No-go zone: Avoid these players in KFC SuperCoach 2021

Leaving the right players out of your KFC SuperCoach team can save your season. And there are some big traps in way too many teams right now.

Overpriced, injured, unreliable or just not worth the pain.

Some of the most successful calls of the pre-season are not just over who to include in your KFC SuperCoach team but who to leave out.

It’s time for a SuperCoach intervention. Here are the players you need to remove from your selection plans in 2021.

Zac Williams (Carlton) $458,600 DEF

The former Giant was shaping as one of the best buys of the season after his move to the Blues and a likely midfield role. That was until he ironed out Hunter Clark in the opening minute of Carlton’s AAMI Series game. A one-week suspension is a nightmare for prospective coaches — the fact the Blues play the first game of the round and the perilous state of defensive rookies means you can’t afford to carry him on the bench, even for a week. Swap him for another mid-pricer like Liam Duggan or find $70,000 to turn him into Jayden Short.

MORE: 11 PLAYERS YOU MUST PICK IN KFC SUPERCOACH

ROOKIE BIBLE: BEST CHEAPIES FOR YOUR KFC SUPERCOACH TEAM

Trade out Zac Williams before Thursday night’s lockout!

Orazio Fantasia (Port Adelaide) $271,800 DEF/FWD

Every KFC SuperCoach wants to find value and the prospect of a player being rejuvenated by moving clubs is a trap most of us have fallen for before. The temptation grew after Fantasia scored 79 KFC points in less than a half against the Crows last week, booting 3.3 in just 38 per cent of game time. The former Bomber averaged 83.3 in 2018 but has played only 19 games since then for 12 scores of 60 points or less. Few mid-sized forwards score premium numbers and there are much more reliable options in defence and attack for around the same price.

The non-playing rookies

Selecting cheapies for your bench is tough when you are picking a team early in the pre-season. But after some practice matches and a round of the AAMI Community Series, we have a much better idea of which bottom-priced players will run out in Round 1 — and who won’t. All of Will Gould (currently in 31 per cent of teams), Finlay Macrae (25 per cent), Nakia Cockatoo (21 per cent), Jacob Wehr (17 per cent), Corey Durdin (16 per cent) and Luke Valente (13 per cent) are in way too many teams for players who were unsighted in any of the pre-season games. North Melbourne midfielder Will Phillips and Hawthorn defender Denver Grainger-Barras are outside chance to make their club’s Round 1 team but both have top-end rookie price tags — way too much to spend for players with shaky (at best) job security. If you need a replacement for any of these guys, check out our ROOKIE BIBLE.

Sadly we are unable to confirm if Will Gould actually exists.

Lachie Whitfield (GWS) $561,600 DEF

An elite KFC SuperCoach defender, no question, but there are big doubts over exactly when we will see Lachie on the field. The Giants have been very quiet about his recovery from a nasty bruised liver and are known to be cautious with their stars (ask anyone who has owned Josh Kelly in KFC SuperCoach) and when Whitfield does return he’s likely to take a week or two to work back to top form after being sidelined for much of the pre-season. Remember his price won’t change until after he has played three matches so we’ll have plenty of time to assess him and trade him in if he catches fire.

Michael Walters (Fremantle) $531,100 FWD-MID

Justin Longmuir must not play KFC SuperCoach. Walters was one of the best forwards in the first half of 2020, mixing his time between midfield (68 per cent) and attack (32 per cent) to Round 8. He had seven tons and a season-low of 92 to that point, before missing several games due to injury. When he returned in Round 12, Walters played almost exclusively as a forward, spending 92 per cent of time in attack for the last six rounds. As a result his KFC SuperCoach average dropped from 112 to 81.5. How can you pay more than $500,000 with little guarantee of what his role will be in 2021? Adam Cerra is about to join Andrew Brayshaw in the Dockers’ midfield and that doesn’t bode well for those with Walters in their SuperCoach plans. Take it from someone who owned him last season, it’s a very hard pass.

KFC SuperCoach players can’t trust Michael Walters — or John Longmuir.

Bradley Hill (St Kilda) $354,000 MID

Hill’s ownership has jumped to 7 per cent after a sublime performance against the Blues in prime time — but remember one pre-season game doesn’t make a player a KFC SuperCoach premium. Hill has never averaged above 84 across a season and while a return to full-length quarters will help him, it’s not going to suddenly add 20 points to his score — or 40 if you go off last year’s 66-point average.

Shannon Hurn (West Coast) $477,800 DEF

Hurn’s days as a premium scorer are done. He averaged a career-best 103.5 in 2019 and his second-best season (96.4) was 2018. But last year his average dropped by almost 15 points to 88.9, a figure which was boosted by scores of 112, 88 and 138 to round out the season. There was a period last year where Hurn scored 68, 39, 93, 114, 63 and 68 in consecutive weeks — disastrous for those who paid top dollar after he opened the campaign with a score of 152. Liam Duggan, Jackson Nelson and Tom Cole ate into Hurn’s scoring last year and Alex Witherden will join that mix as another defensive outlet this season.

At 33, Shannon Hurnis ready to hand over to the next generation of Eagles defenders.

Toby Greene (GWS Giants) $448,400 FWD

He’s an exciting talent, no doubt. But Greene has far too many red flags when it comes to KFC SuperCoach. He hasn’t played more than 20 games in a season in the past four years due to a combination of injuries and suspension. And when he does play, he’s often isolated in the forward line. Greene’s best, such as his Round 8 score of 166 last year, is as good as any player in KFC SuperCoach. But there’s too many question marks to take the risk at that price.

Picking GWS bad boy Toby Greene is a ticket to KFC SuperCoach stress.

Lachie Hunter (Western Bulldogs) $618,500 MID

Adding Adam Treloar to an already potent midfield is a huge boost for Western Bulldogs’ premiership ambitions. From a KFC SuperCoach perspective, the Bulldogs’ midfield depth has caused several headaches. Last year, coaches lamented Josh Dunkley being used as a ruckman and Jack Macrae spending time on a wing early in the season. In 2021, Luke Beveridge will need to work out how to get the best out of Dunkley, Treloar, Lachie Hunter, Bailey Smith, Marcus Bontempelli and Macrae, among others. Hunter had averaged 100 only once before last season, when he posted 115.1 in nine games. He costs more than $100,000 more than his 2020 starting price and there’s much better value in the midfield.

Nic Naitanui (West Coast) $593,700 RUC

The Eagles ruckman may have benefited more than any other player from shorter quarters last year, with his high-impact game attracting significant KFC SuperCoach scaling. Naitanui’s average of 110.5 was his best since 2021 and he got through 16 of a possible 18 games after playing only 33 matches from 2016-19. The major question mark is how Naitanui is managed through a full season when quarters return to 20 minutes. He’s only $55k cheaper than Brodie Grundy, who doesn’t need the same scaling Naitanui enjoyed last year to post monster scores.

Nic Naitanui might need more help in the ruck this season.

Stephen Coniglio (GWS Giants) $528,900 MID

How can we trust his role? The GWS skipper has never quite reached uber premium status in KFC SuperCoach, averaging a career-high of 108.4 in 2018. His numbers since then (101.2 and 98.4) won’t illicit much excitement from KFC SuperCoaches. Coniglio opened last season with scores of 114, 111 and 87 but then scored 49 when he was used as a defensive forward against Collingwood. He just doesn’t hit the heights other premium midfielders do often enough to be considered, especially when he’s often squeezed out of the Giants’ first-choice midfield or used as a forward.

Lance Franklin (Sydney) $312,000 FWD

The cheaper he gets, the more KFC SuperCoaches have to look at Buddy. But ultimately, the continued injury issues plaguing the Swans superstar should be enough of a deterrent to look elsewhere. Yes, $312k seems cheap. But even if he makes an unlikely bid to feature in Round 1, how can you guarantee a 33-year-old Franklin won’t be managed through the campaign? After all, he’s only played 28 games in the past three seasons and didn’t feature at all last year.

Lance Franklin has suffered another injury setback.

... and the big unknown

Jordan Clark (Geelong) $241,800 DEF/MID

What will Chris Scott do with the exciting young playmaker? It’s a question plenty of KFC SuperCoaches are wrestling with — and 38 per cent have taken the plunge after his near best-on-ground performance against Collingwood last weekend. Elite talent? Tick. Friendly role? Tick. Attractive price? Tick. So what’s the issue? Ask anyone who owned Cats teammate Charlie Constable in KFC SuperCoach in 2019 how unreliable Scott can be when it comes to giving youngsters game time. Constable opened that season with three 80-plus scores but then somehow found himself out of the team and played only four games for the rest of the season. Clark himself played only three games last season despite Cats fans crying out for him to be part of the best 22. Is 2021 his year? Over to you, Chris.

Originally published as No-go zone: Avoid these players in KFC SuperCoach 2021