We hit peak Shannon Hurn in the first half of 2019, bolstered by the new kick-in rules gifting him multiple plus-threes every week to lift his disposal rate to a personal best 27. Then he missed Q4 of round 11 plus the next two matches due to a calf complaint, which also put him out for a further fortnight in July and led to a drop in fantasy output of 18 points. He still managed to make the All-Australian team and stood up well in finals, but didn't reach the 25-disposal mark in 11 appearances after the injury. It looked like Hurn was going to be a reliable fantasy premium with a lovely high floor due to the cheap kicks coming off the full back line. His advanced age and the location of that injury, a very common and lingering one for players past the age of 30, puts a big handbrake on his fantasy value going forward. It would be a big risk to burn an early round pick on him, even though he will probably be taken there. Expect to see him miss games towards fantasy finals, and leave him to others to pay too much.
Calf concern for Hurn
We hit peak Shannon Hurn in the first half of 2019, bolstered by the new kick-in rules gifting him multiple plus-threes every week to lift his disposal rate to a personal best 27. Then he missed Q4 of round 11 plus the next two matches due to a calf complaint, which also put him out for a further fortnight in July and led to a drop in fantasy output of 18 points. He still managed to make the All-Australian team and stood up well in finals, but didn't reach the 25-disposal mark in 11 appearances after the injury. It looked like Hurn was going to be a reliable fantasy premium with a lovely high floor due to the cheap kicks coming off the full back line. His advanced age and the location of that injury, a very common and lingering one for players past the age of 30, puts a big handbrake on his fantasy value going forward. It would be a big risk to burn an early round pick on him, even though he will probably be taken there. Expect to see him miss games towards fantasy finals, and leave him to others to pay too much.
Shannon Hurn will come into a lot of fantasy sides in salary cap competitions this week as he seems destined to finish as one of the top six backs in that format. He was previously a bit of a Supercoach special as his one-wood was a long and accurate kick to a teammate, without enough accumulation on the outside to put him in the top echelon for basic scoring formats. He has been arguably the biggest beneficiary of this year's new kick in rule, however, adding more than enough cheap +3s to lift him into reckoning for best fantasy 22.
Shannon Hurn has one of the deadliest boots in the AFL, combining length with precision in a mix that should do well in the new AFL rule set. He has been sharing kick in duties with Lewis Jetta and they made a good tandem, Hurn with the better kick and Jetta with the jets in his legs. As a fantasy asset Hurn has always been more of a Supercoach special as he's not the greatest accumulator, but that may change with the new kick in rules.
Moon shots burn for Hurn
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that the Eagles benefit when the ball zooms out of defence from the boot of Shannon Hurn, and that happened five more times per game last season as he joined the top five kickers in the league. His contested rate dropped by eight points to 21%, making his stat line look more like that of a traditional HBF with a ratio shifting from 12:7 to 17:4. Hurn's sudden leap into fantasy premium territory will only be helped by the new kick in rule, as he could add another two or three plus-threes to his gaudy kick totals per game. The only possible downside could be his advanced age of 31, but since he just had his best season when turning 30 that seems to be a moot point. He should be drafted very early, with a strong case to be made for the first round.
Watch the world, Hurn
Adding a mark and two handballs per game lifted Shannon Hurn into fantasy relevance once more in 2017, the fourth time in 12 listed seasons he pushed his average above 70, though he dropped in metres gained and gained five points of efficiency to put him top six in the league on that stat. That set of figures tells you that Hurn joined his teammates in stuffing around with the ball in the backline a bit more last season, something that is not always sustainable as the coach can tell them to go direct if he wants to change it up a bit. He's just as likely to revert back below 70 in 2018, making him a late pick at best.
