching staff not having confidence in Dick in the long term, as well as Leon Davis nearing the end. Then again, with the retirements of Paul Medhurst and Tarkyn Lockyer I suppose they did need to bolster their stocks in that area.
As I said, I will do a similar post for the SANFL presently. Let me know what your thoughts are about this lot. I’d be particularly interested to hear commentary on Bennell. Can you take the same sort of chance on #1 and #2 in the draft again?
ossie85
November 20, 2010 at 6:43 am
Well, I’m quite happy seeing Fasalo’s statistics! Pies may have gotten another forward/midfield that will be great for rotations 🙂
Agree though m0nty, may not get many opportunities next year, but if your team is relying on new draftees, well you’re in a bit of trouble (except the Gold Coast).
richorocks
November 20, 2010 at 8:00 am
Was a little concerned to start with at Conca’s stats, but then realised its only dream team. Would love to see the super coach results. From what I have seen of Conca he looks like the sort of player that will only need 20 touches or less to rack up 100 SC points due to his elite disposal, in the mould on hurn or newman.
stevesowde
November 20, 2010 at 5:50 pm
Monty, having already locked in Swallow as a planned keeper for my DT, my only hesitation in picking Bennell is that I then have 2 players to cover in the 2 bye weeks 1 and 9. Assuming he starts, I’m considering Gaff a better strategic pick at the moment. Long way to go till first bounce of 2011 though… 😉
Junktimer
November 20, 2010 at 8:27 pm
hey ossie, got banned from forums 🙁
m0nty swallow and conca for me
ossie85
November 21, 2010 at 9:32 am
Banned JT? What did you do?
Junktimer
November 21, 2010 at 5:58 pm
no idea. apparently i abused someone
DT=Life
November 22, 2010 at 8:37 pm
Fasolo isn’t a small forward m0nty. Goal-kicking midfielder at best but when it comes down to it he is really just an accumulator with above average, but not exceptional, disposal and a perceived attitude problem which lead to him going later in the draft. Definitely not a small forward.
adam12345
January 19, 2011 at 8:00 pm
these statistics are very helpful so thanks.
where abouts did you get the imformation i’d like to work out some other DT averages for other draftees from outside WA
RoidRager
March 22, 2011 at 9:34 am
Great work mOnty you’re a Champ, these stats have helped me select the rookies I need.