AFTER improving his average by a massive 19 points, Jack Macrae (MID, $890,000) leads the Bulldogs as their most expensive player. He averaged 123 from his 19 games and sits behind the pig himself, Tom Mitchell (MID, $938,000) as the second most expensive player in the game.
Macrae loves playing at Marvel Stadium (formerly known as Etihad Stadium). He played there 10 times last year with a lowest score of just 107 and an average of 127. He plays two of his first three games there in 2019 where he will be up against Sydney, Hawthorn and Gold Coast.
Lachie Hunter (MID, $765,000) had his best Fantasy season to date averaging 105, which was boosted by two scores over 140.
The Bulldogs have been a very Fantasy-relevant team in recent years and with 2019 just around the corner, can they once again provide the goods?
Make no mistake about it, Josh Dunkley (MID/FWD, $695,000) will be one of the top three forwards in 2019 and should be locked into your team from the beginning.
After moving into the midfield, Dunkley averaged 112 in his last nine games, and during that time his lowest score was just 96.
PAY UP Top-priced players revealed
In 2013/14 Tom Liberatore (MID, $392,000) played all 44 games and averaged 97 and 99 respectively. Since then, things haven't gone to plan, and to make matters worse, Liberatore ruptured his ACL in round one against GWS.
He's back training and rumoured to be back to 100 per cent fitness. After receiving a discount on his price, Liberatore can be selected at an average of just 54. If we see him in the JLT Community Series, he'll be a very popular pick.
Toby McLean (MID/FWD, $686,000) started 2018 on fire. After the bye round, he struggled to find his feet and averaged just 83 in the latter half of the year.
McLean currently ranks as the sixth best forward we have available to us. If he can emulate the way he started 2018 where he averaged 100 in his first 11 games, he's certainly tempting especially when you consider his impressive ceiling that saw him score 143 and 152 early in the year.
DOUBLE DELIGHT Check out the full DPP list
Former Tiger Sam Lloyd (MID, $450,000) and Hawthorn's Taylor Duryea (DEF, $448,000) found new homes at the Bulldogs over the trade period, but as far as Fantasy goes, they don't offer us a great deal as they both haven't averaged better than 70 in the last three years.
Lloyd might be given more opportunities in the midfield than he had at Richmond, and after averaging 109 and 120 in the VFL in the last two years, we might just see a little spike in his numbers.
The ruck situation at the Bulldogs is a very interesting one. Tim English (RUC, $446,000) and Jackson Trengove (DEF, $522,000) are the obvious options, so let's throw 20-year-old Jordon Sweet (RUC, $170,000) into the mix as well.
Sweet is a SANFL premiership player and stands at 202cm. He could be a sneaky bench option if he looks like getting a game early in the year.
Bailey Smith (MID, $258,000) looks likely to get early games and 173cm forward Ben Cavarra (FWD, $182,000) might feature as well.
As a midfielder, the 22-year-old won the Morrish Medal and since then he has received back to back VFL Team of the Year selections.
BIGGEST BARGAINS Check out Warnie's early picks
After not playing a game this year, Liam Picken (FWD, $387,000) receives a 30 per cent discount off his price, which now makes him very relevant if he's fit and firing.
Picken played every game for two years leading into 2018, where he averaged 76 and 88.
He can be tagged, and only has hair that only a mother could love. Jason Johannisen (DEF, $551,000) is the kind of player we need to pass on when selecting your team.
He has averaged 76 for the last two seasons now and needs to spend more time tackling and marking than worrying about his hair style.
Player | Position | 2018 Average | 2018 Games | 2019 Price |
Macrae, Jack | MID | 122.63 | 19 | $890,000 |
Hunter, Lachie | MID | 105.43 | 21 | $765,000 |
Dunkley, Josh | MID/FWD | 95.79 | 19 | $695,000 |
McLean, Toby | MID/FWD | 94.5 | 22 | $686,000 |
Bontempelli, Marcus | MID | 92.42 | 19 | $671,000 |
Suckling, Matthew | DEF | 88 | 11 | $639,000 |
Wallis, Mitch | MID/FWD | 82.06 | 18 | $595,000 |
Williams, Bailey | DEF | 79.86 | 14 | $580,000 |
Daniel, Caleb | FWD | 77.85 | 20 | $565,000 |
Johannisen, Jason | DEF | 75.95 | 22 | $551,000 |
Crozier, Hayden | DEF | 73.71 | 17 | $535,000 |
Trengove, Jackson | DEF | 71.88 | 16 | $522,000 |
Boyd, Tom | RUC/FWD | 63.33 | 12 | $460,000 |
Lloyd, Sam | MID | 68.14 | 7 | $450,000 |
Duryea, Taylor | DEF | 61.69 | 16 | $448,000 |
English, Tim | RUC | 67.57 | 7 | $446,000 |
Gowers, Billy | FWD | 59.7 | 20 | $433,000 |
Jong, Lin | MID/FWD | 59.2 | 10 | $430,000 |
Dale, Bailey | MID/FWD | 58.3 | 10 | $423,000 |
Lipinski, Patrick | MID/FWD | 57.76 | 17 | $419,000 |
Schache, Josh | FWD | 57.69 | 13 | $419,000 |
Wood, Easton | DEF | 56.33 | 12 | $409,000 |
Liberatore, Tom | MID | 9 | 1 | $392,000 |
Picken, Liam | FWD | 0 | 0 | $387,000 |
Richards, Ed | DEF | 53.14 | 21 | $386,000 |
Naughton, Aaron | DEF | 51.89 | 18 | $377,000 |
Dickson, Tory | FWD | 45.75 | 8 | $371,000 |
Cordy, Zaine | DEF | 50.67 | 18 | $368,000 |
Webb, Lukas | FWD | 47.4 | 5 | $339,000 |
Greene, Fergus | FWD | 51.2 | 5 | $316,000 |
Lynch, Brad | DEF/FWD | 44.33 | 9 | $312,000 |
Morris, Dale | DEF | 42.82 | 11 | $311,000 |
Smith, Roarke | DEF | 39.9 | 10 | $290,000 |
Young, Lewis | DEF | 47 | 2 | $286,000 |
Smith, Bailey | MID | 0 | 0 | $258,000 |
West, Rhylee | MID | 0 | 0 | $220,000 |
Roberts, Fletcher | DEF | 39.5 | 2 | $218,000 |
Vandermeer, Laitham | DEF/MID | 0 | 0 | $198,000 |
Cavarra, Ben | FWD | 0 | 0 | $182,000 |
Khamis, Buku | DEF | 0 | 0 | $170,000 |
Porter, Callum | MID | 0 | 0 | $170,000 |
Young, Lachlan | DEF | 0 | 0 | $170,000 |
Hayes, Will | MID | 0 | 0 | $170,000 |
Sweet, Jordon | RUC | 0 | 0 | $170,000 |
Get expert advice from The Traders during the pre-season in the Fantasy Hub. Follow AFL Fantasy on Twitter and 'like' the Facebook page to join in the conversation.