THE OFFICIAL Fantasy game of the AFL opened in December and tens of thousands of keen coaches have started piecing together their Fantasy Classic teams.

Coaches are given a salary cap of $14.8 million, mirroring the AFL clubs' budget, to pick a squad of 30 players. That is an average of $493,333 per player. This means that you just can't fill your team with all the best players, you need a mix of the top-end premiums, bargain-basement rookies or mid-range players who you believe are under-priced.

Some of the brightest Fantasy minds – or those who can't get enough of footy – have been tinkering with their side since before Christmas. Plenty of discussion has been flying around on social media and we, The Traders, have run the numbers on all 18 clubs trying to find the best picks for the year.

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In weight of numbers, we trust … at this early stage of the pre-season anyway!

There's enough data from the players selected so far to see which players are the flavour of the month, before things heat up on the training track in February, the AAMI Community Series in March and the first bounce of the Toyota AFL Premiership season on Wednesday, March 16.

Defenders

The key names in the backline are James Sicily and Wayne Milera. They have missed a significant amount of football over the last couple of seasons and as a result, a 30 per cent discount was applied to their price. Reports out of Hawthorn and Adelaide suggest the pair are flying. If there are no hiccups, Sicily and Milera are the perfect mid-priced players to build your defence around. Throw in long-time premium picks like Jake Lloyd and Lachie Whitfield and you've got yourself a solid line.

Player	Club	Position	Price	Ownership
Lachie Whitfield	GWS	DEF/MID	$795,000	47%
James Sicily	Haw	DEF	$510,000	47%
Wayne Milera	Adel	DEF	$378,000	43%
Will Kelly	Coll	DEF/FWD	$191,000	41%
Will Gould	Syd	DEF	$190,000	35%
Jake Lloyd	Syd	DEF	$823,000	31%
Aaron Hall	NM	DEF	$914,000	22%
Nathan O'Driscoll	Frem	DEF/MID	$190,000	19%
Jack Crisp	Coll	DEF/MID	$854,000	19%
Sam Skinner	PA	DEF/FWD	$190,000	17%

03:25

Top of the pops: Who are the most popular Fantasy picks in 2022?

Warnie picks a Fantasy Classic team based on the 'Coaches Choice' stats

Published on Jan 25, 2022

Midfielders

Nick Daicos was dominant as a junior, racking up huge numbers in the NAB League and Collingwood already seems keen to have him in its 22 come round one. As a result, Daicos is the most-selected player in Fantasy Classic. Quite a few bargain picks appear in the high ownership list. Matt Rowell has been backed by 44 per cent of the competition to regain the form of his debut season. Many are hoping Caleb Serong enjoys a third-year breakout season, taking his average into triple-figures.

Player	Club	Position	Price	Ownership
Nick Daicos	Coll	MID	$284,000	60%
Jason Horne-Francis	NM	MID	$290,000	57%
Matt Rowell	GCS	MID	$464,000	44%
Greg Clark	WCE	MID	$190,000	39%
Lachie Neale	BL	MID	$792,000	35%
Jack Steele	St K	MID	$1,018,000	31%
Tom Mitchell	Haw	MID	$969,000	30%
Caleb Serong	Frem	MID	$691,000	26%
Luke Valente	Frem	MID	$190,000	22%
Sam Walsh	Carl	MID	$914,000	19%
Jack Macrae	WB	MID	$972,000	17%
Matt Crouch	Adel	MID	$649,000	15%
Jye Caldwell	Ess	MID	$488,000	12%
Josh Ward	GWS	MID	$278,000	12%
Patrick Cripps	Carl	MID	$686,000	10%

Nick Daicos at Collingwood training in January 2021. Picture: AFL Photos

Rucks

It's a mix of either Brodie Grundy or Max Gawn with a discounted Jarrod Witts or Braydon Preuss. The latter have plenty of upside and it will be important to watch how the Suns and Giants look to utilise their ruck department. If they're rucking solo, they'll make bulk coin and it'll be easier to upgrade to a premium big man during the season.

Player	Club	Position	Price	Ownership
Sam Hayes	PA	RUC	$190,000	35%
Brodie Grundy	Coll	RUC	$893,000	35%
Jarrod Witts	GCS	RUC	$572,000	28%
Braydon Preuss	GWS	RUC	$367,000	22%
Max Gawn	Melb	RUC	$911,000	20%

Sam Hayes kicks the footy during Port Adelaide training in January 2021. Picture: AFL Photos

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Forwards

It's going to be tough to pick between Dog duo Josh Dunkley and Adam Treloar, but plenty of coaches are locking in both. The best buds have both averaged well over 100 in the past and showed enough early on last season, when they were fit, that they can score with the best. Slotting them in with Mitch Duncan or Tim Taranto can give plenty of firepower in the line that is all about picking the MID/FWD dual-position players.

Player	Club	Position	Price	Ownership
Elijah Hollands	GCS	MID/FWD	$190,000	51%
Josh Dunkley	WB	MID/FWD	$767,000	43%
Will Kelly	Coll	DEF/FWD	$191,000	41%
Adam Treloar	WB	MID/FWD	$731,000	30%
Will Brodie	Frem	MID/FWD	$387,000	29%
Mitch Duncan	Geel	MID/FWD	$841,000	29%
Tim Taranto	GWS	MID/FWD	$904,000	25%
Ely Smith	BL	MID/FWD	$190,000	24%
Dustin Martin	Rich	MID/FWD	$682,000	23%
Josh Rachele	Adel	MID/FWD	$280,000	23%

Josh Dunkley and Adam Treloar celebrate the Bulldogs' win over Port Adelaide in a preliminary final on September 11, 2021. Picture: AFL Photos

Team Vanilla

A team put together using the ownership data looks pretty sweet! Compiling the knowledge base of the coaches who have been busy this summer playing with their Fantasy Classic teams looks to be a good place to start if you're just clicking into play AFL Fantasy for the first time.

The squad uses all but $1000 of the salary cap. Some players picked may have been further down the ownership order than others, but the budget is tight and some creative accounting needs to come into play.

Rookies – our sub-$300k players – are always tricky to nail right now. The majority come from our most selected and will definitely change as more information presents itself over the next couple of months.

Although some coaches like to have some points of difference, or 'uniques', in their squads, going vanilla isn't a bad thing… it's still a tasty flavour!