Final say: Round 14 tactics, trades, skippers

We were due a collective win after this season riddled with injuries, suspensions and disappointing form, which made Round 13 and its measly two bye teams a pleasant respite.

My side managed a respectable 2,143, which frankly surprised me by only being enough for 15,000th for the round and a slight jump up to 8,800th for the season. That shows the quality of teams around the place this SuperCoach season!

I’ve been itching to put a season’s worth of bye-planning in to effect and this feels like the week where it all comes to fruition. A host of stars are sitting on the pine (for various reasons), which means preparation is as important as it’s been for any round so far this season.

I’m feeling good – let’s get in to it!

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The Round 13 Positives

Rookie Bonanza

Just an outstanding week from the young fellas. Will Day and Will Ashcroft kicked things off with solid Saturday afternoon scores, but it was Matt Johnson’s 96 that really got the party started on Saturday night.

Georgey Wardlaw and Eddie Ford then brought things home with a bang on Sunday, with their 94 and 84 points respectively proving invaluable for coaches hoping to shed a couple of sub-par premo outings (more on them later).

Both Wardlaw and Johnson in particular are now firming as legitimate M9/10 bench options for the remainder of the season.

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The Gnome is BACK!

In prior years, a Rory Laird matchup against the worst team in the league (maybe in history…) would’ve seen an automatic captain’s armband addition. This season saw a lot of teams (myself included) look elsewhere, or even take a measly 119 from Rowan Marshall.

The Gnome’s 115 average for the season isn’t quite at the lofty 128 heights of last year, but with a 5-round average of 125 and 156-point demolition of the Eagles I think it’s fair to say he’s firmly. back in business. Viva La Gnome.

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Dunks under the radar

I have to admit that even I was shocked to see this week that Josh Dunkley is averaging 140 – yeah, 140 – over his last five games.

He leads all-comers in the 3 and 5 round average categories and is now the 4th-highest averaging player in SuperCoach overall. This is turning in to an all-time season, especially for a player at a new club, and I don’t see any reason why Dunks can’t push his former teammate Bontempelli for the top-averaging season honours.

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The Round 13 Negatives

Errol

Exceedingly difficult to know what to make of Errol’s season so far; for every point there is a counterpoint.

Only 6 tons, but two of them were 150+ scores. 6 sub-100 scores, but only 2 of them sub-85. A beautiful kick of the football, who went at 50% DE on the weekend.

I’m officially worried about 0 tons in his last 3 games, and a score of 62 – spending way too much time on a half forward flank – is a red flag.

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Teasing Rooks

I’m officially sick of seeing the names “Constable” and “Sharp” on my Twitter feed. They’re both on the never-again list.

It’s torturous attempting to make trade plans with this spectre of “will they, won’t they” hanging over these two guys – I’m doing a Daniel Rich / Jack Gunston and unilaterally ruling them out of SuperCoach selection consideration for the remainder of the season.

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Conor McKenna

There are other more high profile disappointments of the 2023 season, but my personal most disappointing player is the Irishman McKenna.

I couldn’t have been higher on McKenna’s potential after the way he finished his Essendon career. This is not the carefree, attacking, reckless player I knew back then.

Conor has executed his last Solo in my team – he’s out this week.

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Trades

Harry Sheezel -> Lewis Melican

Seamus Mitchell -> Nat Fyfe

Conor McKenna -> Jack Sinclair

9 trades left, $91k in the bank.

It’s go time. 

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Melican is maybe the least attractive downgrade option I can remember (sorry Dylan), but all he needs to do is get through these next few weeks and drop a couple of 60s. Sheezel – to my eye anyway – seems to be hitting the rookie wall and is struggling to coexist with Ziebell and Hall in the side. 

I don’t see him as a season keeper, particularly when comparing him to Briggs, Day and Fyfe, who would become my quasi-keepers for the rest of the year.

Which brings me to Fyfe. At $275k, with his bye done and coming off a 96 in which he spent significant time through the midfield, this feels like a no-brainer. If he can average 80+ from here on out and – more importantly – remain healthy, this is a success, and the upside is obvious.

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McKenna has to go – I’m sick of him leaking cash – and Sinclair is the best non-Stewart option for defenders who’ve had their bye.

Where these moves leave me are with 9 trades left, one on-field rookie (Ashcroft/Johnson/Wardlaw) and three on-field quasi premos (Fyfe, Day and Briggs) with which I’ll be riding out most of the rest of the season.

Ashcroft will go next week up to Clarry (hopefully – depending on pricings) and then with 7 trades left I can turn my attention to sideways trading the quasi-premos as opportunities arise.

Clear as mud.

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Eddie’s Captains

With Zak Butters and Tom Stewart out the way as VC options (congratulations if you managed to avoid them last night), let’s turn our attention to the rest of the weekend.

Josh Dunkley is currently the hottest player in the competition. With an average of 139.8 over the last five games, he’s almost ten points ahead of the next best player during that period. Expect another strong score from him against a struggling Swans outfit at the Gabba.

Lachie Neal didn’t have his best game against the Hawks last week, despite finding plenty of the pill. I’m backing him to bounce back against Sydney, but still would lean towards Dunks out of the two options.

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Andrew Brayshaw seems to have overcome his early season injury issues and has been performing extremely well of late, with an average of 121 over the last five games. He has a good matchup against GWS, a team he has good record against. I’m throwing Brayshaw firmly in to consideration, especially with Caleb Serong dealing with some sort of ankle injury.

The Saints have a habit of not giving up big scores to midfielders, but it’s hard to ignore Tim Taranto’s average of 120 in his last five outings. He should be considered as a viable option once again this week.

The Bont has been as consistent as they come this season, serving up his eighth score of 120 or more against Port Adelaide last week. This week he’s up against the Roos and despite the threat of Liam Shiels around the place, I don’t think North have anyone that can really slow down the best player in the comp.

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Tim English had a shocker last week against Port Adelaide. Scott Lycett dominated him in the ruck, which I think it’s fair to say was unexpected for most coaches. North Melbourne are the stingiest ruck outfit in the comp, but did give up a ton to Kieren Briggs last week, so it’s doable. As an English non-owner he always makes me nervous.

Vice Captains

1. Josh Dunkley
2. Lachie Neale
3. Andrew Brayshaw

Captains

1. Marcus Bontempelli
2. Josh Dunkley
3. Tim English