Not sure who to pick in your ShePlays AFLW Fantasy squad?
The most important thing to do is look for value. Remember: total points = points-per-dollar-spent x dollars-spent.
With $700,00o to spend on 21 players, we’re left with an average of $33,333.33 per player, with prices ranging from $15,000 up to $60,000. As there are no changing prices, there is no SuperCoach-style cash generation to worry about.
The second most important thing is to make sure you have at least a couple of reliable captaincy options, as your captain scores double points each week.
Here’s the latest draft of my current line-up:
This will probably change a little bit between now and the 6:15 PM (AEDT) lockout, but I doubt it will change too much.
There is a lot of value to be had from midfield draftees this year, so I’ve gone all-in on that, plus added a reliable perma-captain in Kiara Bowers, and a (relatively) cheap and now fully-fit Erin Phillips. Nic Negrepontis has tipped Carlton ruck Breann Moody to have a breakout season, so I’m also giving her the nod as my number 1 ruck.
For the forward line, I’ve focussed on players who are listed as forwards but who will be playing midfield this season, as well as Tayla Harris, who is a dominant key forward in a dominant team.
Having focussed on value picks across the rest of the ground, I’ve spent more money on my backline. Monahan and Swanson are premium defenders from struggling teams (meaning the ball will be in their area a lot, and they should be the ones distributing it). Cordner, meanwhile, has a solid scoring history, and has been brought in by Richmond to anchor their struggling backline. Finally, Duffin and Randall are stars who missed all of last season.
My bench is made up of mostly bottom-price players, with the exception of Hill, who is one of a number of midfielders at the $20,000 mark whom I think could do well. The exact makeup of my final bench will obviously hinge on the team sheets, but I think everyone on there currently is more likely than not to play.
All that has left me with $10K left over.
If you’ve been struggling to put a team together, then you could do a lot worse than just copying the one above. But if you want to customize it, here is a non-exhaustive list of alternative players you might safely consider:
Top-end mids:
- Maddy Prespakis (Carlton, $55,000)
- Ash Riddell (North Melbourne, $55,000)
- Jasmine Garner (North Melbourne, $60,000)
- Karen Paxman (Melbourne, $55,000)
Rucks:
- Sharni Norder (Collingwood, $45,000)
- Eden Zankar (Melbourne, $45,000)
- Lauren Bella (Gold Coast, $35,000)
Premium defenders:
- Meghan McDonald (Geelong, $45,000)
Mid-price breakout candidates:
- Georgia Gee (Carlton, MID, $35,000)
- Roxy Roux (Fremantle, FWD, $35,000)
Rookies:
- Eliza McNamara (Melbourne, MID, $20,000)
- Alice Burke (St Kilda, MID, $20,000)
- Maddy Guerin (Carlton, MID, $20,000)
- Abby McKay (Carlton, MID, $20,000)
- Amelia Verlado (Collingwood, MID, $20,000)
- Tarni Brown (Collingwood, MID, $20,000)
There aren’t a lot of $15-20K non-midfield rookies whom I a) know enough about to confidently recommend, and b) are a high likelihood of lining up in round 1. There will no doubt be a decent number who do line up, and some of them will do well, but I don’t know which ones at this point. That’s the trouble when you don’t have a proper pre-season competition or prospectus: scouting new talent becomes a lot harder.
We’ll have to wait and see who’s playing once the team sheets drop. Please don’t feel like you should shy away from any player simply because I haven’t mentioned them – as I said before, the above list is not exhaustive. But just make sure not to pick someone you’ve never heard of because she’s cheap.
That’s the third most important thing to remember when picking your team.
The fourth, and final, thing is that the Round 1 lockout is at 6:15 PM AEDT tonight, so get on over to ShePlays and pick your team before it’s too late! Don’t forget to also enter the official SuperCoachTalk mini-league, using the league code SCT.
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