North Melbourne travels west this week to face the West Coast Eagles on Sunday night in the final game of the round.
Our eyes will be on North’s captain, Andrew Swallow, as he returns to his native state to play his third game for the year.
Swallow’s scoring has been a little low in his first two games back from his achilles injury, with scores of 62 and 72 in recent weeks.
The number 9 is currently priced at $447,428 in AFL Fantasy Classic and should get cheaper as the weeks go by. We’ll be waiting until he looks back to his old self again, and then buying in at a low price.
We’ll also be curious to see what Ben Cunnington can produce. The former number five draft pick had a great start to 2014, averaging nearly 100 points per game in his first seven weeks, but has dropped off since the skipper returned.
Cunnington has returned scores of 84 against Brisbane and a season-low 53 against Geelong in the past fortnight. Whether it’s a coincidence or not is something we’ll need to see a few more games to be sure of.
Ryan Bastinac is also in the spotlight after starting the last two games as the sub. He struggled to have an impact against Brisbane, but rediscovered some form against Geelong with 15 touches and two goals. Keep an eye on him this week to see if he can back it up.
Jack Ziebell and Levi Greenwood are thriving at the moment with both midfielders averaging more than 100 points per game over their last four. Keep a close eye on both this weekend.
We’re also closely following Robin Nahas who has played four games for the Roos so far and is averaging 76 points across them. He’s been one of the best players in recent weeks and has shown the potential to be fantasy relevant in the past.
Last but not least we just have to give a shout out to Lindsay Thomas this week as the AFL celebrates its great indigenous players. He might not be a big fantasy player, but nothing can top the effort and excitement he provides each week.
Around the Grounds
There’s a number of fantasy guns available at cheap prices this week, making it a good week to sell off your rookies and buy in on underpriced premiums.
Ryan Griffen ($437,275) is one that fantasy coaches should be leaping on. After a slow start to the year as the result of a back injury, he has put in two 110+ scores in his last two games. He averaged 105 points per game last year and is a bargain given his potential to perform at that level.
Another to consider is Scott Selwood ($452,810) who was forced into tight, defensive roles in the first weeks of the year and saw his scoring drop as a result. He’s gotten a bit looser in recent weeks and put up scores of 129 and 106. He averaged 108 points per game last year and is very cheap considering that.
Fantasy coaches might also consider Lance Franklin ($410,587) who looks to be finding some good fantasy form in Sydney’s line of tall forwards. However, he’s been a frustratingly inconsistent fantasy player both recently and in the past, so buy at your own risk.
There’s a partial lock-out this week when the Thursday night game begins. You can still make trades after the lockout begins – so long as they don’t involve any Sydney or Geelong players – but you can’t reverse any trades you’ve already made once the lockout begins. So make your trades carefully.
