Mid-Season Draft Watch – Which New Rookies Matter?

The AFL Mid-Season Draft was held during the week and, as always, SuperCoach coaches immediately did what SuperCoach coaches do. Ignore the players already in the game and start dreaming about the ones that aren’t.

Eighteen players were selected and every one of them enters SuperCoach at the magical price of $99,100. For some coaches, that’s all they need to hear.

Personally, I’d still prefer to see at least two games before jumping on any of them.

We’ve spent the last month buying rookies who have actually played AFL football and that hasn’t always worked out brilliantly.

So perhaps a little patience is required.

Still, there are a handful of names that look capable of getting games sooner rather than later.

Mid-Season Draft Rankings

Ranked purely from a SuperCoach perspective based on likelihood of getting games early and becoming relevant cash cows.

There were another eight players selected in the Mid-Season Draft that I haven’t mentioned.

That doesn’t mean they won’t get a game.

Most of them simply look more like depth selections for their clubs rather than players expected to push straight into AFL football.

As we see every year though, injuries happen, form drops off and opportunities appear from nowhere. So don’t completely ignore the other draftees.

If we’ve learnt anything from SuperCoach over the years, it’s that the rookie everyone is talking about often isn’t the rookie that ends up making us the most money.

Still, if I was putting together a watchlist today, the ten players above would be where I’d start.

Jaxon Artemis (Essendon)

Artemis might be the name that interests me most from a SuperCoach perspective.

The former WA captain from the 2024 National Championships was widely expected to be drafted last year and surprised plenty by missing out.

He is an AFL-ready player with genuine speed, endurance and the ability to break lines.

More importantly, he is exactly the type of player Essendon need.

The Bombers are currently one of the worst teams in the competition at transitioning the ball from defence and Artemis could potentially help address that immediately.

There is some talk he may be carrying a minor injury at the moment, but if he gets himself fit and is named, I think his job security could actually be quite good.

At this point I am not entirely convinced the Bombers wouldn’t draft three accountants and give them a game this week.

If you can run, have two functioning hamstrings and know roughly which direction your team is kicking, you are probably a chance of senior football at Essendon right now.

Kye Annand (Richmond)

Annand is an intercept defender and that immediately makes him interesting.

Richmond are rebuilding, have a sizeable injury list and spend plenty of time defending.

Which, from a SuperCoach perspective, can be a beautiful combination.

The Tigers also have some longer-term questions in their defensive setup.

Josh Gibcus simply hasn’t been able to get continuity with injury, while Nick Vlastuin is now entering the later stages of his career.

I can genuinely see Annand getting an opportunity very quickly.

If he gets a game, there is every chance he sees plenty of football across half-back.

Oliver Fancou (West Coast)

Fancou may be the most SuperCoach-friendly player of the group.

He has been averaging 31 disposals and 8 tackles per game in the SANFL as an inside midfielder.

Those are the sort of numbers that make SuperCoach coaches start opening spreadsheets.

Or, more realistically, start calculating how many premiums they can afford if he somehow debuts next week.

Marcus Herbert (West Coast)

If there was an award for best performed state-league player entering the draft, Herbert would probably have won it.

He has been outstanding in the VFL this season and offers exactly what West Coast need.

Herbert provides run and carry from defence but can also push into the midfield when required.

With Devon Robertson ruled out for the season, there is a clear opening for that type of player.

I would be surprised if West Coast didn’t look to get games into him fairly quickly.

Xavier Bamert (North Melbourne)

Bamert was widely expected to be selected in last year’s National Draft but surprisingly missed out.

Since then he has continued to impress in North Melbourne’s VFL side.

The Kangaroos clearly know what they are getting and there is a reasonable chance he moves into senior calculations fairly quickly.

One of the more AFL-ready players in the group.

Which usually means he will either play next week or spend three months dominating the VFL while coaches repeatedly ask why he isn’t getting picked.

There is rarely a middle ground.

Hugo Hall-Kahan (Adelaide)

Hall-Kahan is one of the more interesting stories from the draft.

He was actually selected by Sydney in the 2022 Mid-Season Draft as a small forward but never managed a senior game.

Rather than disappear into local football, he went back to the SANFL and reinvented himself as a hard-running defender.

That versatility and persistence is probably why Adelaide have given him another opportunity.

Unlike many draftees, Hall-Kahan has already experienced being on an AFL list and missing out.

He has learnt the hard way how difficult it is to make it.

You would imagine he will be extremely hungry to finally debut at AFL level.

 

Harrison Coe (Collingwood)

Coe is probably the most discussed ruckman from the Mid-Season Draft, largely because Collingwood supporters seem convinced he has been recruited to fill the second ruck role.

That could have some implications for those who recently jumped on Cameron and have been enjoying his increased ruck involvement.

The good news is Coe looks physically ready to compete at AFL level.

The bad news is he’s still a rookie ruck.

Historically, rookie rucks have not exactly been a gold mine for SuperCoach scoring unless they are the clear number one ruck.

Still, at $99,100, if Coe starts getting games and holding his spot, coaches will take notice very quickly.

Mostly because he costs less than a rookie who has already gone up $20k.

 

Joel Fitzgerald (Melbourne) 

Purely from a SuperCoach perspective, Fitzgerald might have the most appealing scoring profile outside the headline names.

The midfielder has been racking them up in the VFL, averaging 34 disposals per game and regularly finding plenty of the football.

He’s hard at the contest, wins contested possessions and has the sort of game style that generally translates well to SuperCoach scoring.

The challenge is opportunity.

Melbourne’s midfield isn’t particularly easy to break into and there are already several players fighting for those spots.

If Fitzgerald gets an opportunity though, coaches will be interested immediately.

A midfielder averaging 34 touches a game tends to do that.

 

Lukas Cook (Melbourne)

Cook is a 196cm key defender who has drawn comparisons to Steven May.

Strong overhead, competitive one-on-one and physically ready to play senior football.

Melbourne clearly believe he can step into AFL football if required and with key defenders always in demand, he could find opportunities sooner rather than later.

The issue for SuperCoach is obvious.

Key defenders rarely score particularly well unless they are intercepting everything in sight.

That doesn’t mean Cook can’t become a useful cash cow, but I’d be viewing him more as a player who might make money rather than someone who will be scoring 80s every week.

 

Max Beattie (Hawthorn)

As a Hawthorn supporter, I like this selection.

As a SuperCoach coach, I’m a little more cautious.

Beattie is a 22-year-old pressure forward with genuine speed and plenty of energy.

Think Nick Watson, but perhaps with a little more focus on pressure and team defence than scoreboard impact.

The problem is that pressure forwards tend to score AFL coaches points, not SuperCoach coaches points.

A player can have an outstanding game applying pressure, creating turnovers and helping the team win, only to walk away with 47 SuperCoach points.

Still, Hawthorn clearly see something in him and it wouldn’t surprise me if he gets opportunities later in the season.

Just don’t expect the role to produce huge scores if he does.

 

The Verdict

From a SuperCoach perspective, Artemis is probably the standout name. He looks AFL-ready, fills an obvious need at Essendon and could have decent job security if he gets his opportunity.

Annand, Herbert and Fancou are probably the next most interesting names, particularly given their roles and the likelihood of early opportunities.

The key thing to remember is that every one of these players starts at $99,100. At that price they don’t need to be stars. They just need to play.

Of course, after the last few weeks, even that feels like a fairly ambitious requirement.

Of course, if one of them debuts, scores 68 and looks likely to hold their spot, don’t be surprised if half the competition suddenly discovers they have been following his state league career for years.

thanks fellas