When Jordan De Goey finally cracked the midfield role, he showcased that he could be a regular 100+ performing player. But with some significant questions marks surrounding him, the range of outcomes is one of the largest in 2022.
PLAYER PROFILE
Name: Jordan DeGoey
Age: 25
Club: Collingwood Magpies
Position: MID/FWD
2021 Highest Score:
125 Vs West Coast (AFLFantasy)
138 Vs West Coast (SuperCoach)
Career Highest Score:
125 Vs West Coast | AFLFantasy (2021)
151 Vs Geelong | SuperCoach (2020)
2021 Average:
84.3 (AFLFantasy)
85.2 (SuperCoach)
SuperCoach Price: $463,500
AFLFantasy Price: $707,000
AFLDreamTeam Price: $718,800
WHY IS HE RELEVANT?
One of the hyped players of the 2021 preseason was Magpie Jordan De Goey. Why? Because the now-former coach Nathan Buckley was vocal about increasing his role in the midfield from a part-time to permanent. However, when push came to shove, it didn’t eventuate for the first portion of the year. It took longer than fantasy coaches had hoped, but by the time Jordan was released into an exclusive midfield role, we finally saw the fruit of why many had jumped on to start the year.
It was a tale of two seasons in one for the De Goey express. Over the whole season, the stats line masks both the horrible first nine games, while it could discredit how just how dominant his scoring was to end the year. In AFLFantasy/DreamTeam, he averaged 94, scored eight tons, three over 120 and an additional four over 90. He’s currently ranked ninth among forwards available in 2021.
While in SuperCoach, he finished the season with an average of 85, scoring eight tons, two of them were over 120, and he had a further four scores above 80. He’s currently ranked sixteenth by average among all forwards.
In the first nine games, he averaged 57 in AFLFantasy/DreamTeam & 61.5 in SuperCoach.these numbers do include an injury impacted single digit score is here he was subbed out early the pies round 5 clash. There was just 1 ton & 0 games with 20+ disposals in those nine games. However, from round in the final 11 games in AFLFantasy/DreamTeam, he averaged 106, including seven tons, three of them over 120 DT – avg 106, 7 tons, three over 120 and just one score below 90. Similarly, SuperCoach averaged 104, posting seven tons, two over 120 and had over 20 possessions in ten of the last eleven matches.
In the preseason, a regular activity, I encourage all coaches to map out who they think will be the top 15-20 players by ranks in each line. Mitch Duncan, Tim Taranto & Josh Dunkley are likely top-five scoring forwards across the formats. But the agreement amongst the ‘experts’ of the best forwards diversifies drastically in the top 10 beyond them. For example, if given the exclusive midfield role again like this year, Jordan De Goey is destined to average over 100 in that role and be potentially priced 20 points per game of value unders, making him near impossible value to pass.
Jordan has shown fantasy pedigree as a forward before. In 2018-2019 he averaged in the low to high 80’s across the formats. That’s when he played a 60/40 MID/FWD split. But a split role isn’t what brought the 2021 back half ceiling. If he does have a split comparable to that, then I won’t want anything to do with JD5.
There’s plenty of ‘if’s’ surrounding Jordan, but should they all land on the elements land in his favour, then every fantasy coach will want him in their teams.
Embed from Getty ImagesMY TAKE
The possibilities surrounding Jordan De Goey and what might happen this coming season are some of the broadest outcomes of anyone. There’s a world where he might not even be on an AFL list, right through to him being one of the best forward eligible guys in the game.
Ultimately any fantasy prospects could be voided depending on the outcome of the upcoming court case. Depending on the verdict, he faces some serious legal consequences and being dropped from an AFL list might be the least of his concerns. The New York Criminal Court will decide his fate on January 18. From that point on, we’ll know if he’s even a consideration in 2022 or not.
We see it almost every year; when a new coach takes over, we see game styles and structures of teams undergo massive overhauls. Just look at the game style changes of Adelaide & North Melbourne in the past two seasons under new coaches. Under Craig McRae, what style of footy will they play, and how much will they invest the midfield roles into the next generation of Pies?
The preseason news coming from the club is Brayden Maynard is being moved up the ground to provide some toughness and speed through the midfield. Do the mature hands of Taylor Adams, Jack Crisp, Steele Sidebottom, and Scott Pendlebury take most minutes? Or does McRae fully embrace the rebuild and give heavy opport7nities to the kids? Over the past few offseasons, the magpies have drafted heavily with midfield talent. Finlay Macrae, Reef McInnes, Nick Daicos, Caleb Poulter, Trent Bianco, Arlo Draper and Cooper Marley deserve time. But how much will it be? And how much will his addition impact De Goey?
It won’t shock me if McRae decides to build a midfield unit around him. But, equally, he’s so damaging forward that they look to use the likes of Jamie Elliot, Oliver Henry & Will Kelly as the building blocks around him inside forward 50.
Regardless of the outcome of the court case, you cannot start him. Why? He’s not been in the AFL environment all preseason! He’s lost trust currency with his teammates and the new coaching unit. Even if he is allowed back, he will be starting at the back of the pack for footy ‘touch’ & arguably fighting to get further midfield opportunities again.
I’m convinced that he will start slow if he gets back into the AFL system. The pies have spent months planning and training without him for the preseason. So if anything, I suspect a slow build to start the year with MID/FWD splits to begin the year. And then midseason, if that midfield role does eventuate, he is absolutely someone to consider as an upgrade target.
DRAFT DECISION
Jordan De Goey is a tough one to rank. On potential, if the role aligns, he could be a top 5 Fwd. However, he could also float in the ’80s and be ranked from 10th-20th as per previous seasons. Additionally challenging is the uncertainty about if he plays footy at all. Thankfully we’ll know the verdict In a week of the court case and the Magpies suspension.
I won’t want to spend an early rounds draft rank on him if he’s allowed to play. Due to the lack of AFL environment around him, I think he will start slow and build into his scoring. But that probably means in many drafts I’ll miss out on him. As most all it takes is one coach to be bullish on his upside early, and he’s gone. I stated earlier. There’s a world where he’s a top-five ranked forward.
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