SO we find ourselves here, at AFL round 23, but we don’t think of it like that, we think of it as being AFL Fantasy Finals week. Hopefully your teams are all set for the big game and have their grand final parades ready to go. However, it looks like we will have a number of our key players not playing this week due to either injury or resting. So there are still plenty of issues that we have as we head into Grand Final week!

The big thing happening this week is the mass resting of Fremantle Dockers players. Now whilst this is a good thing for us PAFC supporters on Saturday afternoon, it will play havoc with our AFL Fantasy sides. At the time of writing the Fremantle players that we know are out (and have some Fantasy relevance) are Mundy and Sandilands who are being rested and of course we know that Fyfe is still out with injury. However, I don’t believe this will be the end of things from Ross Lyon. I suspect that when the team sheets come out on Thursday that we may see some other big names added to that list and prime candidates are Michael Barlow and Lachie Neale. Particularly Neale as he hasn’t missed a game this year.

With other teams we will also be without Ryan Griffen, Dane Swan, Michael Hibberd and there is also talk around the place that Todd Goldstein could also miss this week, however, I am a little skeptical on that one as North still need to win to be assured of having a final in Melbourne.

In terms of advice this week, well it would be near on impossible to cover every player that you should be looking at as a replacement. But what I will say is that I would be targeting teams that have a ‘softer’ game. The main one I would be looking at is Sydney. They are playing against Gold Coast, but more importantly they are playing at the SCG where they tend to have big Fantasy scores. The players I would look at from there would be Tom Mitchell and Dan Hannebery. Another team I will be considering getting players from is West Coast.

They are back at Domain Stadium and are playing St Kilda. This is a game they should win (and need to win). So I am expecting some big scores from them. Players like Luke Shuey and Matt Priddis would be the main targets. The third team I will be considering players from is Hawthorn. They are playing Carlton and should have a big win. This should translate into some big Fantasy scoring. So here I would consider Sam Mitchell who had last week off sick as well as Jordan Lewis.

With your matchup this week it would be worth just taking a look at your opponent’s team to see what sort of carnage they might have. That should allow you to make a more informed decision regarding the trades that you can make. You will be able to see where their weak points are and perhaps get a bit of an advantage.

This week is going to be a difficult week, but what we can be sure of is that you won’t be the only one in this situation. Best of luck to you in your finals matchup this week. Hopefully you can bring home the silverware.

I hope that I have been able to assist you throughout the season and you have enjoyed my Fantasy Advice throughout the season. Look out for me next pre-season with my thoughts and help for the 2016 AFL Fantasy Season.