With only 2 rounds left in the fantasy season, getting every little advantage over your opponent matters. That’s where we come in! Bringing you the ultimate cheat sheet for fantasy glory — the round 21 centre bounce attendances!
Every die-hard fantasy nut has heard of the almighty CBA… BUT, if you need a refresher, THIS is what we are talking about:
In this example from the closing stages of the Saints Fremantle game, the ruckmen and 3 midfielders on either team would receive 1 centre bounce attendance — an honour bestowed to the players present in the centre square following a goal or at the beginning of a quarter.
Rowan Marshall, Luke Dunstan, Seb Ross and Jack Steele are the Saints present, while Aaron Sandilands, Darcy Tucker, Mitch Crowden and Nat Fyfe are there for Fremantle — meaning they each recorded 1 CBA.
CBAs provide a great indicator as to which players are in those all-important, traditionally fantasy-friendly midfield roles — and which players may be gaining or losing these roles.
Use the diagram below to make sense of our pretty tables packed full of data:
Thanks to Stevie Fizz & Jono Crockett, who recorded the numbers and wrote the notes for 6 of the games this week!
Catch this week’s podcast for plenty more fantasy footy content this fantasy finals and throughout the offseason — we go ALL YEAR ROUND!
Round 21 CBAs
GWS Giants / Hawthorn
Steve says:
- Hopper out, Caldwell in? Rather unexpected to see the first year player amass so many CBAs in his first match, and GWS in general having 2 first year players and one second year player in the rotation. The talent keeps coming.
- With Simpson back for GWS, we saw a dip for Mumford and shared ruck duties deployed once more.
- Hawthorn shrunk the mid rotations, so a little bump for a few. McEvoy out gave Ceglar a chance as main ruck.
Melbourne / Collingwood
- Angus Brayshaw started the game without his helmet (took me a while to figure out who it was!) and showed some signs of life, picking up 26 disposals, 4 marks and 5 tackles in limited time on ground (TOG).
- Taylor Adams is putting up some solid numbers despite his low TOG since returning from a string of injuries. Firmly on the 2020 radar for draft value should he get his troublesome body in check.
- The evergreen Scott Pendlebury is getting the job done in the midfield; the Pies extensive injury list aiding his fantasy-friendly role at the tale-end of the season.
Port Adelaide / Sydney Swans
Steve says:
- Wines back for Port and a pretty serious dip for a number of Port stars including Rockliff and Boak. Boak looms as a possible bust in 2020 due to role change after a fantastic 2019, spent more time forward in this one.
- Shocking scenes for the Swans as Ollie Florent got a massive boost in the CBAs and didn’t disappoint fantasy owners. Was this bump due in part to Hewett running with Boak who wasn’t in the square? I watch the next 2 weeks with interest.
Brisbane Lions / Gold Coast Suns
- Oscar “The Big O” McInerney took 9/10 CBAs in the final quarter as the Lions took a cautious approach following an awkward Stef Martin ruck landing.
- After attending zero centre bounces in the 1st quarter, Jack Bowes moved more to an inside role — replacing the injured Anthony Miles, who attended all of his centre bounces in the 1st quarter.
- Pearce Hanley entered the midfield late in the 3rd quarter, attending 9/10 CBAs in the 4th quarter.
- Darcy MacPherson owners would be sweating, as his midfield time appears to have dried up at the wrong end of the fantasy season.
Essendon / Western Bulldogs
Jono says:
- Dunkley scores better without Tom Liberatore in the team as he is not splitting time in the middle with him.
- Zach Merrett seemed to be spending more time on the wing. It didn’t effect his score as he pumped out 141 AF and 116 SC points.
Geelong Cats / North Melbourne
Steve says:
- Despite this match having only 14 centre bounces, Geelong somehow ran as many different players through the middle as I’ve seen. Weird numbers, so make of it what you will.
- North were pretty standard, Jed Anderson returned but didn’t see his usually volume of attendances, whilst Taylor Garner got a few with LDU injured.
- Just a rancid game all around.
St Kilda / Fremantle
Jono says:
- Even though Brayshaw lost a lot of time in the middle, he was still able to produce a score of 86 AF and 95 SC points. Encouraging signs for 2020.
- Jack Steven is expected to play predominantly forward with small stints in the midfield due to the amount of time out of the game.
Richmond / Carlton
- With Dusty out, youngster Jack Ross entered the midfield mix — running with Cripps for much of the contest in a quality learning experience for the 18-year-old. A fine keeper league stash.
- Despite monster numbers, Jack Graham actually saw a dip in CBAs, spending plenty of time up forward. His first CBA came with 12 minutes to go in the 4th quarter!
- Toby Nankervis returned from his long lay-off with a solid game in limited time on ground.
- Carlton’s midfield mix is fairly settled — with Cripps, Curnow, Murphy and Walsh the primary attendees under coach Teague.
- Potential 2020 midfield suitors, Setterfield (2), Silvagni (2) and Gibbons (1) were all given a chance after half time to show their wares.
West Coast Eagles / Adelaide Crows
Jono says:
- Matt Crouch went big with 151 AF and 161 SC after Sloane went off with an eye injury.
- Oscar Allen could be a handy stash in your keeper league going forward.