The early LTI to Alex Rance last year meant that David Astbury took on even more defensive responsibilities, standing the opposition's best key forward and leaving rebounding more to others. Astbury was on the edges of fantasy relevance a few years ago, when his time spent with ball in hand was a little higher than it is now. Rance's retirement means his job is entirely to stop.
No free kicks in the Astbury
The early LTI to Alex Rance last year meant that David Astbury took on even more defensive responsibilities, standing the opposition's best key forward and leaving rebounding more to others. Astbury was on the edges of fantasy relevance a few years ago, when his time spent with ball in hand was a little higher than it is now. Rance's retirement means his job is entirely to stop.
Lower heights for Astbury
Apart from a two-week layoff from a sprained ankle around last year's byes, David Astbury held down a key defensive post down the spine for the Tigers for the past three years. He dropped a mark off his averages in 2018, lowering his rate below the back baseline. That shortfall was always on the cards for Astbury as Richmond's draw got harder after the premiership, meaning less chance for the uncontested marks that occasionally deliver startable scores. Try never to be so desperate that you look his way in the free agent pool.
The cult of Astbury
You can't have three champions on every line in a premiership side in the modern salary-capped AFL, and in David Astbury the Tigers have a middling full back who can sometimes be beaten, and on other days surprise you with how good he can be. His fantasy scores can tend towards poor against tough opponents, then moderately startable when allowed to take uncontested marks. Astbury spent a lot of time on rosters in draft leagues last season, unusually so for a full back, and his run through fantasy finals was actually quite good. One caveat when assessing his draft value is that Richmond should get a significantly tougher draw in 2018, so he won't be able to enjoy himself zoning off nearly as much, which means a reversion to the full back mean is on the cards. A late pick at best.
