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SuperCoach positions: Martin, Whitfield the locks, but there’s plenty of other great dual-position additions for 2020

Dustin Martin and Lachie Whitfield will be dual-position players in SuperCoach next season. But the interesting conversation revolves around the less-popular names, including one Docker we haven’t revealed yet.

SuperCoach 2020 positions

Dusty? Yep. Lachie Whitfield? No-brainer.

It’s been just over 24 hours since we revealed the new Champion Data player positions for SuperCoach in 202 0 and there are some near-certain selections already.

But, while the dual-position status of Dustin Martin, Whitfield and new Cat Jack Steven is great news, considering what the pool has lost – Patrick Dangerfield, Josh Dunkley and Tim Kelly, just to name a few – every SuperCoach will pick them.

Well, they should anyway.

The more interesting conversation, however, revolves around some of the less-popular names – for now, at least.

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Andrew Brayshaw battles Collingwood’s Brodie Grundy for the ball last pre-season. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty
Andrew Brayshaw battles Collingwood’s Brodie Grundy for the ball last pre-season. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty

Andrew Brayshaw (Fremantle)

Forward/Midfielder

Likely price: $380,000

This might be the first time you have heard about this one but, trust me, it won’t be the last.

The No. 2 pick from the 2017 draft appears one of the top breakout candidates heading into his third year in the competition.

After stints through the middle in the past two seasons, the 20-year-old is eyeing a full-time midfield spot under new coach Justin Longmuir in 2020.

Brayshaw added 10 points to his SuperCoach average in 2019, after winning 20 disposals or more on eight occasions – a feat he achieved just three times in his debut season.

The well-balanced right-footer averaged 10 contested possessions in the final seven matches of the year, posting a score of 86 or more in four of them.

He’ll be placed in the awkward mid-price bracket, but the dual-position status brings Brayshaw right back into the picture.

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Jordan Dawson won the 2km time trial on the first day the entire Swans squad gathered for pre-season. Picture: Phil Hillyard
Jordan Dawson won the 2km time trial on the first day the entire Swans squad gathered for pre-season. Picture: Phil Hillyard

Jordan Dawson (Sydney)

Defender/forward

Likely price: $460,000

After an early-season wake-up call, and after spending time in multiple positions during his first three-and-half years on the list, Dawson finally cemented his spot in the Swans’ side.

The long-kicking left-footer was stationed across half-back for the second-half of 2019 and he had a big influence.

Dawson, who last week won the first 2km time trial of the Swans’ pre-season, averaged 20 disposals, 11 effective kicks, six intercept possessions and 94 SuperCoach points per game in the final nine rounds of the year.

And this is the same player who averaged 130 points across 22 games in the NEAFL between 2017 an 2018.

Hugh Greenwood at Gold Coast training. Picture: Glenn Hampson
Hugh Greenwood at Gold Coast training. Picture: Glenn Hampson

Hugh Greenwood (Gold Coast)

Forward/Midfielder

Likely price: $465,000

Of all players in the competition to average 17 disposals or more in 2019 – and there were 225 of them – Greenwood’s contested possession rate of 64.1 per cent is the highest.

And across his 51-game career it’s higher, with 11.3 of the 27-year-old’s 16.9 possessions per game won in a contest.

The 191cm midfielder not only rates elite for contested possession but also groundball-gets, clearances, tackles, pressure acts and contested marks.

Put simply, there’s not many better at what Greenwood does and it’s resulted in 31 SuperCoach scores of 80 or more in his 51 AFL matches, despite not featuring in Adelaide’s first-choice on-ball rotation.

Even with the price-tag, as a dual-position forward Greenwood should be high on your pre-season radar with a big role in a young Gold Coast midfield looming.

Is Luke Davies-Uniacke set for a breakout year in 2020? Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images
Is Luke Davies-Uniacke set for a breakout year in 2020? Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Luke Davies-Uniacke (North Melbourne)

Forward/Midfielder

Likely price: $340,000

There was one glimpse – a 118-point performance in Round 2 last season – but the strong-bodied midfielder has so far failed to replicate his junior SuperCoach numbers at the top level.

But could this be the year for Davies-Uniacke, who is ready for a big summer after shoulder surgery prematurely ended his 2019?

Heading into his third season, despite the awkward price tag, the dual-position status might make it easier for you to dive in and find out for yourself.

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Jon Patton (Hawthorn)

Forward/ruck

Likely price: $295,000

It feels like a new dual-position addition but it’s not, with Patton classified as a forward-ruckman in 2019.

But he was never in the SuperCoach conversation after recovering from a third knee reconstruction last year.

The strong-marking key-forward has been fit for some time, however, and that makes an injury-free Patton, who posted seven SuperCoach tons – two in excess of 150 – in 24 games between Round 22, 2016 and Round 3, 2018 one to watch over summer, especially at the price.

Originally published as SuperCoach positions: Martin, Whitfield the locks, but there’s plenty of other great dual-position additions for 2020

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Original URL: https://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/afl/more-news/supercoach-positions-martin-whitfield-the-locks-but-theres-plenty-of-other-great-dualposition-additions-for-2020/news-story/c602ca3c5d66df2a74ae396607ec4e24