As the weeks progress, our SuperCoach player pool begins to dwindle, and our trade targets become sparce. We have enough data now to assess the line by line, top end guys and below I take you through who of the very best you should be targeting this week!
Rowan Marshall – $588k (RUC) – 8%
Part 1 of the Ro-Mance – I know, even bringing this man’s name up has probably hurt many of you already. But ignoring this yo-yo of a scorer is almost impossible. Ro has put together two of the most absurd games back-to-back that you will see for a ruckman. Full on beast mode. Over the two weeks, Marshall has averaged 29.5 touches, 21 of which are contested, 10 clearances and 10 tackles! Not only does he come at a very decent price for what you could be buying, but Marshall’s fixture for the rest of the year is a joke. Yes, he gets Gawn at the MCG this week, which is one of the toughest fixtures possible, particularly when he’ll me on a redemption arc following up his team’s performance against the Eagles. Although following that, Marshall gets to play Baily Williams in Round 12 followed up by 9 of his last 11 games at Marvel Stadium! It’s insane. For anyone out there without two premium ruckmen, I think this is a must trade in this week. Sweet has been a failed experiment and even if he gets back in this week, it’s only a matter of time till Soldo returns anyway. English just doesn’t look the same, albeit he’s probably the safer consistent scorer, I see much more upside in Rowan. JUMP ON.
Matt Rowell – $566k (MID) – 21%
Part 2 of the Ro-Mance – If you’re not in need of a ruckmen, then this guy is your man this week. Targeting the best of the best at basement price is the key to SuperCoach success and you get that right here with Matt Rowell. Despite back-to-back poor scores in Rounds 8 and 9, Rowell is still averaging 120 on the year and you can pick him up for 560k. He bounced back in a big way against the Cats and the worrying slip for Gold Coast has been diminished. He gets a tough matchup this week, but honestly Rowell has taken some big scalps this year in tough matchups already. He gets a nice 5 week run of Essendon, Saints, Freo, Collingwood and North to follow up the Blues game and he even plays both the Eagles and Richmond come SuperCoach finals time. Great player, great pick, great price. Not much else needs to be said here! BUY.
Zac Fisher – $433k (DEF/FWD) – 10%
The fish is back in a big way. It seemed like we all got sucked into the pre-season hype not knowing that all of Fisher, Colby and Sheezel wouldn’t work together. Fast track two months and Norths structure has shaped up more how I would’ve expected it to in Round 1. Fisher and Colby (when back) running the show down back, while Sheezel is now your more forward of the ball player. The fact that Sheezel stayed MID/FWD for a lot of this game even with Colby out makes me more confident this will continue. McKercher is still in doubt for this week and then North have their bye next week. So unfortunately, the bye is a killer. Usually, I’d say no to this pick if it’s for only one week (its why I wouldn’t go Zorko this week), although I think it can be done due to the fact it’s a cash generation play as well. Last week was the ideal week to get him at 384k, this week is doable at 443K and the week after his bye he’ll be around 490k which I think is too much for the risk. So, it’s now or never despite the bye. Fisher took 9/18 kick ins last week with Colby in, and this week this percentage jumped to 8/10 without him. His disposal and composure seem to be getting better with every game which was the clear knock on him early. It’s still a punt for sure, but honestly, worst case scenario I see him as your D7/F7 swing loop. RISKY.
Luke Jackson – $499k (RUC/FWD) – 38%
I’ve seen this guy’s name thrown up in trade plans quite a lot this week, and even as an owner it’s not one I can advocate. I think the merit in selecting him has well and truly set sail. If you were punting Sweet at R2 a few weeks ago and knew Darcy was out it made sense sure. But now that we are all needing to get off Sweet at R2 and he’ll be most people’s R3, the loop appeal is gone. Sean Darcy is almost certain to return this week against Collingwood as well. Jackson’s 105 average on the year for $499k seems tasty, but when you look into his scoring, he only has 3 scores over 100 ALL YEAR. All 3 of these he was number 1 ruck and two of them were 154 and 178. If Darcy is in the team, you’re very likely buying a 90 average guy at best who also no longer helps you swing to cover the byes or injuries. PASS.
Joe Richards – $123k (FWD) – 7%
Collingwood have gotten a sneaky find here. Joe Richards has actually looked like a great pressure and highly skilled player for the Pies in his two games so far for scores of 107 and 60. He’s averaging 15 touches, 5 tackles, 2 marks and 1 goal per game with a very decent 83% time on ground for a fringe rookie. Although, the issue is exactly that, the Pies are starting to hum, and they will be getting their resources back shortly. Bytel and McCreery will be back from concussion, Mihocek is 50/50, Mitchell is a test, Howe is 1-2 weeks away and Elliot is TBC. It’s way too hard to make a call on this one. It’s only a matter of time till Sullivan and Richards are dropped and you’d need a minimum 3-4+ games out of Richards from here to make it worthwhile. The last thing you want is a rookie dropped in the byes. I’d wait for both the injury list on Tuesday, as well as the team selection on Thursday before considering. WATCHLIST.
Joel Freijah – $117k (MID/FWD) – 2%
Despite the MID/FWD status in SuperCoach, Joel Freijah has a sneaky good role in comparison to Richards. In his first game he played almost exclusively as a defender while pushing up slightly higher in his second game for some half forward time at times but still roamed the D50 on regular occasion. He’s not a massive accumulator, but he has shown some nice ball use and knows how to take a mark. The time on ground of 77% isn’t awesome but it’s not at a worrying level. The Dogs injury list is in great shape. Coffield is out for 3-5 weeks away, Libreatore is TBC and Weightman is 4-6 weeks away. That’s all! So, it appears Freijah has genuinely won his spot in the side, although this means there is a healthy list breathing down his neck. Of the two rookies, if I had to pick right now, I’d be leaning to Freijah as it seems like he has the potential to have better job security and also comes at the slightly cheaper price with dual position. But similar to Richards, I’d wait till teams first to reassure who could be chopping at his heals. WATCHLIST.
Darcy Wilson – $416k (MID/FWD) – 64%
This guy is currently the #1 most traded out player in SuperCoach and its mind boggling. I know people can sometimes struggle for a trade out option and just filter by breakeven, but this one is crazy! Wilson has put together 5 straight solid scores including a 126 which shows a spike score is possible. Yes, his breakeven isn’t ideal at 76 but it’s still very achievable. These are the types of rookies that are gold as we head into the byes, and he is someone we will need to hold the fort down at F6. Like the run I mentioned with Rowan Marshall, Wilson obviously shares this as well. Its not quite as good as Wilson will be gone after the byes so he won’t cash in on that late Marvel run, but he gets the Eagles in the first game of the byes. If he puts in a stinker this week then sure, his breakeven will be out of control and he’d be must trade; but as of this week, I’d be doing everything to make sure your trades can accommodate offloading dead wood this week to help cover the byes rather than trading away one of your reliable rookie scorers. HOLD.
