James Aish is an example of a player who gets close to no interest in fantasy, beyond deep draft leagues, but probably deserves more. His light has been outshone this season across the Fremantle backline by Luke Ryan and Jordan Clark, both of whom have vaulted into favouritism to finish as top six fantasy backs by the end of the season and both filled their boots last week in a big win in the sterile conditions under the roof at Docklands. The week before, however, Aish outscored Clark considerably as James Jordon laid a hard tag on the latter. Food for thought for tonight.
James Aish is an example of a player who gets close to no interest in fantasy, beyond deep draft leagues, but probably deserves more. His light has been outshone this season across the Fremantle backline by Luke Ryan and Jordan Clark, both of whom have vaulted into favouritism to finish as top six fantasy backs by the end of the season and both filled their boots last week in a big win in the sterile conditions under the roof at Docklands. The week before, however, Aish outscored Clark considerably as James Jordon laid a hard tag on the latter. Food for thought for tonight.
James Aish is a journeyman who moved from Collingwood to Fremantle a few years ago and has been towards the bottom end of the best 22, playing whatever role he is asked of by the coach without cementing any one in particular. This year he has played half back mostly with a bit of outside midfield, and last week after half time he moved to inside mids to tag Clayton Oliver with some success. He may be asked to so the same again for Lachie Neale today for a full game, making him an interesting spot start in draft leagues and daily fantasy formats.
Clear air for Aish
Wearing a third club's colours, James Aish provides drive on the outside. The ex-Lion and Magpie struggled to solidify a starting role in the black and white, suffering declines in disposals and contested possessions as he spent more time at half back. His best performance came against the Eagles in round 17, registering 24 touches and nine marks. Aish and new senior coach Justin Longmuir have mused in public this preseason that the wing role is his for the taking. However, since his debut campaign there is little evidence to suggest he can accumulate desirable fantasy totals. With a positional change in the offing, there is enough upside to select Aish in late rounds.
Aish ain't cutting it
Drafted in 2013, James Aish’s most impressive statistical season was his first. After arriving at Collingwood from the Lions in 2016, he has been afflicted by injury and form issues. His 2018 season was on track to be his best yet, averaging a touch under 80 in the first five rounds, but a PCL injury halted his progress until the tail end of the season. That injury was a shame, as Aish had finally found some form in a lucrative position being fed by one of the competition's best midfields. If he can imitate last year’s start and avoid injury, his last task is to work beyond the midfielder baseline on a consistent basis. The risk is worthy of a late selection at best.
Deflating sound for Aish
To be fair, James Aish showed some excellent form in 2017, including a handful of fantasy tons. The problem was all but one of those tons came in the VFL, and apart from that one senior game against Melbourne he couldn't reproduce his VFL form at AFL level and still hasn't come anywhere near his full 2014 season on debut at Brisbane. Collingwood has a bunch of kids coming through and if Buckley is going to make anything out of his coaching tenure, he has to hope they go past Aish whose best is still pretty average. Aish has too much Xavier Ellis in him, and he's never going to get 30 touches in a grand final at this rate. Free agent fodder at best.
