Mastering Your AFL Fantasy Draft -The Tier System
The below article aims to help you understand and develop your first Tiered system draft strategy.
If it all does not make sense, or seems too hard, we at AFL Draft Pros have you covered.
Make sure you register at the link below for our 2025 AFL Fantasy Draft Tier Ranking spreadsheet where the work has been done for you.
Once you have developed your AFL Fantasy Draft Tier Spreadsheet practice using it by utilising the AFL Draft Pros Mock Draft Simulator found at the link below.
Introduction
You know that feeling. AFL Fantasy Draft Day is here, clock's ticking down, and you're stuck between two blokes with similar averages.
Wouldn’t it be great to have something on you that makes those split-second decisions way easier?
The coaches who dominated AFL Fantasy Draft last year from this all too familiar scenario, weren't just sitting there with a basic rankings sheet hoping for the best. They had something better going on - a tier system that made their draft day decisions a whole lot easier. Think of it like this - you're grouping players who'll give you similar output across the season.
Whether you're a first-timer or trying to bounce back from a rough season, mastering tiers is your ticket to draft day success. Just know for now, the smart coaches are using tiers, and you should be using tiers too.
Let's run through exactly how to set up these tiers and dominate your 2025 draft.
Understanding AFL Fantasy Draft Tiers
What's a Tier System? Pretty simple really - group players who'll put up similar scores across the season and draw a line when you see a proper drop in value.
Tiers show you exactly where the cliffs are within each position. You're sitting there on draft day, tossing up between a mid and forward with similar rankings. Your tiers will tell you if one position is about to fall off a cliff.
Tiers also stop you from:
· Reaching too early on players
· Getting caught in those nasty position runs.
· Missing value picks staring right at you.
· Panicking when you're on the clock.
Building Your AFL Fantasy Draft Tier System
Step 1: Group Players
When first grouping your players, you want to:
1. Group players by their position first (Defender, Midfielder, Ruck or Forward).
2. If Players are dual position put them into one of the above four positions with the priority being (Forward, Defender, Ruck and then Midfielder).
3. Rank the players by their 2024 average.
Here's what average players need to have to make our AFL Fantasy Draft squads for a 10-team league with a 3,4,1,3 roster:
· Defenders need to average 80+ to be worth a spot.
· Mids sitting at 85+ average are worth a spot.
· Only bother with Rucks that can go at a 90+ average.
· Forwards only need to be 70+ average to be worth a spot.
Step 2: Rearrange Players
You then want to look at shifting certain players up or down the ranking who:
1. Have had strong or bad form to finish 2024 (look at last 3 or last 5 average).
2. Missed the whole or portion of 2024 due to injury.
3. Have been subject to a role change.
4. Have been subject to a new coach.
5. Have been subject to a new club.
6. Will see natural improvement due to age.
7. Have a good or bad history due to injury.
8. Have favourable fixturing early in the season.
Step 3: Set the Tiers
In a 10-team comp, you're looking at roughly 30 defenders, 40 mids, and 30 forwards for your full draft pool. You’d typically like 6-10 tiers within those positions.
Spotting the Breaks You'll see it clear as day when there's a proper drop between players. Basically, when you’ll clearly prefer one player over another, you set your tier within that ranking.
For example, it’s tough to work out whether you’d rather Dunkley, Merrett or Treloar but it’s obvious who you would want out of Merrett or Cripps (right?).
At these points within each position, you have to drop the tier down.
Position-Specific Tier Strategy
Let's run through how to handle each position in your AFL Fantasy Draft tier system for 2025 when looking to rearrange the rankings.
Midfield Tiers
With midfielders you want to keep an eye on:
· Previous CBA history.
· Potential CBA mix within their team.
· Preseason role changes.
· Consistency of scoring
· Ceiling of scoring.
· Likelihood of injury.
· Find those potential DPP gems.
· Spot the breakout chances early.
Forward Tiers
Forwards are cooked again this year. This will be the weakest scoring position by far. There will be a lot of players in the same tier, but it will not be a highly ranked tier.
When rearranging your premium forward tiers really need blokes who:
· Rotate through the midfield.
· Are part of a high scoring offence.
· Likelihood of injury.
· Bring that potential DPP flexibility.
Defender Tiers
A line much stronger than the Forward line with plenty of more premium options. Here you want to watch for:
· Half-back role security (gold for fantasy)
· Players that take kick ins.
· Teams that share the ball around the back half (*cough* St Kilda *cough*)
· Likelihood of injury.
· Sneaky midfield minute chances (*cough* Flanders *cough*)
Ruck Tiers
For the Rucks you are looking for.
· Solo ruck status (absolute gold)
· Forward rotation potential
· Games played history.
Using Your Tiers on Draft Day
Your tier chart needs to be ready to roll before your AFL Fantasy Draft kicks off and when using it on draft day you must:
· Take notes for certain players you like or dislike more within a tier.
· Lock in those pre-draft rankings based on your tiers before the draft begins.
· Tick off the players selected by other coaches as you go.
· Trust the process.
Every draft throws different curves at you and the confidence in the AFL Fantasy Draft tier system is only going to continue to grow as you spot:
· Last player standing in a tier.
· Position runs forming.
· Premium players sliding
· Value picks screaming at you.
Wrapping Up Your Tier Strategy
Moving forward, no more guessing games, just smart picks based on your tiers.
With AFL Fantasy Drafts in 2025, it's quite simple, know your position scarcity, spot those tier breaks, and adapt when the draft throws curves at you.
Your confidence is only going to continue to grow as you work with your tiers year on year.
If it all does not make sense, or seems too hard, we at AFL Draft Pros have you covered.
Make sure you register at the link below for our 2025 AFL Fantasy Draft Tier Ranking spreadsheet where the work has been done for you.
Once you have developed your AFL Fantasy Draft Tier Spreadsheet practice using it by utilising the AFL Draft Pros Mock Draft Simulator found at the link below.