The Phantom’s Round 20 Review: There were some huge scores this week but there were plenty of clangers too - and not just by the players on the field
There were some huge scores this week but there were plenty of clangers too - and not just by the players on the field. The Phantom wraps up the first week of SuperCoach finals.
- Every score from Round 20
- The Phantom: Coaches’ real message revealed
- Ultimate SuperCoach finals guide
Huge. That’s one word which best describes Round 20 in SuperCoach.
And I’m not just talking about Nic Newman’s 161-point performance against the Eagles.
There are no words that could accurately describe that.
At this stage of the year, most SuperCoach teams are full of premiums and, this week, some of the big names did exactly that, went big.
Adam Treloar (177 points), Marcus Bontempelli (166), Jack Macrae (155) and Nat Fyfe (144) were the pick of the bunch and many of the top-scoring teams this round had three, if not four, of them.
And there were plenty of other SuperCoach tons posted by popular premiums, meaning it was a good week for most teams.
Of course, as always, there were a number of exceptions.
Other big names - Patrick Dangerfield and Patrick Cripps, in particular – struggled and some in-form points-of-difference players let owners down.
After a big SuperCoach ton last week, Cripps maintained his one-up, one-down scoring line – something which started in Round 9 – with a disappointing 78-point performance opposed to West Coast’s Elliot Yeo.
The Carlton skipper finished with 14 contested possessions and nine clearances but six clangers hurt his final score.
And that brings us to the next word of the week, one which will accurately describe SuperCoach in 2019 for some.
In the dictionary, a clanger is defined as a glaring error or mistake.
It’s a word every SuperCoach knows far too well.
In an AFL sense, Champion Data, the game’s official statistician, classify a clanger as a handball or kick which gives possession directly to the opposition and, as well as any free kick given away.
In SuperCoach, a clanger results in -4 points.
Sometimes, through sheer weight of numbers, the clanger counts can go unnoticed but for a player just having an average day, it hurts.
Take Toby Greene, for example.
The star Giant, whose numbers have spiked since rejoining the GWS midfield following the injury to Stephen Coniglio, tallied a game-high six clangers against the Swans.
But his 34 disposals, 18 contested possessions, 10 clearances, six tackles and an influential final term saw Greene finish with a game-high 134 points.
It happens to Geelong’s Patrick Dangerfield all the time.
On the other hand, his teammate Tim Taranto, who had four clangers, all of them free kicks against, finished with just 72 points to his name.
Sure, very little influence in the match-defining fourth-quarter didn’t help, but owners really felt the effect of the 20 points loss to clangers.
It was a similar story for Sydney midfielder Josh Kennedy, who recorded 21 disposals, 10 tackles a game-high seven clangers in a disappointing 72-point performance – his lowest non-injury affected score of the season.
On Friday night, Hawthorn defender James Sicily continued his frustrating SuperCoach year, again, on the back of a number of crucial mistakes.
The enigmatic Hawk tallied a game-high 12 intercept possessions but five clangers, including three free kicks and a 50-metre penalty against, saw Sicily finish with 76 points against North Melbourne.
He’s had less than 20 disposals in five of his past seven matches with coach Alastair Clarkson playing him on the opposition’s best - and deepest - forwards but I’ll save this rant for another day.
But, let’s go back to the general definition of the word.
The Phantom has made his fair share of glaring mistakes this season – we all have.
And one of the biggest ones, which has only become increasingly more obvious in the past few weeks, has been trading out Zac Williams.
Those who have been following this column all year you will know where this is going.
After labelling Williams the best value-for-money in SuperCoach during the pre-season, I traded the 24-year-old to teammate Lachie Whitfield in Round 5, after Whitfield’s hot start to the year.
The Whitfield injury and Williams’ scoring spike in his absence was hard but damaging right-footers move into the midfield in the past month has been the tipping point.
On Saturday, as part of the Giants’ engine room, Williams tallied 32 disposals, 15 contested possessions, 10 clearances, 10 marks and 124 points – most of them which came in an unbelievable first-half.
I could’ve really used those points this week.
What’s been your biggest mistake this season?
THE PHANTOM ROUND 20
Score: 2369
Studs: Nic Newman (161), Jack Macrae (155), Rory Laird (124)
Duds: Tim Taranto (72), Josh P. Kennedy (72), James Sicily (76) Tom Rockliff (80)