That’s a wrap for 2023-24!
The A-Leagues Fantasy season is done and dusted, with just under 6,000 teams playing along in the Isuzu UTE A-League competition.
As the second season of the new fantasy format comes to a close, look back through the season that was at the players that performed best as the A-League Men’s top fantasy assets, thanks to Liberty.
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Lolley reigns supreme – but can’t catch Goodwin!
Sydney FC winger Joe Lolley finished the season with a bang to enhance his status as the Isuzu UTE A-League’s top fantasy scorer, bagging 27 points in Round 26 to end the season on 383 points.
Melbourne City midfielder Tolgay Arslan threatened Lolley with a late charge up the standings but a final-round score of seven allowed Lolley to steam ahead; Arslan ended the season as the second-highest fantasy scorer with 319 points – 64 points behind Lolley at the top of the standings.
But despite Lolley’s best efforts, his 383 points tally wasn’t enough to usurp former Adelaide United captain Craig Goodwin as the top fantasy scorer across the past two fantasy seasons.
Goodwin put 391 points on the board in 2022-23 – his Johnny Warren Medal-winning season.
In 2022-23, just Goodwin and Jamie Maclaren (305 points) broke the 300-point mark – but this season there were three players in the 300 club: Lolley, Arslan and Adelaide United creator Zach Clough who ended the season on 307 points.
Top 10 fantasy scorers in 2023-24 – Isuzu UTE A-League
- Joe Lolley (FWD): 383 points
- Tolgay Arslan (MID): 319 points
- Zach Clough (MID): 306 points
- Adam Taggart (FWD): 296 points
- Jay O’Shea (MID): 282 points
- Kosta Barbarouses (FWD): 268 points
- Valère Germain (FWD): 263 points
- Brian Kaltak (DEF): 257 points
- Apostolos Stamatelopoulos (FWD): 256 points
- Zinédine Machach (MID): 256 points
Fantasy top-scorer Joe Lolley and Sydney FC are in action in Saturday’s Elimination Final against Macarthur FC. Get your tickets today!
Mariners defender shoots into Team of the Season after massive Round 26
It’s remarkable to consider Central Coast Mariners full-back Mikael Doka features in the 2023-24 Fantasy Team of the Season when the Brazilian had put up just 32 points after 13 rounds.
That was the midway point of the season; fast-forward to the end of the campaign, and Doka’s 248-point fantasy haul is the second-best scoring total of any defender in the game. Only Mariners teammate Brian Kaltak (256) scored more points than Doka this season.
The Mariners ended the season with a double gameweek and across wins over Newcastle Jets and Adelaide United, Doka posted 43 fantasy points to lead the Round 26 Team of the Week.
Isuzu UTE A-League Round 26 Fantasy Team of the Week
Player (total points)
FWD: Robert Mak (29), Joe Lolley (27), Hiroshi Ibusuki (27)
MID: Henry Hore (26), Max Balard (25), Zinédine Macach (25), Ryan Kitto (24)
DEF: Mikael Doka (43), Jacob Farrell (41), Tim Payne (26)
GK: Danny Vukovic (19)
Doka’s performance across two games in the final round of the fantasy season helped the Mariners clinch the Premiers Plate in a win over Adelaide United on Wednesday night.
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Doka and Mariners teammate Kaltak earned their respective places in the Fantasy Team of the Season in a two-man defence.
The Team of the Season factors in the highest-scoring combination of players in any accepted formation in A-Leagues Fantasy – and this season, the 2-5-3 formation would have yielded the highest score for fantasy managers around the league.
Wellington Phoenix keeper Alex Paulsen took his place with 254 points, along with a five-player midfield of Tolgay Arslan (319), Zach Clough (307), Jay O’Shea (282), Zinedine Machach (256) and Ulises Davila (240).
Golden Boot winner Adam Taggart (296) joined both Lolley (383) and Kosta Barbarouses (268) in a three-pronged attack.
Isuzu UTE A-League Fantasy Team of the Season
Eight of the 11 players in the Fantasy Team of the Season are in action in this season’s Finals Series; Wellington duo Barbarouses and Paulsen join Central Coast’s Kaltak and Doka in the Semi-Finals, and will have a well-earned rest as the first weekend of the Finals Series gets underway.
In the first Elimination Final, Sydney’s Joe Lolley takes on Macarthur’s Ulises Davila at Allianz Stadium on Saturday night.
Then, attention turns to AAMI Park and the Melbourne Derby on Sunday, with midfield maestros Tolgay Arslan (Melbourne City) and Zinédine Machach (Melbourne Victory) going head-to-head in a must-watch knockout.
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