Unfortunately for those of you who are already planning ahead for 2021, we’ve seen quite a few rookies pop up in the past few weeks. That’s great for late season downgrades, but not so good for starting teams next year!
This will be the last weekly Rookie Review for this season. Next week, there will be an in-depth review of all rookie performances for 2020, a few awards given out, and a look ahead at what we might get in the rookie realm for 2021.
Here’s a review of the rookies from Round 16.
DEFENDERS
| Player | Club | Price | Score (avg) | BE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Damon GREAVES | HAW | $123 900 | 97 (97) | -45 |
| Jack PAYNE | BRL | $161 900 (+$38K) | 93 (69) | -40 |
| Flynn PEREZ | NTH | $117 300 | 50 (50) | -1 |
| Matthew COTTRELL | CAR | $200 800 (+$17K) | 65 (49) | 8 |
| Stephen HILL (FWD) | FRE | $252 000 (+$5K) | 76 (59) | 12 |
| Trent RIVERS (MID) | MEL | $267 700 (+$33K) | 82 (59) | 14 |
| Lachlan ASH (MID) | GWS | $319 500 (+$30K) | 82 (60) | 18 |
| Lachlan SHOLL | ADE | $230 500 (+$14K) | 45 (53) | 37 |
| Will DAY | HAW | $323 800 (+$8K) | 82 (71) | 47 |
| Ben MCKAY | NTH | $294 500 (+$11K) | 76 (66) | 48 |
| Tom WILLIAMSON | CAR | $296 000 (-$4K) | 37 (58) | 56 |
| Brandon ZERK-THATCHER | ESS | $216 300 (-$11K) | 24 (46) | 59 |
| Andrew MCPHERSON | ADE | $285 000 (+$0K) | 53 (64) | 78 |
| Brandon STARCEVICH (MID) | BRL | $282 200 (-$13K) | 7 (54) | 101 |
CHEERS: Day has been awesome this year and if you still have him, his 21 possession effort was another solid effort. Rivers produced similar scoring after counting 13 kicks amongst his 15 touches, while Ash again stamped his class with 18 possessions in an uninspired team effort from the Giants. Payne managed a highly impressive 10 intercepts in his return to the Lions backline, and should keep his spot with Harris Andrews sitting out the remainder of the year. Honorable mention to Cottrell, who was quiet for most of the game right up until the point he kicked the match-winning goal to sink the Swans.
JEERS: Zerk-Thatcher sent yet another reminder of why you should almost always avoid rookie key defenders, especially the pricier ones.
TRADE TARGETS: All you really want at this stage of the year is a cheap rookie with decent scoring potential to provide bench cover. Greaves ticks all the boxes after 17 possessions at 94% efficiency on debut. Terrible timing from Clarko though – why wasn’t Damon in the team earlier this season? And why couldn’t you wait until next year to play him? Perez also played his first game and performed well enough, but is the less preferred option here.
MIDFIELDERS
| Player | Club | Price | Score (avg) | BE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justin MCINERNEY | SYD | $301 900 (+$28K) | 67 (69) | -4 |
| Thomson DOW | RIC | $125 800 (n/a) | BYE (34) | 8 |
| Harry SCHOENBERG | ADE | $250 300 (+$23K) | 43 (56) | 26 |
| Noah ANDERSON | GCS | $394 900 (+$1K) | 90 (74) | 33 |
| Tyler BROWN | COL | $222 100 (n/a) | BYE (51) | 36 |
| Xavier O'NEILL | WCE | $187 900 (+$9K) | 33 (47) | 37 |
| Caleb SERONG | FRE | $382 000 (+$8K) | 94 (78) | 41 |
| Sam WICKS | SYD | $253 900 (+$12K) | 33 (58) | 48 |
| Marlion PICKETT | RIC | $364 700 (n/a) | BYE (73) | 77 |
CHEERS: Serong and Anderson are probably duking it out for Rising Star honours right now, and each man produced yet another outstanding performance. Serong managed 18 touches and five tackles in the wet win over the Dees, while Anderson included 12 contested possessions in his effort against the Lions.
JEERS: Wicks‘ performances this year have seemed to mirror those of his team, and so it proved again as the youngster struggled to get into the game in Tuesday night’s loss (7 disposals).
RUCKS
| Player | Club | Price | Score (avg) | BE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom DE KONING | CAR | $217 000 (+$28K) | 109 (57) | -9 |
| Sam DRAPER | ESS | $341 800 (+$32K) | 74 (78) | 69 |
De Koning put out easily the best performance of his fledgling career with 12 possessions and 19 hitouts, guiding his Blues to a memorable win. Draper turned in another solid performance, but is close to Maxing out now. Cut for cash or hold for cover, the choice is yours.
FORWARDS
| Player | Club | Price | Score (avg) | BE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keidean COLEMAN (MID) | BRL | $151 600 (+$34K) | 68 (64) | -35 |
| Tyson STENGLE | ADE | $294 900 (+$28K) | 104 (60) | -11 |
| Shane MCADAM | ADE | $350 300 (+$36K) | 111 (66) | 7 |
| Irving MOSQUITO | ESS | $208 700 (+$10K) | 24 (55) | 26 |
| Jake AARTS | RIC | $309 700 (n/a) | BYE (63) | 30 |
| Bradley CLOSE (MID) | GEE | $243 200 (+$10K) | 55 (56) | 35 |
| Minairo FREDERICK | FRE | $181 100 (+$20K) | 40 (34) | 37 |
| Izak RANKINE | GCS | $348 100 (+$11K) | 40 (75) | 41 |
| Connor BUDARICK (MID) | GCS | $219 500 (+$2K) | 28 (48) | 44 |
| Lachlan HOSIE | NTH | $186 400 (+$4K) | 18 (42) | 48 |
| Jake RICCARDI | GWS | $256 400 (+$21K) | 28 (68) | 59 |
CHEERS: The Adelaide livewires Stengle (14 possessions, one goal) and McAdam (14 possessions, 2 goals) were both terrific in the Crows’ win, each raising the ton for their handful of owners.
JEERS: Riccardi went from hero to zero (4 disposals) against the cellar-dwelling Crows, not helped by his midfielders getting absolutely pummelled. Mosquito has been so exciting, but suffered a dreaded ACL rupture and likely won’t be seen again until 2022. All the best in recovery, Irving.
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Thanks for the rookie reviews this season Chillo! Cashing out Draper this week and going to upgrade Wicks to anyone I dont own other than Bont.
Awesome work Chillo! These are fantastic every week.
Poll for rookie of the year next week?