KFC SuperCoach Hall of Fame: Who will be inducted as a legend?
Both were prized youngsters and both provided our KFC SuperCoach teams with a stack of cash. But will it be Jaeger O’Meara or Sam Walsh who advances to the next round of the Hall of Fame? VOTE
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Thousands of votes have flooded in as we piece together the inaugural KFC SuperCoach Hall of Fame inductees.
Who will join Gary Ablett, Michael Barlow and Tom Mitchell as players likely to progress to the Round of 32 in voting?
We’re slowly whittling the names down from 64 to determine which four players will be inducted into the Hall of Fame and who will be named as a legend.
Here’s the next eight first-round match-ups you can vote on.
SWAN V CRIPPS
Dane Swan (Collingwood)
Games played (2008-2020): 182, Average: 114, HS: 180, Highest season average: 129 (2010)
The Magpies ball magnet had five consecutive seasons averaging 117 or more and averaged 122 or more between 2009-2012. At his very best, Swan became one of the few players in KFC SuperCoach history whose price soared above $700,000. That happened in 2010, when the Brownlow Medal winner scored 19 tons in 22 matches. Two of the games he didn’t reach triple figures were 93 and 98 too. For sheer consistency, Swan ranks among the best KFC SuperCoach midfielders of all time.
Patrick Cripps (Carlton)
Games played (2008-2020): 102, Average: 106, HS: 194, Highest season average: 119 (2018)
The Carlton co-captain has established himself as a KFC SuperCoach stud in the past two seasons, averaging 119 and 117. During that period, he has nine scores above 150 with a high of 194. Cripps ticks all the boxes a SuperCoach premium requires and frighteningly for opposition sides, his best is still ahead of him at 25.
WALSH V O’MEARA
Sam Walsh (Carlton)
Games played (2008-2020): 23, Average: 85, HS: 141, Highest season average: 87 (2019)
The 2019 Rising Star winner disproved the conventional KFC SuperCoach wisdom about avoiding top-dollar rookies. Walsh started last season at $207,300, peaked at $452,600 and lived up to his price tag with six hundreds in his debut campaign. He’d made $140,000 by Round 5 after amassing three successive tons between rounds three and five.
Jaeger O’Meara (Gold Coast/Hawthorn)
Games played (2008-2020): 93, Average: 91, HS: 146, Highest season average: 98 (2014)
There have been few better debut SuperCoach seasons than Jaeger O’Meara in 2013. The then-Gold Coast Sun was a bargain at $115,900 and the coaches who started him enjoyed an average of 90.1 points from 22 matches. O’Meara made more than $345,000 and was being hailed as a player who would become one of the sport’s all-time greats after averaging 22 disposals, four marks and six tackles.
FYFE V PENDLEBURY
Nat Fyfe (Fremantle)
Games played (2008-2020): 174, Average: 109, HS: 172, Highest season average: 123 (2014)
Dual Brownlow medallist Fyfe hit his KFC SuperCoach peak in 2014 (122.3 points) and 2015 (124.3). Fyfe has only averaged less than 105 once since 2011, when he was restricted to nine matches in 2011. The only knock — and we’re nit picking here — has been is durability. Fyfe has only played more than 20 games once since 2012.
Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood)
Games played (2008-2020): 270, Average: 114, HS: 184, Highest season average: 129 (2011)
The long-time Collingwood captain will be a KFC SuperCoach Hall of Fame member, it’s just a matter of when. In the earliest years of SuperCoach, Pendlebury was one of the stars who set the mark for other premium midfielders to aspire to. Few on-ballers have matched his career-high of 129.2 from 2011 and in four years from 2011-2014 his worst average was 124.4. The last time he didn’t average triple figures was 2007, his first full AFL campaign.
DANGERFIELD V MACRAE
Patrick Dangerfield (Adelaide/Geelong)
Games played (2008-2020): 249, Average: 107, HS: 229, Highest season average: 134 (2017)
For all the heartache he’s given SuperCoaches (think Charlie Constable), Chris Scott deploying Patrick Dangerfeld as a forward provided one of the great gifts. Having one of the top point scorers in KFC SuperCoach history available as MID-FWD last season was a huge bonus. Dangerfield’s 2017 campaign — when he averaged 134 — remains one of the best on record. He also averaged 131 in 2016 as he established himself as one of the game’s premier midfielders.
Jack Macrae (Western Bulldogs)
Games played (2008-2020): 142, Average: 104, HS: 188, Highest season average: 127 (2018)
It took the prolific Bulldog five years to elevate himself into premium KFC SuperCoach company but he’s now one of the game’s must-have midfielders. Averages of 127.1 and 123.2 in the past two years but him on the same level as Max Gawn and Brodie Grundy. No other midfielder comes close to the two big rucks during that stretch.
GRUNDY V GAWN
Brodie Grundy (Collingwood)
Games played (2008-2020): 133, Average: 104, HS: 179, Highest season average: 131 (2018 and 2019)
Grundy has etched himself into KFC SuperCoach folklore in the past two years, averaging 131 and 130 to establish himself as the No. 1 scorer in the game. He scored more than 150 points eight times in 2018 and five times last season. With the Magpies playing so many early-round blockbusters he’s the ever-present vice-captaincy option.
Max Gawn (Melbourne)
Games played (2008-2020): 121, Average: 105, HS: 212, Highest season average: 128 (2019)
In any other era, the new Demons skipper would be lauded as the top KFC SuperCoach scorer. But he’s been just behind Grundy in the past two years, averaging 127.5 and 128.4. Gawn showcased just how good he can be in SuperCoach Grand Final week last year when he posted 212 from 26 disposals and 41 hit outs against North Melbourne. There’s a reason so many coaches pay $1.4 million to have Gawn and Grundy each season.
GILES V MCINTOSH
Jon Giles (Port Adelaide, GWS Giants, Essendon, West Coast)
Games played (2008-2020): 63, Average: 80, HS: 176, Highest season average: 94 (2012)
Cut by Port Adelaide without playing a game in four seasons, journeyman Giles was a popular selection in 2012 when he joined GWS Giants. He debuted in Round 1 at $126,700 and only scored below 80 once to Round 10, making $321,200. Those who held onto him were rewarded when he scored a career-best 176 in Round 19 of that season.
Hamish McIntosh (North Melbourne/Geelong)
Games played (2008-2020): 83, Average: 81, HS: 153, Highest season average: 103 (2012)
During a career punctuated by injury, McIntosh regularly presented a mid-priced ruck option. The former Roo and Cat averaged 103 in the first seven rounds of 2012, making more than $140,000, only to miss the rest of the season. His best average during a full campaign was 91.6 in 2009.
COX V SANDILANDS
Dean Cox (West Coast)
Games played (2008-2020): 145, Average: 105, HS: 215, Highest season average: 122 (2011)
Paving the way for the modern-day mobile big man, West Coast premiership big man Cox was one of the first ruckmen to post genuine premium numbers in KFC SuperCoach. The star Eagle went as high as 122 in 2011, a season which was highlighted by his 213 and in which he posted 18 hundreds in 22 games. For consistency and durability, Cox ranks as one of SuperCoach’s most-reliable historical selections.
Aaron Sandilands (Fremantle)
Games played (2008-2020): 178, Average: 99, HS: 172, Highest season average: 108 (2012 and 2014)
If only we’d seen Sandilands play full seasons more often throughout his career. In 13 AFL campaigns, the 211cm Docker only featured in 22 games once. His best SuperCoach seasons were 2010-2012, when he averaged 110-114. However, Sandilands only played 44 matches during that period.
OLANGO V BINES
Tony Olango (West Coast)
Games played (2008-2020): 0, Average: 0, HS: 0, Highest season average: 0
Tony who, you say? The rookie ruck was a bargain-basement KFC SuperCoach rookie in 2018 and presented coaches with a perfect loophole option. His value came from being able to gain double points from early-round scores from big guns such as Brodie Grundy. Sadly, Olango was delisted after one season. Gone from the AFL, but certainly not forgotten.
Remember the name: Tony Olango.
— Hawthorn FC (@HawthornFC) February 13, 2017
This talented athlete has agreed to join the Hawks' academy. 🙌
📠: https://t.co/7CzaYcwF3y pic.twitter.com/2WJ9MkdHAS
Patrick Bines (West Coast)
Games played (2008-2020): 0, Average: 0, HS: 0, Highest season average: 0
Another player who gained loophole legend status. Bines joined West Coast as a category B rookie and was eligible as a RUC-FWD in KFC SuperCoach. That allowed thousands of coaches the flexibility to trade for Reilly O’Brien midway through the 2019 season when he assumed the No. 1 ruck role at Adelaide and swing Bines onto their forward benches. Like Olango, he was axed by the Eagles after one season.
WHERE ROUND 1 VOTING SITS (as of April 1):
GARY ABLETT 98 per cent vs Joel Selwood 2 per cent
TENDAI MZUNGU 59 per cent vs Liam Anthony 41 per cent
TOM MITCHELL 77 per cent vs Sam Mitchell 23 per cent
RHYS PALMER 63 per cent vs Brad Dalziell 37 per cent
JOSH KENNEDY 74 per cent vs Matt Priddis 26 per cent
MICHAEL BARLOW 79 per cent vs Tim Kelly 21 per cent
TOM ROCKLIFF 88 per cent vs Scott Thompson 12 per cent
CHRIS JUDD 68 per cent vs Leigh Montagna 32 per cent
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