Final say: Round 3 tactics, trades, skippers

The sky is graying, the temp is cooling, my hammy is in tatters, and I hate my SuperCoach team – footy is well and truly back baby.

2,144 was all I could muster up in Round 2, “good” (not the right word) enough to finish 50,000th for the week, and keeping me steady at 37,000th overall for the season. 

Plenty of positive signs amongst the trembling foundations of a pretty disappointing start to the season, but there’s also a lot to groan about.

Luckily I’ve got you guys here to listen to my ranting!

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The Round 2 Positives

Will Day

One of those affirming, relieving performances (98 SC) that validates what your eyes have been telling you: Will Day is a good footballer and he CAN perform as a SuperCoach prospect.

Thank heck for that.

26 touches, 4 tackles, 4 marks, 11 contested possessions at 76% efficiency is a tidy performance from a young midfielder in a side that got completely belted.

Another positive – depending on how you look at it – is just 187 metres gained on those 26 touches; there’s room to improve.

Asked on Footy Classified on Monday night about Hawthorn’s list management strategy, particularly their decisions to move on Jaeger O’Meara and Tom Mitchell, coach Sam Mitchell replied that it was essential for their longterm development to get his young midfielders more midfield minutes.

He then singled out Day as one of these essential young mids, and his CBA numbers on the weekend support that.

I am as bullish as I’ve ever been.

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Rookie Performances

We definitely don’t see this sort of rookie quality every year, illustrated by the fact that my on-field rooks (weighed down by Pedlar’s 36) still averaged 77. 

Sheezel (114 SC), Ashcroft (105 SC), McKenna (78 SC) and Jones (76 SC) all showed more than enough to suggest they’re capable of doing some heavy-lifting in the coming weeks, as and when they’re needed. 

Cam Mackenzie (52 SC) and Luke Pedlar were really the only “negatives” over the weekend, and both seem well entrenched in their respective sides.

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Not Panicking

It hasn’t been my best start to a season, I’ll readily admit that. Am I throwing the toys out of the cot just yet, even though I kind of detest my side? Absolutely Not really. 

This time last season I was ranked 35,000th – only 2,000 spots higher than this year. A month later I was in the top 1,000 and stayed there for essentially the rest of the season. 

Don’t. Panic. If your season hasn’t started quite the way you would have liked, it’s fine, there’s plenty of time to turn it around. Back in your preseason decisions, trust your gut, don’t do anything silly! (That’s what I’m telling myself anyway).

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The Negatives

Injuries

After avoiding all of the Round 1 carnage, it was only natural that Round 2 was an injury (mini)disaster. Jack Steele is a must-trade with a month’s worth of collarbone rehab on the cards and Jacob Hopper is confirmed out for at least this week, which throws my midfield in to semi-disarray.

The Hopper out hurts particularly badly given the positive signs he exhibited for his 119 SC against the Crows.

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Fading Cogs

Same as last week. It hurts. Why did I not start with this guy.

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Sean Darcy

Imagine being that big, that talented and having that little impact on a game of football. -5 SC points at halftime for the big fella. What are we even doing here?

With Mason Cox out for the foreseeable future making Darcy Cameron look even sexier, coupled with Tim English’s all-round dominance, the supposed no-brainer Darcy decision in the preseason is looking worse by the day.

Shrek gets one more week in Explosive Duryea before he’s given his marching orders.

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Big Decisions

Jack Steele 

Infinity options here with the Saints skipper. 

Do you go up to Clarry / Touk, across to a LDU / Coniglio / Green, or down to a Setterfield / Rowell? At the moment I’m selecting “none of the above”, and correcting a clear miss by bringing in Daicos via Ginbey’s DPP. If I wasn’t doing that, I think it’d be Touk entering my side.

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Setterfield – Yay or Nay?

One of the big litmus tests of this early SuperCoach season is what exactly to make of Will Setterfield. The Dons’ recruit has been exceptional to start the season, but is he: A) a keeper, B) a stepping stone or C) a monumental trap?

Not to fence-sit, but I think the right way to view Setterfield is as somewhere between B) and C). He’s not a keeper, but he *should* allow you to get to a keeper. 

As it stands, I’m using the cash gained from Steele -> Daicos to cut the cord on Callaghan and move him up to Setterfield.

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Rookies

As I’ve mentioned both this week and last week, I’ve been stoked with my rookie selections for the most part. Kade Chandler is the only guy I feel like may need to come in.

The real question is – who makes way? Logic would say Luke Pedlar’s elevated $170k+ price tag makes him expendable, but I’ve always liked the way Pedlar plays and can see he’s important for the Crows’ structure. 

Fergus Greene – who’s playing as a quasi key forward in the worst forward line in the competition (maybe ever) – might have to get his marching orders.

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Trades

Steele -> Daicos (via DPP)

Callaghan -> Setterfield

Greene -> Chandler

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Eddie’s Captains

Sweet, sweet Garden Gnome. A 147 as Vice Captain is one way to bounce back for Rory Laird! Showdowns are always a bit tricky to predict, but Laird had 133 in the most recent encounter between these two teams. He’s a safe captaincy pick.

Tim English was the ideal VC pick for Thursday’s game (139 SC), with Marcus Bontempelli’s 89 and Josh Dunkley’s 108 probably a ways off being enough. That means a lot of coaches – myself included – are in the market for a straight up captaincy pick.

The Tigers have made clear that their plans aren’t to tag Nick Daicos on Friday, and they certainly didn’t tag Laird last Saturday, so the young Pies’ superstar is a solid option as either a VC or straight captaincy option if you’re feeling adventurous.

Josh Kelly comes back into the Giants side and had 156 against the Blues last season – he is a great VC option. LDU might cop some Maginness attention but should be good enough to get away from it.

The Cats are leaking points at the moment (6 tons last week) and Touk had 125 on them last year in Round 22. He is as consistent and reliable as they come.

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Vice Captains

1. Nick Daicos
2. Josh Kelly
3. Luke Davies-Uniacke

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Captains

1. Rory Laird
2. Clayton Oliver
3. Touk Miller

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