A persistent toe concern put early end to a consistent second season in purple for attacking half back Nathan Wilson. The ex-Giant produced the 13th most metres gained, dropping from third the season prior. Wilson enjoyed a career-high 30 disposals with eight marks in the one-point victory over the Lions in round 10. The speedster remains sidelined by toe surgery, spending time in the rehab group during the pre-Christmas training phase. An exceptional attacking weapon, Wilson's average dipped towards the back baseline last season but a bounce back is on the cards. His upside is limited but real assuming he avoids further injury setbacks, making him a late pick.
Good run, Wilson!
A persistent toe concern put early end to a consistent second season in purple for attacking half back Nathan Wilson. The ex-Giant produced the 13th most metres gained, dropping from third the season prior. Wilson enjoyed a career-high 30 disposals with eight marks in the one-point victory over the Lions in round 10. The speedster remains sidelined by toe surgery, spending time in the rehab group during the pre-Christmas training phase. An exceptional attacking weapon, Wilson's average dipped towards the back baseline last season but a bounce back is on the cards. His upside is limited but real assuming he avoids further injury setbacks, making him a late pick.
Metreage from Wilson's club
The ex-Giant made the move out west following six seasons at Homebush and didn’t disappoint. Nathan Wilson's most impressive stat was an average of 510 metres gained, ranking third in the league. He finished with a career high in disposals and marks, but his lowest tackle tally - a seagull season, we could call it. The run-and-carry rebounder has a strong tendency to throw it on the boot rather than offload by hand. Wilson takes approximately half of Freo’s kick-ins so he will directly benefit from the offseason rule change. This could push his scores into the 80s, which is certainly a startable standard for any fantasy defence. Ross Lyon’s squad will look to offload the ball to the rebounding defender as much as possible and, since his groin issues are behind him, we should take Wilson with a pick in middle rounds.
Nathan Wilson has backed up his impressive numbers from late in 2017 with some more big possession tallies, especially enjoying himself with uncontested marks in big wins over minnows like a good premium fantasy back should. There is no hint of him returning to the midfield tagging roles he was given early last year with Bailey Banfield now in that role, and he has started forming a strong partnership with Nathan Wilson at half back. He is making a case to be one of the top six fantasy backs of 2018, which means good things for his ownership in salary cap comeptitions.
Wilson putts over Nullarbor
One of the more impressive stats in footy is Nathan Wilson averaging around 500 metres gained to place him top seven in the league two years running, despite a disposal average from half back of only 18. He is the best run-and-carry merchant in the comp, though this does not often translate into impressive fantasy scores. Freo are blessed with a lot of HBFs on their list, but Wilson's value to the team means he will walk from GWS into a spot in the best 22 in purple. Like Bradley Hill, he could be set up to hit personal bests in his first year on return to his home state. If you believe so, that would merit a late pick at best as he's barely startable now.
