Supercoaches are using their final few trades to put the finishing touches on their sides with only five rounds to play, so we’ll take a look at some premiums in Price Watch this week with a lean to uniqueness.

Rookies

Firstly, if you’re in need of a downgrade option, you’re in luck, as there’s three who all appear to have job security and point-scoring capability too, in Collingwood’s Josh Carmichael (SC $102k M/F, BE -50), Richmond’s Noah Cumberland (SC $123k M/F, BE -91) and West Coast’s Jai Culley (SC $102k M/F).

The former two are both on the bubble. Carmichael had 24 kicks on the weekend, although he burnt the ball a bit which impacted his SC score. He’s playing around the footy, but the Pies were missing Taylor Adams and Jordan De Goey on the weekend, so note that with his JS. Likewise, Cumberland has benefitted up forward with Tom Lynch and Dustin Martin being out.

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Mid-Season Draft top pick Culley did enough in his Eagles’ debut to suggest he’ll get an extended run, ahead of Zane Trew, Greg Clark and Connor West. He played around the ball and tackled hard too, which means he should score well.

All three look like decent cover, if needed, with DPP movability while Carmichael and Culley are both basement priced so you can maximise cash generation to facilitate a decent upgrade elsewhere.

Top of the agenda for many coaches is upgrading Patrick Cripps (SC $500k MID, BE 117), who hasn’t tonned up in his past five games and has dropped almost $50k during that run.

Josh Kelly (SC $550k MID, BE 149) also enters concussion protocols, thus he’s another some may consider moving on.

If you’ve got two trades or cash for that significant upgrade, the targets are obvious such as Clayton Oliver (SC $722k MID, BE 122) and Rory Laird (SC $676k MID, BE 116) etc. So instead we’ll look at value options around the Cripps/Kelly pricemark.

Value Unique Premo Targets

Callum Mills (SC $576k MID, BE 127)

Mills is screaming out as a bargain for any non-owners, given the price for a player who has the sixth best average in SuperCoach this season, 119. His back-to-back scores of 86 and 85 in Rounds 15 and 16 dented his price, but he’s returned to normal service lately and this is a player with a very high ceiling, having scored 214 in Round 6 and 167 in Round 9. He also has a juicy upcoming run against Adelaide, GWS and North Melbourne who tend to leak points. Don’t be scared by his wing role, he’s still getting huge tackle numbers.

Chad Warner (SC $544k MID, BE 62)

Warner is another one who’ll benefit from Sydney’s upcoming run and he looms as a massive POD at 1.6% ownership. The Swans mid has the fourth best three-round average in SuperCoach (137) fresh from a massive 148 against Fremantle. He also posted 155 in Round 16 against Essendon and seems to have elevated to another level. It’s a gamble but if you’re playing catch-up, he ticks a lot of boxes if you’re searching for a shrewd gamble.

Jack Steele (SC $562k MID, BE 87)

Steele was last year’s best SC player yet he only boasts 12% ownership right now. He’s four games back from injury, scoring tons in all four (all against tough sides to score against), averaging 116 with juicy fixtures against West Coast and Hawthorn coming up. The key thing right now is which players will score the most points between now and the end of the season. Is Steele among the top mids in that category?

Zach Merrett (SC $615k MID, BE 77)

The ship may have sailed on Merrett being value, as he’s now soared above $600k fueled by a three-game average of 141 (the second best in SC), but he’s still only owned by 9% so he’s a POD. Merrett’s Dons also face Collingwood (sixth most SC points conceded), North (first most SC points conceded) and GWS (ninth most SC points conceded) in their next three games. Known as a strong finisher in seasons and may also be benefitting from Darcy Parish’s absence for cheap ball.

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