The Phantom’s Round 10 review: The good, the bad and the big-time bargains

IT was a huge week in SuperCoach but the bargains available ahead of Round 11 could be bigger. The Phantom looks at who they are and the rest of the good and bad from Round 10. LISTEN to the latest edition of The Phantom’s Lair Podcast.

The Phantom's Round 10 SuperCoach review

• SuperCoach Rage Trades: Is it time to Rockliff and roll?
• The Barometer: Every clubs injury list ahead of Round 11

IT was a huge week in SuperCoach.

With a number of premium players — and some on-field rookies, if you got the selection right — scoring big, more than 80 teams passed the 2600-point barrier in Round 10.

But the bargains available ahead of Round 11 could be bigger.

Fresh off the bye, Port Adelaide’s Tom Rockliff, who has posted scores of 98 and 102 in the past two games, is priced at $374k and looks set for a big second half of the season after rejoining the Power midfield.

And with a breakeven of 25, he won’t be getting any cheaper.

If you’ve got Tim Kelly, who lost value for the second consecutive week after spending majority of the game against the Blues in the forward half, you can make money off the trade.

However, if you’ve got the cash, trading another cash cow and pushing Tim Kelly to the bench could prove vital later in the year.

Angus Brayshaw had a career-high 37 disposals against the Crows in Round 10.

In defence, Melbourne’s Angus Brayshaw, after a career-high 37 disposals and three goals against the Crows, is a great value upgrade option if your funds are limited.

While Brayshaw, who has a Round 11 breakeven of 19, started the year at $316k, three SuperCoach tons in the past four weeks have seen his price rise to $422k.

But, if he can continue this scoring, the 22-year-old, who attended nine centre bounces at the foot of the dominant Max Gawn in Melbourne’s full-strength midfield, is still a great buy at $422k.

Over in the West, Michael Walters, playing his second game after a two-week lay-off, did his best to reach his 157-point breakeven, scoring 146, on the back of 27 disposals and two goals.

As a result, the 27-year-old’s price fell by another $4k and, with a Round 11 breakeven of 24, Walters looks to have bottomed-out at $419k.

And that’s an absolute bargain considering Walters, ignoring the injury-affected 17 in Round 6, is averaging 104 points per game.

Just remember, as enticing as all of these options are, keep your bye-round structure in mind.

Walters is a great buy but he shares the dreaded Round 14 bye with a number of other SuperCoach premiums.

THE GOOD

Lion Mitch Robinson was the highest SuperCoach scorer in Round 10.

Lion Mitch Robinson sat atop the scorer’s list in Round 10 with 172 points, on the back of 35 disposals and 26 contested possessions.

Robinson has posted SuperCoach tons in five of his nine games for the year and he’s the 10th-ranked forward, despite missing one match. And he’s only in 4 per cent of teams.

Melbourne forward Tim Smith looms as the next must-have cash cow after following up his 91 points in Round 9 with 101 against the Crows on Sunday. The 27-year-old, who played two games in his debut season in 2017, tallied 19 disposals, six marks, six tackles and two goals in the Demon’s 91-point victory.

The competition’s new master tagger Ben Jacobs had Docker Nat Fyfe in his sights at the weekend but the Brownlow Medallist wasn’t concerned. Although the Kangaroos took the points, Fyfe became the only player to have more than 20 disposals against Jacobs this season, finishing with 31 possessions — 24 of them contested — eight tackles and 163 points.

After quiet games in Round 7 and 8, Crow defender Tom Doedee has bounced back scoring 104 and 91 in his past two matches to bring about a Round 11 breakeven of 28, meaning his price could get to $400k by the Crows’ Round 14 bye.

THE BAD

After three consecutive scores of 120 points or more, Marcus Bontempelli posted a season-low 47 points against the Magpies in Round 10. The star Bulldog’s price has fluctuated all year and it could be on the way back down with a breakeven of 170 in Round 11.

Is it time for Geelong’s first-year sensation Tim Kelly to go?

As I mentioned earlier, it could be time to cut ties with popular cash cow T im Kelly, who only attended five centre bounces for the Cats against the Blues. While it may be the club easing his workload, given it’s his first year in the competition, Kelly lost $28k after his 57 points and his price could crash even further with a breakeven of 136.

Jack Billings’ first half against the Tigers produced just 18 SuperCoach points. Heading into Round 10, we didn’t think things could get worse but, at that point, that’s exactly what was happening. Thankfully, Billings tallied 12 disposals, one goal and 52 points after half time, prompting coach Alan Richardson to declare Billings had “turned the corner a bit for us today”.

I hope you’re right, Alan.

The Phantom’s Menace

When will star Eagle ruckman Nic Naitanui’s game-time increase?

Adam Simpson (WC)

Sure, you are doing a tremendous job at the moment, Adam but when will Nic Naitanui’s game-time increase? Naitanui said himself he would begin to build up after the initial three-game block. While it was up to 65 per cent against the Power, prior to the suspension, it was back to 56 per cent against the Hawks in Round 10. Yes, he’s scored back-to-back SuperCoach tons but The Phantom wants more!

The Phantom Round 10

Score: 2346

Overall ranking: 24,586