FOR THE third week in a row, the AFLW Fantasy landscape was dominated by the premium midfielders, with another host of 130+ scores coming from our most expensive players.
Ebony Marinoff and Charlie Rowbottom continued their blistering pace from the first two weeks, both registering extremely impressive scores, but the breakout performance of the weekend came from Ash Riddell. The North mid notched up an eye-watering 145 on the back of 32 disposals, 10 tackles and two goals, to sit atop the rankings for week three.
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Fans will also have noticed a trio of top scores coming from some of the most lowly-owned midfielders. Alison Drennan (1.85% owned) managed to add 100 points to her total from week two, scoring 134 against an injury-depleted Western Bulldogs. Eliza McNamara (1.04% owned) defied the tough midfield match-up to score 121 points (23 disposals, five marks, 10 tackles and a goal), and eclipsing her previous PB by 27 points. Finally, GWS captain Bec Beeson sought to will her injury-ravaged troops to victory, and scored 118 in the process.
I hope you all enjoyed three 'normal' weeks of AFLW Fantasy, because things are about to get a bit twisty, as for the first time ever, all coaches will be navigating 'double game weeks' (or DGW). Each of the next four weeks of the season, either four or six AFLW clubs will be playing two games, the first being on a Tuesday or Wednesday night, and then the second on a Sunday afternoon.
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Here is a breakdown of when each team will have their double game weeks.
W4: Brisbane, Collingwood, West Coast Eagles, Western Bulldogs
W5: Carlton, North Melbourne, Port Adelaide, Richmond
W6: Essendon, Fremantle, Geelong, Gold Coast, Hawthorn Sydney
W7: Adelaide, Greater Western Sydney, Melbourne, St Kilda
This means several things for the next few weeks:
Double Scores: If your Fantasy team has someone who plays two games, you will get both scores added to your total
Early Lockout: Any trade involving a player who is one of the double game week teams (e.g. Collingwood, Brisbane, Western Bulldogs, West Coast this week) will need to be completed BEFORE they play their first game. This means we will need to be on our toes and thinking about whether we are waiting for any injury news before locking in all your trades for the week
Captains: Sticking the C on a player already doubled their score, so if a player has two games, that means that you'll get double their total from both games for the week (so effectively x4 a regular score). This means that having a good scoring player (ideally capable of 80+) with a double game week for each of the four weeks will be a vital strategy.
Top five price rises
Madeleine Guerin (MID, $835,000): +$278,000
Serene Watson (DEF, $658,000): +$190,000
Eilish O'Dowd (RUC, $740,000): +$146,000
Jaide Britton (DEF, $646,000): +$144,000
Kate Shierlaw (FWD, $143,000): +$167,000
Top five price falls
Nicola Barr (MID, $908,000): -$188,000
Jenna Bruton (MID, $830,000): -$174,000
Gemma Houghton (FWD, $599,000): -$163,000
Jacqui Vogt (MID, $484,000): -$156,000
Teah Charlton (MID, $821,000): -$135,000
Week Four ‘Double Game' Targets
Nat Grider (DEF, $840,000)
Grider may be a slow starter in most seasons, but she certainly hit her straps in week three with a massive 97, pumped up by five marks and 10 tackles. With the Lions heavy favourites in both games against the Eagles and Bulldogs, you can expect the Lions to play a little slower and more deliberate as they preserve their legs during the short break. Nat Grider would be the main beneficiary of this type of play, and should be safe to put up a decent combined score this weekend.
Isabelle Pritchard (MID, $1,088,000)
With the devastating season-ending injury to Ellie Blackburn, Issy Pritchard is now the big dog in the kennel. With scores of 96 and 95 in her last two games, Pritchard is already enjoying her best start to a Fantasy season. The big question is whether or not Pritchard and the Bulldogs can step up in the first absence of their midfield gun across nine seasons, or will Blackburn's presence result in a dip in Fantasy scoring for those around her?
Grace Campbell (FWD, $815,000)
A whopping 17 tackles against the Lions helped Campbell reach 97 Fantasy points on Friday night, nearly a career high. An unfortunately timed injury to Britt Bonnici for the Pies may be Campbell's gain, with an increase in centre bounce attendances expected for the two games against the Eagles and Bulldogs this week. With one of the longest injury lists in the AFLW, the Pies are also the least likely of any team to rest their players during the short breaks.
Other Targets
Eilish Sheerin (DEF, $906,000)
Sheerin may have returned to the Tigers AFLW side on managed minutes, but her scoring prowess was on full display with 66 from just 61% TOG. Rotating through the middle and with her TOG set to increase, Sheerin has the potential to be one of the highest-scoring defenders in 2024 and this could be the cheapest we see Sheerin at for the remainder of the year.
Maddy Guerin (MID, $835,000)
As if a match-winning goal against the Suns was not enough, Guerin took it to another level in week three. She dominated the Cats midfield, with her 31 disposals and one goal delivering a 116 for Fantasy coaches to raise her price by a colossal $278,000! With the double week in week five, Guerin's price could keep sky-rocketing until she is well over $1 million.
Alice O'Loughlin (FWD, $827,000)
North Melbourne has fought through the toughest part of its fixture for 2024, remaining undefeated against the 2023 premier Brisbane, preliminary finalist Geelong and perennial contender Melbourne. The small forward is now up against Port Adelaide, which O'Loughlin kicked three goals against last season for a score of 93, followed by her double game week. The North forward line is getting plenty of opportunities, and so O'Loughlin could be one of the safest bets in what is proving to be a chaotic year for forwards.
Sell
This week's sell segment is mostly about the rookies which teams started with who might need to be downgraded, to bank the cash that they've made so far, and use that for upgrade trades.
Mattea Breed
While a 38 looks like an OK score, more than half of Breed's total came in a hot patch in the final five minutes of their game vs Adelaide. The 23% of coaches who own Breed should look to bank that cash and upgrade to a premium elsewhere.
Ainslie Kemp
After a pair of 50+ scores in weeks one and twp, Kemp came crashing back down to earth with a 19, seemingly impacted by the tough task of clamping down Adelaide's all-star forward line, and the return of Mackenzie Eardley. With a price nudging $500,000, there is some great money to be made by downgrading this Hawk.
Sachi Syme
If you were allured by the high score from Sachi Syme in week one, then you should be equal parts concerned by the very concerning 27 on the weekend, in no small part to less time spent in the midfield, and a very low disposal count. There is potentially $300k available for other trades if coaches look to trade Syme out, particularly for any coaches running with the Port mid on their bench.
The injured premiums
Ellie Blackburn sadly injured her foot and will miss the rest of the season, and Brittany Bonnici has injury her calf so will miss 2-3 weeks, and are both therefore must trade out players. Coaches may want to consider trading out both of Aisling McCarthy and Isabel Huntington, both of whom were late outs with knee soreness, and may be at risk of missing another game. You can also add the lowly owned but decently well scoring duo from GWS in Nicola Barr and Cambridge McCormick to that list, as both suffered what looked to be serious leg injuries on Sunday and are likely to miss.
Top rookies
Picking rookies this week is going to be a very difficult task, as anyone looking to make trades before the Tuesday or Wednesday games won't have the benefit of seeing which rookies are guaranteed to play over the week's later games. Therefore, here are a selection of viable rookie selections, split into double game week players and the rest.
Double Game Rookies:
Octavia Di Donato (DEF, $369,000)
Brooke Barwick (MID, $317,000)
Carly Remmos (MID, $426,000)
Muireann Atkinson (DEF, $303,000)
Jayme Harken (MID, $321,000)
Best of the Rest:
Emmelie Fiedler (RUC, $383,000)
Gabrielle Colvin (DEF, $332,000)
Mackenzie Ford (MID, $368,000)
Meghan Gaffney (FWD, $300,000)
Hayley McLaughlin (MID, $300,000)
Captains
The reign of Queen Marinoff over the Captaincy Empire is over (at least for the next month), as captaincy choices will need to come from those players with a DGW. Week four shapes as the toughest week for DGW captains, as only Ally Anderson averages over 100 points.
No.1: Ally Anderson (vs WBD + WCE)
No.2: Brianna Davey* (vs WCE + WBD)
No.3: Ella Roberts* (vs COL + WBD)
No.4: Issy Pritchard (vs BRL + COL)
No.5: Alison Drennan* (vs COL & BRL)
Other options to consider: Sophie Conway (vs WBD + WCE)
* Able to be vice-captained
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