The Phantom’s Round 13 Review: The good, the bad and Jack Macrae’s hamstring

TWO bye rounds down but, as Thursday night showed, even when things start to look up, they can turn quickly. The Phantom looks at the good, the bad, Jack Macrae’s hamstring and potential replacements. Plus listen to the latest Phantom’s Lair podcast.

The Phantom's Round 13 review

IT was Thursday afternoon and the rain was tumbling down in Adelaide.

The Bulldogs were in town and SuperCoaches were excited.

Most of them had finally put the disaster that was Round 12 behind them and they began reminiscing about Jack Macrae’s 177 points in similar conditions at Adelaide Oval a month earlier.

Given the Bulldogs were coming off the bye, more than 7,700 SuperCoaches even traded in teammate Toby McLean to strengthen up their forward line.

And it was the right move.

Any experienced SuperCoach would’ve had McLean at the top of their upgrade list prior the start of Round 13.

Fast forward a few hours to the first contest of the game and McLean slides in to the legs of Power star Robbie Gray, hurting himself and giving away a free kick in the process.

He played on but never looked right, winning just 15 disposals for the match.

The club have said he will need to prove his fitness at training, ahead of the Round 14 clash with the Kangaroos.

But it got worse.

Macrae, the highest-averaging player prior to Round 13, warmed up with his teammates after the half-time break but was in the tracksuit and on the bench, with a hamstring injury, before play restarted in the third term.

At least it was quick. SuperCoaches weren’t left wondering whether he would return or not, Macrae was out of the game with 51 points to his name.

But the pain did linger with Macrae ruled out for up to a month over the weekend.

With only 10 rounds remaining, it’s time to trade, SuperCoaches.

It’s the perfect opportunity to jump on GWS star Josh Kelly, who scored 146 points in Round 12 and looks ready to explode after three games back from a seven-week injury lay-off. Kelly is available $552k — a $76k discount on his starting price — and, at the time of writing, is only in eight per cent of teams.

Otherwise, Carlton’s Patrick Cripps, who, after his 54-point performance against the Swans in Round 11, is now available for less than his already cheap starting price of $537k, despite bouncing back with 38 disposals and 109 point against the Dockers.

Melbourne midfielder Clayton Oliver is ripe for the picking ahead of Round 14.

And, at $560k, Melbourne’s Clayton Oliver, who boasts the fourth-highest average of all midfielders, is unlikely to get much cheaper after back-to-back scores of more than 120 prior to the Demons’ Round 12 bye.

There is also Macrae’s teammate Marcus Bontempelli, who has now posted five scores of 120 or more in his past six matches. The 22-year-old looks to have completely bottomed-out in price and with Macrae on the sidelines, coach Luke Beveridge may have no choice but to keep him in the midfield permanently.

What happened over the weekend shows just how quickly things can change for SuperCoaches and why it is so important to keep some trades spare for the run home.

While it can turn for the worse, as some SuperCoaches experienced in Round 13, it can also go the other way.

There is still plenty of time to make up ground.

THE GOOD

Port stars Tom Rockliff, Robbie Gray, Travis Boak and Chad Wingard are all worth consideration for your SuperCoach teams. Picture: SARAH REED

There were plenty of positive from Thursday night, however, mostly for a Port Adelaide point-of-view.

Tom Rockliff backed up his 100-point performance against the Tigers with a season-high 127 points in his best performance in Power colours. Rockliff, who has now scored three SuperCoach tons in his past four matches, with the outlier the match he sacrificed his own game in the second half to restrict the influence of Hawk Tom Mitchell, is still great buying at $403k.

But he’s not the only one to consider at Alberton. If you’re short on cash, Ollie Wines, who posted a career-high 157 points against the Bulldogs is available for $509k. Only Docker Lachie Neale scored more points in Round 12.

Chad Wingard, who is priced at $394k as a dual-position midfielder-forward, has played as a permanent midfielder in the past two weeks for two consecutive SuperCoach tons, is, again, worth some thought.

Kade Simpson’s third quarter against the Dockers on Saturday was huge. The veteran defender, who only touched the footy twice in the first quarter, tallied 18 disposals in the third term to help post his fourth score of 120 or more in 2018. Simpson, who is the third-ranked defender after 13 rounds, is still a great buy at $516k.

After 27 disposals and 99 SuperCoach points in his return to the senior side, Saint Jack Billings has to finally get a mention in this part of the weekly review. But all I can do is laugh — and cry — after staying loyal for 11 long weeks before trading him out ahead of Round 12. At $333k maybe I can trade him back in.

THE BAD

St Kilda defender Jimmy Webster could only manage an injury-affected 13 points in Round 13.

Macrae’s hamstring wasn’t the only one to hurt SuperCoaches at the weekend with St Kilda defender Jimmy Webster’s injury-affected 13 points against the Suns, frustrating his many owners — some who may have only recently jumped on.

While it wasn’t bad, Dustin Martin’s fifth score of 88 or less in his past seven matches in Round 13 didn’t leave the SuperCoaches, who stuck by him after last week, impressed at all. The Brownlow Medallist has now lost $178k off his starting price. If you are short on players this week and have more than enough trades to see you through, Martin could be considered in your trade plans.

THE PHANTOM’S MENACE

Alan Richardson.

Great win, Alan. See what happens when you play one of your most skilful and creative players in the midfield!?

THE PHANTOM ROUND 13

Score: 1740

Overall ranking: 25,562