Each week, we will do a deep dive into a player that had a strong performance in the previous round. The player may not have had the top score of the weekend but a solid outing nonetheless. I’ll look to cover the previous round’s performance, the outlook for the season ahead, the outlook for 2024 and beyond and my recommendation for this player.
It’s time now to get stuck into some round 9 players in focus chatter chatter! GameDay Squad is a little bit different to your more traditional AFL Fantasy and AFL Supercoach platforms. Some features that make it a little bit of a different experience are:
- There are no weekly trade restrictions, which means that you can take your MRO frustrations out stress-free.
- In GDS the cards you use to play are virtual player cards which you can collect from player card packs, with that, there is a fully functioning peer-to-peer transfer market in which you can trade, auction and sell player cards that you own. Yes, this means that you can not only rage trade but rage sell all of your Lachie Neale cards!
It’s also essential to keep in mind that GameDay Squad is a dynasty fantasy football platform and that will be heavily taken into consideration in this article.
GameDay Squad – Create. Coach. Compete.
Player Of The Week
Player Name: Zak Butters
Age: 22
Club: Port Adelaide Power
Position: Forward (FWD)
Round 10 Score: 178
2023 Ave Score: 111
Round 10 Performance
What a game! 178 GameDay Squad points scored in a well-rounded performance. This guy was everywhere! 41 touches, 2 goals, 12 score involvements and 10 clearances. What I liked even more than the numbers was simply how entertaining he was to watch. Butters was without a doubt one of the main cogs that pushed Port to what I believe to be an upset win. The way he was able to win the contested ball (most contested possessions on the ground with 18) against such a stacked Melbourne midfield showed that Zak is ready to be considered an elite fantasy player. The only downside to his performance is I didn’t start him!
2023 Outlook
Zak has finally returned to that form we saw at the end of the 2022 season and that should excite us. In his final 4 games last year, Butters averaged 135 GDS points which was 6th highest in any position for that period. Rightfully so, he was on most fantasy coaches’ radars until an unfortunately timed injury interrupted his pre-season. With Port starting to look like the real deal, an important stat is how well Butter performs in a Port win compared to a loss. Zak averages just under 122 GDS points in a Port win which is happening quite regularly now (8 out of 10 this season). This is especially interesting when you compare it to an average of just 71 GDS points when Port have lost. When a player’s scoring is so closely linked to the team’s results, it’s generally a good indication of how valuable they are to the squad. I predict Butters will continue his scoring and overtake Rozee as the Port “forward” you are thinking about.
GDS Dynasty Ranking
Butters is still only 22 meaning he’s probably coming into his prime. With several young talented players around him such as Connor Rozee and Jason Horne-Francis, Zak will have to cement his role in the Port machine and continue to develop. My concern with Butters is how low his floor is. Although it’s feeling less and less likely to happen, there have been games across the last couple of seasons where he was just nowhere. I think while he continues to hold his forward status, Butters is an excellent GameDay Squad Dynasty player. If he switches into a midfielder, he may struggle to crack into the elite tier with those periodic scores in the 70s. For now though, I’d be chasing his cards if I were you!
Kerm’s Call
As we saw at the end of 2022, when Zak Butters is in form, he will string a lot of good scores together in a row. And guess what… Zak Butters is in form! With his forward status, it’s getting very hard to justify not starting him in your GameDay Squad lineup. Do what you must to secure that Butters card and find space for him in your side. He’s outscored Rozee in 5 of the last 7 games so maybe that should be your spot. With his scoring linked so closely with Ports actual results, you might be able to pick games to drop him but I’m not sure I’d be brave enough to risk it. I know I’ll be starting him next round!
