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Today we look at two veteran Geelong defenders in Andrew Mackie and James Kelly. While they may not be the first names selected in your team, both prosects still carry an esteemed amount of value and even more so in draft formats.

Andrew Mackie (DEF, AFL Fantasy - $475, 000)                          

Mackie has been an important cog in defense since Geelong’s dominance, stretching back to 2007. In that time, Mackie has played in all but 12 home and away matches, demonstrating his elite durability and consistency throughout. The inclusion of Jared Rivers as a free agent allowed Mackie to relinquish his post playing as a lock down defender, and move into a more rebounding role across half-back.

A proven ball winner, Mackie gathered 20+ disposals in eleven games throughout 2014 with a more than healthy kick to handball ratio. Mackie regularly was a potent threats across the back half, proving a handful for opposition coaches. The 220 game veteran is ever reliable under pressure and has become a dominant leader on and off the field.

His fantasy scoring has been quite impressive across his career, and 2014 was no different. Since cementing his spot in Geelong’s 22 in 2007, Mackie has averaged a touch above 83 throughout. This year, he has had another impressive preseason trying to rectify Geelong’s straight sets elimination from the finals series.

James Kelly (DEF, AFL Fantasy - $494 000)

Kelly, the dependable 256 game veteran, flourished in a switch to half-back after spending the entirety of his career through the midfield. Gaining dual position status midway throughout the season and is now available solely as a defender heading into 2015. He added his ball-winning prowess and his hardened body to Geelong’s defensive half, rating elite for tackles, disposals and both uncontested and contested possessions for defenders.

The ultra-consistent performer started the 2014 season with a bang recording figures of 100, 103, 86 and 113 across the first four rounds of the season. At 31 years of age and in his 14^th season, Kelly is in the twilight period of his career and has showed little sign of slowing down. Kelly was utilised mainly as a rebounding defender, and rarely spent time on a single opponent and as such, had more opportunity to impact his fantasy column.

His shift to defence did effect his yearly average from 2013 to 2014, however Kelly recorded the fifth best average of any defender eligible player in 2015. In the back half of last season, Kelly’s fantasy output dramatically declined with four scores under 70 after Round 18. Kelly also recorded the worst free kick differential of any Cat and the eighth most free kicks against of any non-ruckman.

The Stats that Matter

Andrew Mackie

James Kelly

The FP Verdict

With both Kelly and Mackie excelling in tandem off half-back across their lengthy careers, there is no doubt either of the duo could replenish and stabilise any Fantasy defense. With that being said, the ageing stars aren’t getting any younger and with age comes a decline in output. This may not be the case entirely, but in circumstances where output has to correspond with dollar value like AFL Fantasy, Andrew Mackie signifies the most. He can easily push to become a top ten averaging defender come season’s end.