Final Word: Round 9 skippers, tactics, weather

• SC PLAYBOOK PODCAST: Round 9/10, analysis and trade tips
• SEEING DOUBLE: Strikers/Heat DGW assessment

Round 8 delivered one of the most chaotic few days of SuperCoach BBL I can remember.

Between international cricket call ups, COVID positive players, rescheduled fixtures, and questionable weather forecasts, it was a nightmare to manage.

While there’s been a little bit of uproar over the management by the official SuperCoach team, it’s completely unjust and those questioning the revised round need a clip on the ears.

UPDATE! SIXERS v HEAT GAME CALLED OFF – PLEASE CONSIDER WHEN READING BELOW

Having to deal with a completely new fixture (Scorchers v Sixers) in the final game of the round would have been extremely difficult, and they dealt with it as best as possible.

The fact is we live in unprecedented times, so the management of sport is inevitably going to continue to be difficult for the unforeseen future.

We’re lucky to have it on our screens… Even if it impacts our beloved SuperCoach.

Congrats to the hard-working folk putting in the time and effort to keep the game as fair as possible under difficult circumstances.

As such, Round 9 will see the Strikers on the double game week, as well as the Heat who have replaced the Scorchers (now on a single game week).

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In these crazy times, we are doing all we can to keep KFC SuperCoach fair and fun for all.

To help with uncertainty about players and fixtures an extra trade will be added for Round 9.

Thanks to the staff, players, officials and volunteers that are keeping the BBL going.

— KFC SuperCoach BBL (@SuperCoachBBL) January 4, 2022

We’ve also been handed an additional trade to deal with the revised draw.

Wet weather looks likely to play a significant role this week, so it’ll be vital to look ahead and plan accordingly around those games.

The Cooma Stallions found form last round, notching 1,019 points for a 129^th overall round finish, pushing me back up into 440^th overall. How quickly this game can change!

Let’s take a look at SuperCoach Round 9.

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WEATHER WATCH

All weather is courtesy of the Bureau of Meteorology as of Wednesday, 12:30PM. All times are in AEDT. Forecasts are subject to change.

WEDNESDAY

6:05PM: Strikers v Hurricanes, Adelaide Oval.

Forecast: Shower or two, 23 degrees, 50% chance of 0-1mm of rain.

Verdict: Minimal showers around and shouldn’t see much interruption if any.

9:15PM: Heat v Sixers, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast.

Forecast: Shower or two, 29 degrees, 70% chance of 3-10mm of rain.

Verdict: Rain around that may well threaten the game, monitor radars throughout the evening and prior to the game starting.

THURSDAY

6:05PM: Renegades v Heat, GMHBA Stadium, Geelong

Forecast: Humid. Showers. Possible storm. 28 degrees, 80% chance of 10-25mm of rain.

Verdict: Stacks of rain around, likely worth avoiding these two teams, particularly if rain looks likely to hit the Heat’s first game of the round.

9:15PM: Scorchers v Thunder, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast

Forecast: Showers, 28 degrees, 95% chance of 15-40mm of rain.

Verdict: Stacks of rain predicted, enough to warrant avoiding trading in players from these teams, even with the Thunder’s double next round.

FRIDAY

7:15PM: Strikers v Stars, Adelaide Oval

Forecast: Cloudy, 23 degrees, 30% chance of 0-2mm of rain.

Verdict: Minimal showers around and shouldn’t see much interruption if any.

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LOOKING AHEAD

A little to contend with here with a slightly changing draw.

The Scorchers are now off the double in Round 9, they will only play one game.

The Heat have a game added and are now on the double alongside the Strikers.

In Round 10, it’s the Hurricanes and Thunder on the double. The Thunder look to have a rain affected match this week, while the Hurricanes look to have a predominately dry game.

As such, if I were to go early on either side it’d be the Hurricanes.

In Round 11, the Renegades finally have a double, while the Scorchers have the final bye of the season.

SUPER PODS

Each week one of our contributors will provide a full analysis on the point of difference (POD) players to consider.

In the Final Word, we’ll look at the super POD options, the players at under 5% ownership (or around about) that could send you soaring (or falling) up the overall ranks.

They come with big risk, but the reward is immense if it comes off.

Last week, Saqib Mahmood went well with 46 points, while Shadab Khan wasn’t made available for the Sixers due to restrictions.

It’s extremely hard this week as most players that I like are facing heavily rain affected games, while the main Hurricanes options are pretty well owned.

Further, we don’t know when certain players are returning from COVID protocols, but we’ll have a crack.

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Nathan Coulter-Nile – 2.2% ownership

I’ve wanted NCN for a while now, but something always pops up to ruin his buy credentials, granted this time he has COVID…

However, provided he’s available to return for the final game of Round 9, he’ll play a key role for the Stars who look fairly well assured of playing in a dry game.

His upside is immense, and he can prove a serious POD in a week where many players may well have minimal opportunity due to the rain.

Wes Agar – 7.6% ownership

Normally I avoid players on the double game week as they’re fairly well covered across the site already, and their ownership does grow come the start of the round, but options were slim this week.

Both Maxy and Thommo have referenced their interest in Agar this week, so I’ll keep it brief.

However he’s likely to stay at fairly low-ownership having been dropped and X-factored out of the side at times this season.

But with personnel missing, namely George Garton who is set to return to England, provided Agar gets named to play tonight he has stacks of upside.

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BREAKEVENS

Each week we’ll list the top 10 players with both the highest and lowest breakevens, plus a few additional players worth noting, to help track your cash movement.

LOWEST BREAKEVEN (Money-makers)

Matthew Gilkes (-54)

Reece Topley (-45)

Joe Clarke (-43)

Dan Hughes (-21)

Hayden Kerr (-20)

Tom O’Connell (-17)

Tymal Mills (-14)

Ben Cutting (-12)

Dan Christian (-9)

Mohammad Hasnain (-8)

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HIGHEST BREAKEVEN

Mark Steketee (166)

Ben Duckett (156)

Glenn Maxwell (153)

Tanveer Sangha (147)

Josh Philippe (146)

Rashid Khan (127)

Jono Wells (119)

Mitch Marsh (118)

Sam Billings (115)

Dan Worrall (113)

Jack Wildermuth (110)

Sam Heazlett (110)

Matt Wade (108)

Tom Abell (108)

Hilton Cartwright (101)

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SKIPPERS

As mentioned on numerous occasions, the Strikers look the team to target this week on the double game and the fact they are likely to have two dry games.

This means we can put the vice-captaincy on a Striker, and even if they score say 20 odd runs I’d be happy to use the loophole due to the uncertainty around other fixtures.

Rashid Khan is the drop dead obvious pick and will be rightly very popular.

I’m not going to elaborate on him, he’s the straight forward pick and won’t let you down.

I don’t like many other Strikers, however Matt Short is a very sneaky pick if looking to anti-POD Khan.

While he’s not exactly a wicket-taker, you’re always a chance in T20 cricket, particularly when bowling four overs as he did last start.

After a blistering start to the season with the bat, he’s continually fallen agonisingly short of the 20 run mark and hence the strike-rate bonus.

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He has genuine upside with his terrific role.

All that being said, I’m pretty happy to play safe with Khan this week who is also due to produce something with the willow despite looking out of sorts at the crease.

The Heat would normally be the obvious option for captain due to the double, but with no confirmation on who is unavailable due to COVID issues, along with a weak roster and rain around their games, I’ll probably avoid them all together.

Unless Khan completely flops I’ll be sticking with him as captain via the loophole.

If he does go sub-20 odd I’ll monitor the updated weather of each game to determine a suitable replacement.