Final say: Round 2 tactics, trades, skippers

Nothing quite like the exhilaration of living through a full slate of Round 1 games. All that planning, fretting, scheming over the last few months put to the ultimate test! 

For my team – Explosive Duryea – it was a weekend that brought forth every emotion in the book.

I was proud of Tom Green (134SC), awed by Harry Sheezel (114 SC), nonplussed by Will Day (60 SC) and repulsed by Rory Laird (50 SC) and Liam Jones (5 SC). 

The overriding emotion though? Pure thankfulness that footy is back on our screens and SuperCoach is back worming its way into our brains!

There’s a reason we’re so hopelessly addicted to this thing and nothing quite matches the thrill of watching your hard work and endless thinking pay off.

This SuperCoach community is growing exponentially and it’s amazing to watch the investment and work that we’re all putting into our teams at the moment. Long may it last!

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The Round 1 Positives

Rookie Selections

Couldn’t be happier with what I saw out of Conor McKenna (93 SC), Reuben Ginbey (85 SC, 12 tackles), Cam Mackenzie (93 SC), Luke Pedlar (83 SC) Alwyn Davey (58 SC), and Jye Menzie (68 SC).

Even though their scores weren’t quite there, I didn’t mind what I saw out of Darcy Wilmot (51 SC), Oskar Baker (43 SC) and Lachie Cowan (38 SC). 

Charlie Constable’s disposal (56 SC) was abhorrent and Fergus Greene (33 SC) couldn’t get near it – these are the only two giving me concern.

I’m stoked to miss out on Oli Hollands (56 SC) and Campbell Chesser (20 SC); can’t see them staying in their respective sides for much longer.

Bodhi Uwland is perhaps the only “miss” (and it’s early days) out of the round 1 rookies.

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Defensive Structure

To be clear – my actual defensive choices were definitely not all positives, Day and Jones made sure of that.

What was something to lean on was the thought process behind a Premo D1 (Docherty), Underpriced Premo D2 (Ridley), Midprice D3 (Day), Elevated Rookie D4 (Jones) and Rookies at D5 and 6 (McKenna / Ginbey). 

That structure made sense to me all preseason, and with the exception of a truly horrific performance from Jones and a nervy, mistake-riddled outing from Day (who had 22 touches and moved through the midfield) it would’ve been a raging success.

Ridley vs. Daicos was a judgment call, and despite an exhilarating Friday night performance from the Pies’ superstar, I’m okay with where I landed on Ridley.

Hawthorn couldn’t find the ball, let alone move it inside 50, so the fact that Ridley still tonned up given the circumstances was promising.

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Paying Up For Cheapies

Already touched on this above, but one of my key SuperCoach tenets is that you get what you pay for when it comes to “cheapie” options.

Finn Callaghan (101 SC, $244k), Mackenzie ($180k), Ginbey ($171k), McKenna ($167k), Sheezel ($198k), Menzie ($154k) and Pedlar ($173k) all came with inflated price tags and all delivered in spades. 

There is absolutely nothing wrong with spending ~$50k extra to pimp out your bench if it means you’re guaranteeing better job security and a higher scoring ceiling, which is what all of those players offer vs. the standard $120k options.

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The Negatives

Midfield Premos

To pay up for Rory Laird or not was one of the biggest questions of the preseason.

If you managed to resist the temptation, you were rewarded handsomely, with 2022’s most consistent SuperCoacher putting in a performance worse than anyone could have possibly imagined. 

While Laird will bounce back, I was also very discouraged by Jack Steele’s 90, in a win, under the lid at Marvel.

Only 3 tackles for a guy who averaged 7 last year and 8 the year before is a concern.

On the other hand, looking at the overall scores for St Kilda vs. Fremantle is an adventure.

Just 4 Saints scored 90+ (108 high score), whereas three Dockers went 135+. I’m chalking this up to a weird outing.

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Fading Cogs

Self-explanatory. When Errol Gulden (115 SC) became irresistible, it was Coniglio (143 SC) who made way. While this definitely isn’t a disaster at this point, given all 4 of my premo forwards raised the bat (or at least went close – Rozee 97 SC), Cogs’ role looked amazing and it’s hard to see him not finishing as a top 6 forward. Might need to be a priority upgrade, or even a Round 3 Reshuffle.

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Greedy Captaincy Decision

Not taking Doch’s 108 on Thursday night cost 58 points.

Easy to say in retrospect after Laird’s Sunday stink-bomb – I’ll accept that – but this was a nice reminder that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush (perhaps my all-time favourite proverb).

Banking decent captaincy scores early will be a mindset I’m trying to take with me all season.

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Big Decisions

Not so much “Big Decisions” this week as opposed to “Nagging Thoughts”.

Personally – and I know public sentiment seems to be heading the other way – I’m a huge advocate of conservatism when it comes to trading in SuperCoach.

Injuries aside, there really is no real reason (again – my opinion only) to be trading in the lead-up to the second round of the season.

One game is not enough of a sample size to be making judgments about guys, especially when the other side of the scale is months worth of preseason thinking and analysis that resulted in those guys being in/out of your teams in the first place.

That being said… There are a few guys that are testing my mettle.

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Docherty Downgrades

This one luckily falls in to the bucket of possible Round 3 adjustment, which I find much more palatable.

Doch’s role looks to be much lessened in this Carlton side as others rise up around him, which is great for the Blues but not so good for a guy I felt was going to end the season as the number 1 ranked defender in the game.

Thursday night’s performance against Geelong was not good, and I think it’s telling that Carlton played so well without its usual reliance on Doch.

If Nick Daicos puts in another huge score over the weekend, it’s going to be hard to resist both the cash and the scoring potential that a Doch -> Daicos move frees up.

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Day Qualms

If you’ve read any of my pieces or listened to any of my podcasts over the last 18 months you’ll know one thing about me – I flippin love Will Day.

The smooth-moving Hawk is a joy to watch when at full flight and has all the tools to become a top-line AFL footballer.

When will that happen, though?

Day’s 60 SC points on the weekend weren’t without some seriously positive signs – he attended 22% of CBAs, he was involved in chains from half-back, he roamed the wing with impunity – but the fact is scores of 60 aren’t going to get it done for a guy I paid $362k for. 

I saw just enough from Day’s 22 disposal Round 1 display that I’m content to give him another week, but if he comes up with anything sub-90 against the Swans at the SCG (a tough ask – I know) then I may need to find some cash for an upgrade, or a sideways trade to a Braeden Campbell type.

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Lose Laird?

Borderline unthinkable a week ago, it now feels like a potential season-shaping move to jump off Laird as quickly as possible.

The little garden gnome was horrific on the weekend in arguably the worst game of his (SuperCoach-relevant) career and now looks set to drop $100k+ over the next month or so, in almost a best-case scenario.

The worst-case scenario is that Laird is no longer a premo. I know that feels like an overreaction, but the fact is that midfield premos rarely (if ever) drop sub-75 scores, let alone 50s. 

I’m giving him another week – as I really think everyone should – because ultimately a price-drop of $100k doesn’t matter at all if he ends up being a top-10 mid in 2023, which is still a better chance of happening than not. It’s one to put firmly on the radar, though. 

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Eddie’s Captains

After one of the all-time burn jobs by the aforementioned gnome last week, it’s only up from here!

Laird has Richmond at the Adelaide Oval in a Saturday arvo game, which means he’s the perfect VC option.

He had 120 SC against the Tiges in this fixture last year and will no doubt be extremely keen to avenge a dismal effort last week.

If you’re brave enough to risk putting the full C on Laird, or prepared to take a chance on the Saturday night/Sunday games, Melbourne v Brisbane on Friday is an intriguing matchup.

The Dees gave up 6 SC tons last week, which make Lachie Neale and Josh Dunkley intriguing options.

Neale barely scraped 100s against Melbourne last year and so did Dunkley, so buyer beware here.

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Clayton Oliver dropped 140 and 111 on the Lions in 2022, which makes him a big option.

I love Andrew Brayshaw against the Roos on Sunday for obvious reasons, with Freo again needing a response from their leaders. He dropped 134 in this fixture last year.

Tom Green and Stephen Coniglio will be licking their lips at the prospect of facing a West Coast midfield that gave up 143 SC points to LDU last week.

Zach Merrett and Darcy Parish under the Marvel lid against a one-way running Suns midfield that gave up 3 midfield tons last week is also enticing. 

Last but not least – Marcus Bontempelli had 180 points against the Saints at Marvel last time he played them there. Delicious.

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Vice Captains

1. Rory Laird
2. Clayton Oliver
3. Lachie Neale

Captains

1. Marcus Bontempelli
2. Tom Green
3. Andrew Brayshaw

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Betr Play of the Week

Errol Gulden 110+ AFL Fantasy Points, Tom Green 30+ Disposals @$3.20