Wired for Success - Round 2
Welcome to the conclusion of Round 2 of the AFL Fantasy Draft season! Going in to Round 3 is the perfect time to continue fine-tune your lineup as patterns start to take shape. Hitting the waiver wire early can give you a major competitive edge. Whether you’re looking for defenders, midfielders, rucks, or forwards, this guide brings you top picks being discussed in each position and ranks them to help you make the smartest decisions for your team.
Get ready to uncover hidden value, snag Restricted Free Agents (RFAs), and dominate your AFL Fantasy Draft league starting in Round 1!
Why the Waiver Wire Matters in AFL Fantasy Draft
The waiver wire is a treasure trove of opportunities, especially in the first few rounds. Star players sometimes go undrafted or get overlooked. Others excel in roles you didn’t predict during preseason. Staying on top of the best waiver wire picks can help you:
Replace injured players
Add depth to your lineup
Identify breakout candidates early
Gain a strategic advantage over your competitors
Here are our top recommendations for each position going into Round 1.
Top Waiver Wire Picks by Position
Defenders
Strong defenders can anchor your AFL Fantasy Draft team, and Round 1 showcased some exciting options. Here are the standout names:
Weddle (scored 61) - This one is for the watchlist only because Weddle had 9 hit outs on Thursday night, after having one hitout between the first two games. This was just from contests around the ground but if we start seeing his involvement ramp up as ruck support than he’s one we’ll have to consider strongly.
Worrell (84) - Turns out it’s just Worrell’s backline and the others are just living in it. Ok probably not that far but after sending a preseason wondering how Adelaide would balance the use of Hinge, Laird, Milera and even Cumming at times, it’s Worrell that has defied expectations so far. Now going at an average of 90 over two games we are mindful that he’s come up against two weaker forward lines so far based on form he should be rostered.
Milera (78) - Much better this week in terms of his actual game but never has been a fantasy scorer so like Fogarty we can’t pick him up based on one good game.
Sinn (90) - One of the many Port players whose scoring increased due to the opponent. Sinn was touted in our deep waiver wire watch as a potential fill in for the Houston role on the back of comments from Wines and JHF in the preseason. He showed more of that potential this week with things on Port Adelaide’s terms. Only the two kick ins (Farrell 4, Evans 2) but worth a free agency pick up in much deeper leagues in case he does grow more in to that half back rebounding role.
Lester (94) - Did you know Ryan Lester turns 33 this year. We definitely didn’t realise how old he is and we also didn’t realise over his last four games he’s gone at an average of 80. Still should not be drafted.
Andrews (93) - With Waterman out, it gave Andrews even more freedom down back which was highlighted by his 12 marks. With Geelong, Richmond and Bulldogs in his next three he could be given more freedom based on the forward lines he would be coming up against. An option if you’re desperate down back.
Hough (71) - Hough’s AFL Fantasy points to how well he actually plays ratio is one of the lowest in AFL. If you watched a game without checking scores you’d be sure he’s on at least 90 in majority of his games, but here we are with another 70. Can’t be relied upon.
Bowey (93) - Still not rostered in over 70% of leagues so make the cut of this article. Is loving the freedom back there caused by May not being there, will clearly suffer once May is back but should ride the wave if you can until then.
Wagner (81) - Had a 40 point first quarter but slowed down after the halftime break. Has now shown an ability to get the ball in two games straight and after being talked up in our preseason player series by Alex Pearce, we’re confident he will string a full game together soon. Great floor, great pick for those in need of a defender.
Rampe (79) - Early signs are Fremantle are a good matchup for defenders based on Geelong defenders last week and Sydney defenders this week. Eagles defenders looking like a good stream next week (Hough, Maric etc).
Midfielders
Scoring midfielders are the backbone of any successful AFL Fantasy team. Here are this week’s midfielder options:
Josh Ward (101) - Got more CBAs this week (8) and is really backing up the preseason hype. Worpel is coming back in a couple of weeks but Ward has now proven he can score without massive CBA numbers two weeks in a row. Great get for your waiver.
Cam Mackenzie (82) - Way less CBAs this week than last week even with Worpel out of the side. Can probably only be juiced for one more matchup in deeper leagues before Worpel returns after the bye. We’d prefer Ward at this point.
Sidebottom (84)- Once again saw CBAs and once again scored. Interesting that Long started sub so Pies are still keen to go experience over youth in there for now. Reminder at the end of last year got a CBA role and scored well (86,93,110). In round 0 he had 16% and round 1 he had 65% and scored 110. Now in round 2 he scored 58% and 84 on the back of a huge second half (58 points)including kicking the sealer. Won’t be moving out of the mix in the short term so still worth stashing as a loop option for your midfield.
Ned Long (72) - Due to the early injury of McInness, Long still had the same TOG% as last week so we’ve now seen his range of scoring. We were surprised he was made sub but will remain an option in deeper leagues when he isn’t made sub due to his ability to punch out a 70-90 score.
Pendlebury (68)- 26 touches and only 68 points following a week of being beaten up in the media, 2025 is the year we should see Pendles living on our waivers and unfortunately we can’t recommend him at this point.
Bailey Williams (62) - Seems to have lost his wing spot to Davidson and some of his backline distribution points to Freijah which is a shame as he had 9 scores of 88+ from those roles last year. One for the watchlist if Bevo decides to give him his time back up the ground, especially while JJ is out.
Durham (60) - We know he’s not available on most waivers but this one is to tell to watch out in case a frustrated owner drops him after two poor scores. The man had 27 CBAs and is too good to post these scores week to week with that sheer volume of CBAs. The Merrett forward of centre experiment is working too so until Parish is back in the mix should continue this volume.
Burgoyne (122) - Another Port player whose scoring was increased by the opponent but the difference is Burgoyne has shown he can score before and if he now has a higher ceiling against weaker opponents than perfect.
Mcintosh (88) - Taken out of the CBA mix this week with Less of a defensive role to play but still found his way to 88 to be Richmond’s top scorer. With so much youth around him he seems to be really relied upon by Yze at the moment which puts him on the radar as a mid option for deeper leagues.
Lalor (62) - Only got to this score on the back of a huge last quarter (35 points) but it was more the 16 CBAs that got our attention. One to continue to monitor and stash for deeper leagues.
Windhager (113) - Led the CBA count along with Marshall (28) after only having 9 last week. Was tasked with a defensive role on Holmes and counterpunched perfectly. Windy is definitely an option as Saints take on Richmond next week but not waiver pick worthy.
Zak Jones (111) - Please don’t be fooled, it won’t last, it never does with Zak Jones.
Atkins (98) - interestingly Atkins is rostered in a third as many leagues as Knevitt but has been leading Geelong’s CBA action. Has never had a high ceiling but is looking like one of the more reliable waiver wire options this week.
Knevitt (80) - Looked great for 75% of the game but just faded in the last. The 75% still makes him a good option for your draft bench. We’d still prefer Knevitt over Atkins if you get a choice.
Fletcher (85) - Similar to Ah Chee discussed below we know he can pop up with scores like this but there’s just no consistency between them to make him a worthwhile pick.
Levi Ashcroft (74) - Another solid outing as he continues to find his feet at AFL level. Interestingly no fluctuation between versing a good team and a weaker team. Should still improve throughout the season and feel an 80-90 score is not far away.
Lindsay (80) - Strong second half got him to a decent score and is looking very settled. Safer pick than others for the early rounds.
O’Meara (87) - 32 touches is very impressive but with Young only likely to miss one more game it’s a bit too much of a risky pick to be wasting a waiver wire pick on.
Rucks
Quality rucks are often hard to find on the waiver wire, but a couple of Round 1 performances stood out:
Bryan (72) - Got the bulk of CBAs this week with Draper having to spend more time up forward. While Langford and Wright are out of the side this should continue but unfortunately his next ruck matchups are Xerri and Witts. If you have an underperforming ruck don’t go doing anything drastic here.
Draper (67) - Score wasn’t great but with DPP incoming as a forward he’s worth a waiver stash for those in desperate need of a forward as he will return to regular programming in a ruck share once the Essendon key forwards come back.
Forwards
Forward talent can vary week to week, but these waiver wire options emerged after Round 1:
Jesse Motlop (87) - Another that was talked up in preseason by his teammates for having a huge summer and we saw the fruits of that in the wet weather. Cant be trusted based on round 1’s floor, don’t get sucked in.
Nick Watson (77) - Sometimes we have to remind ourselves that Nick Watson is only in his second year. He has made such a huge influence in his short time in footy but one thing he hasn’t done is scored well. This was his second highest score ever with the second highest being 84. Like Motlop, the weather helped him so we can’t get excited or recommend him.
Matt Cottrell (78) - When Elijah Hollands went out of the squad our eyes were on Cottrell to fill the void but unfortunately he tagged Jayden Short in opening round and had patches on Sicily tonight. With that being said he still had 20 touches and a goal but needs those defensive forward roles to be stripped from his artillery before we can consider him to be the Hollands replacement.
Jack Silvagni (63) - We talked him up last week but he had to play forward in the wet this week due to McKay being a late out. He should continue to be a swingman so wait and see how he goes with McKay and Curnow back in together before you go dropping or adding him.
Schultz (107) - As always Collingwood are very flexible in how they find their scores but Schultz has been a common avenue so far. Will always have a floor to be worried about but after their bye has a run of 5 out of 6 games where he is playing on either Thursday or Friday night so depending on your leagues lockout situation is worth a stash over his bye while no one’s looking that way. Reminder he averaged ~80 two years ago at Freo and now knows the pies system better than last year.
McStay (63) - Would’ve been better if he kicked straight (3 behinds) but similar to Schultz has a good run of Thursday/Friday night games coming up so worth grabbing as a potential loop option in deeper leagues. Is finding some ball up the wings too which is helpful for that floor.
Naughton (33) - How bad was that! Unfortunately these games will never leave the Naughton repertoire and with some tough matchups coming up it may be worth moving on to someone you can stream, especially in leagues which have a Saturday lockout you’d be better off grabbing a Schultz or McStay.
Fogarty (82) - Needed 3 goals to get to 80 and history suggest that won’t be a weekly occurrence so don’t go wasting a waiver pick on him.
Curtin (73) - 1 of 17 Adelaide players to score over 70 which shows how escalated their scoring was. Still not draft relevant.
Mead (98) - When Butters went down with an injury the first name popping up out of the Port camp to help fill the void was William Drew. The second name was Jackson Mead. Only saw 10 CBAs but as he is available as a forward we need to respect the ceiling.
Powell Pepper (92) - Bought that trademark energy today but was just feasting due to the large portion of points going around. Cant be wasting a waiver wire pick on him but with Essendon and saints in the next two if you are desperate up forward in deeper leagues there are worst options.
Rioli (89) - Speaking of worst options, Willie will often pop up for a good score once or twice a year and is too hard to predict week to week to have in your squad. Don’t get lured in but it shows a player like Higgins or Owens could be good to stream next week against Richmond.
Caminiti (83) - BIG WATCH here. St Kilda have flirted with the idea of Caminiti in defence all preseason on the back of injuries to key players and after a dissapointing Round 1 effort up forward it looks like they’ve made the switch. After taking 13 marks, if Caminiti plays there for one more round than he should become a forward line priority. The question will be is are you game enough to go one week early? High risk high reward.
Higgins (80) - In his career, Jack Higgins has never averaged in the 70s so we’re not all of a sudden expecting that. What we are flagging is that Higgins plays Richmond next week who should help players see a bump in scoring like
Dewar (89) - Took Hutchinsons role on a wing and played really well, especially in the first half. Brisbane in Brisbane is not an easy matchup for a wingman so we have to put Dewar towards the top of the watchlist for next week against Freo at Optus. It’s worth noting he only averaged 10 disposals in the WAFL last year.
Ah Chee (85) - Has these scores in him with 5 scores of 90+ in a similar role last year but they are just too hard to predict and Ah Chee doesn’t have enough Thursday or Friday night games to be worth picking up as a streaming option.
Maric (74) - 26 disposals and only 74 points. Let’s focus on the positive in this one with 26 disposals. That means the role is there, especially while Baker is pushed up the ground more in Grahams absence. Maric shared kick in duties with McGovern also so there’s another plus. Wait to see how long Graham is out for but even if he returns in the short term there’s a lot worst options than Maric.
Chandler (117) - Did not see this one coming. With Vandermeer also kicking 3 on North last week, we may be seeing a pattern forming for the small half forward role against North. One to monitor. Knowing Chandler has scores like this in him is good to know. Feels like how Billings would pop up here and there but for this score alone is worth a free agency pickup if you need a forward.
Curtis (110) - Great piece came out during the week about Curtis and his fatherhood journey but can’t put that down to this performance. Similar to Chandler where there was no noticeable role change to get him there. It was his first 100 ever so don’t go doing anything drastic but should be waivered if you need a high risk high reward forward option
Darling (72) - Has looked very solid in both games and is floating around that 70 mark. As long as North continue this form there’s no reason that should drop which is more reliable than some other forwards in deep leagues at the moment.
Positional Rankings at a Glance
To help you prioritise your pickups, here’s a quick ranking of the top options by position:
Defenders
Jake Bowey
Corey Wagner
Josh Worrell
Josh Sinn
Harris Andrews (short term only)
Watchlist: Josh Weddle
Midfielders
Josh Ward
Marcus WIndhager
Mitch Knevitt
Tom Atkins
Steele Sidebottom
Watchlist: Kamdyn McIntosh, Sam Lalor, Ned Long, Levi Ashcroft
Rucks
Sam Draper
Nick Bryan
Forwards
Lachie Schultz
Jackson Mead
Paul Curtis
Kade Chandler
Ryan Maric
Watchlist: Anthony Caminiti. Jack Darling, Tyrell Dewar, Matthew Cottrell, Jack Silvagni
Get Ahead of the Game
Use this guide to make waiver moves that will maximise your AFL Fantasy Draft team's scoring potential heading into Round 3.
Making smart waiver wire decisions early in the season is key to staying competitive in AFL Fantasy Draft leagues. By incorporating high-upside pickups like Josh Ward or Corey Wagner, you can gain an immediate edge over your opponents and set the tone for the rest of the season.
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