This article aims to assist in filling any holes your weekly lineups may have – whether it be a sneaky loophole option for your benches or a genuine plug and play. These are one week streamers for mostly redraft leagues; patch and play suggestions for those loose ends that need some tying off, especially if your priority waiver claims were missed.

I will list a team of players with low ownership that may (or may not) be available in your leagues. I will fill a team in the 4-5-1-4 structure catering to AF/DT/UF scoring, as well as Supercoach, in certain cases. But first, let’s see how my round 19 tips performed:

HITS

Ed Richards (106 AF/126 SC) – When say they’re a shoe-in, you damn well better believe they’re a shoe-in to go big for you*.

*10% of the time.

Blake Hardwick (88 AF/112 SC) – he’s a hold for now, as Impey has freed up some possessions for him down back and he also has a plus matchup for defenders this week (St Kilda). One caveat here is Jiath’s return, which might cap Hardwick’s ceiling; but it’s nothing to be too concerned about.

Lachlan Young (85 AF/96 SC) – I was worried when Hall was named, but defenders like it against the Hawks and you can hold Young for now. 

Liam Duggan (101 AF/89 SC) – he hasn’t been reliable this year, and I’ve seen him exchanged between teams via the waiver wire in multiple leagues. He’s a hold, I guess, but defenders score well against the Saints, so he’s not ‘must own’ in my opinion. 

Sam Draper (79 AF/102 SC) – he doesn’t have much of a ceiling in AF, but he’s a fine plug and play for SC. 

Will Hayward (77 AF/92 SC) – these are some very adequate scores for your F5 slot and with a lamentable GWS on deck, Hayward could be worth another go this week. 

MISSES

Jye Caldwell (56 AF/67 SC) – goddamnit, Jye. This wasn’t a total coach killer but playing the Pies without Parish should have yielded better results. Will Jye ever be genuinely fantasy relevant? 

With only the one (disaster-free) miss, I took the baton of Jono’s good form and kept the momentum going last week. All of my defenders were a hit, which hurts me because I still played Lukosius over all of them and lost a vital matchup by 11 points… fuck me, right? Anyway, here are my tips for round 20:

DEFENDERS

Changkuoth Jiath vs. St. Kilda – he’s probably owned in SC leagues (where he scores better) but with a 66 average in AF, could be on some waivers. He may have been dropped out of desperation because of his injury and with a kind matchup for defenders to come, could be a shrewd addition to your D4/5 slot this round. 

Brandon Starcevich vs. Richmond – Daniel Rich will miss this round and defenders have enjoyed the Tigers in recent times (Hayden Young and Luke Ryan were the top scorers for Freo last week). With a low of 69 (AF) in the last 5 weeks, Starcevich feels like a secure D5 this round.

Heath Chapman vs. Melbourne (LOOPHOLE) – he has a plus matchup for defenders, and has shown some promising scoring ability this season (especially in SC). His basement is high and like Starcevich, feels like a pretty safe stream this week. 

Jase Burgoyne vs. Collingwood (LOOPHOLE) – this is purely a loophole option for deeper leagues, as I would not recommend fielding a rookie at this stage of the year. With that said, Houston and Bonner are out this round, and that’s a lot of ball being freed up in the Port defence. What’s your risk appetite like?. 

MIDFIELDERS

David Mundy vs. Melbourne (LOOPHOLE) – I like the only player older than me in the AFL this week because Fyfe is out and Melbourne are kind to opposing midfielders. Mundy also makes for a great bench loophole with the Friday night fixture. Reliable scorers are crucial during your finals and this fantasy stalwart should ensure that your team isn’t celebrating their mad Mundy come next week… sorry. 

Will Setterfield vs. Adelaide – here is my ‘Shoe-in of the Week’. Now I’m putting Will under some pressure here, given he has to follow the Ed Richards act of last week, but he’s coming off an AF ton and plays the Crows this week – a team just gifting points to midfielders in recent times. George Hewett will miss again which is the cherry on top. 

Willem Drew vs. Collingwood – carrying over the ‘Will’ theme here, Drew comes up against a team that midfielders score on at will. Dan Houston is also out, so there may be some more ball up for grabs in the Port midfield. 

David Swallow vs. West Coast – so far we’ve seen Swallow go from JAG, to barely rosterable, then back to JAG, in an indifferent season overall. He’ll be owned in most deep leagues, but after a couple of crappy scores, could be available in others. His JAG betheryn, Seb Ross, scored an AF ton with ease on the Eagles last week and I reckon Swallow has a 90 in him for this one. 

Rhys Mathieson vs. Richmond – Mathieson, AKA the Barometer, AKA Beast-mode is averaging 84 (AF) from his last 2 games and with an easy opponent for midfielders to come, is an adequate M6-7 this week. 

RUCK

Ned Reeves vs. St Kilda – Bailey J Williams managed a ton on the Saints last week. Shit, even Josh Rotham (who isn’t exactly known for his ruck craft) scrounged up an 88 (AF), which tells me that almost any ruckmen in the league could score against the Saints sans Ryder. Reeves scored a 70 (AF) against the Roos last week, but that included 2 goals and with McEvoy back, won’t have the highest ceiling, but should net you a serviceable score if you’re needing a waiver ruck. 

FORWARD

Ryan Byrnes vs. Hawthorn – I’m mostly basing this stream on the absence of Billings and Gresham. The Hawks are a neutral matchup for forwards of this ilk, but you’d imagine that the Saints control this one, allowing a Byrnes-type to score reliably. He’s averaging a tick over 70 (AF) in his last 2, so I can’t see him burning you badly. 

Jack Silvagni vs. Adelaide – all the forwards are getting theirs on the Crows right now, and this is a game where Jack can push for a ~90 score. He scored a 74 (AF) against the Crows earlier in the year and this feels like a pretty conservative stream for this week. 

Izak Rankine vs. West Coast – this could be a hard sell, given his back to back 39s in AF, but he plays against a team that favours forwards. That team also happens to be the only team that Rankine has an AF ton against this year. I like this play more for SC leagues, and there’s just something telling me that Rankine could pop this week. 

Matt Guelfi vs. North Melbourne – since Parish has missed with injury, Guelfi has been putting up some very handy scores for a forward eligible player. He’s moving up the ground more and has looked thirstier for the ball in doing so. Essendon should get the easy kill and I like Guelfi’s chances of cashing in as a result. 

I’m too tired to write something clever or poignant to sign off. Hit us up in the comments or on Twitter for all of your stream related queries: @lionelhutz4prez 

And as always, may your streams flow golden and strong!