KFC SuperCoach 2022: Round 5 Rookie bible, best trade options for Patrick Cripps
KFC SuperCoaches can wait another week on Giant Braydon Preuss. But it’s a different story for two other cheapies set to explode in price. Full Round 5 rookie guide.
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KFC SuperCoach rookie scoring can be unpredictable at the best of times, but few coaches that coming from Nathan O’Driscoll.
After a score of 18 coming on as the medical sub was followed by a 49-point effort in the derby, O’Driscoll registered a KFC SuperCoach ton in his third game.
And it makes him top of the list ahead of round 5.
Find out who to buy, sell, hold and watch.
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Buy
Nathan O’Driscoll (Frem) $167,700 DEF/MID | Ave: 57 BE: -54
The broadcast mentioned the Dockers were wearing black armbands for the passing of O’Driscoll’s grandmother, and it certainly was an inspired performance from the midfielder in just his third senior game. O’Driscoll, who was high on our pre-season radar, was super impressive on a wing tallying 20 disposals, six tackles, 452 metres gained, 104 KFC SuperCoach points and kicking 2.2. A bigger body at 188cm, O’Driscoll can win it on the inside and outside, with his left boot proving to be a forward-half weapon against the Giants. As a cheapie defender with dual position status and a low Break Even, he shapes as a must-buy despite already rising $43k – and his ton will remain in his price cycle for the next two weeks.
Hugh Dixon (WCE) $164,400 FWD-RUC | Ave: 66.3 BE: -60
Dixon looked to be one poor game away from being dropped but his role as forward and back-up ruckman against Collingwood yielded 96 points. About half of this was in the last quarter, where the supplemental signing went to another level. A long-term injury to ruck star Nic Naitanui should work in his favour, giving the 196cm mature-ager more time at stoppages. If you are in the 52 per cent of KFC SuperCoaches without Dixon, it’s time to jump on.
Neil Erasmus (Frem) $166,800 MID | Ave: 64 BE: -30
Erasmus is down the pecking order but looks to be another solid rookie option from the Dockers. The No.10 pick of last year’s draft has won 18 and 15 disposals in his first two matches and is spending a promising amount of time as an onballer, attending 14 centre bounces against the Giants. His contested ball-winning should allow him to put up consistent scores, posting 70 points from just 15 disposals. The only question mark is his long-term job security with Nat Fyfe to come back in the side, but they couldn’t drop him on form at the minute.
BURNING QUESTIONS: THE PHANTOM SOLVES THIS WEEK’S DILEMMAS
Wait
Braydon Preuss (GWS) $204,700 RUC | Ave: 105.5 BE: -91
Malcolm Rosas (GC) $130,600 FWD | Ave: 71 (one game)
Preuss looked to be the buy of the week after his second-straight ton, but in classic Preuss fashion he found a way to end up back on the sidelines. A reckless elbow to the head of David Mundy saw him rubbed out for a week by the tribunal, so we should be able to nab him ahead of Round 6.
Rosas is the other one to watch after three goals and 72 points for the Suns in Round 4, although,h with the forward rookies going from strength to strength, we may not need him.
Hold
Tristan Xerri (NM) $315,200 FWD | Ave: 81.3 BE: 58
Mitch Hinge (Adel) $266,700 DEF | Ave: 65.5 BE: 29
Jack Hayes (St K) $187,600 RUC/FWD | Ave: 84 BE: -15
Connor MacDonald (Haw) $171,800 MID | Ave: 44.3 BE: 27
Hinge is the main one here after being subbed out with a hip injury against the Bombers. The initial sense from the Crows was that it was a minor injury, so it is worth waiting for official diagnosis if it is a short-term blow, as he has cash to make. If Hinge is your only way to O’Driscoll, it may be worth the punt but offloading a rolling donut or a non-playing rookie is a better move. Hayes and KFC SuperCoaches have had a stroke of luck from a two-week suspension to Paddy Ryder, giving him the chance to support Rowan Marshall in the ruck - as he did in the first fortnight of the season to great effect. Xerri’s breakeven has shot up after a score of 46, but he was off for most of the third quarter with an injury and still appears to have the No.1 ruck role. MacDonald shapes as a slow burn rookie but a score of 23 points doesn’t bode well for his job security.
Sell
Dylan Stephens
Josh Ward
These two can be your path to O’Driscoll or Preuss, allowing you to make some cash and open up dual position flexibility. Stephens was solid in the VFL after being dropped with 22 disposals and 85 points, but it may not be enough to force his way back in this week. Ward had been showing positive signs but managed just nine touches and 41 points against St Kilda.
Pass
Jake Stein (GWS) $176,400 DEF | Ave: 58 | BE: -12
Ben Miller (Rich) $160,400 DEF | Ave: 58 | BE: -9
Reef McInnes (Coll) $123,900 MID | Ave: 41 | BE: -9
Jed McEntee (PA) $123,900 FWD-MD | Ave: 38 BE: -3
Jordan Boyd (Carl) $123,900 DEF | Ave: 37.4 BE: -2
Tex Wanganeen (Ess) $102,400 FWD | Ave: 28.5 | BE: 3
Stein and Miller are both key defenders and, with O’Driscoll ripe for the picking in defence, it isn’t worth getting either of these guys as well. Meanwhile, the other four bubble boys failed to pass 40 in Round 4… enough said.
Lowest break evens
Braydon Preuss $204,700 RUC -91
Hugh Dixon $164,400 FWD/RUC -60
Nathan O’Driscoll $167,700 DEF/MID -54
Beau McCreery $210,900 FWD -49
Willie Rioli $283,100 FWD -40
Nic Martin $195,500 FWD -37
Nick Daicos $304,700 DEF -37
Thomson Dow $250,200 FWD/MID -36
Neil Erasmus $166,800 MID -30
Lachie Gollant $165,000 FWD -26
Elliott Himmelberg $305,700 FWD -21
Jackson Mead $180,700 MID -21
Sam Skinner $123,900 FWD/MID -20
Sam De Koning $158,400 DEF/FWD -19
Trade guide: 7 best Patrick Cripps replacements
- Al Paton
KFC SuperCoach can be a cruel game sometimes.
Patrick Cripps started the season on fire and by Sunday afternoon was in more than 61 per cent of SuperCoach teams. And 23 per cent of coaches nominated him as captain in the last game of the round against Gold Coast.
It looked a smart move when he posted an early goal but at quarter-time Cripps was subbed off with just 38 points to his name
A standard hamstring injury would mean multiple weeks on the sidelines, and with most KFC SuperCoach teams not blessed with strong bench cover in the midfield, that makes him a must-trade.
Despite his low score, Cripps still added $6200 to his price tag for a value gain this season of $70,200. So trading him out isn’t a total disaster, but it’s far from ideal.
And that’s not to mention a hip injury to defensive rookie Mitch Hinge, Braydon Preuss getting suspended again and the coaches who could only watch after trading out Max Gawn (160 KFC SuperCoach points) and Josh Rachele (106).
But as Michael Voss said: “Another man comes in and we’ve had the capability in that group to be able to get it done.”
The good news is there are some tantalising options to replace Cripps. Scroll down for the top targets and this week’s best trade advice.
TOP PATRICK CRIPPS REPLACEMENTS
Jack Steele $636,600 MID
The Saints skipper was traded out of plenty of teams after a quiet round 1 but he’s been building since then and looked back to the Steele of 2020-21 as the Saints tore Hawthorn to shreds, recording 33 disposals, 10 marks and a goal. You’ll need to find $111,000 to get to him from Cripps but after scores of 125 and 121 in the past two weeks his price has probably bottomed out at $49,200 cheaper than his starting value, with a Break Even of 128 against the Suns next week. Perfect timing if you didn’t start him.
Touk Miller $627,300 MID
Like Steele, Miller is a lot more expensive than Cripps but this could be a rare chance to grab one of the top-scoring midfielders. Touk flew out of the gates this season with scores of 137 and 140 in the first two rounds and has returned to something closer to mere mortal status the past two weeks, prompting a $29,000 price drop. His Break Even is 188 so he could be available for around $600k if you’re prepared to wait a week, but for most teams that would mean covering Cripps with a bench player like Josh Ward (av 46). I’d take Touk if you can get there.
Travis Boak $639,200 MID
We put our hands up and say we haven’t given Boak enough credit for his insane start to 2022. Port Adelaide has recorded four straight losses but Boak has put up 149, 156, 133 and 117 points. He’s the second top-scoring midfielder this season (behind Lachie Neale) but he’s in just 2 per cent of teams. His price started around where Cripps is now but he’s put on $67,200 in the past two weeks. Ignore his age (33), he has averaged at least 105 points a game over the past three seasons and missed just two matches in that time. And on Sunday he faces a Carlton midfield that suddenly looks a lot more vulnerable with Cripps out.
Isaac Heeney $528,300 FWD
Looking for a way to get the No.1 ranked forward into your team? Heeney is only $3300 more than Cripps and you could move a MID/FWD like Josh Dunkley into the Cripps midfield vacancy and trade Heeney into your forward line. The Swans superstar has started the season in red-hot form, with a goal with four seconds remaining to seal a narrow win against the Kangaroos giving him a third score over 130 and an incredible average of 125 for the season. That is enough to set aside any durability concerns, although there is one warning: an injury to Lance Franklin might mean more time in the forward 50 in coming weeks.
Tim English $539,800 RUC/FWD
The Heeney move makes the most of dual-position flexibility in your squad, and this one could take it to another level again. You could follow the same process outlined above and add English – still the No.1 ranked ruckman this season – to your forward line. And if you’ve got a RUC/FWD player on your ruck bench (such as Hugh Dixon or Jack Hayes) you could then do another swap to get English into your rucks.
Tom Green $524,400 MID
This is a more conventional midfielder for midfielder trade, and almost a straight swap in terms of price and performance this season. Green was traded into more than 11,000 teams last week after averaging almost 140 points in his first three games. He didn’t quite reach those heights against the Dockers, but posted 92 points on the back of two goals and five tackles, with his 17 disposals a season-low. At age 21 he’s going to have some ups and downs but his scoring ceiling is as high as just about anyone. If you’re looking at the Giants, another well worth considering is Tim Taranto ($535,700 MID/FWD), who has averaged 110 points over the first four rounds and should get more midfield time when Toby Greene returns from suspension in round 6.
Will Brodie $335,000 MID/FWD
If you can’t get to a top-eight premium in one trade a better option could be to grab a stepping stone – a player who can help you get to one by making a lot of money in a short period of time. Brodie fits the bill entering round 5 with a Break Even of -16 following his 135-point performance against GWS. Any doubts about the inside midfielder’s spot in the Dockers team can be tossed aside as he improves every week, and although you’ve missed his first two price rises SuperCoach Plus is projecting Brodie will climb by another $110,000 over the next month.
Wait on ... Clayton Oliver $639,000 MID
Oliver is a bona fide uber premium who for some reason seems to drops one very poor score per season. Was round 4 his annual stinker? After averaging 126 over the first three rounds he managed just 68 points against the Power and is now $33,000 cheaper than he was in round 1. That would normally be a great time to pounce, but the worry is a Break Even of 162 this week against GWS – a team he scored just 67 against last season and which has already deployed multiple taggers to quell star opposition midfielders. Hold off a few weeks and you could get Clarry for around $550,000, which would be an amazing result after his blistering start.
DO WE NEED MITCH HINGE REPLACEMENTS?
The Crows wingman has been an excellent cheapie in defence for 41 per cent of teams over the first three rounds, but his injury curse returned on Sunday when he was subbed off with a hip problem.
Adelaide High Performance Manager Darren Burgess said post-match: “We’ll assess him in coming days in regards to his availability for our next game.”
Hinge has already made a $85,800 profit and has a very gettable Break Even of 29, so try to sit him on the bench for a week or two and play another rookie like Cat Sam De Koning, who took some impressive marks on his way to a respectable score of 62 on Friday night.
Those with a thin defensive bench could look at Docker Nathan O’Driscoll ($167,700 DEF/MID), who played his third match on the weekend.
After starting as the sub in his first game and scoring 49 points in his second, no one saw a score of 104 in game three coming. But that has surely cemented his spot in the Fremantle team if you can stomach missing a first price rise of almost $50,000. With a Break Even of -54 there is a lot more cash to make.
RUCK ROLLERCOASTER
GWS big man Braydon Preuss ($204,700 RUC) was looming as a must-have trade target this week after a second consecutive 100-plus score and entering his third game with a Break Even of -91.
But those discussions can be shelved for a week after he copped his second suspension of the year for whacking David Mundy in the back of the head.
The 29,000-odd teams that already have Preuss will have to rely on bench cover that could come in the form of Eagles rookie Hugh Dixon (96 points in round 3) or a MID/FWD swing with English or Tristan Xerri. Jack Hayes is also in the frame for a return to the St Kilda team with Paddy Ryder facing a likely suspension for a bump that concussed Hawk Will Day.
Originally published as KFC SuperCoach 2022: Round 5 Rookie bible, best trade options for Patrick Cripps
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