AFL Fantasy is back for another year, and the team at Footy Prophet will again be supplying NMFC.com.au with premium fantasy analysis and tips for the 2016 season.
A slow second half meant average fantasy scores for many North players last week, and the team will be looking to reverse those fortunes in Round 9 when it takes on Carlton.
There are a few changes as well; the most notable being the inclusions of Farren Ray and Trent Dumont. Ray is making his North Melbourne debut and Dumont playing his first game of 2016.
Both have the chance to make a significant splash in the fantasy world. Ray is an experienced player who has some solid fantasy output under his belt, while Dumont is relatively new to the caper but has plenty of potential.
Ray, a $359,000 midfielder, has posted fantasy averages above 80 four times in his career, with the best being 89 in 2009. He averaged 83 as recently as 2014, but significant hamstring injuries kept him from playing games and scoring well last year.
He should step into a role on the wing for North and that could be valuable for his fantasy production. However, he’s a bit expensive to consider for AFL Fantasy and is more the type to look at for a draft format.
Dumont played eight games last year with relatively low scores across the lot, but was made to wear the sub vest – now a thing of the past – more often than not. His best effort came against Collingwood in Round 9 when he had 18 disposals and 10 tackles for 87 points.
It’s rare for inexperienced players to jump in and be regular contributors but Dumont has a lot of the tools needed to be an AFL player and is definitely one to watch this week and in the future.
North’s best scorer this week however is likely to be gun ruckman Todd Goldstein who has something of a dream fantasy match-up against a depleted Carlton ruck department that is going to be missing regular starters Matthew Kreuzer and Andrew Phillips.
Instead Goldstein will come up against inexperienced Daniel Gorringe and that will give him the opportunity to put a really strong game together.
Another to follow will of course be Jarrad Waite who comes up against his old side for the second time. He was solid against the Blues in his first match against them last year, but given his good form so far this season he could really give Carlton fans a reason to miss him this week.
Andrew Swallow has been in great form lately with 30 tackles in the last three weeks and scores of 107, 91 and 100 as a result. He has recorded 10 more tackles than any other player in the competition so far this season.
Footy Prophet’s Fantasy Five
- Todd Goldstein ($533,000 RUC)
- Andrew Swallow ($450,000 MID)
- Jarrad Waite ($486,000 FWD)
- Farren Ray ($359,000 MID)
- Trent Dumont ($237,000 MID/FWD)
