The Saints are the fittest team in the competition according to Simon Lethlean. They are going to need more than fitness if they are to win games this year. Here are a few that might help you win your league this year.
Gun – Seb Ross
Seb Ross has been building as a quality midfielder for the Saints over the previous 2 years, fast becoming the number 1 midfielder at the club taking over the mantle from baby legs Jack Steven.
In 2018 Ross had a career year fantasy wise where he averaged 107 in AFL Fantasy and 103 in SuperCoach. This saw him finish as the 9th midfielder overall in AFL Fantasy and 22nd in SuperCoach. This was built on the back of increasing his kick to handball ratio ever so slightly to average 16 kicks and 14 handballs a game up fro, 14 kicks and 15 handballs. Ross also increased his marks by 2 a game to get to the average we saw in 2018.
Ross has a very fantasy friendly game when it comes to his score build. He can win his own ball, takes marks and tackles. The only thing stopping him from joining the top mids in the game is his coach Alan Richardson, who at times used him off the half back line. With the new 6/6/6 rules, I expect Ross to remain permanently in the midfield.
Mock Draft Simulator ADP: AFL Fantasy: 23 / SuperCoach: 36
Tom Cruise Risky Business – Jack Billings
For a guy at the end of 2018 who was about to enter fantasy stardom, old mate Alan Richardson pulled in the reins and crushed all our hopes of Jack Billings being an uber premium forward.
In 2017 Billings finished off the year with an average of 94 AFL Fantasy and 92 SuperCoach with many of us expecting him to take his game and scoring to lofty heights in 2018 with #moremidtime. That was until Alan Richardson thought it would be better for one of the Saints better players to play as the small forward in the forward pocket, which we all know is not great for fantasy scoring. Billings average dropped to 85 AFL Fantasy and 80 SuperCoach because of this and it now has me questioning if we will see the best of him.
Whilst we know Billings can be a scoring machine, its the fact the Saints have a lot of the small/mid size mid/fwds in the team, all who are vying for a spot in the midfield. In terms of drafting Billings this year I’m very cautious as when to draft him as we saw last year when a lot of us spent a high pick on him and it burnt us. For me this year the risk is to great for me, especially where his ADP is on the mock site. Its currently 41 for AFL Fantasy and 71 SuperCoach. I think I will put him in the someone else’s problem basket.
Mock Draft Simulator ADP: AFL Fantasy: 41 / SperCoach: 71
Do Not Draft – Dan Hannebery
Oh how the mighty have fallen. Once a top 10 scorer in both forms of fantasy football, Dan Han has fallen to being unrosterable. Since the 2016 grand final where he copped a knock to his knee and hurt his medial ligament, Hannebery hasn’t been able to recapture the form that has seen him be an 3 time All Australian due to ongoing hamstring awareness.
In the off season Hannebery moved to the Saints in what we all thought was a good move for him in terms of fantasy output, but the dreaded hamstring awareness has reared its ugly head again and has forced him to halt his preseason training. The fact that Hannebery is 28 and is suffering from these soft tissue injuries late in his career is a major concern, especially when we saw his average drop from 97 SuperCoach to 60 and 94 AFL Fantasy to 59.
It is something I don’t want to have to think about when drafting my team this year as its always the case that injuries will occur throughout the year and I don’t want to be taking players that are injured into the season. Having said that the only way Dan Hannebery is going to get me back on board is if there is a news story of him at a pub in Moorabbin of him smashing beers together and going all Stone Cold Steve Austin on everyone.
Mock Draft Simulator ADP: AFL Fantasy: 142 / SuperCoach: 148
