KFC SuperCoach 2021: All the late mail, team news and trade advice ahead of Round 8
Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley has dropped a bombshell - and 20,000 KFC SuperCoaches need to change their plans. All the whispers and what to do from here.
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More than 20,000 KFC SuperCoaches have until the start of tonight’s Richmond-Geelong clash to avoid a trade disaster after Port Adelaide confirmed Martin Frederick had been dropped.
The 123k KFC SuperCoach defender has the lowest break even in the game at -88 and has been the most-popular trade in ahead of Round 8, added to more than 28,000 teams.
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But Power coach Ken Hinkley - who often provides early team news - threw a curve ball on Friday when he confirmed Frederick would not be in Port Adelaide’s 22 for the Showdown.
There is a still a possibility he is named as the medical sub.
Travis Boak and Kane Farrell have been recalled for the Power with Frederick, Boyd Woodcock and Sam Mayes out.
“Marty is a little unfortunate to come out - we could still pick him as the sub. His first few games have been exciting and he is part of the future of this club, but we have some good players coming back into the side,” Hinkley said on Friday.
Hipster @mattturner1986 on the money in The Lair this week. Although, he may not have even expected it this early #SuperCoachhttps://t.co/rV0bttcCQf
— The Phantom (@ThePhantomSC) May 7, 2021
Wow, Frederick has been omitted! Could still be the sub though. #SuperCoach#AFLFantasyhttps://t.co/GGI1Zt5sAX
— Fantasy Freako (@FantasyFreako) May 7, 2021
So, where to now?
Downgrading to the 21-year-old enabled many teams to make a premium upgrade ahead of Round 8.
If that was your plan, consider fellow KFC SuperCoach rookie defender Nathan Murphy ($123,900 DEF), whose job security appears solid at Collingwood after an impressive first two games this year.
The fourth-year Magpie, who played two games in 2018, doesn’t look to possess the same scoring power, however, after posting scores of 47 and 55 in the past two weeks.
But, for some, given his position on the bench - either this round or in the next few - those scores will be of little concern.
For other KFC SuperCoaches it’s why, if you have the dual-position capabilities, going a week early on Richmond midfielder Riley Collier-Dawkins ($123,900 MID) could the way to go.
The 21-year-old attended 15 centre bounces against the Bulldogs – only ruckman Toby Nankervis featured in the centre more - and finished with 11 contested possessions, five clearances and 76 points on debut.
Going early, although fraught with danger - as we have been reminded by today’s news from Alberton - is made a little easier with another solid Round 9 downgrade option surfacing last week, Ryan Byrnes ($123,900 MID).
Tread carefully with bargain basement Adelaide Defender Nick Murray ($102,400 DEF) with Crows coach Matthew Nicks confirming first-choice defenders Luke Brown and Will Hamill will return for Saturday night’s Showdown.
Keep a close eye on Adelaide’s team sheet on Friday evening.
READ DAMIEN HARDWICK’S GLOWING COLLIER-DAWKINS ENDORSEMENT BELOW.
The rookie flying under the radar
Frederick and Collier-Dawkins have dominated the KFC SuperCoach rookie conversation this week but there’s a potential cash cow flying under the radar.
Young Saint Byrnes, playing predominantly an outside midfield role, finished with 18 disposals, nine marks and 52 points in his second career game last week, drawing praise from coach Brett Ratten.
“Byrnesy’s run and ability to get up and then spread, he’s got fast feet,” Ratten said post-match.
“He’s a young kid who’s played one game of AFL footy before tonight, it was good for him to get some reward.
“He’s competitive and he keeps grinding away.
“He’s going to be a good player for us for a while.”
Byrnes, who averaged 120 KFC SuperCoach as Sandringham’s captain in the NAB League in 2019, missed two months with a hamstring injury earlier this year but it only took the 20-year-old two VFL matches to convince Ratten.
He had 22 disposals in his return game, before starring with 27 disposals and 88 KFC SuperCoach points against Port Melbourne.
Byrnes, taken at pick No. 52 in the 2019 national draft, managed only five disposals and 22 points in his one senior game last year, keeping his price tag at $123,900 for 2021.
Collier-Dawkins might still be the No. 1 option next week, depending on what he can produce on Friday night, but don’t forget about Byrnes, who is also on the bubble in Round 9, especially with the Frederick news.
GEELONG SPEEDSTER DROPPED, ANOTHER EAGLE CLIPPED
As forecast in Late Mail on Thursday morning, popular KFC SuperCoach defender Jordan Clark has been dropped again.
The 20-year-old, who still features in almost 50,000 KFC SuperCoach teams, returned to Geelong’s 22 for the clash with the Swans in Round 7 after coming on late as the medical sub a week earlier against the Eagles.
He finished with 18 disposals and 72 KFC SuperCoach points in the two-point loss but he’s been dumped in favour of the returning Shaun Higgins and Sam Simpson.
Clark made a statement in the VFL, however, tallying 29 disposals and 165 points against the Northern Bullants on Thursday night.
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West Coast defender Liam Duggan isn’t as popular as Clark but the news filtering through from Perth is still a blow to almost 7000 KFC SuperCoaches.
Duggan, who is averaging 81 points per game, failed to train this week as a result of swelling and soreness in his knee, as first reported on 9 News Perth.
The tough left-footer played out the Western Derby, finishing with 81 KFC SuperCoach points, but he pulled up sore and visited a specialist on Thursday.
He’s been ruled out of the Round 9 clash with the Hawks but the Eagles are hopeful the 24-year-old won’t require surgery.
A trade to this week’s value option Steven May will make you $40k but, if you can, wait until we know more and follow through with any planned upgrade.
Luke Foley ($127,900 DEF), drafted as a midfielder in 2018, is Duggan’s likely replacement after impressing in the WAFL across half-back in the past 12 months.
A SOLUTION FOR GIANT RUCK PROBLEM
The Matthew Flynn problem has become a major talking point for thousands of KFC SuperCoaches in recent weeks.
Seemingly unchallenged for GWS’ No.1 ruck spot after Braydon Preuss underwent shoulder surgery, Flynn has been usurped by veteran Shane Mumford in the past month.
Mumford has been a revelation for the Giants, taking the scalp of Brodie Grundy and averaging 121.3 KFC SuperCoach points, 15.7 disposals, 21 hit outs and five tackles a game.
GWS assistant Steve Johnson declared Mumford was the club’s No.1 ruckman last weekend and that comment caused panic among the 48 per cent of coaches who still have Flynn in their teams.
However, there might be hope on the horizon.
Adelaide’s No.2 draft pick Riley Thilthorpe ($202,800 RUC-FWD) is an option to replace Flynn this round, while coaches with Josh Treacy on their forward bench could cash Flynn in for rookies such as Martin Frederick or Riley Collier-Dawkins via DPP.
If you don’t have that luxury and need a direct ruck replacement, Gold Coast’s Zac Smith ($216 RUC) is the player to watch.
Smith has recovered from a pre-season PCL injury to play the past two games in the VFL.
He was expected to be rushed back into the Suns team due to their ruck woes, although Caleb Graham and Chris Burgess performed admirably in their side’s victory over Collingwood.
Coach Stuart Dew said this week: “Caleb and Chris have been doing the job. It’s early in the season and I think Zac has played six AFL games in the last four years.
“We really want to make sure he’s confident in his form, in his body. The knee is good, it’s just about getting the reps in a game scenario.
“That’s a priority for us. But the way Caleb and Chris went last week, there is something to be said about not changing the mix and rewarding the way they are delivering and competing.”
Smith has only played six games since the start of 2018 but averaged 91.3 in his last full season - 2017.
You can currently make $60k by trading Flynn to Smith, use him for bye ruck cover in Round 14 and let the Suns big man generate cash on your bench before deciding whether you have enough trades to cash him in later in the season.
Downgrading to a DPP RUC-FWD such as Charlie Comben will be popular, but the Smith solution is a strategy every KFC SuperCoach should be considering.
Put him on your watch list in the next few weeks as he builds toward an AFL return via the East Coast VFL competition.
STAR DOCKER IN LINE FOR SURPRISE RETURN
Despite being ruled out earlier in the week, All-Australian Luke Ryan remains an outside chance to line-up against the Lions on Sunday.
On Wednesday, The Dockers listed the popular KFC SuperCoach defender as one-to-two weeks away from returning from a calf injury that saw him miss last week’s Western Derby loss to the Eagles.
“We’ll take each day as it comes with Luke and assess day-to-day, week-to-week,” high performance manager Phil Merriman said in a less than convincing manner.
But, after travelling to Queensland as part of the Dockers 30-man squad, Ryan made a surprise declaration on Thursday morning.
“I have got training today and then captain’s run on Saturday and we will see how I go from there,” he told 6PR radio in Perth.
“Hopefully over the next couple of days it should settle down pretty nicely and should put my hand up for selection.”
The Dockers won’t risk their star but coach Justin Longmuir confirmed on Thursday afternoon that Ryan was still a 50/50 chance.
The 25-year-old is in more than 17,000 KFC SuperCoach teams and he’s not the only concern for Longmuir’s defence.
In a blow to the KFC SuperCoach rookies stocks, teammate, and popular rookie-price pick, Heath Chapman will miss an extended period after undergoing a shoulder reconstruction, following a heavy collision early against the Eagles.
The draftee has added more than $100k to his price tag despite falling by $19k on the back of a season-low 28 points in Round 7.
If you weren’t already trading the draftee ahead of another likely price drop, while he won’t lose any value, you have another big reason to now.
May, is only $160k away.
ONE DOCKER ROOKIE OUT, ONE IN?
He’s a different player, but another thing we did learn from Fremantle’s extended travelling squad, which is set for an 11-day stint on the road, is fellow draftee Joel Western is edging closer to a senior debut.
The 18-year-old, who averaged 107 KFC SuperCoach points at WAFL Colts level last year, was a standout in the reserves last week, tallying 26 disposals, 12 score involvements, 10 marks, three score assists and 132 points in the WAFL derby.
Western, a Dockers Academy product taken at pick No. 54 in last year’s draft, was named an emergency for the AFL side last week and, after the standout display, the speedster is right on the cusp of senior selection.
“He’s got some weapons that will translate well into AFL footy - mainly his speed,” Longmuir said on Thursday.
“He’ll be in the mix.”
As a $117k mid in KFC SuperCoach, Western is one to watch over the next month.
Third-year Bulldog, Buku Khamis ($123k DEF) is also another to keep an eye on after the club confirmed the 21-year-old’s debut in Round 8.
The athletic defender averaged 18 disposals, nine intercept possessions and 86 KFC SuperCoach in the opening three rounds of the VFL.
FORGOTTEN SAINT COULD FINALLY BE A CHANCE
Tom Highmore wasn’t named as an emergency last round, despite defenders Daniel McKenzie (suspended), Jake Carlisle (dropped) and Ben Long (dropped) all going out of the St Kilda team.
But he couldn’t have done more in the VFL in Round 3.
The mature-age draftee won the Silk-Miller Memorial Medal as best-on-ground, despite Sandringham’s five-goal loss to Box Hill.
Highmore finished with 30 disposals, 15 intercept possessions – 11 of them marks – 10 rebound-50s and 136 KFC SuperCoach points.
He was so dominant, the Hawks sent someone to him in the second-half.
“He did what he could - defended his man when he needed to - but the pleasing thing was he then took the space and used his strength as a marker when he had to,” Zebras coach Jake Batchelor said of Highmore’s performance on the club’s website.
The VFL report, which, last week, stated the 23-year-old “fought hard” suggested Highmore “could be the ideal player to mitigate the Suns’ attack” in Round 9.
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DIMMA’S RILEY BIG ENDORSEMENT
Richmond’s Riley Collier-Dawkins is set to become very popular in KFC SuperCoach after an impressive debut in Round 7.
The tall midfielder’s display against the Bulldogs has drawn praise from coach Damien Hardwick, who confirmed the third-year Tiger will play his second game on Friday night, meaning he will be on the bubble ahead of Round 9.
“He was really good, he’ll play,” Hardwick told reporters on Wednesday.
“We were really impressed with how he went about it.
“We always knew Riley was going to probably be a better player at AFL level, which is really exciting for us.
“He’s got to build on that. He’s got some work to do on his game but there are some strengths that we really like in his game at the moment, too.”
Collier-Dawkins attended 15 centre bounces against the Bulldogs – only ruckman Toby Nankervis featured in the centre more.
The 21-year-old finished with 11 contested possessions – the third-most for the Tigers – and five clearances, ranked equal-second for the club on the night.
And with skipper Trent Cotchin set for a stint the sidelines with another hamstring injury, an extended run in the midfield for RCD could be on the cards.
In more good news from Punt Road, superstar Dustin Martin - as KFC SuperCoaches were hoping - will come straight back in after missing last round through concussion and spending the weekend in New Zealand.
“No doubt,” Hardwick replied when asked if Martin had come back refreshed.
“Sometimes a week off can freshen a player up physically and mentally so we think we will get the very best version of Dusty this week.”
MORE INJURY RELIEF
More than 30,000 KFC SuperCoaches will have one less problem to worry about with Port Adelaide star Travis Boak cleared to return in Showdown 49.
The star midfielder, who is averaging 116 KFC SuperCoach points per game, missed last week’s loss to the Lions with a quad injury but is available for Saturday night’s clash with the Crows.
Boak presents plenty of value at $555k after posting a KFC SuperCoach ton in five of the opening six rounds.
In other good news, Carlton recruit Zac Williams, after he left thousands of KFC SuperCoaches hanging when he was ruled out on Saturday night, is also likely to play in Round 8.
“Zac had a couple of small issues last week (but) he trained today and will train on Thursday and we expect him to be available,” Blues high performance boss Andrew Russell said on Tuesday.
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