NEWS
The JLT Community Series fixture was released today, fantasy coaches will have 10 days of footy over a 12 day stretch beginning on February 28th to absorb as much as possible.
The AFL season begins on Thursday 21st March, with the JLT Series ending on March 11th this leaves only 9 clear days without footy to finalise 2019 starting squads.
Catch-up:Â Fantasy News Today: 28 October, 2018
ROUND 1
Thursday, February 28
Carlton v Essendon
Ikon Park, 6.40pm EDT
Friday, March 1
West Coast v Geelong
Leederville Oval, 4.10pm WST
Saturday, March 2
North Melbourne v St Kilda
Avalon Airport Oval, Werribee, 1.10pm EDT
Adelaide v Port Adelaide
Memorial Oval, Port Pirie, 3.40pm CDT
GWS Giants v Sydney
Blacktown International Sportspark, 7.10pm EDT
Sunday, March 3
Brisbane v Hawthorn
Moreton Bay Central Sports Complex, 12.40pm EST
Richmond v Melbourne
Deakin Reserve, Shepparton, 4.40pm EDT
Gold Coast v Western Bulldogs
Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay, 6.40pm EST
Monday, March 4
Fremantle v Collingwood
HBF Arena, Joondalup, 3.40pm WST
ROUND 2
Thursday, March 7
Geelong v Essendon
GMHBA Stadium, 7.10pm EDT
Friday, March 8
GWS Giants v Adelaide
UNSW Canberra Oval, 7.10pm EDT
Saturday, March 9
Port Adelaide v North Melbourne
Alberton Oval, 12.40pm CDT
Melbourne v Brisbane
Casey Fields, Cranbourne, 4.10pm EDT
Hawthorn v Richmond
UTAS Stadium, 7.10pm EDT
Sunday, March 10
Sydney v Gold Coast
Oakes Oval, Lismore, 1.10pm EDT
Western Bulldogs v St Kilda
Mars Stadium, Ballarat, 4.10pm EDT
Fremantle v West Coast
Rushton Park, Mandurah, 4.10pm WST
Monday, March 11
Collingwood v Carlton
Morwell Recreation Reserve, 2.10pm EDT
The 2019 AFL Fixture is due for release on Wednesday 31st October.
Fantasy Impact: 2019 Rule Changes
Western Bulldogs
Tom Liberatore is set to sign a contract extension at the Bulldogs, he has been training prior to the official return of the Bulldogs to pre-season. Liberatore suffered a season ending ACL injury in Round 1 of the 2018 H&A season, he also missed the entire 2015 season with an ACL injury.
Apart from the significant knee injuries costing Libba virtually 2 years of footy he has been relatively durable over his career, he averaged 20.4 Disposals & 5.4 Tackles in 2016 and backed that up by averaging 17.2Â Disposals & 6.5 Tackles in 2017.
Liberatore seems to be fully committed to a strong return in 2019, if he can complete a full pre-season he might tempt a few coaches especially if his midfield minutes are forecast to be high.
INJURY NEWS
Ben Brown is not season long fantasy relevant but for draft purposes he could be a decent deep draft bench option to be played against teams with a poor defence. Brown should be a go for Round 1 at this stage, he has been very durable over his career.
AFL FANTASY ANALYSIS
Dayne Zorko had a serious issue unable to break a tag early in the 2018 season as he averaged 66.5pts from his opening 6 games, he then went on to average 116.6pts from his next 13 games before a slow finish to the year averaging 69.7pts from his final 3 games.
Significantly the ability for Zorko to exceed 120pts in 2018 fell sharply compared to his 2017 season, the maturing of players in the midfield at Brisbane & the addition of Lachie Neale will likely help his fantasy game but that could be offset with the loss of Dayne Beams.
Zorko is under priced compared to his previous fantasy history, the lack of consistency will be a major turnoff for fantasy coaches.
