SuperCoach 2020: The players at new clubs who should be on pre-season watchlist
The new year is here and it brings new opportunity for a number of SuperCoach-relevant players. The Phantoms looks at 10 names to add to your 2020 pre-season watchlist.
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From established stars to up-and-comers looking for opportunity, The Phantom looks back at his traded player guide and analyses the players at new clubs in 2020 who must be on your SuperCoach watchlist.
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JACK STEVEN (Geelong)
$361,700, MID-FWD
2019 — Games: 7, Average: 75
Average 2015-2018: 104, 104, 91, 95
Steven has played all 22 games in four of the past seven seasons and he’s averaged 100 SuperCoach points or more in three of them.
In 2013, thanks to three scores of 150 or more, the 29-year-old finished the year as the seventh-ranked player in the competition.
At his best, there’s no arguing a fit-and-firing Steven is a SuperCoach star.
But Steven played just seven games in 2019 after taking time away from the Saints to deal with mental health issues.
If he can return to full health and fitness following a move home to Geelong — and he’s made a good start, impressing at Cats training pre-Christmas — he’ll remain at the top of the summer watchlist in a forward pool which is without many popular 2019 dual-position options.
TIM KELLY (West Coast)
$561,800, MID
2019 — Games: 22, SuperCoach average: 103
Average 2018: 93
Kelly’s ability around goal is what sets him apart from most other midfielders in the competition.
The mature-age revelation rates elite for goals, goal assists and shots-at-goal per game, booting 24 majors and playing a direct hand in 18 others in 2019.
These numbers saw the 24-year-old post SuperCoach tons in 12 of his 22 home-and-away matches last season but he can be even better at the Eagles.
He’ll have Nic Naitanui — who is a huge upgrade on the inconsistent and ever-changing Geelong ruck brigade — hitting to him at the centre bounce, as well as one of the game’s best defensively-minded midfielders Elliot Yeo there to support.
And on the spread, Kelly will have two of the AFL’s finest field-kicks, Shannon Hurn and Lewis Jetta, looking for him on the rebound.
And his midfielder-only status will make him a SuperCoach point-of-difference in 2020.
WHY DEVON SMITH IS A SUPERCOACH STEAL
SAM JACOBS (GWS)
$348,400, RUCK
2019 — Games: 5, SuperCoach average: 80
Average 2015-2018: 108, 87, 96, 84
In his last outing as a Crow, the 31-year-old tallied 25 hitouts-to-advantage and 125 SuperCoach points in the Round 23 clash with the Bulldogs.
It was just his fifth game in 2019 but it showed he’s still more than capable at the top level.
At GWS, a “refreshed” Jacobs will be the man to lead the Giants’ ruck brigade – which works with one of the game’s best midfields – with Shane Mumford set to play a modified role in 2020.
Jacobs’ output has fallen away gradually since the 2014 season when he averaged 115 points, finishing the year as the third-ranked player in the competition but his tap-work remains elite and, prior to this year, he’s proven as durable as any big man in the game.
Between his Adelaide debut in Round 5, 2011 and the injury in Round 2, 2019, Jacobs played 181 of a possible 185 games for the Crows.
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HUGH GREENWOOD (Gold Coast)
$463,100, MID-FWD
2019 — Games: 14, Average: 85
Average 2017-2018: 85, 86
In his 51 career matches, Greenwood has scored 80 points or more in 31 of them, passing the 100-point mark on 12 occasions.
And the impressive scoring record comes on the back of the 27-year-old’s elite ability at the contest.
His contested possession rate of 64.1 per cent was the highest of the 225 players in the competition to average 17 disposals or more in 2019.
Across his career, the 191cm midfielder also rates elite for groundball gets, clearances, tackles, pressure acts and contested marks, despite never being part of Adelaide’s first-choice on-ball rotation.
But Greenwood will have greater responsibility in the Suns’ midfield in 2020 – while gaining valuable dual-position status in SuperCoach – and there’s likely to be a spike in scoring as a result.
AIDEN BONAR (North Melbourne)
$202,800, MID-FWD
2019 — Games: 2, Average: 41
Average 2018: 57
A physically-ready, rookie-price midfielder with two years in an AFL environment under his belt? Yes, please.
There’s been no harder engine room to crack than the Giants’ in recent seasons and Bonar has felt the squeeze first-hand.
The highly-rated 20-year-old, who was drafted at pick No. 11 in 2017 despite two previous knee reconstructions, played just six games in his two years at GWS, spending most of his time forward.
Bonar showed his wares as a big-bodied midfielder in the NEAFL, however, averaging 18 disposals, 10 contested possessions, six tackles and 94 points per game in 2019.
But with Kangaroos’ coach Rhyce Shaw declaring “there’ll definitely be opportunities for Aiden to play”, SuperCoaches might start to see these numbers translate to the top-level.
BLAKE ACRES (Fremantle)
$384,000, MID-FWD
2019 — Games: 19, Average: 71
Average 2015-2018: 48, 75, 75, 88
The 24-year-old wants to play in the midfield, new Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir wants him to play in the midfield and SuperCoaches, you guessed it, want him to play in the midfield.
During his six years and 75 games at the Saints, Acres struggled for consistency due to the lack of a defined role — along with injury — but he’s set lock down a spot in the Dockers’ midfield in 2020.
The Western Australian played as lead-up target and running half-forward for most of 2019 but there was a number of glimpses of what he can do in the midfield at the Saints, too.
In the first five rounds of 2018, the 191cm Acres averaged 24 disposals, 10 contested possessions, eight score involvements and 106 SuperCoach points per game, playing as a pure wingman. And there was a similar four-game stretch, which saw him average 24 disposals and 105 points in 2016.
JACK MARTIN (Carlton)
$420,800, MID-FWD
2019 — Games: 16, Average: 77
Average 2015-2018: 72, 74, 81, 81
Martin’s undeniable talent has been on show in his six seasons at the top level but, after playing a number of different roles at the Suns — and playing them very well — he’s yet to take his game to an elite level.
Stationed predominantly as a forward, Martin posted five SuperCoach tons in 2017 after averaging 19 disposals and booting 24 goals.
Martin broke the 120-point mark on three occasions but also posted seven scores of 70 or less – a formline which sums up his SuperCoach career to date.
Despite a strong start through the midfield – two SuperCoach tons in the opening three rounds – Martin, again, struggled for consistency in 2019 with his performance mirroring that of the Suns’.
In fact, in the six Gold Coast wins Martin played in over the past two years, he averaged 21 more points than in losses.
It might be forward but the 24-year-old’s position at the Blues will be more consistent. And the same can be said for an improving Carlton outfit.
Is this the year it all comes together?
MITCH HIBBERD (Essendon)
$114,400, MID
Average 2017: 39
The 23-year-old failed to make it playing predominantly as a defender for North Melbourne but after being delisted at the end of 2018, Hibberd turned himself into tall, big-bodied running midfielder in the VFL last year.
Playing for Williamstown, the 191cm Tasmanian averaged 24 disposals, seven tackles and 128 SuperCoach points per game to be named on a wing in the VFL’s team of the year.
And he fills a need at the Bombers.
“Throughout this whole period we were looking for a ready-made inside midfielder and we believe we have found one in Mitch,” list boss Adrian Dodoro said following the rookie draft.
BILLY FRAMPTON (Adelaide)
$165,000, FWD
2019 — Games: 2, Average: 43
Average 2018: 44
Playing for Port Adelaide in the SANFL this year, Frampton posted SuperCoach scores of 175, 167, 145 and 141. Impressive numbers in anyone’s book.
And in Round 9 this year, Frampton booted three goals and took three contested marks to finish with 64 points against the Suns in the first of his two senior appearances in 2019.
The 23-year-old may have only played three AFL games during his five-year stint at Alberton but he showed enough to suggest he can slot into an Adelaide side which will be without Josh Jenkins and Jacobs next year.
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BEN KEAYS (Adelaide)
$266,100, FWD
2019 — Games: 2, Average: 70
Average 2016-2018: 52, 69, 60
He was drafted as a midfielder, after averaging 29 disposals and 162 SuperCoach points for Queensland at the 2015 under-18 carnival, but Keays spent most of his time at the Lions in the forward line.
The former No. 24 pick played 16 games in an encouraging debut season at Brisbane before posting a SuperCoach score of 80 or more in three of his 10 appearances in 2017.
But Keays played just four more senior matches for Brisbane and that midfield move never came.
Playing exclusively as a forward in the NEAFL in 2019, the 22-year-old averaged 20 disposals, three tackles and 2.7 goals per game.
Can he break into an Adelaide forward line, which lacked consistent pressure inside 50 last season?