Final say: Round 12 tactics, trades, skippers

Must. Keep. A. Lid. On. My. Emotions.

We are making progress!! A third positive week in a row for Explosive Duryea – I scored 2,388, which moved me up another 3,000 spots overall into 11,000th overall.

Shout out to my back 6, who are holding down the fort in admirable style. Five of the six back there chalked up 120+ scores (Josh Weddle with a 62 the only [slight] letdown), with Mason Redman again leading the charge with his third straight ton.

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Not to be outdone, the mids chipped in with some quality outings as well – Timmy Taranto is up to a 117 average for the season, Zach Merrett fought off a tag from the WAFL Eagles to keep his average above 110 for the year and so did my newest trade-in, Lachie Neale.

Captain Fantastic Marcus Bontempelli is the safest bet in SuperCoach at the moment, and proved his credentials with a scrappy 124 against the Suns up in Darwin.

Just to bring me back to earth – as he has a couple of times this season – Big Shrek Darcy managed just 39 points before ripping his hammy and becoming an automatic trade-out option. Plenty to think about heading into the first week of the byes…

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The Round 11 Positives

Red DOG!!!

As I mentioned on this week’s SC Playbook Podcast, I reckon the fact that Redman is on a contract year is flying severely under the radar in SuperCoach circles.

With rumours circulating that the Crows are prepared to offer the Dons star upwards of $750k per season, is it any wonder that Red Dog is pushing up to the full-forward line to kick goals against West Coast?! (This actually happened. He kicked a goal from the goal-line. He’s a half back.)

Or that he’s had 68 kicks and just 20 handballs in the last 3 weeks?

A run of 4 straight sub-90 scores seriously tested my faith, but I’m back on the Red Dog train. Get on him before it’s too late.

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Rookie Bench Scores

What a luxury to be able to loop at this stage of the season. Shout outs to Matt Johnson, whose clutch 72 allowed me to miss out on George Wardlaw’s stinky 43, and Josh Weddle whose 62 allowed the bliss of not having to watch Conor McKenna put up another stinker.

With Charlie Constable poised to return to the Suns lineup if the Rat stinks it up again, suddenly I’ve found a little bit of bench depth out of nowhere.

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Options

Aside from the injury to Darcy, this feels like the first time this SuperCoach season where there are legitimate decisions to make, rather than just reacting to injuries/suspensions (thank you as well to the Crows legal team for getting Lairdy off).

For a host of coaches ,heading in to Rd 12 presents a plethora of opportunities. Do you attack, go early on a Oisin Mullin, or jump on a rising Keiran Briggs, or do you hold fire and wait for the carnage to unfold around you?

This is how SuperCoach is meant to feel. I love it.

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The Round 11 Negatives

George Wardlaw

Noting that I went early on Wardlaw last week, would I still get him this week after a 43 on the weekend and noting his elevated $193k price tag?

The answer is still yes… but just the fact that we’re discussing it tells you all you need to know.

This was not an impressive outing for the second-gamer. He’ll bounce back, but he needs to be averaging ~70 to justify his price tag and that now looks like a worry.

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Tom Green

Many people – myself included – expected Green to tear apart a struggling Cats midfield, particularly without Josh Kelly in the mix. To finish with a 95 isn’t a disaster, but two sub-100 scores in the last 3 weeks is a concern.

I expect Green to tire at some stage this season, as most young mids trying to reach uber-premo status tend to do, and I’m desperately hoping we’re not seeing that unfold in front of our eyes.

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Semi-Premos

Nothing worse than a guy hovering in that empty space between “need to trade” and “pure premo”.

Will Day is averaging 91. Stephen Coniglio is averaging 99. Harry Sheezel is averaging 99. Are these guys keepers? Do they need to be traded? If so, when?

I would appreciate if they could let me know one way or the other. That’d be great.

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Trades

Sean Darcy -> Kieren Briggs

Blake Drury -> Eddie Ford

Big week and I’m going big. Round 12 may make or break my season.

Sean Darcy has to go. He’s a big man with a bad hamstring – they don’t fix quickly.

I see two options here – either take a massive punt on Kieren Briggs, or go the safe option and bring in Jarrod Witts.

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Witts is a gun and I want him in my team eventually. However, he plays the Crows in Darwin this week (who he has a bad record against) and it’s going to be wet and slippery – not hugely conducive to ruck scores. He also has the bye next week.

I think I can afford to take a punt here on a guy with back-to-back hundreds, who doesn’t have his bye for two weeks and is projected to make $90k in those two weeks.

If all goes to plan Kieren Briggs will be my R2 for the next two weeks, at which point I’ll upgrade him to Wittsy coming off his bye.

Please note – Matt Flynn has been named in the GWS extended squad at the time of writing. If he makes the 23 there is 0 chance I’m bringing Briggs in and all of this will be moot.

Eddie Ford is a must-have, and doing this Briggs manoeuvre means I don’t have to cull a decent rook to get him. I can afford to use the Briggs cash elsewhere; hence Blake Drury is in the gun rather than Will Ashcroft.

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Eddie’s Captains

Christian Petracca is going to be featured heavily on Friday night as the Dees face a floundering Carlton. With no Oliver in the mix it’s again likely he’ll see limited time forward and a lot of time in the guts. His record against the Blues is solid without being spectacular. 

The Port boys should both chop up the Hawks. Butters went nuts with a 136 in their last encounter, while although Rozee’s record isn’t great against them, I still reckon he’s worth a look as a VC in this new look mid role.

Nick Daicos will murder West Coast. That’s about all I have to say about it. O’Neill is a slight concern but I reckon Daicos will smash him.

The Cats midfield is decimated, which shapes well for Bont, who’s scored once below 107 all season. The Dogs need to respond after a bad loss in Darwin and I think Bont puts them on his back.

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Jordan Dawson notched up a ton in a return to form against the Lions. I don’t love the Darwin conditions for him, but he has also put up 298 points in his last 2 games against the Suns. Not a typo.

Rory Laird might be the safest captaincy pick of the lock. Mids scored well in Darwin last week (Jack Macrae 145, Matt Rowell 159) and I think Lairdy will be suited to a game that will value his clean hands.

Tim Taranto faces his former club, which is usually a good sign for big scores (see: Josh Dunkley earlier this year). He’s scoring well but how much has it been reliant on him kicking goals (4 last week)? It’s risky but there’s a high ceiling there.

Jordan De Goey slaughtered the Roos last week (156). Zach Merrett, with Darcy Parish still missing, gets them this week. I don’t think I can ignore that. Merrett averages 101 against the Roos in his career and is coming off a 140 against them. This is a no-brainer.

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Vice Captains

1. Zak Butters
2. Christian Petracca
3. Connor Rozee

Captains

1. Zach Merrett
2. Rory Laird
3. Nick Daicos

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