Catch up with the latest Official A-Leagues Fantasy talking points from the weekend’s action.
He’s done it.
Craig Goodwin became the first player to reach $800K in A-Leagues Fantasy history, after his 15 points in Adelaide United’s 3-2 win over Western Sydney Wanderers – which saw his price rise to a whopping $848.9K ($66.8K price hike).
His price is now $296.8K clear of the second-most expensive player in the game in Brisbane Roar’s Jay O’Shea ($552.1K).
Not only did the Socceroos winger break the incredible price mark, but he became the third player in Isuzu UTE A-League history to score 10 goals and get 10 assists in a single season – when he set up Ben Warland to secure a brace in Friday night’s five-goal thriller.
Goodwin’s latest score also took him 99 points clear atop the A-League Men Fantasy (330 points) total points scorers ahead of Golden Boot leader Jamie Maclaren (231) – while still holding the lead for average points per week (15.7), three round average (24.3) and five round (20.0).
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With his price going up a whopping $238.7K in the last three rounds, the question remains: how high will Goodwin’s price rise in the remaining four games of the regular season?
According to A-Leagues Fantasy’s Assistant Coach function, Goodwin may have hit his peak. In the below table, the Assistant Coach has projected his score in each of the four remaining games along with his breakeven (the score he has to beat to get a price rise).
Here’s Craig Goodwin’s projected output for the remainder of the season
| Opponent | Projected Score | Projected Price (price change) | Breakeven |
| Sydney FC (H) | 18 | $848.3K (-$600) | 18 |
| Western United (H) | 14 | $809.9K (-38.4K) | 25 |
| Perth Glory (A) | 18 | $790.9K (-19K) | 24 |
| Central Coast Mariners (H) | 18 | $776.4K (-14.5K) | 22 |
A-League Women’s Fantasy Team of the Season locked in
With finals on the horizon, the inaugural season of A-League Women’s Fantasy season has officially come to an end.
And after 20 rounds we officially have our Team of the Season (TOTS) locked and loaded for the 2022-23 campaign.
After coming into the season at the game’s most expensive player, Sydney FC’s Mackenzie Hawkesby maintained her status atop the scoring charts – tallying a league high 250 points – which was helped by consecutive 34 points outings (Round 19 was double points due to games against Adelaide United and Perth Glory).
Golden Boot winner Hannah Keane was the second in the overall points tally with 228 for the season – but edged Sydney’s Cortnee Vine (220) and Canberra United’s Michelle Heyman (210) as the highest scoring attacker.
Heyman was joined by Canberra United trio Vesna Milivojevic (222), Grace Jale (195) and Grace Maher (186) in the TOTS – rounding out the midfield five alongside Perth Glory gun Hana Lowry (178).
In defence, Melbourne Victory captain Kayla Morrison was the leader among defenders with 166, while Sydney’s Charlize Rule and Western United’s Sydney Cummings were equal on 163.
Due to the higher scorers in other positions – which dictated the formation – it came down to a matter of tiebreakers to separate the two – with Rule just edging Cummings due to a higher average over the last three (12.7 to 2.3) and five rounds (11.4 to 4.6).
Western goalkeeper Hillary Beall was also the highest scoring goalkeeper with 134, just getting in ahead of Victory’s Casey Dumont (131).
Some of the other honourable mentions – who only missed due to formation – include Perth striker Cyera Hintzen (182), Sydney’s Sarah Hunter (175) and Princess Ibini (170), along with former Melbourne Victory midfielder Alex Chidiac (172 in 13 games!) and Melbourne City’s Rhianna Pollicina (165).
A-LEAGUE WOMEN’S FANTASY TEAM OF THE SEASON
(overall points)
FWD: Hannah Keane (228), Cortnee Vine (220), Michelle Heyman (210)
MID: Mackenzie Hawkesby (250), Vesna Milivojevic (222), Grace Jale (195), Grace Maher (186), Hana Lowry (178)
DEF: Kayla Morrison (166), Charlize Rule (163)
GK: Hillary Beall (134)
Victory striker surging back into form at just the right time
Bruno Fornaroli is finding his groove again.
‘El Tuna’ continued his hot-streak as of late, firing home his fifth goal in six games in Melbourne Victory’s 2-1 win over Wellington Phoenix – which boosted his side’s hopes of securing a finals berth.
After a slow start to life at Victory, Fornaroli has thrived as of late at the pointy end of attack – becoming an intriguing option for Fantasy coaches looking to bolster their forward stocks heading into the final month of the season.
The Uruguayan-born Socceroo has averaged 12.7 points in his last three games, along with 10.4 in the previous five – making him the equal-third highest scorer among attackers in the last three weeks alongside Central Coast’s Jason Cummings and Western Sydney Wanderers winger Amor Layouni.
While in the last five weeks, he is the fifth-highest average scorer, only trumped by Western United’s Connor Pain, Socceroo Brandon Borrello, free-scoring Wellington attacker Oskar Zawada and injured Melbourne City star Mathew Leckie.
Since scoring his second goal of the season against Wellington back in Round 15, his price has gone up from as low as $192.9K to $408.3K in the last eight rounds – meaning he is now the fifth most expensive forward but still at a manageable price should coaches be looking to add some firepower to their attack.
And given Victory’s run to the finish, which includes home clashes against Perth Glory, Macarthur FC and Brisbane Roar, you would back him to continue his scoring run.
Goalscoring centre-backs headline A-League Men’s Team of the Week
It was the week for defenders in A-League Men’s Fantasy.
Adelaide United’s Ben Warland topped all scorers this past weekend, tallying 30 points as a result of scoring a double in the Reds’ victory over the Wanderers – while Melbourne Victory centre-back Damien Da Silva was in second place with 26 after finding the net against Wellington.
This isn’t the first time Warland has dropped a huge score either, tallying 23 against Victory all the way back in Round 6. Incredibly, he had only scored 16 points in his following six appearances.
Rounding out the back-line are fellow goalscoring defenders Perth Glory’s Mark Beevers (20) and Sydney left-back Diego Caballo (16).
The Spaniard’s team-mate Robert Mak headed up the attack with 23 points after scoring a double against Western United, while Connor Pain (21) and Yeni Ngbakoto (18) also made this week’s squad.
Elsewhere, Brisbane Roar’s Jay O’Shea continued his solid run of form with 19 points, while overall top scorer Craig Goodwin (15) and Mariners’ Marco Tulio (17) slotted in the midfield.
A-League Men’s Fantasy Team of the Week – Round 22
(overall points)
FWD: Robert Mak (23), Connor Pain (21), Yeni Ngbakoto (18)
MID: Jay O’Shea (19), Marco Tulio (17), Craig Goodwin (15)
DEF: Ben Warland (30), Damien Da Silva (26), Mark Beevers (20), Diego Caballo (16)
GK: Paul Izzo (5)
Meanwhile, in the final A-League Women’s Team of the Week, Sydney FC’s Mackenzie Hawkesby’s 34 points led the way, while team-mate Cortnee Vine tallied 23 as well against the Jets.
Canberra United duo Vesna Milivojevic (29) and Grace Jale (24) also made the team after hitting the back of the net against Melbourne City.
Their opponent Holly McNamara, tallied 26 points in her sensational performance against the side from the capital – while Golden Boot winner Hannah Keane scored 22 as she roared back into goalscoring form.
Keane’s partner in crime TJ Vlajnic also tallied 24 points as a result of getting two assists.
A-League Women’s Fantasy Team of the Week – Round 20
FWD: Holly McNamara (26), Cortnee Vine (23), Hannah Keane (22)
MID: Mackenzie Hawkesby (34), Vesna Milivojevic (29), Grace Jale (24), Hana Lowry (17), Sarah Hunter (15)
DEF: TJ Vlajnic (24), Sienna Saveska (15)
GK: Morgan Aquino (15)
