Fantasy: 2021 Gold Coast Targets

With the 2021 H&A season beginning on March 18 @aflratingsPete provides a fantasy outlook for Gold Coast.

Each team will be previewed over the pre-season, stay tuned on @aflratings_FS for all fantasy news & updates for the 2021 season.

Fantasy podcast: @PlusSixPodcast

Coaching Tendencies/Game Style

Gold Coast are starting to mature as a team so it should come as no surprise to anyone when they start wining on a consistent basis, this list is now full of high end talent which increases the level of competition for spots.

Under senior coach Stuart Dew the Suns have fallen away after being very competitive early in the season, the growth in the list should start to extend that competitiveness well into the season in 2021.

Dew has previously placed an emphasis on contested ball as part of his game plan, in 2020 the Suns were an average of +9.0 in Contested Possession Differential between Rounds 1-4 but fell away averaging -6.5 between Rounds 5-18 (Season: -2.5 Ave, Rank 12).

Gold Coast were target specific in the off-season adding some much needed outside running type players in Rory Atkins & Oleg Markov, they also added highly rated Elijah Hollands at pick 7 in the 2020 AFL Draft but he won’t be ready for quite a while recovering from an ACL injury.

Tracking the pre-season for Gold Coast should be a priority, with their current depth gaining an insight into their best 22 may provide an under priced unique option or two at Round 1.

Article by @aflratingsPete

Fantasy: 2021 Hawthorn Targets

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2021 Targets

Matthew Rowell MID

Expectations will be high for Rowell in 2021, although we only had a short glimpse of his fantasy output last season the numbers he posted were elite.

Rowell averaged 21.3 Disposals & 6.5 Tackles from his opening 4 games in 2020, his shoulder injury early in Round 5 ended his season.

Rowell is expected to complete a full 2021 pre-season with the Suns holding him back as much as possible, he should see high usage at centre bounces & has genuine upside potential based on his Round 1 starting salary.

Fantasy podcast: @PlusSixPodcast

Jarrod Witts RUCK

If you are looking to pay down in salary at the Ruck position in 2021 then Witts fits into a group of options available for your team, coming off a sub-par 2020 season he could be in a position to bounce back an average well into the 90’s again in 2021.

Witts averaged 10.1 Disposals, 2.2 Marks, 1.6 Tackles & 28.8 Hit Outs in 2020, a bump in disposals is likely to return in 2021 along with a decent amount of hit outs.

The ownership will be low for Witts to begin the 2021 season, his average of 97.1pts between 2017-19 can’t be totally ignored.

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Oleg Markov DEF

Markov made the move to Gold Coast in the off-season after being starved of opportunities at the Tigers, he averaged 12.7 Disposals, 4.2 Marks & 1.3 Tackles from 23 career games.

Early in his AFL career Markov showed plenty of fantasy potential, he posted his 3 top career scores of 101, 95 & 89 in 2016.

Markov should be set for a role across half-back at the Suns in 2021, if he can settle into that role he has plenty of upside potential based on his starting salary at Round 1.

Keep a close eye on the role for Markov throughout the pre-season, he could be ownership friendly to begin the 2021 season.

Oleg Markov Joins Gold Coast

*2020 AFL season: 16 Min Qtrs