KFC SuperCoach 2020: The Phantom’s must have player in each position for 2020
Just getting started on your KFC SuperCoach team for 2020? Or just can’t stop tinkering after the Marsh Series? The Phantom is here to help. Here are the must-have stars and rookies to build your side around
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- Every standout from the final week of the Marsh Series
- Ultimate Rookie Guide: The Phantom’s cash cow rankings
The clock is ticking, it’s time to get your KFC SuperCoach team in order for 2020. To help, here is The Phantom’s must-have star - and the best rookie-price option - on every line
DEFENCE
THE LOCK
Sam Docherty (Carl, $436,100)
In Mandurah on February 29, Docherty stepped onto the field for his first competitive match in 917 days. He was rusty, finishing with 19 disposals at just 57 per cent efficiency and 69 points.
But a week later, the Carlton co-captain was back to near his best, tallying 21 disposals, 10 marks and 105 points against the Lions.
The 26-year-old may have not played an AFL game since Round 23, 2017 after tearing the ACL in his left knee twice in the past two years, but he’s ticked every box over summer and the value is just too hard to ignore.
The $436k tag has the damaging right-footer, who declared his body is feeling great following a successful Marsh Series, priced at an average of 80.
In his last two full seasons, Docherty posted a SuperCoach ton in 33 of the Blues’ 44 matches.
In the 11 games he failed to pass the 100-point mark, he scored 80 or more seven times.
The hole you might find yourself in if you start without him is likely to be bigger than the one that might open up if he fails.
THE ROOKIE
Jarrod Brander (WC $133,000, Fwd)
Brander has posted scores of 25, 36 and 36 in his three career games playing as a forward, but the versatile 20-year-old, who stands at 195cm, can play in almost any position on the ground. And over the pre-season, he’s impressed on a wing, in a role which is likely to be more SuperCoach-friendly.
Brander, who is still rookie-price – and dual-position – heading into his third year, confirmed this in the final Marsh Series clash against the Dockers, finishing with 17 disposals – at 88 per cent efficiency – and five marks.
SuperCoaches have lost faith in a number of rookie-price options over the past two weeks but Brander’s stocks have only risen in this time and he now appears one of the safe bets in his new role.
MIDFIELD
THE LOCK
Patrick Dangerfield (Geel, $625,500)
Top-price options Jack Macrae, Lachie Neale, Nat Fyfe, Josh Kelly and Patrick Cripps are all stars and averaged more than 117 points per game last year. But we all know that.
What you might not know is of the top 10 – 11 if we’re including Tom Mitchell who missed all of 2019 – most-expensive midfielders this year, Dangerfield has scored 362 more points than any player over the past three years.
Macrae sits second, after playing 63 of a possible 66 home-and-away matches, the same number as Dangerfield.
The third and fourth-ranked players, Neale and Clayton Oliver, have played 65 and 66 games respectively.
And Dangerfield is seventh on the list by price.
After averaging 130 or more in consecutive seasons, the 29-year-old averaged 122 in 2018, before the figure fell to 115 last year.
It was still the ninth-best in the competition, despite an injury-affected score of 26 in Round 7.
But there is an explanation for the slight fall. In the past two seasons, with the Cats in need of another marking target in attack and with Tim Kelly’s presence in the midfield, Dangerfield spent plenty of time inside-50.
In 2020, there is no Kelly and Geelong now have Josh Jenkins to fit in alongside Tom Hawkins and a fit Esava Ratugolea.
Geelong coach Chris Scott still might use his best player forward this year – he’s just too good not to – but even if his centre-bounce numbers increase slightly, the 120-point mark is in danger once again.
And in just 70 per cent game-time, Dangerfield recorded game-high disposals, contested possesssions and clerances in the Cats’ final Marsh Series hitout against the Bombers.
THE ROOKIE
Marlion Pickett (Rich $123,900)
The mature-age sensation finished third in the Norm Smith Medal voting last year after tallying 22 disposals, eight contested possessions, one goal and 96 SuperCoach points on debut in the grand final.
A week earlier, Pickett won the Norm Goss Medal as the best player on-the-ground in the VFL grand final after 20 disposals and 123 points.
The guy was almost the best player on the ground in the biggest game last year. And Pickett, who featured in Richmond’s first-choice on-ball rotation in the Marsh Series, is available at rookie-price. What more do you need?
MORE KFC SUPERCOACH ADVICE
Ultimate rookie guide: Top-10 in every position
SuperCoach guns most vulnerable to taggers
Mid-price forwards: Is Brayshaw breakout real?
RUCK
THE LOCK
Brodie Grundy (Coll $705,900)
Boring, I know, but it’s better than being wrong.
In fact, if you could automatically make Grundy part of your SuperCoach team for the next seven years – just like Collingwood have done – you probably would.
The star big man has posted a SuperCoach ton in 38 of his past 44 home-and-away matches – 25 of them in excess of 130 – and has finished the past two seasons as the top-ranked player in the game.
The only thing that separates Grundy from the second-ranked scorer last year, Max Gawn, is Grundy’s durability, which has seen him play 91 of a possible 93 matches since Round 2, 2016.
Don’t even think twice, even after a quiet Marsh Series match against the Saints.
THE ROOKIE
Darcy Cameron (Coll $123,900, Fwd)
The 24-year-old played made just one senior appearance in his time at the Swans, despite being one of the NEAFL’s dominant ruckmen for the best part of three years.
But Cameron, who averaged 154 SuperCoach points per game in a standout 2018 for the Swans’ reserves side, has also shown his ability as a strong-marking forward.
In 2016, prior to being drafted as a mature-ager from the WAFL, the 205cm big man took 43 contested marks – the most in the competition – and booted 36 goals for Claremont.
And both traits were on show in an imposing performance in the Marsh Series clash with the Tigers. Cameron tallied 11 hit-outs-to-advantage, two goals and a game-high 127 points, proving he may be able to offer more as Brodie Grundy’s back-up than Mason Cox.
Cameron was left out of the Magpies side a week later but he’s the best option if you’re looking for cover on your forward bench or at R3.
FORWARD
THE LOCK
Devon Smith (Ess $335,800, Mid)
After showing glimpses, in between a number of frustrating injuries, at the Giants, Smith delivered on his potential at the Bombers in 2018.
The tenacious forward, whose midfield time increased as the season went on, averaged 98 points per game and won Essendon’s best-and-fairest in his first year at the club.
But it was in the final eight rounds of the season when his scoring power was really on show.
The 26-year-old averaged 25 disposals, nine tackles and 107 points per game from Round 16 onwards.
A persistent knee injury then restricted him in the first two months of 2019, before wiping out his season completely in May.
Smith, the competition’s No. 1 tackler in 2018, averaged 2.5 tackles less per game in the opening eight rounds of last year, and finished with 20 disposals or more in just two matches.
But enough with the disappointment that was 2019.
Smith has enjoyed an uninterrupted pre-season and, after a slow start in week one of the Marsh Series, underlined his enormous value with a 117-point performance, on the back of 21 disposals, 10 tackles, eight marks and six clearances, through the midfield against the Cats.
Smith will start the season as the 115th most-expensive but, all going well, is a likely top-six forward by the year’s end.
THE ROOKIE
Izak Rankine (GC $123,900)
Teammate Touk Miller believes there’s a big year ahead for the 19-year-old if he can stay fit in 2020.
But those who saw Rankine make his SANFL league debut at 16 already knew that.
The excitement machine, whose first year at the Suns was interrupted by injury, then tallied more goals, assists and score involvements than any other player and averaged 120 SuperCoach points per game at the 2018 Under-18 championships.
A shoulder knock kept him out of the Marsh Series but coach Stuart Dew, following the win over the Crows, said Rankine should be fit by Round 1. And there’s still a good chance he’ll be picked.
If he is, you should be picking him, too.