SuperCoach AFL 2024: Last-minute expert consensus rookie rankings
Rookies will be more important than ever in SuperCoach this year. We asked the experts to name the best cheapies in each position – see the results here.
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Rookies are the building blocks of every successful SuperCoach team.
Players priced at $207,300 – the starting value of No.1 draft pick Harley Reid – and below take the final on-field spots in most positions and fill our benches.
If you think those players don’t matter, think again. Cheapies will be even more valuable in 2024 to stand in for some of our biggest names when they miss a week in the early bye rounds. And the ability of those players to rise in value is your platform to add more superstars to your squad via trades during the season.
SuperCoach prices are based on player scores over a three-match rolling average. The cheaper a player is to start with, the fewer points they need to score to turn a profit. A $123,900 rookie who scores 60 points every week can add $150,000 to their price tag by round 10 – a perfect bench pick.
More expensive rookies need to score more to make the same profit. But we are backing these players to produce more reliable scores that can contribute to your total each week.
So, which names should we be adding to our squads in 2024? We polled seven SuperCoach experts and collated the totals to generate the rankings below.
There is a clear top five in defence – enough to comfortably fill our benches and play one or two cheapies on field.
Tiger Josh Gibcus was the No.1 choice of all but one expert – The Phantom, who had him at No.2 behind Blake Howes. The Demon defender shot up the rankings after scoring 91 on debut in opening round, a score that doesn’t count in SuperCoach but should cement his spot in the team for a while and help him make an early price jump.
Essendon’s Zach Reid, Bulldogs recruit Nick Coffield and $102,400 Hawk Ethan Phillips aren’t too far behind in our rankings – pick any of those five players with confidence.
From there it’s a gap to the pairing of Toby Pink and Jase Burgoyne, who received the same number of votes – we’ve got Burgoyne ahead on a countback after he received votes from seven experts compared to Pink’s six.
After that a number of players appeared towards the bottom of our experts’ lists – Oscar McDonald, Dan Curtin and Bodhi Uwland all just missed the top 10, but you would have to be fielding an extremely cheap backline to delve that far.
Our experts couldn’t split elite talents Ryley Sanders (Western Bulldogs) and Colby McKercher (North Melbourne). McKercher is on top of this list because he received more No.1 votes (four to Sanders’ three) but it’s safe to say you should pick both.
Whether you want another rookie on field in the midfield will come down to your team structure, but Henry Hustwaite and Matt Roberts are both great options despite slightly elevated price tags.
Make sure Jhye Clark is on your bench, he’s the fifth name in a clear top five in the midfield.
From here it’s bench options only. Docker Jeremy Sharp and Carlton’s Jack Carroll are next on the list. Carroll started as the sub for the Blues in opening round but had a big impact after coming on and should get a full game against the Tigers.
The last three spots could have been filled by a wide range of players; some left-field choices who appeared at the bottom of our experts’ lists include Saint Hugo Garcia, Giant Josh Fahey and Eagles pair Loch Rawlinson and Campbell Chesser.
A clear top two here and your choice really comes down to strategy.
If you want someone who is likely to play games and make money, go with Richmond’s mature-age recruit Sam Naismith. He would be a clear-cut pick except it’s not clear how much he’ll play when Toby Nankervis returns from injury.
If you want to spend as little as possible Eagle Coen Livingstone is just $102,400 ($21k cheaper than Naismith) and has dual-position status, which could allow him to swap with a player like Luke Jackson in the forward line.
Jordon Sweet and Toby Conway are second in line in the ruck pecking order at Port Adelaide and Geelong respectively, but they could get a look in at some stage.
The forward line will set SuperCoach teams apart this year, with a small number of expensive stars putting up their hands for selection, a contingent of mid-price bargains led by Nat Fyfe and a strong cast of rookies.
Make sure Alex Sexton and Harley Reid are on your field; the reborn Suns defender and the Eagles’ No.1 draft pick were ranked in the top two by every expert.
Darcy Wilson, Charlie Lazzaro and Caleb Windsor are the next bracket; after that it’s a bit of a lottery – there is no shortage of players who could play early, but predicting which of them will stay in their teams the longest and score the most points isn’t easy. These guys are bench picks only.
Swiz went rogue with his rankings, listing Tyler Sonsie at No.3. He was the only expert to include the Tigers midfielder, who will miss the first two rounds with suspension. But after a promising pre-season we shouldn’t have to wait long after that to get a look at him – keep him in mind for a possible early trade.
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Originally published as SuperCoach AFL 2024: Last-minute expert consensus rookie rankings
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