The Phantom’s SuperCoach face offs: Lineball calls in the midfield
THE Phantom’s verdict on some of the biggest lineball SuperCoach selection dilemmas in the midfield.
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JOSH Kelly, Clayton Oliver or Matt Crouch? Jaeger O’Meara over a rookie?
The Phantom’s Facebook and Twitter pages have been swamped with requests for advice from SuperCoaches who need to make a decision between two players of similar cost.
With that in mind, here is The Phantom’s midfield form guide to help with some of the borderline calls which could make or break your SuperCoach season.
Tomorrow, we’ll be looking at the tough decisions facing all SuperCoaches in the ruck. If you can’t decide between two players, drop The Phantom a line on Facebook or Twitter and he’ll try to help you out.
But for now, here’s the Phantom’s call on six key midfield selections.
Josh Kelly (GWS) $628,800 v Clayton Oliver (Melb) $612,800 v Matt Crouch (Adel) $608,300
The young trio, aged 23 or younger lead the next generation of SuperCoach stars.
But with all three now priced in the elite-bracket – and rightly so given they are premium scorers – you cannot start them all.
The smooth-moving Kelly averaged 114 points in 2017 - 27 points more than 2016 – to finish with the sixth-highest average in the game.
He’s only been in the competition for two years but Oliver’s numbers are remarkable. The 20-year-old, who ranked second in the competition for contested possession in 2017, has scored 80 or more points in 28 of his 35 games, with 17 SuperCoach tons.
After glimpses, Crouch announced himself as a premier ball-winner of the competition, recording 27 disposals or more in every game last season. Including finals, his 825 disposals was a new AFL record.
They’ve all got good numbers; there is no doubt about that.
But there is one statistic that separates them.
Last season, Kelly booted 19 goals and 24 behinds.
Crouch (7) and Oliver (4) only managed 11 goals between them.
The Phantom’s Verdict: KELLY. In SuperCoach, goal-kicking midfielders rule and Kelly has more strings to his bow.
Scott Pendlebury (Coll) $586,500 v Josh Kennedy (Syd) $564,200
They are fast being overtaken by the next generation but that doesn’t mean we can forget about the SuperCoach veterans just yet.
Last season was the first time since 2010 the Collingwood skipper failed to average more than 110. A drop to a 107-point average was on the back of the usually-consistent Pendlebury posting seven scores of less than 95.
It was a similar story with the Swans captain.
Kennedy, who averaged 28 disposals per game but less score involvements, tackles and contested possessions – even though he still ranked 3rd in the competition - than in 2016, finished 2017 with a season average of 103 – his lowest since 2011.
In 2018, on SuperCoach price, Pendlebury and Kennedy are ranked as the 19th and 21st-best midfielders in the competition.
Even though their form fell away slightly last year, astute SuperCoaches will see the value that both stars of the game present.
But, given this is the first time Pendlebury has been available for less than $600k – let alone $584k – since 2011, his value is greater.
Sure, there has been talk about Pendlebury spending more time behind the ball in 2018 but he’s still Collingwood’s most important midfielder.
And, unlike Kennedy, who has had a limited pre-season due to off-season knee surgery, Pendlebury is primed to bounce back.
The Phantom’s Verdict: PENDLEBURY. The value is hard to ignore and Pendlebury should push his way back into the top-15 scorers this year. He might even be unique.
Connor Blakely (Freo) $490,300 v Dion Prestia (Rich) $456,000 v Stephen Coniglio (GWS) $452,400
The battle of the mid-price midfielder.
Blakely, who began his career as a tagger, relished the opportunity to play a ball-winning role across half-back and through the middle last year. The 21-year-old averaged 28 disposals and 110 SuperCoach points between rounds six and 18, before a dislocated shoulder ended his season.
That was a glimpse.
And, although a breakout year is looming, we’ve seen more than just a glimpse from Prestia and Coniglio.
At the Suns, Prestia averaged 97 SuperCoach points in 2013 before pushing this number to 106 in his fourth year in the game the following season.
Injury then got in the way.
But in his first year at Tigerland in 2017, although he took a while to find his groove, the 25-year-old averaged 111 points in his final seven matches, including scores of 130 and 114 in the Richmond’s finals campaign.
Coniglio shares a similar story.
The No. 2 pick from the 2011 draft made his mark as a genuine A-grader of the competiton in 2016, averaging 106 points and ranking No. 1 at the Giants for disposals and contested possessions.
An ankle issue restricted him to just 10 games last season but, like Prestia, showed how important he is to his side’s midfield, scoring 120 points or more in two of the Giants’ three finals.
Despite the injury hiccups, Coniglio and Prestia are still in front of Blakely in the race to elite status and more likely to turn into keepers.
The Phantom’s Verdict: CONIGLIO. The Phantom has both Coniglio and Prestia but ranks Coniglio just ahead given his all-round game.
Jaeger O’Meara (Haw) $315,800 v Luke Davies-Uniacke (NM) $189,300
Davies-Uniacke is the example here but this debate works with any of the other top-end rookie-price players, such as Paddy Dow, Will Brodie and Andrew Brayshaw, who The Phantom believes can all average in excess of 80.
The question is; is it worth overlooking the standout cash cows and spending the extra $100k or so on the supremely-talented, yet injury-prone, O’Meara?
While there is little doubt, O’Meara, who played every game in his first two seasons, averaging 90 and 98 points in each year respectively, has the ability to be a premium scorer, can he stay on the park?
The 24-year-old has only played six games in the past three seasons, all coming last year in his first at Hawthorn, after on-going knee issues.
But the reports over pre-season have been positive and O’Meara’s performance at the recent intra-club turned heads.
It’s the ultimate risk/reward scenario.
If he plays 22 games, O’Meara will average 100 but it could also be a repeat of last season when many SuperCoaches were sucked in over summer.
The Phantom’s Verdict: DAVIES-UNIACKE. The Phantom is not against starting O’Meara but it shouldn’t be in place of Davies-Uniacke.
Patrick Dangerfield (Geel) $749,800 v Dustin Martin (Rich) $656,000
The Phantom analysed the battle of the big guns earlier in the pre-season so I’ll keep it short.
While Martin averaged a career-best 119 SuperCoach points in one the best individual seasons we have ever seen, Dangerfield scored 239 more points even though he played one less game.
Dangerfield, who averaged 17 more points per game, is expensive but he’s worth every cent.
The Phantom’s Verdict: DANGERFIELD. If you’re not starting with both, Dangerfield is still king. I don’t even care where you would spend the extra money – it will come back to bite you.
Gary Ablett (Geel) $631,100 YES/NO
The Gary Ablett debate is one that is forcing SuperCoaches to pull their hair out across the country – The Phantom included.
There is no need for The Phantom to go over Ablett’s scoring history – we all know he is the greatest SuperCoach scorer of our time.
However, the concern over his body remains. Ablett, who turns 34 in May, has only played 49 out of a possible 88 games in the past four seasons at the Suns.
And, even though he’s back at Geelong, fit, firing and turning heads at training, it’s unlikely Ablett plays 22 games in 2017.
With the Cats only travelling outside of Victoria three times before their Round 14 bye, there is every chance Ablett plays every game in the first-half of the season.
And when he’s on the park, he scores, meaning he could be the clubhouse leader at the Cats’ bye.
But what happens after that?
SuperCoach is a long-term game, my friends.
The Phantom’s Verdict: YE…NO. Given his price, the round 14 bye and the uncertainty, it’s a no. But not a certain one, just yet.
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