Leading the small forward brigade for the 2019 season, Brandon Matera delivered in spades. The ex-Sun kicked a career high goals, including four and five in a rampant fortnight against the Giants and Bulldogs respectively. The West Australian native will aim for similar production in 2020. An effective goal sneak, his skillset is less useful for fantasy scoring as it is too reliant on goalmouth success which can be fleeting. Not to enter thinking come draft night.
Matera is a mere molecule
Leading the small forward brigade for the 2019 season, Brandon Matera delivered in spades. The ex-Sun kicked a career high goals, including four and five in a rampant fortnight against the Giants and Bulldogs respectively. The West Australian native will aim for similar production in 2020. An effective goal sneak, his skillset is less useful for fantasy scoring as it is too reliant on goalmouth success which can be fleeting. Not to enter thinking come draft night.
Matera whirled out
Seven seasons at the Gold Coast Suns was enough for Brandon Matera, who made the move back home prior to the 2018 season. Hopeful of echoing his career-best year, the half forward flanker failed to deliver, dropping his average by almost 20 points. Matera played most available games, but sat out with a right shoulder injury at the season’s tail end. Matera will have to battle hard for his spot in the seniors in 2019 with a plethora of up-and-coming talent and a couple of experienced and talented new recruits. He wasn’t able to prove his fantasy relevance last year in purple and, with this extra competition, his value drops even further. Avoid him in the draft.
Brandon Matera is having his best statistical season when you look at the averages, but hidden in that is a lot of variation. He started off the year playing a lot of midfield and delivered a few tons, albeit he went off early through injury in round 6 and had a few other knocks. After a suspension in round 12, however, his role has reverted more towards forward 50 and his fantasy scores have dropped off as a consequence with no scores hitting 90 since then, even as the team has improved. He is nowhere near top six forwards and looms as a late trade out in salary cap comps.
Brandon in old post code
The first half of 2017 was possibly Brandon Matera's best run in seven seasons, as he kicked off with six goals against the Hawks and looked set to boot 40 for the year. A foot injury eventually ended his campaign, even though he could have returned late. His possession counts only rarely reach 20, as he usually starts deep in the forward line and attracts significant defensive attention. Tackling is not a huge part of his game. Just as it looks like the career of Hayden Ballantyne is heading for the curtains, Matera arrives in his home town at what should be the peak of his powers. He should play much the same sort of role, which can produce big scores at times and then drop below baseline when he has to rove the scraps in a tight one. Murphy's Law dictates he will score big on your bench, and powder when you start him. He's a YOLO pick, best taken late.
