Adelaide's captain flexes his muscles against the leagues best! Sydney add another young star to their already incredible starlet core? When will this Brisbane young-gun make his move? There are so many questions coming out of round 15. But let's turn our attention back to fantasy footy for a second and identify some risers in form and others who should be falling out of favour with all fantasy coaches. Let us know your thoughts on who we have down below on all of our social channels twitter, facebook, instagram, discord.
RISERS
Jordan Dawson – DEF, Adelaide Crows (203 points)
Well no surprises for who tops this list for round 15! Adelaide Crows captain Jordan Dawson set the MCG alight on Sunday, rallying up 27 kicks (!), 8 handballs, 9 marks and 12 tackles to match the highest score so far in GameDay Squad Aussie Rules in 2023… 203 GDS fantasy points! The truth is I could have written about Jordan Dawson after just about every round this year, that’s how good he has been. He’s relished his role change into midfield and has genuinely become one of the best fantasy assets league-wide! For now, Dawson is still classified as a defender in GameDay Squad Aussie Rules, and amongst defenders, you would be hard pressed to not have him amongst the top two defenders in fantasy. If you have him, enjoy the ride! If you don’t have him, I would be doing everything in my power to go out and get him.
Angus Sheldrick – FWD, Sydney Swans (126 points)
Angus Sheldrick is legit, legit! Sheldrick began his season super slowly, making his 2023 debut in round 7 as a sub and then again three round later in round 10 where he was again the sub. He finally earn’t a starting position in round 13 where he performed incredibly well for 19 disposals, 3 marks and 6 tackles. Round 13 would only be the beginning for Sheldrick! Fast forward to round 15 where Sheldrick is coming off a 29 disposal, 4 marks, 4 tackles and a goal outing against the West Coast Eagles for a career-high 126 GDS fantasy points! Sheldrick now feels like he’s found a place in this young Swans side who also boasts the likes of James Rowbottom, Errol Gulden, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, becoming one of the most exciting young cores across the league. The 19-year-old is a player you’re going to want to snap up as soon as possible, who knows what his ceiling could be!
Mitch Duncan – DEF, Geelong Cats (140 points)
Through the chaos of the Geelong vs Melbourne game I was pleasantly surprised by how well Mitch Duncan was covering the ground! Duncan returned from injury in round 14 where it looked like the Queen Mary could turn at a bigger angle, and uncharacteristically he couldn’t hit the side of a barn by foot. A week truly is a long time in footy as it looked like Duncan wound back the clock and looked like his usual clinical self in round 15! 19 kicks, 3 handballs, 6 marks, 8 tackles and a goal took Duncan to the top of Geelong’s fantasy scoring for 140 GDS fantasy points! If he keeps this level of scoring up on a consistent basis, we will have a very low key borderline top 6 defender on our hands for the back end of the season.
FALLERS
Keidean Coleman – DEF, Brisbane Lions (74 points)
When is Keidean Coleman going to fire? No Daniel Rich in the side, no real ball-carrying or damaging threat off half back for the Lions and most importantly, health! Have all been working in Coleman’s favour, yet he hasn’t been able to take the leap that many thought he would! Coleman broke out in 2022 with Daniel Rich missing a lengthy amount of time. It was in this period where Coleman caught the attention of fantasy coaches for his incredible line breaking kicking ability and a role that looked to have been tailor made for the young Lion. It has to be said that 2023 has been extremely disappointing, in 14 games this year, Coleman has only managed to eclipse the triple digit mark just once! Insane considering the level of opportunity he has had this year. It worth keeping in mind that Coleman is still just 23-years-old and still has a ton of opportunity to become the player many thought he would, it just doesn't seem like 2023 is his year.
Marcus Windhager – MID, St Kilda Saints (46 points)
I mentioned earlier a week is a long time in footy, well a player who garnered a gargantuan amount of hype heading into round 15 was St Kilda young gun Marcus Windhager. A lot of the hype was surrounding his round 14 score and centre-bounce-attendance percentage. In round 14, Windhager amassed 86% CBA's for a season-high score of 99 GDS fantasy points. Windhager is a prime example of chasing CBAs gone wrong as he only managed to notch up 38% CBAs in round 15 and his score of just 46 GDS fantasy points reflected the lack of opportunity. Like Coleman above, Windhager is still super young, just 20-years-old, 2023 might not be the year but with age and talent on his side, it feels like only a matter of time.
Archie Perkins – FWD, Essendon Bombers (66 points)
All the young guns are copping it this week! Now it's Essendon starlet Archie Perkins turn. This is mostly out of frustration. I thought when Darcy Parish and Will Setterfield were put on the pine for an extended amount of time and Dylan Shiel missed games here and there, that Perkins would be next up to get some solid CBAs under his belt. Outside of one week where Perkins notched up 83% CBAs in round 13, he hasn't gone above 18% CBAs in a game all season long, with the likes of Ben Hobbs, Jye Caldwell and Jake Stringer all coming in before him on the batting order. With Parish returning and Setterfield not far away, we should expect Perkins to play a boom or bust pressure forward role that hardly ever proves consistent enough to warrant selection.