The Phantom’s SuperCoach 2018 team: Dangerfield a certain starter in the midfield

ROUND 1 is almost here, SuperCoaches. And, after a long, gruelling SuperCoach pre-season, it’s time for The Phantom to reveal his final 2018 team. Find out who will be starting in the midfield.

The Phantom's SuperCoach 2018 team reveal

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• The Phantom’s team reveal: Defenders

WITH three big guns worth more than $545k each in defence, something’s got to give.

And it’s the midfield.

The Phantom saw first-hand last season the problems — mainly revolving around cash generation — that can arise if you don’t nail the selections when starting with a stacked midfield.

And, with more than 15 players capable of finishing inside the top-eight scorers and, potentially, a number of great rookie-priced scorers, The Phantom is starting with just four rolled-gold premiums.

Will Patrick Dangerfield take his place in Geelong’s Round 1 side?

Patrick Dangerfield, even if he misses Round 1 with a hamstring injury, is locked in.

It’s just going to be too hard, without wasting multiple trades, to bring him in within the first month.

And I wouldn’t want to be going any longer without him.

Whenever he does play, I can’t see him starting slow. This is the bloke who scored 141 SuperCoach points on one leg against the Hawks last year.

If Dangerfield doesn’t line up against the Demons, given the game is on Sunday, he will still be valuable in ensuring the highest-scoring rookie players count, via the emergency loophole.

That, in itself, could almost make up the difference between starting a rookie and another premium.

After adding 27 points to his average in 2017, The Phantom believes Josh Kelly has another level to go to this season and he could finish 2018 with an average in excess of 120.

Nat Fyfe is a no-brainer.

The Fremantle skipper could once again challenge for the No. 1 ranking this year.

Carlton star Patrick Cripps trains under the watchful eye of coach Brendon Bolton on Monday.

And, as the 32nd-most expensive player in the game, I can’t leave out Carlton star Patrick Cripps, who is ready to explode after an injury-interrupted 2017.

Then, before three rookie-priced players, sits Giant midfielder Stephen Coniglio, who, at $452k, might be the Marc Murphy of SuperCoach in 2018.

The Phantom believes Coniglio can average between 105 and 110 to become a keeper — and that’s the reason I am starting with him.

The midfield is where most of the rookie points come from and, unlike I did last season, I’m not ignoring it in 2018.

With the idea of letting the topscoring players of 2018 show themselves before committing, I’ll be starting with three rookie-priced players on the field and six in the midfield in total.

Fremantle’s top draft pick Andrew Brayshaw, who — along with mature-age recruit Bailey Banfield — is a confirmed starter in Ross Lyon’s Round 1 side, was the standout rookie scorer in the JLT Series and should be one of the top cash cows this season.

The Phantom has been a fan of second-year Gold Coast midfielder Will Brodie, who boasts a contested game suited to SuperCoach, for a while now and I expect him to play a big role in the Suns’ new-look engine room.

I’m pretty set on Brayshaw and Brodie occupying on-field spots but M8 is still undecided with mature-age Geelong recruit Tim Kelly the favourite, just ahead of St Kilda’s Hunter Clark, Banfield and fellow mature-ager Nick Holman, who is a lock if he’s named on Thursday.

Tomorrow, The Phantom will reveal his ruckmen for 2018.

The Phantom's SuperCoach 2018 team: Midfielders