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Career High SuperCoach Score: 146 Vs West Coast (2021)
Career High AFLFantasy Score: 135 Vs West Coast (2021)
Career High SuperCoach Average: 83.6 (2020)
Career High AFLFantasy Average: 80.5 (2021)
Impact on new club
Did teams really want Jack Bowes? Or was it just posturing to land the real target, pick seven? Geelong was adamant about their interest in Jack outside of any incoming draft selections with him. So now that they’ve secured him, where will he be used?
Of the Cats premiership players, only Joel Selwood is a noticeable ‘out’ heading into the new year. The club will automatically include Max Holmes while also wanting to find space for recruits in Ollie Henry, Tanner Bruhn and Jack himself. Around the fringes of the team, throw in Sam Menegola, Mark O‘Connor and Brandan Parfitt, who are all good enough; it’s a tight team to break into. Don’t forget whoever they land at pick 7, which could well be local midfield junior Jhye Clark.
Jack’s going to have his work cut out for him, but his versatility of being able to play across half-back plus through the midfield should only benefit his case. I don’t see him inside the Cats best 22, but he could well force his way through the season with some strong VFL form.
Impact on the old club
Is saying none too harsh? It probably is, but the reality is that Jack Bowes had fallen significantly out of favour at the club. As a result, the club’ salary dumped’ him and also gave up access to the seventh pick in the upcoming AFL draft. Never before has a pick this high been used to ‘sweeten’ a player trade.
Gold Coast lose some depth across the midfield and half-back lines, but they’ll be confident that Alex Davies, Brayden Fiorini and James Tsitas can cover it. The return from an ACL injury for Lahie Weller should also help.
Fantasy Summary It’s all about his role. Because with the right opportunities, Jack Bowes might be worth keeping more than an eye on for the upcoming season. His 2021 fantasy season is proof of his potential. He averaged 80 in AFLFantasy/DreamTeam and 83 in SuperCoach. At first glance, those numbers are solid, but his early-season form is worth noting.
In the opening eight games of the year, he averaged 101 in AFLFantasy/DreamTeam, which featured scores of 113, 124 & 135. While in SuperCoach, he averaged 104 and had four scores over 110, including a 146 but just one score under 90 during that eight game stretch. This is the career ceiling, but it does showcase the potential fantasy pedigree when all the elements land correctly for him.
As we discussed earlier, just where and how the Cats opt to use Bowes is ultimately the key to his fantasy relevance. He’ll have DEF status, so he’ll get drafted in a single-season and keeper league. Just his pure potential of him is enough to ensure that. But in salary cap formats, so much will depend on his preseason. He has a potential upside of around 25 points per game, and that’s before any injury-impacted discounts hit his price point.
If all the variables land his way, his certainly a prospect, but there’s a significant number of them to overcome. At the very least, keep him on your preseason watchlist.
