KFC SuperCoach Plus: 11 things you need to know for Round 5 of the AFL season

Matt Rowell’s form, midfield smokies, Aaron Hall’s kick-ins, the must-have rookies, trade tips – here are 11 nuggets of gold to help your KFC SuperCoach team this week.

KFC SuperCoaches were rushing to trade Matt Rowell in after his Round 1 score and, now, three weeks later are looking to dump him. So what’s up with the star Sun?

Scroll down to dig into the stats behind the KFC SuperCoach scores plus 10 more nuggets from SuperCoach plus to help your team.

SuperCoach Plus is a treasure trove of stats and tools including Break Evens, score and price projections, a bye planner, the new Trade Assist button and lots more. And now SuperCoach Plus subscribers can see live KFC SuperCoach scores for every AFL game in the 2022 season.

And you get exclusive weekly analysis articles just like this one!

Note: The SuperCoach Plus free trial for all players has expired, so sign up now for live scores, exclusive stats, team latest and more!

Nathan O'Driscoll, left, is set to make plenty of money in KFC SuperCoach. Picture: Will Russell/AFL Photos

THE MONEY MEN

Don’t let a price rise put you off a KFC SuperCoach rookie trade. Docker Nathan O’Driscoll, who scored 18 as the sub on debut in Round 2, added $44k to his price tag after his third game on the weekend. But he posted a KFC SuperCoach ton and faces a breakeven of -54 – the third-lowest in the competition. He’s settled in an outside role, which makes use of his penetrating left-foot, despite being a contested-ball beast as a junior. It’s a good combination of attributes for KFC SuperCoach and he looks to be a solid money train to jump on this week. Even if he scores 50 in both of his next two matches, he’ll add another $90k to his price tag. Eagles’ SSP signing, Hugh Dixon, is another rookie who’s already experienced a price rise that is worth jumping on. The 23-year-old scored 96 points against the Magpies, where he was particularly impressive forward of centre, and star ruckman Nic Naitnaui is set to miss an extended period. And Dixon’s breakeven is even lower than O’Driscoll’s (-60).

EVERYONE’S JUMPING ON

As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 12,000 KFC SuperCoach have traded O’Driscoll into their side. The most-popular trade is injured Blues star Patrick Cripps to O’Driscoll, with more than 2500 coaches making the move. They could soon well change with the Cripps injury not as bad as first thought.

THE MONEY MEN II

The rookie trains aren’t the only ones that have left the station you can still catch. Docker Will Brodie is the sixth-ranked forward in KFC SuperCoach after his huge 135-point performance, on the back of 37 disposals and 21 contested possessions. Of all players to have had 50 or more disposals this season, Brodie is the seventh-ranked player in the competition for disposals per minute. And a breakeven of -16 means he has plenty of money to make yet.

Rory Laird is the No. 1 ranked player for disposals per minute. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos

BALL MAGNET

The No. 1 ranked player for disposals per minute in 2022 is Crow Rory Laird, who has tallied 69 disposals in his two games since returning from a broken hand. Laird finished with 31 touches in just 68 per cent game-time against the Power and then 38 in 77 per cent time-on-ground in Round 4. A huge score of 143 against the Bombers means his price might not fall as much as we hoped it would after the 93-point display on return, with Laird’s breakeven a gettable 136. But, regardless, he could be a great point-of-difference in the midfield, with many forgetting about the star Crow who averaged 116 points last season, given the loss of defender status. He’s in just 400 teams.

NOT SO MUCH A BALL MAGNET

Gold Coast gun Matt Rowell had 32 disposals and 151 points in Round 1 to start the KFC SuperCoach season with a bang. But since then, Rowell has been unable to play his natural game, and hunt the ball consistently. Champion Data match-up stats tell us that Rowell spent time running with Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca in Round 3, Tom Green and Josh Kelly in Round 4, and against the Blues on Sunday, he spent time on midfield quartet Adam Cerra, George Hewett, Patrick Cripps and Sam Walsh. And given his kicking efficiency was below 50 per cent – like it was against the Demons in Round 2 – the volume wasn’t there to compensate for what he did with it.

BUT STILL STRONG DEFENSIVELY

The good news is Rowell is still hunting the man, recording 20 pre-clearance tackles in the first four rounds – ranked 2nd in the league. With a breakeven of 68, you can afford to watch for another week, at least.

Aaron Hall should take more kick-ins with Jack Ziebell’s move forward. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

GOOD KICKING IS GOOD SUPERCOACH

Given the way Rowell can win the ball at the contest, he doesn’t need to hit his teammates on the chest by foot. But it’s the key to Aaron Hall’s KFC SuperCoach scoring. The Kangaroos gun, who plays just about the friendliest KFC SuperCoach role in the competition, has recorded 64 effective kicks this season – only Tiger Jayden Short has more. And with North Melbourne coach David Noble hinting that Jack Ziebell will stay forward after his five-goal performance in Round 4, that role might become even better. With Ziebell forward against the Swans, Hall took six of North’s eight kick-ins – playing on with five of them. In the previous two matches, with Ziebell taking majority, Hall took just 11 of the team’s 29 kick-ins. In the only game Ziebell has missed in the past two years, Hall scored 139 KFC SuperCoach points in Round 23, 2021.

DOCH’S TOP OF THE ORDER

After scores of 144, 100, 122 and 135 in the opening four rounds, Sam Docherty is the No. 1 KFC SuperCoach defender and the sixth-ranked overall scorer in the competition. He ranks fourth in the league for uncontested marks and uncontested possessions, sixth for effective kicks, 11th for handball-receives and 17th for total disposals. It’s a remarkable effort to get back to his best given what he’s been through, but it’s easy to forget the Blues co-captain averaged 115 points per game in 2017.

Docker big man Sean Darcy is set for a significant price drop. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

FALLEN PREMIUMS

After inconsistent start to the year, both with form and body, Fremantle ruckman Sean Darcy has a huge Round 5 breakeven of 235 – the highest in the competition. With scores of 72 and 71, Darcy’s price is set to drop by more than $50k, even with a 100-point score against the Bombers. SuperCoach Plus stats tells us that if Darcy averages 97 points over the next three rounds, his price will be down to $529k by Round 7. KFC SuperCoaches who didn’t go with the set-and-forget combination in the ruck should be keeping a close eye on the Dockers star. Gold Coast’s Touk Miller isn’t far behind with a breakeven of 188, after receiving close attention in the past two weeks. Non-owners looked to be facing an uphill battle to get him in after he scored 137 and 140 to start the year, but there’s a chance Miller’s price will now fall below $600k. Keep an eye on Demon Clayton Oliver (breakeven 162), too, with Giants Lachie Ash and Matt de Boer waiting on Saturday night.

HEENEY’S HUGE QUARTER

Some KFC SuperCoaches were hopeful Isaac Heeney’s price rise would be halted at three-quarter time against the Kangaroos. But the star exploded in the final term as the Swans ran over the top, recording 60 of his 131 KFC SuperCoach points, largely thanks to two important goals that resulted in 27.9 points alone.

CAPTAINS CORNER

It’s going to be hard to go past Lachie Neale as VC at home in the first game of Round 5 on Thursday night. He may have failed to score more than 88 in his past two matches against the Pies, but Neale has posted scores of 105, 140 and 133 in his past three home-and-away matches at the Gabba. It’s his 200th game, too, and in his past two milestone matches, Neale has scored 149 (150th) and 128 (100th).