Liam Anthony has been omitted, after only raking in 53 fantasy points, making way Aaron Mullett who impressed for North Ballarat last week in the VFL, with 24 disposals and four tackles.
Mullett has been named on the bench for the game against St Kilda.
While North will be hoping he can bring some of his VFL form up into the highest level, fantasy coaches should look elsewhere; Mullett’s fantasy average is far from elite.
Without the strength of Ziebell around the stoppages, North will rely on skipper Andrew Swallow, Nick Dal Santo and emerging sensation Levi Greenwood to extract the ball from congestion. The latter in particular is quickly becoming a very damaging player.
After a slow start to the season, he is now averaging 10.5 contested possessions a game, nearly 26 disposals a game and is regularly finding the goals.
Greenwood’s AFL Fantasy transformation has seen his price shoot up to $553,826, the most expensive of all Kangaroos. If you need a premium midfielder to replace Gary Ablett, he may be your man.
At the other end of the price range, exciting tall Ben Brown will only cost you $151,172.
Brown runs hard, is finding enough of the ball to make an impact and doesn’t mind kicking a goal either. While he’s still pretty raw it’s great that coach Brad Scott is giving him games.
Even though Brown’s price has already risen a little, he’s still cheap enough to buy as cover in your ruck or forward divisions, or to earn some cash before the finals.
Around the Grounds
It’s difficult to go Around the Grounds this week without paying tribute to Gary Ablett.
The AFL Fantasy star will be sorely missed and will be the most traded player out this week after he went under the knife for season-ending surgery on his shoulder.
Ablett’s dilemma sets the tone for this week, with the news being more about the players going out of teams than those coming in.
Fantasy Coaches will be unable to directly swap Ablett for Tom Rockliff, as the Lion has to serve a one week suspension first. Also serving one-week suspensions are Brendon Goddard and Josh Kennedy (West Coast), while Brian Lake will sit out four weeks thanks an incident involving Kangaroo Drew Petrie.
Matt Rosa is out for the rest of the season with a ruptured pectoral tendon, just when West Coast need his flair. Adam Treloar (GWS) is another huge out with a groin injury, as is teammate Steven Coniglio with a thumb complaint.
Also suffering this week are Garrick Ibbotson (calf), Angus Monfries (hamstring), Andrew Carrazzo (quad), Troy Menzel (shoulder), Dean Cox (soreness), Trent McKenzie (hamstring), Jack Steven (thigh), Brad Sewell (hamstring) and David Mackay (hamstring).
Here’s hoping Round 17 is a little kinder to the players.
