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They are among some of the best fantasy players in the game. You should have no shocks from this point on in MJ and Kane’s keeper league rankings. The time is now for you to jump into reading who makes tier #2.
Clayton Oliver
| KANE | Elite is the name of the tier and it’s fitting for Clayton Oliver. Durability: he hasn’t missed a game in the past five seasons. Scoring: averaged 100+ in his past five seasons. Including an adjusted 115 in 2020 and 109 in 2018 and 2021. Total points: Only Jack Macrae and Brodie Grundy have scored more total points across the last three years. Role: as pure a centre bounce midfielder you can get and now he’s able to roll forward too. His time on ground is up to 88% now as a result, which is extremely impressive for a midfielder and five percent higher than any of his previous seasons. Age: 24 years of age so has at least five years of prime ahead. Summary: bulletproof player who only missed out on tier 1 because he doesn’t seem to have 120+ heights on his horizon. |
| MJ | True story, I found it hard to not put Clayton Oliver in the top tier. He’s had five straight seasons of playing every game and averaged over 100 in all of these. Throw in the fact that he’s still just 24 years of age and we’ve got ourselves a potential hall of fame fantasy player. While he does lack the frequency of ceiling of others inside the top 10 ranks, he boasts a scoring basement that many would be jealous of. Oliver has had just four sub 80 scores in his past 61 games. Not a bad effort! Last year he ranked 11th for total points, while he was second in 2020 and 10th in 2019. So for all the ‘lack of ceiling’ talk, he still has been one of the best keeper prospects lately. Has he reached the peak of his powers? Unlikely given his age. This means the already bulletproof Mr 105 could easily elevate himself further in the game again. |
Zach Merrett
| KANE | Yet again Zach Merrett showed why he’s one of the best fantasy players in the game in 2021. The Essendon midfielder played all 22 games and averaged 110 points, with 17 of his scores 100+. Despite only being 26 years old Merrett has already produced seven 90+ seasons, six 100+ seasons and four 110+ seasons, that’s just ridiculous for a player with another five premium years ahead of him. Across the past three seasons he ranks fourth for total points and in the past six seasons he’s missed just the two games, both of which were due to suspension. Outside of a Caleb Serong tag in Round 9 that kept him to 67 points, Merrett was able to work through the attention. With Darcy Parish’s rapid rise the tag didn’t seem to come Merrett’s way at all in the second half of the year, which is massive for his fantasy numbers going forward. Merrett is right in the prime of his career and with the Bombers seemingly on the verge of becoming a regular finals side and building towards a premiership there’s a lot going for Merrett. |
| MJ | Over the better part of six years, Zach Merrett has been among the best players to own in a keeper league. In this time his lowest seasonal average is 101, while he’s averaged over 110 in more than half of them. Just last season alone he scored 17 tons, 7 of them over 120 including 3 x 140+. When you add into the mix he’s missed only two games (both suspension) since the start of 2016 season and it paints a fairly strong picture. Having just turned 26 years of age Merrett, owners will have plenty of great scoring seasons especially with teammate Darcy Parish now seemingly more impacted by the tag. For the next four seasons I can see a world where he’s a top 10 scoring player each year. Additionally, as he ages into his 30’s I believe he’ll still be a strong scoring option and pick up DPP. His footy IQ and elite foot skills will make him a brilliant half back or half forward in the later career seasons. |
Brodie Grundy
| KANE | After spending the past three years as the consensus number one pick in a keeper league, Brodie Grundy finds himself outside of tier 1. But it’s far from doom and gloom for the Collingwood ruckman. Based on his lofty heights of 2018-2020 where he played every game and produced seasonal averages of 120, 122 and 114 respectively, 2021 was underwhelming. Grundy averaged 106 points and missed two games due to a neck injury. Let that settle in for a second, an underwhelming season was 106 across 20 games, most other players could only dream of numbers like that. Prior to his injury in Round 11 against Geelong, Grundy was averaging 115 points and had scores of 152 and 142 to his name. He returned from injury in Round 15 and averaged 101 points in his remaining 10 games, with his scoring frankly all over the shop. Three of his scores were sub 80, while his two best were a respectable 129 and 139. Grundy will turn 28 during next season and there’s still plenty in the tank. You’re already getting a discount with his injury impacted scores and the Pies having an extremely poor season as a side. I think the 120 days are gone but there’s a couple 110-115 seasons left. We all know the pain of consistently looking for a reliable ruckman so many will still be happy to take Grundy at the top of the draft and alleviate that concern. |
| MJ | Twelve months ago you could make a case that Brodie Grundy wasn’t just a top tier selection, but the obvious first selection. But has his slide down a tier had more to do with the rise of others? Arguably not. As good as the tier one guys are, I believe his scoring capacity still reigns in the same scoring realms we’ve seen previously. As discussed on the podcast, he was averaging 115 up til his freak injury mid-season. By mid-2022 Grundy will have turned 28, and while he might be among the elders of this tier he’s still got a lot to offer. I’m of the opinion his 120+ days might be gone, but the 110+ scores still look likely for the next few seasons. Don’t forget ruckmen often only hit their prime in the late ’20s. One of the hardest and most frustrating positions to secure in a keeper league is a long term ruckman. Ideally, you don’t want to spend multiple seasons and multiple draft picks on hoping to lock down this one positional line. The advantage of Grundy is he secures you not only the likely top scoring ruck for the coming few seasons, but additionally, he allows your drafting and list strategy to be freed up. |
Tom Mitchell
| KANE | Two and half years after his record breaking 2018 campaign that saw him record more fantasy points in a season than any other player (129 average across all 22 games), Tom Mitchell was back to his best in 2021. In his 11 games post bye Mitchell averaged 126 points, scored a ton in every game and went at a ridiculous 35 disposals, five marks, six tackles and also kicked seven goals in that time. Clearly the concern with Mitchell is his age. At 29 years of age you need to be thinking about how to win premiership in 2022 and 2023. That means taking guys that are ready made scorers right now. The positive with Mitchell if you’re not in contention by the trade deadline is that you can sell him to a contender and try and reset your list with some younger players. If you want instant success taking Mitchell early in the first round makes a lot of sense. |
| MJ | Let’s be honest, if you have a mid range first round draft pick, you’re eyeing off Tom Mitchell and with good reason too. Last year he ranked fifth for total points across the 2021 season and scored 19 tons. The additionally encouraging element is how ‘Titch’ ended the season as it started to emulate his career best seasons. Tom had a post-bye stretch of 11 games, with an average of 126 and the lowest score of 105. He starts the season at 28, meaning that coaches who draft him will be needed to capitalise on his peak scoring and be in keeper league premiership contention immediately. If not, then he’ll provide a high value trade asset if your side is falling beyond the finals. I can see two, maybe three more peak scoring seasons of Tom before the scoring decline hits. |
Touk Miller
| KANE | I don’t know what odds you would have got for Touk Miller to be the highest averaging player in fantasy in 2021 but you probably could have retired off the back of it. Not only did Miller average 122 points, but from Round 4-21 he averaged 129 and from Round 11-21 he went at 133. Those numbers stack up with some of the best players to ever grace a fantasy format. The question remains though, what can we expect going forward. For mine everything fell Miller’s way this year. Matt Rowell was severely limited due to injury, while Lachie Weller and Hugh Greenwood also missed time. With players returning from injury and more high-quality draftees emerging I think that eats away at Miller a bit. However, you can’t deny that Miller is one of the hardest working players in the AFL, both in the contest and on the outside, which makes him near impossible to stop. I see a regression but I still have him in the 105-115 range, which at 25 years of age is a fantastic return. |
| MJ | Whenever a player has a season like his 2021, keeper coaches have to ask themselves this question. Is this his new reality or a unicorn season? If you forecast correctly you pay for him at his correct point of value in a draft. If you get it wrong you risk either missing one of the next uber players or overpaying on someone. His 2021 season consisted of 17 scores of 100 or more including a massive 11 of them over 130. On his way to averaging 122 he had just one score beneath 80 all year. So what was the real cause of his growth? It came off the back of his elite endurance and high work rate. As a result, his scoring boost came in uncontested possessions and tackles. You can’t deny his season, but backing up 120 seasons, let alone 115 is rare. Thankfully at 25 times is on his side. |
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