NEWS
Important December fantasy news is more than likely injury related & today delivered a bombshell for fantasy coaches, plans need to be adjusted along with research beginning for the impact injuries can have on a team structure & what opportunities there now are.
Devastating news for Sam Docherty today as he ruptured his ACL at training, it is the same knee he injured 12 months ago & he will likely miss the entire 2019 season.
Docherty is a popular player in the fantasy community due to his elite numbers & will be missed again in the 2019 season, the interest in Will Setterfield & Nic Newman will rise as a result of the Docherty news.
Will Hayward is heading back into training mode after dealing with a few minor off-season injuries, he has played in 87.0% of games since his debut last season.
“I’ve been working through a few niggles in the off-season, so I’m just getting eased back into training now.. I’ve just been running for the last few weeks and am slowly getting eased into skills now.” Will Hayward.
Hayward averaged 61.4pts in AFL Fantasy & 59.9pts in SuperCoach in 2018.
Fantasy coaches are forever chasing correct information in order to make informed decisions, reading a headline or the opinion in an article can be very misleading at times.
The article surrounding Zac Clarke on the weekend was a bit misleading in the headline & was likely derived from questions from the journalist, to assume Essendon could be headed down the path of a dual Ruck set-up based on the answer to a question could be an error.
This was the headline:
Essendon recruit Zac Clarke eyeing opportunity alongside Tom Bellchambers
Here is one of the quotes from the article on Zac Clarke:
“I’ve seen Tom (Bellchambers) play quite well forward as well. He takes a good mark. But he had a really strong season this year so it’s obviously his spot and if I have to play second ruck or whatever role that is, I’m happy to do that.”
(Article Link: https://bit.ly/2RII8th)
Now this isn’t meant to be critical of the article but more of a highlight of coach/player speak, if the information on Essendon playing 2 key Rucks was coming from a coach then that information is very useful but coming from a player answering questions based on his want for a role can likely be disregarded.
Now Essendon may actually choose to play a dual Ruck set-up next season, but at this stage the need for more concrete evidence is required rather than a misleading headline.
Catch Up – Fantasy News Today: 7 December, 2018
Zach Tuohy is on track to return to full training after undergoing minor knee surgery in the off-season, a January timeline is expected for a return and at this stage he appears set to be ready by Round 1.
“It has been a good few years since I have missed a game but this isn’t threatening Round 1, this is going to be well and truly good by then.” Zach Tuohy.
Tuohy averaged 80.6pts in AFL Fantasy & 84.8pts in SuperCoach in 2018.
AFL FANTASY ANALYSIS
Justin Westhoff became more than fantasy relevant last season as he set a career high average of 101.9pts, his role was fantasy friendly in a goal kicking Utility/Ruck type role. Westhoff averaged 101.1pts from his opening 9 games last season, he closed out the season averaging 102.5pts from his final 13 games.
Westhoff scored 100pts or more in 50.0% of games & 120pts or more from 13.6% of games in 2018, this was a significant improvement compared to 2017.
The injuries to Paddy Ryder last year were a contributor to the increased Ruck role for Westhoff, due to his lack of mobility Ryder did spend a fair bit of time forward last season allowing Westhoff to thrive.
When Paddy Ryder kicked 1 or more Goals last season Westhoff averaged 114.7pts, when Ryder failed to kick a Goal Westhoff averaged 95.9pts.
The off-season move by Port Adelaide to acquire Ruckman Scott Lycett likely negatively impacts Westhoff next season, the Power are likely to run a dual Ruck set-up which would reduce the Hit Outs for Westhoff (2018 Ave Hit Outs: 8.3).
Westhoff averaged over 100.0pts for the first time in his career last season, the team playing structure will change next season which is a warning sign for fantasy coaches.
Westhoff has been extremely durable over his career, he hasn’t missed a game since Round 16, 2013. Not expecting a repeat on his 2018 fantasy numbers.
