Welcome to this week’s ‘Rookie Watch’, where we take a closer look at the rookie players who made their debut over the weekend and assess their potential for future AFL Fantasy scoring. As we all know, rookies can be a make or break in AFL Fantasy, and finding those hidden gems early can give you a significant advantage over your competitors. So, without further ado, let’s dive into some of the performances of the rookies and evaluate their potential for the future.
Ollie Hollands – Carlton
Tricky night for the Blues, who got smashed in the midfield. Hollands was probably one of their better players on the night, scoring 49 fantasy points from 12 touches (10 kicks), two marks and two tackles. Endurance suggests he’ll become a good scorer in time.
Bailey Humphrey – Gold Coast
Got involved here and there and had some good moments which didn’t translate onto the stats sheet. Kicked a goal but had just five touches in the loss to Fremantle. Hope Dewy sticks with him because he’s a talent.
Ned Moyle – Gold Coast
Got comprehensively beaten by Sean Darcy who played his best game for the season on a favourable Norwood Oval deck. In just his second game though, Moyle won 18 hitouts but got outplayed around the ground as you’d have to expect, scoring just 34 points.
Matthew Johnson – Fremantle
Liked Johnson’s game at Norwood Oval. He stood up in the game’s bigger moments and managed to find 15 disposals around the ground playing in a wing role. Scored 55 points and used the ball efficiently, so reckon he’s done enough to keep his spot.
Matty Roberts – Sydney
Robbo has been used primarily as the sub this year so it was encouraging to not only see him get a full game but score reasonably well in the wing role he’s been assigned. 14 disposals, four marks and four tackles led to 64 points.
Harry Sheezel – North Melbourne
He’s done it, the Sheez finally scored less than three figures. He was still North Melbourne’s leading scorer as they were well beaten by the Lions at Mt Barker. Sheezel kicked a goal and still accumulated 31 touches for 96 points. A freak of nature.
Reuben Ginbey – West Coast
He battled hard as he always does, against Geelong on a day where the Eagles were again comprehensively outplayed. Ginbey scored 43 points from nine disposals, a goal and four tackles. He has been thrown in the deep end early in his career and is probably due a rest at some stage in the next few weeks – he deserves it.
Seamus Mitchell – Hawthorn
Mitchell looked pretty good on debut in the brown and gold. He took a few kick-ins which can only be a good sign and generally looked capable out there. Managed to pick up 17 disposals (including nine contested), four marks and three tackles for a score of 64 across half-back. One to keep an eye on as Sam Mitchell looks to inject good ball users into the side.
Aaron Cadman – GWS
The number one draft pick from last season kicked a goal on debut and did what was expected of a key position player still finding their way in the AFL system. Didn’t find heaps of the ball, but that’s not his role. Is quite capable of playing on a wing, so that’s something to keep an eye on for Adam Kingsley’s men.
Mattaes Phillipou – St. Kilda
Phillipou started to get a bit more involved in this game in terms of disposal numbers and CBA attendance. Given his dynamic nature, he had two CBAs in this game and could look to eye off some more midfield time in the coming weeks. He booted a goal and scored 70 points from 19 disposals and three marks.
