Final say: Round 3, trade plans + tactics

• DATA ANALYSIS: Pain and gain points, SuperCoach Round 3
• CAPTAIN’S CORNER: Round 3 skippers to target and avoid

Round 2 was slightly more favourable for some, with some luxury scores from premo’s, PODs, and even rookies; but at the same end of the scope, a lot needs to be discussed about what to do with some underperforming premiums *cough* Whitfield *cough*, and how to go about getting in some must have players.

Good thing I’m here to give you the Final Word!

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Thumbs Up

Jack Crisp (DEF/MID, 121, 36%)

I feel bad for the 4% of teams who decided trading out Crisp was a good idea, but your loss is our gain. In last week’s article I questioned whether he actually knew how to play Midfield – I guess I have my answer now… GUN!

Luke Ryan (DEF, 156, 7.4%)

The highest scoring defender of the round and he’s my POD! Wow, it’s a great feeling when a POD pays off (unlike last week), and I am fully ready to ride the Luke Ryan rollercoaster for the rest of the season. Hop on!

Jayden Short (DEF, 136, 30.7%)

It’s simple… Jayden Short is a must have.

Mitchell Hinge (DEF, 84, 38.8%)

Awesome stuff! Keep it up Mitchy.

Jack Macrae (MID, 142, 48.7%)

Probably wasting my time writing about Macrae each week but yeah, if you haven’t got the memo yet, he’s the best Mid in the game 🙂

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Lachie Neale (MID, 198, 54.2%)

Lachie Neale is an absolute cheat code. I expected him to do well this year, but oh my goodness not this well!! He was EVERYwhere on the weekend, and he would’ve scored over 200 if his goal wasn’t overturned. Absolute jet, and with a breakeven of -20, he is going to start making a stackkkkk of cash.

Patrick Cripps (MID, 162, 36.8%)

This is getting ridiculous now. Much like Lachie Neale, if you buy Cripps now at his -28 breakeven, you’ll probably be able to trade him to Touk or Macrae with ease in a few weeks.

Although the other option is you just buy him now and keep him in your team for the rest of the season if he keeps pumping out huge scores like these. To think that I was tossing up between Cripps or Serong in pre-season makes me laugh hahah.

Buyer beware though: Carlton will have a full-strength Midfield this week so Cripps’ impact may diminish a little bit; having said that though, he looks like a completely different athlete this year. Must have.

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Dylan Stephens (MID, 95, 30.7%)

This will do very, very nicely. Looks like Stephens has a great role on the Wing, and he should continue to find a heap of cheap kicks out there.

Zac Butters (FWD, 136, 48%)

Wowee… Watch out Josh Dunkley, Butters is coming for your #1 spot!

Stephen Coniglio (MID/FWD, 99, 74.5%)

Just keeps ticking along. Good stuff Cogs!

Will Brodie (MID/FWD, 101, 38.5%

He’s always had the potential, now Brodie is finally executing. What’s even better is that he’s going to start making a lot of money for you, so hold onto him tight!

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Thumbs Down

Lachie Whitfield (DEF/MID, 70, 51%)

“Don’t trade your premiums” … Huh? Nah I never said that haha. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out Lachie!

Jarrod Berry (MID, 76, 23.3%)

A 76 is actually not bad for Berry, but it’s not his score that puts him in the Thumbs Down section, it’s his role. On the weekend we saw Berry put into a tagging role, and unfortunately for us, he did a pretty good job of it.

In fact, he did such a good job that Chris Fagan publicly said how impressed he was with Berry. I’m getting out while I can, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Mitch McGovern (FWD, 40, 13.7%)

Ahhh yeah, this pick didn’t turn out well. If you’ve got McGovern, get out now before it’s too late… ABORT! ABORT!

Corey Durdin (FWD, 24, 14.2%)

Funnily enough, I’m not actually too mad about this. The only reason I had Durdin on field was because Nic Martin wasn’t playing. After this week, Durdin can return back to where he belongs: The bench.

Score: 2394

Rank: 25,664

A pretty solid week for me actually, considering I had a 40 and 24 on field. My rank is still probably too high for me to be fully happy with how I’m going but I think my team has a great base, and after this week’s trade, I reckon I’ll be in a much better position.

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GET THEM IN!

Andrew Brayshaw (MID, 189, 5.7%)

He is an absolute gun and is fully taking advantage of his increased Midfield time with Fyfe out. He’s a bit expensive, but after this massive score, he will have an incredibly low breakeven.

Jake Bowey (DEF, 151, 6.7%)

Holy MOLY! I’ve convinced myself that Bowey will be the pick of the year. With Salem out for another eight weeks (I believe), it looks like Bowey will now be the main distributor off Half back and geez he looked goooood on the weekend. Lock & Load.

Tristan Xerri (FWD, 120, 16.8%)

I’m annoyed I didn’t start with Xerri because I had him in my team all pre-season and got scared that he would have a terrible role. However, he looks like he’s firmly cemented himself as North’s #1 Ruck, and his scoring his reflecting that. Great cheap option to throw into your Forward line with a breakeven of -77!

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KEEP EM’ IN!

Marcus Bontempelli (MID, 105, 12%)

Two back-to-back scores of 105 is enough to make any coach cautious, but the Bont is the Bont! He will bounce back from this *little* dip in form.

Tom Mitchell (MID, 82, 7.3%)

You don’t get the nickname ‘Pig’ for no reason. Just keep him and he’ll repay you with a 170 in a few weeks.

Jack Steele (MID, 111, 32.6%)

I can’t believe I have to say this AGAIN, but please don’t trade out Jack Steele!

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PACK YA BAGS!

Zach Merrett (MID, 117, 3.4%)

A syndesmosis injury unfortunately means that it’s time to go for Zach.

Max Gawn (RUC, 88, 53.2%)

I never thought I’d say this, but it’s time to trade out Big Max. Sharing 50% of the Ruck duties is a big turn off for me, and I even flagged it in pre-season that the Demons are looking toward the future with Jackson, so they want to get as much Rucking into him as possible. He has an incredibly high breakeven, so you can jump back onto him when he bottoms out! Now is the time to trade though.

Jarrod Berry (MID, 76, 23.3%)

I mentioned it before: Berry is now a tagger. While it may not be a permanent weekly thing, it’s a risk I’m not willing to take.

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My Trades

It’s the time of year where the game becomes more than a game. As of next week, prices will rise and fall, and it becomes a lot more important that you have the right players in your team as soon as possible.

In light of that, I think that there is a lot of value in the backline that I can use to replace the severely underperforming Whitfield (who I’ll be able to get back when he bottoms out in price).

With that extra money I get, I can then use that to trade Berry up to a gun premium player under $600k, and my final trade is a bit of a no-brainer.

Whitfield -> Bowey

Berry -> Brayshaw

McGovern -> Xerri