KFC SuperCoach late mail: Selection news and whispers for Round 7

Where’s Tom Highmore? There is good and bad news for rookies at the selection table. Here’s all the KFC SuperCoach news you need to know.

We are only seven rounds into the 2021 KFC SuperCoach season but this weekend could separate the contenders from the pretenders.

With final teams not locked in until 24 hours before the bounce, selection news and whispers are more important than ever.

Here’s everything you need to know leading into Round 7.

WHAT DO WE DO WITH HIGHMORE?

The St Kilda rookie mystery deepens.

Mature-age defender Tom Highmore ($117,300 DEF) — the eighth-most popular player in KFC SuperCoach — was again nowhere to be seen when the Saints named their team to face Hawthorn on Saturday.

That’s despite defenders Daniel McKenzie (suspended), Jake Carlisle (dropped) and Ben Long (dropped) all going out of the team.

Highmore isn’t even an emergency.

Did he kick Brett Ratten’s cat? Highmore, recruited from South Adelaide, played in the first two games of the season — a win against GWS and a respectable loss to Melbourne.

The Saints’ fortunes haven’t exactly skyrocketed since with one win from the next four games.

In those two matches Highmore scored 60 and 77 KFC SuperCoach points and he has a break even of -68 — the lowest in the comp. That means he’s guaranteed a big price rise (SuperCoach Plus projects $60,500) when he plays his next game. But when will that be?

MORE: EXPERTS REVEAL THEIR ROUND 7 SUPERCOACH TRADES

Saint Tom Highmore starred for South Adelaide in the SANFL last year. Picture: Brenton Edwards

If you have cover on the bench in the form of Jacob Koschitzke, Heath Chapman or Rhyan Mansell, we can afford to hang on to Highmore and hope he breaks into the team at some point.

But coaches could be forgiven for wondering if he’s this year’s version of Brett Eddy — a mature-age goalkicker who played the first three games of the 2017 season for Port Adelaide and was never seen at senior level again.

RUCK WOES CONTINUE

Those running Matthew Flynn as their second ruck have been dealt more pain with the rookie ruckman dropped for the second time this season – this time after just one game.

Flynn was solid against the Western Bulldogs’ ruck outfit last week, finishing with 10 disposals, 22 hitouts, six marks and 70 KFC SuperCoach points, but coach Leon Cameron has turned to veteran Shane Mumford yet again after he was managed in Round 6.

Making matters worse, the player who some had brought in to navigate Flynn’s first axing – Tom Hickey – has emerged like Lazarus.

Hickey was slated to sit out 6-8 weeks with a PCL injury but has been named to return against Geelong on Saturday night.

The other big news from the Giants selection table is SuperCoach star Lachie Whitfield ($561,600 DEF) being named for his first game of the season after suffering a nasty liver injury in the pre-season. Take a good look at him for a couple of weeks but he’s a player many will want to get in their backlines.

Shane Mumford gives Matthew Flynn some ruck pointers. Picture: Justin Lloyd

GOOD ROOKIE NEWS

In better news, those who took the punt on Finlay Macrae ($126,300 FWD/MID) before his price rise haven’t been burnt.

The Pies dumped four young players but Macrae survived the cut, despite winning just nine touches against Essendon last week, and will line up for his third game on Saturday guaranteeing a price rise this week.

Meanwhile, Port Adelaide rookie Miles Bergman ($192,900 FWD) has retained his spot and exciting Martin Frederick ($123,900 DEF) has been named for his second game.

And Adelaide brought back two rookies in Sam Berry ($213,200 MID) and Nick Murray ($102,400 DEF), who both have cash to make.

At the Swans, Errol Gulden ($309,500 MID) and Chad Warner ($337,300 FWD) were both named but Braeden Campbell ($235,900 MID/FWD) was dropped — and he isn’t an emergency this week so can’t come on as the medical sub.

PORT EX-SKIPPER RULED OUT

If your trade plans included Travis Boak, it’s back to the drawing board.

The Power has confirmed their former captain will miss Saturday night’s clash against the Lions.

“Boak has been managing a minor quad injury for the past couple of weeks and won’t make the trip to Queensland,” the club said in a statement on Thursday afternoon.

“The 32-year-old is expected to be available for next week’s Showdown at Adelaide Oval against the Crows.”

Boak is the 11th best-scoring player this season, averaging 115.8 points a game. He is more than 32,000 teams.

SUNS CAUGHT SHORT AGAINST GRUNDY

Three names stand head and shoulders above the competition when selecting a captain and vice-captain this weekend.

Jack Macrae is coming off three consecutive scores of 137 or better and has a fantastic record against this week’s opponent Richmond — when he played the Tigers last year he scored 162 points. A Friday night fixture makes him a perfect vice-captain loophole candidate.

If you thought those numbers look good, Max Gawn has a three-round average of 151 and scored 212 the last time he faced North Melbourne and Todd Goldstein.

But there might be an even better option.

Brodie Grundy has returned to his imposing best with scores of 162, 134 and 153 in three of his past four games and, crucially, he faces Gold Coast this weekend.

MORE: SUPERCOACH EXPERTS REVEAL THEIR ROUND 7 TRADES

ROOKIE GUIDE: TIGERS YOUNGSTER TO THE RESCUE

Brodie Grundy will get plenty of hitouts this weekend.

Grundy averages 121 points in his past three games against the Suns, matched up against Jarrod Witts. But with his No.1 ruckman out for the year with a knee injury, Stuart Dew has used a combination of 195cm Caleb Graham and 191cm Chris Burgess in the ruck — last week they lost the hitouts 72-18 to Swans Callum Sinclair and Sam Reid.

And any hope of a return by genuine ruck Zac Smith were dismissed by Suns footy manager Jon Haines on Thursday.

“Zac will need a bit more time in the VFL. He’ll spend some time in the VFL just to get back to match fitness and get the confidence in his knee,” he told TAB radio.

Over to you, Brodie.

PIES ROOKIE FACTORY IN FULL PRODUCTION

Collingwood has become a breeding ground for cash cows.

The club announced on Wednesday that South Australian draftee Caleb Poulter will be the third Pies debutant blooded in as many weeks, along with Finlay Macrae and Jay Rantall.

Mature-age small forward Beau McCreery debuted as the sub in Round 3, making his SuperCoach debut in Round 4.

Bucks v Poulter 🏀

The moment Caleb Poulter won his AFL debut. pic.twitter.com/HTkluwJ2av

— Collingwood FC (@CollingwoodFC) April 28, 2021

Poulter, a 193cm midfielder with a flowing mullet, was a dominant KFC SuperCoach scorer at SANFL U18 level last year, averaging 25 disposals, 10.6 contested possessions, 4.7 tackles and 130 points per game.

He has made a promising start for the Magpies in the VFL, averaging 23.5 disposals and three clearances with scores of 98 and 90 in the first two rounds.

However, his call-up could spell danger for both Macrae and Rantall, who collected nine and eight disposals respectively in their side’s 24-point loss to Essendon.

Bubble-boy Macrae is currently owned by just under 30,000 KFC SuperCoach teams, who will be watching the Pies’ Friday night team selection with interest.

DOCKERS’ DEFENCE CURSE STRIKES AGAIN

Fremantle’s backline can’t take a trick.

From Alex Pearce to Joel Hamling and Hayden Young, it seems playing in the back half for the Dockers is one of the riskiest moves in footy.

Now another big name could be in trouble.

Luke Ryan appeared to be troubled by a knee issue at training on Thursday and went off during the session for treatment.

If Ryan misses it will be a huge blow to more than 18,000 KFC SuperCoach teams with the premium backman, but it could mean more responsibility for rookie Heath Chapman, who scored only 36 points last week when he was starved of the footy against North Melbourne.

Luke Ryan doing a fitness test in front of a club official. He was on and off the track a couple of times. Looked far from 100%. pic.twitter.com/xUIqyiZhKh

— Jordan McArdle (@jordan_mc12) April 29, 2021