SuperCoach AFL 2024: Winners and losers from round 16

The byes are over, but that didn’t mean an end to SuperCoach pain, and it came from some big names in round 16. Are rage trades justified? Seel all this weekend’s heroes and villains.

Matt Rowell had another disappointing score. Picture: Graham Denholm/Getty Images

The byes are over, bring on the massive SuperCoach scores. Right?

Many SuperCoaches were enjoying their projected scores – an exclusive SuperCoach Plus feature – but those numbers started tumbling as the premiums played across Friday and Saturday.

But it wasn’t all bad news. Here are the big winners and losers from round 16 – and what it means for our teams this week.

WINNERS

MARCUS BONTEMPELLI – 157 POINTS

Take note – next time Bontempelli is under a fitness cloud, make him captain in SuperCoach! For the second week in a row Bont was in doubt right up to the first bounce (this week it was back spasms, the previous week it was due to illness). He has played both games, and scored 162 and 157 points to assert his standing as the No.1 player in SuperCoach. Coaches brave enough to make him captain had a huge advantage this round.

NICK BLAKEY – 148 POINTS

Most of Sydney’s SuperCoach stars were unusually quiet on Saturday, but Blakey stepped up with 32 disposals, 10 marks, nine rebound-50s, six inside-50s and a goal. He is now averaging 102.6 for the season and could be a sneaky point of difference in defence.

Marcus Bontempelli proves his fitness before taking North Melbourne apart. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

JACK SINCLAIR – 143 POINTS

Sinclair is as hot as any player in the competition, scoring 147, 135 and 143 in his past three games. He was travelling at 100 per cent efficiency at halftime and even missing a couple of targets late didn’t dent his enormous impact.

TRISTAN XERRI – 141 POINTS

In a round of disappointing scores from ruckmen, the Kangaroos big man defied the trend. Twenty disposals, six tackles, three contested marks and a goal to go with 34 hitouts is a great day at the office.

JYE CALDWELL – 127 POINTS

The former Giant was given the keys to the Essendon midfield – attending more centre bounces than any other Bomber – and produced his second big score in a row (115 last week) to make himself a prime trade target in the midfield or forward line.

TOM GREEN – 117 POINTS

Green looked like joining the ranks of underperforming premos this round until he roared to life in the second half. He finished with 38 disposals, 17 contested possessions, five tackles and five clearances.

A tight tag couldn’t stop Jordan Clark. Picture: Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

JORDAN CLARK – 101 POINTS

As feared Swans stopper James Jordon made a beeline for the Dockers’ defensive runner, as he did in round 9 when he restricted Clark to 16 touches and 63 SuperCoach points. But Clark broke the tag to be one of the best players in a strangely even game.

BRUCE REVILLE – 95 POINTS

Owners of the Brisbane rookie were joking on Friday night that he should be on field instead of sitting on the bench after the byes. The joke wasn’t so funny after Reville outscored a string of SuperCoach stars with much higher price tags – see below!

LOSERS

ZAC FISHER – 83 POINTS

His score wasn’t a disaster especially considering some of the numbers below, but Fisher could – and arguably should – have scored a lot more. Alastair Clarkson pulled one of the more perplexing moves of the weekend when he subbed Fisher off for tactical reasons despite him being the sixth-ranked player on the ground at the time.

MAX GAWN – 79 POINTS

Gawn and the Gabba don’t mix. For some reason the SuperCoach king always struggles at the Lions’ home ground, failing to score over 97 in his past five visits. And the curse struck again on Friday night as he finished with a season-low nine disposals and 11 of his hitouts were sharked by Brisbane opponents – a negative act in the SuperCoach scoring formula.

Roos coach Alastair Clarkson clearly doesn’t have Zac Fisher in his SuperCoach team. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

MATT ROWELL – 79 POINTS

Rowell owners would have hoped a return to People First Stadium would spark a return to form but the hottest midfielder of the first half of the season struggled again, with only some big late touches getting him above 70 points. After three scores in a row of 82 or lower, he’s a serious candidate for a rage trade this week.

ZACH MERRETT – 78 POINTS

The Bombers skipper copped some close attention from Tom Atkins but it looked like business as usual when he entered halftime with more than 60 points to his name. The second half was an absolute disaster as he spent large chunks in the forward line and managed just eight disposals in over an hour of footy.

A second half to forget for Zach Merrett:

8 disposals (2 effective)
41 metres gained
0 marks
1 clearance
1 tackle
6 #SuperCoach
20 #AFLFantasy

😳

— Fantasy Freako (@FantasyFreako) June 30, 2024

NIC MARTIN – 75 POINTS

Martin was busy with 27 touches but a low disposal efficiency of 63 per cent, including nine turnovers, killed his score. Just two marks, one tackle and no impact on the scoreboard didn’t help, either. That’s now four sub-100 scores in his past five from the mid-season defensive star.

LUKE DAVIES-UNIACKE – 72 POINTS

Crashed to earth after three huge weeks, with four centre clearances but an underwhelming total of 17 touches for the game after 31 in each of the past two games.

Zach Merrett scored just six points in the second half. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

TIM ENGLISH – 70 POINTS

The No.1 SuperCoach ruckman of 2023 was given an old-fashioned bath by Tristan Xerri. He managed 14 disposals and five tackles but just three of his possessions were contested and he had no scores or score assists.

CHARLIE CURNOW – 54 POINTS

Trading in players based on the fixture is always a risky business. On paper a match-up against Richmond looked very enticing for the Coleman medallist, who booted five goals against Geelong last week. But Tiger defender Ben Miller played the game of his life to hold Curnow to just seven disposals and two goals, the second coming with just five minutes left in the game.

KYNAN BROWN – 15 POINTS

A late in for his second game, the young Demon started a the sub – again – and didn’t get on until the dying minutes of the game – again. His impact per minute is great but it’s hard to do much when you barely get on the ground.

Originally published as SuperCoach AFL 2024: Winners and losers from round 16