KFC SuperCoach 2020: The Phantom’s free agent targets and top 50 player rankings
Struggled in Round 1 or just want to get the jump on your mates? The Phantom names the players to target in the free agent pool of your KFC SuperCoach Draft league. Plus the top-50 rankings for new coaches.
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KFC SuperCoach is back on Thursday but that doesn’t mean your mates have checked the draft league yet. Get the jump on them and grab these players from the free agent pool.
Jy Simpkin (NM) Fwd-Mid
Round 1 score: 131
If Simpkin is still available in your league, don’t think twice about picking him up. Even if you don’t need a midfielder or a forward. The creative 22-year-old continued his progression into the midfield last season, highlighted by impressive performances in back-to-back matches against the Magpies and Saints. In Rounds 15 and 16, Simpkin tallied a combined 66 disposals, 38 contested possessions and 20 clearances. He posted SuperCoach scores of 106 and 125 as a result. And, after attending the second-most centre bounces for the Kangaroos and finishing with 23 disposals and 131 points in Round 1, the No. 12 pick from the 2016 draft is unlikely to revert back to the small-forward role anytime soon.
Harry Perryman (GWS) Mid
Round 1 score: 132
With so much talent around him, the young Giant continues to fly under the radar. The 21-year-old cemented his spot in Leon Cameron’s side last year, spending most of his time drifting into defence from the wing, and finding plenty of footy. Perryman was the No. 1 ranked wingman for intercept possessions and intercept marks in the competition and posted SuperCoach tons in two of the Giants’ four finals. But in Round 1 this year, the 184cm Perryman went the other way, finishing with four goals against the Cats. Don’t wait to find out what he does next.
Darcy Tucker (Freo) Fwd-Mid
Round 1 score: 76
If Tucker wasn’t drafted in your league, after 76 points in Round 1, it’s unlikely he’s been picked up since. But there’s plenty of reason to suggest he should’ve been. In Round 1 against the Bombers, Tucker attended 71 per cent of centre bounces – only skipper Nat Fyfe was there more for the Dockers. Despite playing 77 per cent of the reduced game-time, the fifth-year midfielder tallied 23 disposals, 18 uncontested possessions and six marks. Again, of all the men wearing purple, only Fyfe had more of the footy. Last year, Tucker was impressive defensively, ranking second at the club for pressure acts. Against the Bombers in March, the 23-year-old was involved in seven of Fremantle’s scoring chains, two of them direct goal assists. It was the five clangers which hurt his score.
PROBLEM SOLVED: The Phantom’s call on the big SuperCoach trade dilemmas
Oliver Florent (Syd) MID
Round 1 score: 99
After moving permanently into the midfield and posting two SuperCoach tons in the final three games of 2019, the young Swan should’ve been drafted. But I’ve been told he wasn’t in many leagues. If he’s a free agent in your league, I’d be jumping on now. Florent was part of Sydney’s first-choice on-ball rotation against the Crows and he was impressive again, tallying 21 disposals, nine contested possessions, eight score involvements, six clearances, 514 metres gained and 99 SuperCoach points.
Joel Selwood (Geel) MID
Round 1 score: 68
After an interrupted pre-season and an inconsistent 2019, Selwood went undrafted in many smaller leagues – The Phantom’s included. But he was there in Round 1 for the Cats, and, more importantly, at 81 per cent of centre bounces in an inside-midfield role. The same role he’s played for most of his career and in the Cats’ two finals last year – games he scored 124 SuperCoach points in. Despite the 68-point score against the Giants, don’t write off the veteran just yet.
Dan Hannebery (StK) MID
Round 1 score: 93
Speaking of veterans, Hannebery finished with 22 disposals and 93 SuperCoach points in the Saints’ season-opener against the Kangaroos. And in the five matches he played in a frustrating first season at St Kilda, the former Swan posted scores of 96, 65, 122, 94 and 103. Consider putting him on your bench.
Chris Mayne (Coll) MID
Round 1 score: 107
Mayne is another player who will provide terrific midfield depth. The hard-running wingman dominated in the Marsh Series as the Magpies played high-possession football, tallying a combined 58 disposals and 18 marks to record back-to-back SuperCoach tons. The 31-year-old, who scored 80 points or more in nine of his 19 matches last season, then made it three on-the-trot with a similar stat line in Round 1. Against the Bulldogs, in a game Collingwood had 70 more total disposals, Mayne finished with 29 possessions, seven marks and 107 points.
Also consider adding positional players Stephen Hill (Freo) DEF-FWD, Tom Doedee (Adel) DEF and Jesse Hogan (Freo) FWD, all who missed Round 1.
TOP 50 PLAYER RANKINGS
There’s no better time to play KFC SuperCoach Draft create a league – a draft night with a host of your mate’s being the perfect way to spice up isolation.
Lock in your own draft night (lets face it – we’ve all got plenty of time on our hands) and experience the thrills and spills of this fun-filled format.
And don’t worry about the season having already begun – you can start your SuperCoach Draft league with no issues!
To help, here is the post-shutdown edition The Phantom’s Top 50 player rankings. For new players, it will give you an indication of how a draft might play out.
THE CHANGES
If you were here over summer, you will notice a big overhaul to the top-50. Since the last edition of The Phantom’s player rankings in early March, plenty has changed. And that’s an understatement. The season has been reduced to 17 rounds, the games are shorter and there were a number of eye-catching performances in Round 1, even if that was two months ago.
Collingwood star Brodie Grundy remains at No.1 but given the influence of the ruckmen, who are guaranteed to be around the ball – something even more vital in shortened matches – is likely to be highlighter further in SuperCoach scoring this year, there’s more options to be confident in.
With 10 big men passing three-figures in Round 1, there’s no need to reach early in your draft, Sam Jacobs, Rory Lobb, Sam Naismith and Jon Ceglar should all be available in later rounds. Even Max Gawn drops to No. 5 on this list.
With the Cats to play every home game at GMHBA stadium this year, Patrick Dangerfield, who averages 132 points at the venue since 2016, jumps ahead, as does Lion Lachie Neale , given the importance of durability and the opening four matches at home.
The break has allowed ball-magnet - and the second-ranked scorer of 2018 - Tom Mitchell to further strengthen his leg, while GWS star Josh Kelly doesn’t need a lot of the ball to have a big influence.
Sydney defender Jake Lloyd, on the other hand, usually does and that’s the reason for his fall from No. 8 to No. 23.
Other key changes outside of the top 10 include Sam Docherty’s rise to No. 11, after a seamless return to AFL level in Round 1 and Isaac Heeney’s return to the top-30 to sit alongside Eagle skipper Shannon Hurn, who could have another top-six year in him yet.
Nic Naitauni could explode in shortened matches, if his on-field percentage increases only slightly and Chad Wingard will be a key for the Hawks in a hybrid midfield-forward role, while Jeremy Howe and Jack Viney also enter the rankings after topping their respective positions in Round 1.
Giant Zac Williams missed the opening round but is a chance to return against the Kangaroos and could turn out to be a draft steal. And injured Magpie Adam Treloar, who is unlikely to play against the Tigers in the first game of Round 2, shouldn’t be overlooked for long.
1. BRODIE GRUNDY (COLL) RUCK
Round 1 score: 179, 2019 Average: 130
The star big man has posted a SuperCoach ton in 39 of his past 45 home-and-away matches – 26 of them in excess of 130 – and has finished the past two seasons as the top-ranked player in the game. Don’t even think about doing otherwise.
2. LACHIE WHITFIELD (GWS) FWD, MID
Round 1 score: 109, 2019 Average: 111
Despite Dustin Martin’s impressive start, Whitfield is still likely to finish the year as the highest-averaging forward. It’s harder to make that call in the midfield and defence. If you take out the highly-skilled Giant’s two injury-affected scores last year, he averaged 119 from 15 matches.
3. PATRICK DANGERFIELD (GEEL) MID
Round 1 score: 83, 2019 Average: 115
Dangerfield averages 132 points at GMHBA Stadium since 2016 and Geelong will play every home game at the Cattery this year, including three of the next four, two against Gold Coast and Carlton. And the star Cat scored 362 more points than the next-best midfielder in the past three seasons.
4. LACHIE NEALE (BRIS) MID
Round 1 score: 157, 2019 Average: 121
The 26-year-old averaged 121 points per game in a career-best 2019 and has only missed two matches since 2013. And durability will be key in a SuperCoach season like no other.
5. MAX GAWN (MELB) RUCK
Round 1 score: 93, 2019 Average: 128
You probably can’t let Gawn, who was at No. 2 all summer, fall much further. He may have struggled in Round 1 – compared to his high standards, anyway - but he’s likely to be up against Carlton’s back-up Marc Pittonet in Round 2 and Bomber Andrew Phillips a week later.
6. TOM MITCHELL (HAW) MID
Round 1 score: 119, 2019 Average: DNP
The break has allowed ball-magnet Tom Mitchell to further strengthen his leg and, to some extent, brought the rest of the competition back to a level playing field. And he still had 25 disposals and 119 points in Round 1.
7. NAT FYFE (FREO) MID
Round 1 score: 110, 2019 Average: 120
You could go any of the four super-premium midfielders next, but the 2019 Brownlow Medallist, who posted 17 SuperCoach tons, six of them in excess of 140, last year, should outscore them all if he plays every game.
8. Josh Kelly (GWS) MID
Round 1 score: 102, 2019 Average: 117
With less matches to get through, the durability concerns over the smooth-moving Giant have eased. And his SuperCoach scoring-ceiling, and ability to impact the game with limited possession, is better than most.
9. JACK MACRAE (WB) MID
Round 1 score: 103, 2019 Average: 123
A safe bet anywhere in the top-10 really. Macrae is coming off consecutive season averages of 123 or more and posted SuperCoach tons – six in excess of 135 – in every game following the Bulldogs’ Round 12 bye last year.
10. PATRICK CRIPPS (CARL) MID
Round 1 score: 112, 2019 Average: 117
There would be a strong argument to make the Carlton co-captain the first-picked midfielder after 18 scores of 120 or more over the past two seasons, nine of them in excess of 150. Take one of the gun midfielders here, even with Martin still on the board as a forward.
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11. Dustin Martin (Rich) FWD, MID
Round 1 score: 126, 2019 Average: 100
12. Sam Docherty (Carl) DEF
Round 1 score: 117, 2019 Average: DNP
13. Josh Dunkley (WB) MID
Round 1 score: 67, 2019 Average: 116
14. Clayton Oliver (Melb) MID
Round 1 score: 99, 2019 Average: 109
15. James Sicily (Haw) DEF
Round 1 score: 70, 2019 Average: 94
16. Rory Laird (Adel) DEF
Round 1 score: 88, 2019 Average: 97
17. Stephen Coniglio (GWD) MID
Round 1 score: 114, 2019 Average: 101
18. Tim Kelly (WC) MID
Round 1 score: 86, 2019 Average: 103
19. Michael Walters (Freo) FWD
Round 1 score: 110, 2019 Aveage: 101
20. Hugh Greenwood (GC) FWD, MID
Round 1 score: 116, 2019 Average: 85
21. Marcus Bontempelli (WB) MID
Round 1 score: 76, 2019 Average: 115
22. Rory Sloane (Adel) MID
Round 1 score: 123, 2019 Average: 103
23. Jake Lloyd (SYD) DEF
Round 1 score: 77, 2019 Average: 109
24. Dan Houston (Port) DEF, MID
Round 1 score: 79, 2019 Average: 89
25. Shannon Hurn (WC) DEF
Round 1 score: 152, 2019 Average: 103
26. Devon Smith (Ess) FWD, MID
Round 1 score: 105, 2019 Average: 69
27. Isaac Heeney (Syd) FWD, MID
Round 1 score: 152, 2019 Average: 94
28. Todd Goldstein (NM) RUCK
Round 1 score: 136, 2019 Average: 112
29. Elliot Yeo (WC) MID
Round 1 score: 57, 2019 Average: 108
30. Zac Williams (GWS) DEF
Round 1 score: DNP, 2019 Average: 102
31. Tom Stewart (Geel) DEF
Round 1 score: 100, 2019 Average: 98
32. Toby Greene (GWS) FWD
Round 1 score: 108, 2019 Average: 94
33. Nic Naitanui (WC) RUCK
Round 1 score: 100, 2019 average: 94
34. Chad Wingard (Haw) FWD, MID
Round 1 score: 131, 2019 average: 76
35. Andrew Gaff (WC) MID
Round 1 score: 119, 2019 Average: 107
36. Dayne Zorko (Bris) MID
Round 1 score: 52, 2019 Average: 107
37. Jordan Dawson (Syd) DEF, FWD
Round 1 score: 84, 2019 Average: 86
38. Adam Treloar (Coll) MID
Round 1 score: DNP, 2019 Average: 113
39. Scott Pendlebury (Coll) MID
Round 1 score: 109, 2019 Average: 104
40. Jeremy Howe (Coll) DEF
Round 1 score: 156, 2019 average: 79
41. Luke Ryan (Freo) DEF
Round 1 score: 52, 2019 Average: 96
42. Luke Parker (Syd) MID
Round 1 score: 125, 2019 Average: 105
43. Jack Viney (Melb)
Round 1 score: 186, 2019 Average: 81
44. Jack Steele (StK) MID
Round 1 score: 128, 2019 average: 95
45. Caleb Daniel (WB) DEF
Round 1 score: 92, 2019 Average: 99
46. Mitch Duncan (Geel) MID
Round 1 score: 120, 2019 average: 103
47. Reilly O’Brien (Adel) RUCK
Round 1 score: 107, 2019 average: 95
48. Zach Merrett (Ess) MID
Round 1 score: 111, 2019 Average: 106
49. Hugh McCluggage (Bris) MID
Round 1 score: 85, 2019 Average: 94
50. Dylan Shiel (Ess) MID
Round 1 score: 163, 2019 Average: 97