If you are starting your first GameDay Squad season, the smartest thing you can own is a good young player. Two reasons. First, your cards carry over from season to season, so a 20-year-old star is value that compounds. Second, GameDay Squad runs a dedicated Under 22s competition for AFLW, where squads are built from under-22-eligible players only, and the right youngsters can be valuable in both! (You'll have to decide though. A card can only be played in one competition at a time)
The headliners
All averages are from last season on GameDay Squad scoring.
- Ella Roberts (West Coast, MID). 120.7 average at 21: a genuine first-picked midfielder already. Ignore 73 points against Ireland on the weekend.
- Matilda Scholz (Port Adelaide, RUK). 111.6 average. Ruck is the scarcest position in the game so owning the best young player in the league is a long-term cheat code. Take the thought out of it.
- Sofia Hurley (Sydney, MID). 104.4 average from five games last season. Midfield-listed and built for volume.
- Zippy Fish (Sydney, DEF). 100.1 average at 19 and kicked one of Australia's opening goals against Ireland. The best defender in the game right now, and still a teenager.
- Montana Ham (Sydney, MID). 99.4 average. Part of a Swans youth core (Ham, Hurley, Fish) that could anchor an Under 22s squad by itself.
- Zarlie Goldsworthy (GWS, MID). 101.8 average, currently injured but will walk straight into your side once fit. Buy the dip!
The pre-season risers
- Chloe Bown (Adelaide). Pick 5 in the draft, kicked two goals as a half-forward in the practice round and looked, in the club's words, very clean through the midfield.
- Havana Harris (Gold Coast, FWD) averaged 71.0 in a debut season and projects as an improver, alongside Jasmine Fleming (Hawthorn, MID) at 78.5. Harris is someone to invest in regardless of performance this year. Future superstar of the competition.
One to be patient with
Kristy-Lee Weston-Turner (North Melbourne) was trialled in defence in the practice round and, by all reports, the experiment has not clicked yet. The talent is real, the role is not settled. Watch, do not chase.
How to actually use this
Your SOCIETYAFLW code gets you three Common 9-player packs at signup. If any of the names above fall out of those packs, hold them. For everyone else, the Transfer Market lets you pick up specific players, and Bronze cards of young stars are the easiest to get hold of, with value that compounds as the player improves.