The Eradicator’s SuperCoach team has one big surprise

AFTER a gruelling preseason on The Phantom’s Lair SuperCoach podcast, The Eradicator has finalised his starting team for 2018. See it here and listen to the latest Phantom’s Lair podcast featuring Crows ruckman Sam Jacobs.

Mason Cox at Collingwood training for men and women's. Wednesday, December 6. 2017. Picture: David Crosling

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IT’S been a gruelling preseason. Being a part of The Phantom’s Lair podcast has meant I’ve had to get my SC match fitness up early this year, but I’m hoping that pays dividends with my starting squad and through the long months of winter still ahead.

I’ve tried to use a bit of that long-term thinking with my team selection as well.

I haven’t forgotten how much of a struggle rookies were early last season and I wouldn’t be surprised if this year’s cash cow gravy train doesn’t have many carriages.

While we seemingly have some quality in the midfield and, to a lesser extent, down back this year, the forwards are worryingly thin. Beyond that, we may hit another hurdle when it comes to downgrade targets as the season wears on.

That was certainly the case last year. If it wasn’t for Hugh Greenwood, Nic Newman and Alex Witherden last year, the SuperCoach economy could’ve gone into recession.

Things have changed from the bull market of a few years ago when the new teams and even the Essendon top up players, left us spoilt for cheap playing choices over the course of those glory seasons.

With that in mind, I wanted a team that was a robust as possible through the early weeks of the season. Hopefully, I can ride a few of the bumps that inevitably present and spend my trades upgrading and downgrading, rather than dodging from one crisis to the next.

Given how the rookies are shaping up this year, I’ve decided not to run any on the park in the forward line. To compensate, I’m playing three on field in defence and the midfield.

Joel Selwood and Patrick Dangerfield at Geelong training.

I’m starting with Patrick Dangerfield, even if he misses Round 1. I feel if I don’t start with him, the opportunity to get him in might not present before a fair chunk of the season is complete. Happy to have him as a point of difference from Round 2 onwards, if he does miss the first week.

My other premiums are players who I feel offer the most consistent high scoring from week to week. They are players who have the least scoring deviation, which is not only good for stable scoring output for my team now, it may mean they are the hardest to trade into during the year, if funds get tight.

I think, like last year, I will do a lot of opportunist trading for quality players when the price is right this year, rather than paying full tote odds for specific players.

Collingwood big man Mason Cox is The Eradicator’s big point-of-difference in 2018.

Big American Mason Cox is also a point of difference in my team. He appears to be a big part of Collingwood’s plans for 2018 up forward and as second ruck. He also has a freshly inked three-year deal to give me confidence in what the club think of him. His last two games last season produced his highest two scores (83 average) and he averaged over 100 in the JLT. I’m not expecting a 100 average from him. What I’m hoping for is someone who plays each week – possibly an 80 average and, most importantly, some coverage for my ruck department if anything goes wrong there.

I’ve also left myself $170k in the kitty. If any of my cheaper end rookies don’t get named Thursday, I can spend the extra cash to grab the more expense options, while keeping my structure.

I’ll also allow myself two adjustment trades at the end of round two. These trades allow me to pick up any rookie bolter I may have missed, or scrap any mid-price risk that is failing. The extra kitty cash give me some flexibility there too. One thing I know is I’ll make mistakes – so it’s my free hit to erase some errors before the prices change.

The Eradicator's SuperCoach team 2018

Defence

Rory Laird is my rolled-gold premo, along with potentially undervalued Shane Savage and Marley Williams. I feel the rookies on this line have a bit of job security about them, so I’ve gone deep on the field with them, as well as opening up a link with my midfield through Nick Coffield/Jeremy Finlayson.

Midfield

I’m starting with Dangerfield, even if he misses round one. If that were to happen, his Sunday game time will allow me to loop an emergency score, which has the potential to gain me a few points – though not as much as I would get through the man himself. Once again, the rookies are plenty here, but I’ve tried to steer clear of the most expensive ones – the exception being Andrew Brayshaw, who looked fantastic in both JLT games.

Rucks

Surely Max Gawn is a no-brainer. In my other ruck spot I have gone for Paddy Ryder. The Power ruckman’s end to 2017 was super consistent and I’m hoping 2018 starts in a similar way. With Mason Cox, I don’t have as much concern around Ryder’s R10 bye. Bench is the cheapest Ruc/For to open up the position switch with Cox.

Forward

The Eradicator expects Michael Walters to be one of the highest-scoring forwards in 2018.

This is where it gets interesting – I feel the forward line is going to provide a lot of variety this season. I’ve gone Isaac Heeney as my main man, with a trio of players who I feel are under priced and a chance at finishing top six scoring forwards for 2018 – Michael Walters, Devon Smith and James Sicily (Sicily also offers Def flexibility).

Then comes my controversial selection – Mason Cox. I’ve also named Tom Bell in the starting 22, who I’m hoping can find the form he had in his last injury-free year (Carlton 2015, where he averaged 89). At the very least I hope he can start his season with a good string of games for both scores and price increases. This structure means I’m fielding zero forward rookies on the park up forward this year.

The Eradicator. Out.

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