The byes are over! Back to full squads this week and time to find the diamond in the rough that will propel your side into your league’s finals. This week’s list includes a forgotten Sun whose scoring ceiling is through the roof plus a premiership winning Bulldog who has returned from a serious knee injury ahead of schedule.
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Connor Idun – GWS
% owned – 34%
2021 average – 62.8
A handy cash cow in the salary cap formats, Idun isn’t someone I’d be recommending strongly but considering there isn’t an abundance of unique defenders available this week and the fact that the Giants appear to have found their high possession swagger again, he’s worth a look.
In his 3rd season this year, Idun has only missed one game impressively locking down a spot in a strong backline. He is averaging 6 marks a game but needs to find more of the footy and I think this will start to happen as the Giants would be wise to get it into his hands. His run and carry complements players like Whitfield and Cumming very well, and with 10 marks on the weekend and a career best score of 84, he is starting to show what he is capable of.
CENTRE:
Brayden Fiorini – Gold Coast
% owned – 38%
2021 average – 70
Along with the likes of Will Brodie and Darcy MacPherson, I can’t work out how Fiorini can’t get into this floundering Gold Coast side. He has been finding plenty of the ball in the reserves but has been unable to break through in season 2021 until the weekend just gone when he was named as the medical sub. He came on early replacing the concussed Swallow and scored a solid 70 from 66% game time.
This is Fiorini’s 6th season and those with a good memory will remember when he debuted late in the 2016 season because in his second game, he scored a quite ludicrous 166! Since then, however, he hasn’t lived up to the billing and has found himself in and out of the team. The one season he played over 20 games was 2019 and he averaged 100.
With Swallow set to miss this week plus a hamstring injury to Lachie Weller, I expect to see Fiorini given a full game this week in what may be his last chance to prove he belongs at the level, at least with the Suns anyway. He is averaging 123 fantasy points from his 6 VFL games this year thanks to an average of 32 disposals, and is someone to strongly consider.
FORWARD
Toby McLean – Western Bulldogs
% owned – 51%
2021 average – 81
Just 10 months after rupturing his ACL last season, Mclean amazingly returned to the Bulldogs AFL side last weekend coming in as a late inclusion for Stef Martin. He was a great inclusion too as he collected 21 touches and kicked a late goal that would have been the matchwinner if it weren’t for Gary Rohan’s after-the-siren heroics.
Mclean hasn’t been relevant in fantasy circles since his career best season in 2018 when he averaged 94.5 and just under 6 tackles a game playing a high forward role. The last couple seasons has seen his fantasy output decrease as he moved into a more defensive forward role.
Against Geelong in his comeback game, he attended 3 centre bounces whilst Lachie Hunter and Bailey Smith attended none playing off the wing and half forward. I think the three of those guys will rotate a fair bit giving Mclean some midfield time that should see his scoring improve and come closer to his 2018 season level.
Become a Patron!Matthew Kennedy – Carlton
% owned – 46%
2021 average – 58.7%
Kennedy’s average this season is deceptively low when you consider he has been the medical sub in 2 of the 3 games he has taken to the field. The former Giant has struggled with form and injury in his time at Carlton and this year has been no different as his first appearance without the sub was against his old side on the weekend. With young gun Sam Walsh copping a hard tag, Kennedy did his best to pick up the slack picking up 27 touches and taking 8 marks in an excellent performance, scoring 110.
He showed signs of being a consistent best 22 performer last season with a good run of 6 games in a row playing as an inside midfielder before his season was once again derailed by injury with a calf injury sidelining him. He returned for the final game of the season, impressing with 23 touches and 4 tackles.
At his best, Kennedy has shown an ability to hit the fantasy scoreboard and with a bit of luck on the injury front, will be a strong scorer for the remainder of the season. His DPP status as a MID/FWD makes him all the more appealing.
