It’s the final week for the 2022 Supercoach season and what a year it has been with slightly tinkered rules throwing a variety of strategies in the air.
However, we all can soon relax and watch the footy without worrying about individual players but if you’re still in a position to win your grand final then we need to make sure you make the right choices for your captains, as well as make sure that any players that are predicted to score poorly are traded out as well.
Finally, I’ve listed a few more players to keep an eye on for your 2023 watchlist as you can always get a head start in the offseason.
Captaincy Choices
It is a bit weird to start with captaincy choices however in a crucial week for your league grand finals, there are a lot of potential taggers that will ruin your week and leave a sour taste for the off-season.
The Avoids
Keep an eye on the team selections because Lachie Neale (AF $784k SC $594k MID) may be tagged on Friday night by James Harmes. Usually the Dees aren’t one to target opposing midfielders however revisiting their previous matchup in round 15, Harmes held Neale to only 22 disposals and while he did score 111 SC points, he was quite fortunate to do so. However, Harmes was the sub last week so keep an eye on team news if he’s named into the side rather than handed the green vest.
Andrew Brayshaw (AF $876k SC $561k MID) has had a super year but faces GWS who seem to ruin everyone’s fantasy regardless of if you don’t own one of their players. The Giants seem to have a dual tagging threat with Perryman the main culprit who’s done jobs on Liberatore, Merrett and Warner in the last three weeks.
Rory Laird (AF $1.04m SC $699k MID) is another one who could be surprisingly in slight danger, as Willem Drew managed to get the better of Merrett, even though he did manage to get 26 disposals himself he got a lot of junk time possessions which is why there is a discrepancy between his SC and AF score. However, with Laird I feel he will get so much contested ball that it won’t matter as much but something to keep in mind.
VC picks
Touk Miller (AF $907k SC $668k MID) is the safest VC choice for your team, coming up against the Roos who again are the weakest in the competition is very much an obvious choice there. Even if Jy Simpkin goes head-to-head/attempts to play a negating role on Miller I think he wins the ball too much to be affected by it.
Will Brodie (AF $764k SC $472k M/F) is an outside shot as he had his second highest score against the Giants back in Round 4 this year and especially with Brayshaw predicted to be tagged by everyone in the world, he could be one to benefit from the extra disposals.
The duo of Clayton Oliver (AF $889k SC $634k MID) and Max Gawn (AF $842k SC $594k RUC) are always safe picks for your VC and with a crucial game on the line, you can expect these two to go large. Oliver scored a 140 the last time these two met so he’s a very safe selection if you need an early loop and Gawn has scored below 120 in one of his last four games since returning from injury.
C Picks
Looking at the Saturday night games, Rory Laird (AF $1043k SC $699k MID) is the obvious pick with an off day last week only managing a 97 against North, he’ll be looking to bounce back. While he only scored a 93 the last time they met, it was his first game back from injury so don’t read into it too much.
His teammate Jordan Dawson (AF $823k SC $581k D/M) is one who is in a bit of form with a season-high 145 last week. He did manage a 123 the last time they played however that was helped by scaling as he kicked the match winner, but Port do like to bomb it into their forward 50 so it could be easy points for Dawson. Again, if you’re looking for a unique captaincy choice, he could be one you look at.
I’ll always advocate players playing against Adelaide or Collingwood’s midfield as they conceded the most points to opposing midfielders so the likes of Sam Walsh (AF $819k SC $552k MID), Patrick Cripps (AF $833k SC $573k MID) and Ollie Wines (AF $763k SC $537k MID).
Trade them out?
Following on my player to avoid chucking the captaincy on, who are some other players who may drop a poor score this week and who could you replace them with that are on the up?
Jack Sinclair (AF $837k SC $589k D/M)
The last time Sinclair played the Swans he produced his lowest score of the year and for good reason as Ryan Clarke shut him down. With another visit by the Swans occurring this week, it could be trouble for one of our best defenders we’ve seen in the past few weeks that Clarke is relentless at tagging keeping guys like Nick Daicos, Jordan Dawson, Himmelberg and Dale and none of them were able to ton up. Sinclair for sure will be targeted this week and expect a sub-100 score from him. Even though they did swing him forward it didn’t do much because he couldn’t get his hands to it. Get him out, you can trade him to any other defender as Sinclair is currently the most expensive defender in SC.
Shannon Hurn (AF $781k SC $576k DEF) is the most in-form defender and faces the Cats who will have the ball live in the back 50 of the Eagles, he’s likely to be the best trade-in option.
Marcus Bontempelli (AF $834k SC $623k M/F)
The Bont has had a few off weeks and that has been down to him carrying an injury, however, his scoring has been solid but with a matchup against the Hawks and a potential Finn Maginness tag on the way he may get shut down which will be double damage for owners. While this tag isn’t guaranteed as Maginness has had a variety of opponents that have ranged from midfielders to half-back flankers the Bont is the most dangerous player in the Dogs side, and he’ll probably be the number one target.
In saying that in the past few weeks a variety of players have had the tag to them with Josh Dunkley and Tom Liberatore the ones targeted most recently, should you trade him out? If you have no other players that are listed above and Maginness goes to him at the first bounce, then yes by all means hit the avoid button because you can’t afford one of him to be parked up at full forward scoring a sub-100.
If you’re looking at someone to bring in, I like the look of Tom Lynch (AF $578k SC $465k FWD) as a POD option the key forward is back to his season-best form after kicking a bag of eight against the Hawks and in the two weeks prior he had two bags of four against the Power and Lions. With the Power key forwards absolutely monstering the Bomber backline and Lynch still within contention for the Coleman medal, I can see a Saturday night stat pad attempt to get over the line.
Tom Hawkins (AF $599k SC $518k FWD) is in a similar boat as his partner in crime Jeremy Cameron is out with a hamstring injury but his ceiling isn’t as high as Lynch as he does share the ball a lot which takes a few points off his scoring.
Todd Goldstein (AF $617k SC $476k R/F)
This one has nothing to do with a matchup nor a negating role, it is simply that he’s in doubt with injury. A unique selection for many as in the mid-part of the year he managed to score eight tons in 11 games. However, it seems that he’s run out of gas as he’s failed to hit the ton in the last four and with a tough matchup against Witts but after carrying an ankle injury the worst thing in the world for coaches with him is if he’s subbed out early with a low score.
The lucky thing is that there are a decent number of options with his ruck/fwd eligibility as Mark Blicavs (AF $685k SC $453k D/R) who when solo rucking can produce high scores like his 131 on the weekend. Toby Nankervis (AF $661k SC $491k RUC) who’s the third highest scoring ruckman this year and even Ben McEvoy (AF $633k SC $493k R/F) who’s excelling being the solo ruckman in the team as he’s had three tons in a row.
2023 SuperCoach Picks
Finally, these are the last few players that you might want to add to your 2023 watchlist as the off-season isn’t too far away. I’ve already mentioned a few other players a few weeks back so these will be the final bits of content till the start of 2023.
Defenders
Nick Daicos (AF $741k SC $519k D/M)
It is very rare that a first-year player shows this much potential that we are considering picking him for the rest of his career because that’s exactly what Daicos has done in the back half of the year. Even though he only had a 62 to his name on the weekend it is a very impressive sign to see him being the target for a tag because he’s that dangerous. He was thrown into the midfield as well to shake the tag and he did show some nice things along the way for the future. What makes this a great pick however is that he will be priced sub 500k now and makes a perfect D3/4 pick to evolve as he will most definitely keep the defence position in all formats. When he moves into the midfield, we could see his score explode like how Walsh and Oliver did in their 2nd year.
Midfielders
Jack Steele (AF $892k SC $559k MID)
An injury-affected year has meant Steele’s average has dropped from 120+ to 108.9 however what makes this tantalizing is that he’ll be priced at just under $600k and while that might not look that impressive, it is going to be a bargain for someone who we know is both proven and if has a non-injury affected year can return to his best. We’ve already seen glimpses of this as he scored six tons in a row after coming back from injury, however back-to-back poor performance has seen coaches disappointed, but I see this as an opportunity to pick him up as a bargain M3/4 in your side for the next year. Not that he won’t be on your radar because he’s one of the top midfielders in the fantasy scene but put him very high on your watchlist because he will be extremely cheap.
Forwards
Oscar Allen (AF $484k SC $347k FWD)
The value will lie in the forward line next year and Oscar Allen is a prospect to keep your eye on. With Josh Kennedy retiring there’s a spot open with his name already half etched in, while he’s had a terrible run with injury this year that comes with a benefit that he’ll be at a discounted price for 2023. In the past few years, some of the key forwards that have returned from injury have had very impressive years with Curnow and Daniher being very good cash cows even though they had yo-yo-like scoring. While a key forward like Allen is likely going to struggle in some games, there will be a few where he goes huge but overall, the body of work he does will produce enough cash for you to upgrade to a premium forward.
