The Phantom’s SuperCoach pre-season: Premium midfielders analysis
The Phantom’s SuperCoach pre-season is here. Today, we look at the top-priced midfielders for 2019. Is Jack Macrae the new No. 1? Where is the best value? The Phantom runs the rule over the best premium options.
The Phantom
Don't miss out on the headlines from The Phantom. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- The Phantom’s preseason: Premium defenders
- The Phantom’s team reveal version 2.0
- Everything you need to know about SuperCoach
- Jonathan Brown’s SuperCoach dilemma
- The must-have SuperCoach seven
The Phantom’s SuperCoach pre-season is here. Today, we look at the top-priced midfielders for 2019. Is Jack Macrae the new No. 1? Where is the best value? The Phantom runs the rule over the best premium options.
THE NEW NO. 1
Jack Macrae
(Western Bulldogs, $689,700)
With the injury to Tom Mitchell, Macrae enters the 2019 season as the most-expensive playing midfielder in the competition.
After averaging 127 points per game in 2018, the ball magnet deserves the title.
And, if you take out the injury-affected score against Port Adelaide in Round 13, Macrae’s average would’ve been 131 — a number which would’ve ranked him higher than Mitchell and top scorer Brodie Grundy.
Yes, everyone has a bad game and we can’t go pulling out low scores from players’ averages but it does give a great indication of his scoring power.
That power has been building for some time with the 24-year-old averaging more than 100 points in three of his first five years in the game, recording two scores in excess of 145 in 2017.
The neat-kicking left-footer, who ranked third in the competition for effective disposals, took it to another level in 2018, posting eight scores of 140 or more, including a career-high 189 in Round 7.
Macrae wins the ball on the inside and the outside, ranking inside the top 11 for both uncontested and contested possession per game last season, making him very hard to stop.
The Phantom’s verdict: The perfect replacement for Mitchell and a go-to captain option every week.
YOUNG STARS
Patrick Cripps
(Carlton, $689,700)
After an injury-interrupted year in 2017 saw him average just 98 points per game, the contested-ball beast finally delivered on his enormous SuperCoach potential last year.
The 23-year-old, who led the AFL in contested possession, posted 16 SuperCoach tons — five of them in excess of 150 — to finish as the fourth-ranked player in the game.
Cripps tallied 20 or more contested possessions in eight matches last season. Nat Fyfe and Clayton Oliver were the next best, reaching the feat on five occasions.
Simply, there’s just no player better at getting the ball.
And the 195cm midfielder pushed forward more last season tallying 27 contested marks, after taking 33 in the first four years of his career.
An average of 120 or more is just around the corner.
The Phantom’s verdict: I think there’s even bigger numbers to come. Lock.
Josh Kelly (GWS $617,800) v Clayton Oliver (Melbourne $622,600)
While you could squeeze them both in, it’s unlikely you start with Kelly and Oliver, who have both had off-season surgery, if you’ve selected either of the more-expensive options above.
And, like when I made the comparison at this time last year, they are hard to split.
Oliver, who ranked second for contested possesion behind Cripps, increased his SuperCoach average from 111 to 115 in just his third season in the competition.
Yes, third season. In a remarkable stat, the 21-year-old has posted SuperCoach tons in 33 of the first 57 home-and-away matches of his career.
Kelly’s 2018 season was less convincing with the classy 23-year-old managing just 15 appearances after battling a groin issue.
But he still averaged 114 points per game thanks to five scores of 130 or more, including a huge 205-point performance in Round 20.
Kelly doesn’t win as much of the footy, especially in a contested situation, or tackle in the same way, as Oliver, but the star Giant is more damaging forward of centre.
On average, Kelly sent the ball inside 50 six times per game, compared to Oliver’s four and in the past three years, despite playing seven less minor-round games, Kelly has had 26 more scoring shots and booted 13 more goals.
And goal-kicking midfielders rule in SuperCoach.
The Phantom’s verdict: There’s little doubt both are top-8 midfielders but, if you’re choosing one, it’s Kelly, if he’s recovery from surgery continues to go smoothly, for me.
BACK TO HIS BEST
Nat Fyfe
(Fremantle $618,100)
The Fremantle skipper averaged 120 points or more in consecutive seasons in 2014 and 2015.
Out of all current players, only Gary Ablett, Scott Pendlebury and Patrick Dangerfield have done the same.
That’s the highest of company. And it’s where Fyfe belongs.
In those two seasons, Fyfe posted SuperCoach tons in 32 of his 36 games, 19 of them in excess of 120.
Since then, the star midfielder has battled injury, playing only 41 of a possible 66 matches, and has averaged 105, 109 and 114 in the past three seasons.
Hardly a bad return but we know he’s capable of much better.
In 2018, Fyfe posted SuperCoach tons in 10 of his first 12 matches for the year to average 124 points per game before suffering a hamstring injury against the Lions in Round 15.
If he’s fit for the entire 2019 — with or without Lachie Neale by his side — he’s every chance to be the No. 1 scorer in the game.
And he’s scored 141, 126, 139 and 163 in his past four matches against the Kangaroos — the Dockers Round 1 opponent.
Will you take the risk?
The Phantom’s verdict: There’s safer options, sure but not all of them boasts the ceiling of Nat Fyfe.
DON’T FORGET
Elliot Yeo
(West Coast $585,500)
It’s easy to forget about players who lose their dual-position status in SuperCoach.
It’s happened with Macrae, Dangerfield, Dustin Martin and Zach Merrett, just to name a few, in the past.
And it might happen to the star Eagle in 2019, who is classified as just a midfielder.
In 2018, Yeo finished as the 10th-ranked player in the competition and, if you take the very unusual 27-point performance in Round 3, the 25-year-old would’ve recorded an average of 112 — the equal-eighth highest of all midfielders.
Yeo, who averaged 25 disposals and 12 contested possessions, ranked in the top five players in the competition for tackles and inside 50s per match, while his average of 479 metres gained was the 11th-highest in the game.
He’s an all-round statistical beast.
And it makes it very hard for opposition teams to keep him quiet.
The Phantom’s verdict: A great unique option with a high ceiling who is well and truly in the mix for a top-8 midfield spot in 2019.
THE VALUE
Dustin Martin (Richmond $563,800), Matt Crouch (Adelaide $551,300) and Zach Merrett (Essendon $544,800)
At this time in 2018, all three were priced at more than $600k after averaging 109 points or more in 2017.
Martin led the way with a 119-point average, ranking second behind Dangerfield for the year, while Crouch (111) and Merrett (109) were ranked the 8th and 11th best midfielders respectively.
Going into the 2019 season, they are the 18th, 28th and 29th-most expensive midfielders in the game.
If that’s not value, I don’t know what is.
Martin, posted five scores of 139 or more but also failed to reach the 90-point mark on seven occasions in an inconsistent year. But the 2017 Brownlow Medallist is too good not to bounce back.
Crouch, like his team, also struggled with consistency in 2018. Despite averaging 32 disposals per game and posting 12 SuperCoach tons, the Crow ball magnet’s average fell by nine points per game. He, too, should bounce back in a fit-and-firing Adelaide midfield.
After working through opposition attention in the first half of 2018, Bomber Zach Merrett came storming home, scoring 100 points or more in 12 of his final 14 matches and averaging 105 points from Round 9 onwards. And the addition of Dylan Shiel to the midfield should only help deflect any further opposition attention.
The Phantom’s verdict: You would’ve been happy Martin, Crouch and Merrett as your first three starting midfielders last season so why not this year?
Final word: How to deal with SuperCoach rookie blow
There was more KFC SuperCoach carnage at team selection this week. But there was some good news, too. The Phantom looks at all the Round 4 teams, how to deal with new rookie blow and all the weekend’s best captain options
SuperCoach: Simpkin, Petracca or Smith – who do you take?
Jy Simpkin, Bailey Smith and Christian Petracca all present tremendous value in the KFC SuperCoach forward line ahead of Round 4. But, if you’re trading Josh Dunkley or cashing out on Lachie Whitfield, which one do you choose?