Today, it's our final defender before we head to the forward line. It's a decorated Swan who brings a double threat - big scores and dual-position status.
Although he comes with a hefty price tag, he now carries dual-position status of a DEF/MID and should be locked into your backline in 2014.
Fantasy lock-ins: defenders
- Jeremy Laidler (Sydney Swans)- Matthew Fuller (Western Bulldogs)
- Kade Kolodjashnij (Gold Coast)
- Matt Suckling (Hawthorn)
- David Swallow (Gold Coast)
- Kade Simpson (Carlton)
- Sam Mitchell (Hawthorn)
McVeigh is extremely durable. Over the last eight years, he has only missed six games and at the age of 28, he is simply getting better with age.
He averaged a career high 28 disposals last year and was unstoppable across half-back for the Swans.
He knows find space and racked up 29 percent of his disposals in the defensive 50. A superstar who has improved his Fantasy average every year for the last five years, McVeigh is set to continue that trend again this year.
In last year's finals series, McVeigh was awesome, posting his highest Fantasy score ever from 219 games.
His 168 point haul came in the semi-final against Carlton. He accumulated 42 disposals, nine marks and two goals that night and backed it up the following week against Fremantle with 122 points as the Swans bowed out.
The best thing about these scores is that they don't affect his average which is based solely on home and away season output.
If we were to include these scores in his average, he would be priced approximately $21,000 higher than he currently is.
McVeigh has what we call a good Fantasy bye. In round 10, he shares the bye round with Brisbane, Essendon, Fremantle, Melbourne and St Kilda. Not many of these teams have popular Fantasy defenders that will sit out alongside McVeigh that week.
Of the top 30 defenders by price in 2014, the smallest number of them have their bye in round ten. The majority of the popular selections such as Mitchell, Hodge, Birchall, Suckling, Simpson, Walker and Shaw all share the round nine bye.
By starting with McVeigh, it will ensure the pressure is somewhat relieved during this stressful period.
LOCKABILITY: 5/5
Just lock him in and enjoy the ride. McVeigh scored under 70 only once last year, recorded 90+ points in 77 per cent of his games and will be one of the top three scoring defenders this year, assuming injury doesn't strike. Dig deep into your Fantasy wallet and find the cash for him. You won’t regret it.
Tomorrow, Warnie reveals the first bench player in our forward line. He's a veteran but comes at a bargain price and as we say, high risk, high reward!
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The pre-season AFL Record is the complete guide to the new-look NAB AFL Fantasy football competition. AFL Fantasy experts Warnie, Roy and Calvin (aka The Traders) detail everything you need to know about Fantasy football. There are Fantasy prices and profiles of every player. The 124-page pre-season Record will be on sale at newsagents nationally from February 7 for $9.95.
