The former first-round draft pick found it challenging to break into the GWS Giants best 22. An offseason trade to North Melbourne brings him right into the best Kangaroos side and a fantasy-relevant player.
PLAYER PROFILE
Name: Aiden Bonar
Age: 20
Club: North Melbourne Kangaroos
Position: Midfield/Forward
2019 Highest Score:
49 Vs Sydney (AFLFantasy)
50 Vs Sydney (SuperCoach)
2019 Average:
42 (AFLFantasy)
41.5 (SuperCoach)
SuperCoach Price: $202,800
AFLFantasy Price: $333,000
AFLDreamTeam Price: $273,300
WHY IS HE RELEVANT?
I like what the Kangaroos are doing with the addition of Aiden Bonar. In his draft year, he was viewed as one of the best athletic prospects in the pool. The Roos will be hoping he can continue his development from a powerful forward role player to a genuine inside bull.
Despite the injury issues the GWS Giants suffered throughout the season, Bonar found it almost impossible to get game time. From the 2 games, he did play he was used predominantly forward with minimal opportunities through the midfield. In those two games, he scored 49 & 35 in AFLFantasy/DreamTeam and 50 & 33 in SuperCoach.
Last year in the NEAFL he found himself playing in multiple roles and not being able to get settled through the midfield. In the NEAFL he averaged 18 disposals, 6 tackles, 3 marks & 4 inside 50.
The Kangaroos need to bring some fresh faces with Shaun Higgins (31) Ben Cunnington (28) and Jack Ziebell (28) the current midfield leaders.
Bonar (20) along with Luke Davies-Uniake (20), Tarryn Thomas (19) and Jy Simpkin (21) are the future of North Melbourne. 2020 and 2021 are crucial years for the Roos, and a successful transition of responsibility in the midfield is critical.
MY TAKE
He moves from fantasy footy irrelevance at GWS into the conversation at North Melbourne. From his two games this season he averaged just over 40 across the formats. The key questions will be first, is he worth the premium cash cow price tag in our starting squads?
A few weeks ago, we spoke about this when Matt Rowell was featured in the 50 Most Relevant. For the selection to be worthwhile, the three key questions to answer will be… How many rookies will we get that are midfield and forward eligible? How are they priced? Do you forecast he will score approximately 15 points per game more than the lower-priced rookies?
Fantasy coaches have plenty of strong cash cows /midprice already entering 2020, so for him to be a good selection, he’ll need to outscore them.
Can he force his way into the Roos engine room which already boasts Cunnington, Ziebell, Davies-Uniake, Higgins, Anderson, Simpkin, Dumont and Thomas? This will be something fantasy coaches need to watch with great interest. If he can, based on his likely price point, he needs to be on your preseason watchlist.
We are yet to see some preseason games, but from track watchers at North Melbourne, he’s been a dominant force at stoppages matching it with the likes of Ben Cunnington and using his penetrating kick to move the ball deep inside 50.
If he stays through that Kanagaoo midfield, then we could have an extraordinary value MID/FWD candidate.
DRAFT DECISION
In a single season league, he’s worth a late-round selection given the risk at this point of the draft is non-existant. The upside could be that you get a forward option that is worth placing on the field.
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