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It’s here, MJ and Kane reveal who they believe are the marquee players to own in a keeper league. Here’s why they are the best of the best!
Sam Walsh
| KANE | What a player Sam Walsh has been just three years into his career. He’s yet to miss a game and already posted averages of 92, 97 and a brilliant 109. Amazingly Walsh is 13th for total points across the last three years which is mental when you consider he’s just 21 years of age. Clearly, Walsh’s advantage over Steele and Macrae is his age. He’s five and six years younger than them respectively. To get what is likely a 110 average across the next 10 years is just insane and something I couldn’t turn down. His score build is phenomenally well-rounded. He averaged 30 disposals, six marks, 4.5 tackles and 0.5 goals. There’s nothing glaring missing from his game so it’s just going to be a slight increase across the board that takes him to new levels. Don’t overthink it, just pick Walsh and enjoy the spoils for the next decade. |
| MJ | In the next two seasons will Sam Walsh score the most points? Possibly. But in a keeper league, your not just thinking about the next two seasons. Rather, you should be thinking about the decade ahead. During this edition of the top 50 keepers, you’ve heard Kane & I discuss that it’s often between seasons six to eight for when a player hits their scoring peak. The phenomenal thing about Walsh is over his first three seasons he’s already a top 15 player for most points. The upside for the next 10 seasons is potentially immeasurable. At 21 years of age, he has the most upside in terms of years available, through in his perfect durability over his career and it’s hard to overlook him here. Sam Walsh is one of the best runners in the competition already. He wins the contested and uncontested footy, he applies defensive pressure through tackles and is supreme in his game day preparation. I believe Walsh at one is a clear no brainer, and a case could be made that he deserves to be in a tier all on his own. |
Jack Steele
| KANE | It was a phenomenal season from Jack Steele that has me convinced that this guy will be the highest scoring player across the next three years and could even reset the record books. In 2021 Steele averaged 121 points across all 22 games but it’s the second half of his season that has me excited. In his final 11 games Steele averaged a monster 134 points thanks to 32 touches, 5.5 marks, 9.4 tackles and 0.5 goals a game. Let’s revisit the record books for a moment. In 2014 Tom Rockliff averaged 134.7 points across 18 games with Brisbane, the highest by any player in fantasy history. In 2018 Tom Mitchell scored the most points in a season by averaging 129.1 across all 22 games. If there’s a player in the league that could challenge these two records it’s Jack Steele. His ball winning exploded in the back half of the year, with six of his 10 best ball winning performances coming in the last 10 games of the season. Looking even deeper, his three best ball winning games came in the last five games of the year, which were 37, 36 and 36 disposals respectively. I can definitely see Steele taking his career-high for disposals into the 40s so if he can do that a couple times in a season he’s a genuine shot at both records. If you’re only worried about the short to medium term Jack Steele is your man and should be your first pick. The long term looks great too for a guy that is about to turn 26 and is the clear star midfielder in his side. |
| MJ | I’ve long been a fan of Jack Steele. Even before his breakout 2020 season, Steele was a consistent 90’s averaging player. His score build was always heavily reliant on his tackle count, but if he became more of a ball winner he’d elevate himself to a top performing fantasy prospect. We saw this happen in 2020 when he returned 5 tons, 6 additional scores over 90 and just one score below 70. Remembering that ’80 was the new 100′ that’s an incredibly prolific scoring season factoring in the shorter quarters. He ended the season ranked fifth for total scoring and 10th by averages. His 2020 seasonal average of 90.9 is an adjusted average equivalent of 113. The question entering into 2021 was whether or not Steele had fully established himself as a fantasy performer, or if the shortened games suited his playing style. Jack answered these questions emphatically with an average of 121. It consisted of 19 tons, 11 of these were over 120, and nine were over 130 including 162 V Blues. As we discussed on the podcast he got better as the year went on including posting 12 consecutive tons to end the year. Arguably if he can maintain his back half scoring of 2021 for the entirety of a season he could rival the fantasy elite scoring of Tom Mitchell and Tom Rockliff. Along with this strong scoring capacity is his durability. Steele has missed just five games in five seasons as a Saint, but hasn’t missed in past two. When the 2022 season commences, he’ll be 26 years of age. That still leaves plenty more prime scoring seasons from this St Kilda star. Just between us, I think he’ll be the top scoring player next year and probably the year after too. |
Jack Macrae
| KANE | I’ve spoken at length on the podcast about the three year rolling window I use to evaluate players and Jack Macrae sits well clear on top of all three major metrics – durability, average and total points. The durability is perfect for Macrae. He’s played all 61 home and away games. Only 20 players have done that across the past three year stretch. His average of 115 across the past three years is No.1, and that’s on the back of three incredibly consistent seasons of 116, 113 and 116 seasonal averages. It’s no surprise then that Macrae is No.1 for total points. He’s scored 250 more points than Brodie Grundy (2nd), 1000 more points than Jack Crisp (16th) and 2000 more points than Jy Simpkin (50th). Those numbers are just insane. You can’t be more glowing of what Macrae has already achieved and I think we’ll see those 115 output continue for at least the next two seasons. With his neat kicking skills it’s easy to see him transition into a damaging half-forward in the later years of his career and continue to be a premium scorer going forward. |
| MJ | Over the past eight seasons, Jackson Macrae has barely put a foot wrong. Since 2014 he’s had seven seasonal averages over 104 including 122 and multiple over 115. In addition to his scoring consistency, Macrae has missed just two games in the past five years. he hasn’t missed a match since July 22nd 2018. Jackson has just turned 27, and during the past 4 years, he’s averaged 115 or higher. I see nothing in the way he plays or Dogs use him to suggest his scoring dries up anytime soon. For the 2021 AFL season, he ranked first in the league for disposals, 4th for score involvements, 5th inside ’50s, 3rd for Frees for, 10th for meters gained and 12th tackles. This further highlights the scoring splits of Macrae and how near imp[ossible he is to stop. Despite having three scores of 145 or higher this year, the knock-on Macrae is a gradual dip in the conversion of his 100’s into big tons. But with the frequency he has hit and should keep hitting the triple figure mark, it’s a very small ‘knock’ at best. |
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