Hawks' Fantasy: Midfield options aplenty, backline jet a lock

WHEN Sam Mitchell said rebuild, he meant 'old school' rebuild where you basically remove all your experienced players and start from scratch.

The beauty of this from a Fantasy perspective is the amount of points it frees up. Tom Mitchell and Jaeger O'Meara alone free up 178 per game between them, not to mention the opportunities in the forward line and ruck department without Jack Gunston and Ben McEvoy.

>> Scroll down for all the Hawthorn prices and positions

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Lock them in

James Sicily (DEF, $854,000): The star Hawk defender has gone from an injury-hit bargain pick last year to a reliable premium option this season. The 'Sic Dawg' had a remarkable season considering the circumstances, scoring an impressive 11 hundreds including three on the trot to finish the year, topped by a whopping 151 in the last from 33 touches and 17 marks. He averaged a career-high 96 and is capable of nudging triple figures, especially if you consider the amount of ball that will be in the Hawks backline.

Dylan Moore ($826,000): The young Hawk is coming off a breakout season where he increased his average from 70 to 93. He had a great start to the year with four hundreds in his first seven games, highlighted by 138 in round seven, and he went on to average 88 across the first 13 rounds. He had his first CBA in round 15 and didn't look back, in what should be a preview for his role in 2023. In that time, he had 42 per cent CBAs and averaged an impressive 101 in that time.

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Track their pre-season

James Worpel (MID, $463,000): Talk about rise and fall! The sixth-year Hawk had a remarkable second season at the top level back in 2019, playing 22 games for the only time in his career while averaging 97. At that stage it looked like he would be a Fantasy stayer, but the demise hasn't been pretty, bottoming out last season with just 11 games and an average of 52, which included a five-disposal effort for a score of 10. Although this isn't a good sell, I'm a Worp fan and I think he will bounce back with increased responsibility through the midfield.

Dual-position tempter

Chad Wingard (FWD, $496,000) may not currently have DPP but it is worth keeping an eye on his health and role during the pre-season. The 11-year veteran is coming off his worst average since his debut season with an average of 56, but the good news is he reached the 10-game threshold so he will be priced at that average for the 2023 season. If he is asked to be an older head in the midfield where he has proven to be a capable scorer in the past, he is significantly under-priced.

REVEALED Fantasy salary cap, top prices, bargain buys

Bargain basement

Cameron Mackenzie (MID, $288,000): The former Sandringham Dragon is well and truly in the mix for the rebuilding Hawks and is therefore every chance to start in our teams. He found plenty of the ball at under-18 level, averaging 25 possessions per game for 87 points per game. He has clean hands and is a good decision-maker which has him in the box seat to be on high rotation for Sam Mitchell.

Draft sleeper

It's certainly no secret that Jai Newcombe (MID, $775,000) can play and, more importantly, score as we saw in 2022 where he scored five impressive hundreds including a high of 118. His tackle game is strong, as we saw in his round 12 match up with the Pies where he posted his season high of 12. Given the vacancies and passing of the midfield torch, Newcombe could conceivably add 10+ points to his season average of 88 and slide to bargain territory as an option to round out your midfield.

Buyer beware

No disrespect to Karl Amon (MID, $855,000) who has proven to be an elite player the past two years averaging 99 and 97 respectively, but I can't see it happening for the Hawks, who will find easy ball hard to come by, and uncontested marks make up a huge component of Amon's scoring punch. Last year he took double-figure marks on three occasions, highlighted by 13 in round 19 against Geelong where he went on to score 126. He is a gun, with a huge ceiling (148 last year … against the Hawks) but I think his average will decline despite the added responsibility.

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