Bailey Dale is a fantasy premium defender, with a trademark dash off half back and an ability to accumulate on his day like few others in the league. Coming into the colder winter months, he is currently averaging 27 disposals with 19 of those kicks, having inherited the main kick in duties with Caleb Daniel leaving the club in the off season. He can be a hard watch at times as his game is so dependent on game flow and supply, but he is set to join the top six fantasy backs again in 2025 and is a must-have for those contending for honours.
Bailey Dale is a fantasy premium defender, with a trademark dash off half back and an ability to accumulate on his day like few others in the league. Coming into the colder winter months, he is currently averaging 27 disposals with 19 of those kicks, having inherited the main kick in duties with Caleb Daniel leaving the club in the off season. He can be a hard watch at times as his game is so dependent on game flow and supply, but he is set to join the top six fantasy backs again in 2025 and is a must-have for those contending for honours.
Bailey Dale was a point of difference pick going into the second half of the 2022 fantasy season, with Caleb Daniel not taking kick ins and Dale enjoying a role with a lot of freedom to create on the rebound. His scoring since the byes has been okay, apart from a terrible one against the Swans, and he hasn't let you down... though if you bought him as an underpriced option you might be experiencing FOMO from the monster scores put up by some other options at his price. He hasn't been a bust by any means, just not a matchwinner.
Bailey Dale has been a revelation across half back for the Bulldogs this year, starting as a third tall defender and being so creative on the rebound that he has now been given more license to run off smalls. Fantasy coaches love a designated kick in taker who plays on a lot for cheap plus-threes, and Dale has supplanted Caleb Daniel in that role for the Bullies over the course of the season. He was a classic mid-price improver, the sort of pick you need to nail if you are going to do well in salary cap competitions as it saves you a trade or two.
Bailey Dale was the answer to an important question from last week's game: given the cratering of Caleb Daniel's output, who was the Bulldog who had the most rebound 50s against the Lions? Dale has posted consecutive 85s in standard fantasy scoring playing the third tall defender with license to create off half back, and current Daniel owners looking for a bit of value in his replacement might be well served to take a look at Dale's cheapness if he can keep up those numbers - off an admittedly small base.
Down hill, up Dale
On average, Bailey Dale slotted more goals per game than any other Bulldog. Roaming across the half forward line, Dale would start games as the fourth- or fifth-most dangerous Dog on paper and was marked by a low-tier defender which he had no trouble exploiting. Following an injury-interrupted 2018, Dale excelled in the second half of the season to boot 20 goals from six games at a fantasy rate of 82. Dale's late-season form secures the HFF position to start 2020 and helps the Bulldogs team structure revert to a more traditional one, where mids stay in midfield and specialist forwards stay mostly in their starting positions. It's unrealistic to expect him to snag bags of goals continuously, especially with Josh Bruce now in the lineup. A late-round selection is all that's warranted.
Chipping Dale's form
Continuing where he left off in late 2017, Bailey Dale played the first ten senior games last season before a stress reaction in his foot put him out for the rest of the year. His ventures above the forward baseline were infrequent, with only two scores above 70. Dale will have to contend with a raft of new draftees, and while his job security was bolstered by the departure of Luke Dahlhaus, there will be others gunning for his HFF spot in preseason action. He is not due much natural improvement in year five, so best to leave him undrafted.
Up hill, through Dale
After a couple of years on the fringe at the Bulldogs, Bailey Dale played every senior game after round 8 last season, thrice passing 20 disposals and booting multiple goals five times, including four against Port in round 22. About a quarter of his kicks went over the 50 metre arc from midfield. The departure of Jake Stringer means more responsibility will fall on Dale's shoulders to link up across half forward. He is too much of a handball-receive merchant to seriously interest fantasy coaches at this stage, though if he starts racking up the marks in the JLT he might move up draft boards into late pick territory.
