Final word: Captains, weather forecast, POD watch Rd 8

Home stretch now.

And depending on your ownership of four certain International quality batsman, you might be ready for a break or charging towards the title.

We sit here every year with our strategy to target bowlers and all-rounders, and it’s a proven strategy. But class is permanent and the efforts of Smith, Short, Maxwell and Warner duly rewarded owners.

The Fake Maxi’s have hit the skids – after sneaking inside the Top 1k for the first time after round 5, we are back at 1.7k overall. It’s been a tough year but with a boost up our sleeve we are well poised to make some moves.

PRICE DROP! Support the site and subscribe to our premium content for BBL14, now just $20! Get access to additional articles throughout the season. Gain access to our Whatsapp community with team news for every game, team feedback, and contributor trade and skipper plans every week and plenty more. SUBSCRIBE NOW

Embed from Getty Images

Plenty of gutsy Coaches out there have reaped the rewards on offer for being bold. And Round 8 looks like bringing much of the same.

Let’s take a look at Supercoach BBL Round 8 that starts tonight in Sydney’s West.

Weather Watch

All weather is courtesy of the Bureau of Meteorology as of Sunday, 10PM. All times are in AEDT. Forecasts are subject to change.

An eye towards the second game of the Canes double might be worth keeping, but otherwise it seems we sholud be in the clear.

Looking ahead

This is the last Double Game Round of the season.

But being so close to the finish line, it’s all about trying to keep or buy as many of the best players available for your side.

With the Sydney Sixers and Adelaide Strikers facing off at Adelaide Oval where over 400 runs were scored you need to absolutely consider a path to Matt Short and Steve Smith.

Because with only three trades to go next week – or four if you’ve held a boost – anyone you buy now has a fantastic chance of needing to play in your side in Round 9 as well.

The Melbourne Stars have the bye in round 8 which is handy for looping purposes, but finish their season at MCG which is a weird ground for SuperCoach.

Breakevens

Each week we’ll list the top players with both the highest and lowest breakevens, plus a few additional players worth noting, to help track your cash movement.

The breakeven number is the score required in the upcoming round for a player to make or lose money.

Lowest breakeven (Money-makers)

Mark Steketee -77

Alex Ross -37

Matt Kuhnemann -34

Sam Fanning -26

Will Sutherland -24

Glenn Maxwell -23

D’Arcy Short -23

Adam Zampa -20

Moises Henriques -20

Liam Haskett -17

Kane Richardson -11

Sean Abbott -8

Jordan Buckingham -3

Embed from Getty Images

Highest breakeven (Likely price drop)

Xavier Bartlett 150

Mitch Owen 150

Nathan Ellis 127

Ben McDermott 127

Chris Green 123

Brendan Doggett 119

Chris Jordan 118

Jacob Bethell 109

Josh Philippe 108

Shai Hope 107

Alex Carey 105

Andrew Tye 105

Mohammed Hasnain 103

Josh Brown 102

Finn Allen 101

Embed from Getty Images

Super PODs

In the Final Word, we’ll look at the super POD options, the players at under 5% ownership (among the top 1% ranked coaches) that could send you soaring (or falling) up the overall ranks.

They come with big risk, but the reward is immense if it comes off.

Last week, Tim called out Aaron Hardie who scored a big fat zero, so I hope you avoided that one.

George Garton – $115,600 – BAT/BWL – Sydney Thunder

Very tempted to mention Lance Morris again at just 3.8% ownership who will spearhead the Scorchers attack with Jhye Richardson out…

And then I had another look at his teammate Ashton Agar who has had a sneakily good Big Bash and sits in just 1.4% of teams…

But for POD value it’s hard to go past George Garton who is in only two (2) teams in the Top 1%.

With Wes Agar dropped, Garton will simply have to bowl surge and death overs for his new club.

He also will have to bat at number 7 in what is a pretty short batting lineup which could grant him opportunities.

We know Perth’s batting isn’t the strongest it’s been at the minute. And Showgrounds can offer plenty of assistance for the bowlers too.

So playing in the first game, if you wanted a speculative pick for an all-rounder that you could bench loop, I like Garton.

Embed from Getty Images

Captains

Last week we got a taste of the forbidden fruit.

The masses flocked to skipper batsman which has long been proven risky.

But they all did the job.

Steve Smith 166. Matt Short 164. Glenn Maxwell 135. David Warner 108.

What I like about this time of year, and taking a gamble on batters, is we have a reliable sample size of data to tell whose in form and who isn’t.

And for that reason, it’s going to take a lot for me to not keep the skipper on Steve Smith or Matt Short this week.

Embed from Getty Images

Yes, of course I will take a VC on one of my Hobart players.

Of the lot, I think it has to be Chris Jordan due to his role – I really want to chase a ceiling and the biggest in that side arguably belong to him and Mitch Owen.

But even before I consider the slight chance of rain interupting the Canes second game of the round, it will have to be a special score of 70+ for me to loop.

Looking for the best rate on your home loan? Paddy and his team at Mortgage Choice SCW can get you the best rate possible. It’s a super easy process, so flick them a message. Better yet, save $129 by mentioning SC Playbook for a FREE CONSULT!

By now we know who the guys are with the best roles.

But we also know whose in form. And as such, this is very much a round to follow your gut.

If I owned, I’d even be tempted with a sneaky VC on David Warner in Game 1 before the ‘Canes double kicks off.

But for me the allure of the ceiling of Smith or Short is too much to ignore.

Good luck to everyone in round 8!