SuperCoach AFL 2025: Winners, losers from round 16, early trade advice

As premiums flopped in a brutal final bye round, a two-game star became a must-have in SuperCoach. In fact, he’s so good it creates a fantasy strategy dilemma.

The byes are gone, but they won’t be forgotten for a while.

The final bye round always promised to be brutal, and it delivered in spades with a host of premiums dishing up mediocre scores while popular picks like Bailey Smith and Dayne Zorko had the weekend off.

But it was a great weekend for POD (point of difference) picks, and one bargain basement rookie who is going so well he has created a SuperCoach dilemma of his own.

Here’s who fired, and who didn’t, in round 16, and early trade advice.

WHO’S HOT

Brodie Grundy – 179 points

Shot over $700k after lockout and is now the most expensive player in SuperCoach, and No.4 for total points this season. As Max Gawn and Tristan Xerri play like mere mortals in recent weeks, Grundy has gone from strength to strength. His past four scores are 161, 155, 159 and 179. That’s just insane. On Friday night he monstered Tim English with 14 hitouts to advantage, 23 disposals, 14 contested possessions, four tackles and a goal.

Tom McCarthy – 101 points

Could be the biggest no-brainer selection in SuperCoach history. Thousands of coaches have recruited the $99k star already – and enjoyed scores of 133 and 101 in his first two AFL games – but everyone else has to jump on this week and enjoy an enormous price rise after his third game. He has a Break Even of -175 and SuperCoach Plus projects he’ll spike in value by over $100k next week. But the money is really irrelevant now, it’s all about getting points on field – and McCarthy is going so well on that front he creates a headache for coaches who picked him as a bench player. You want him on the field every week!

Tom McCarthy can break Errol Gulden's record price rise set in 2021 of 123.8k with a score of ~102 next week #SuperCoach

— Empr (@Empr_X) June 28, 2025

Don’t miss out on Tom McCarthy. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

Rowan Marshall – 159 points

Owning Marshall can be a stressful experience. In the past six rounds he has a 55, two other scores under 90 and two over 150. Sunday was one of his good days. He was enormous in Perth, especially in the first half, when he had 15 disposals and one of the more remarkable goals you’ll see.

Connor Rozee – 150 points

Returned to half-back after a week in the centre square and set up Port Adelaide’s big win with eight kicks in the first quarter, and another six at 100 per cent efficiency in the second. Also took 11 marks for the night and had five intercepts.

Matt Rowell – 147 points

Rozee scored his points with precision, Rowell’s came from brute force. Just two marks and 24 touches against Melbourne but the Suns bull had 19 contested possessions, 11 tackles, 12 clearances and seven inside-50s.

Errol Gulden – 146 points

Could you do it? Technically a bubble boy after playing just two games this year following a long injury layoff, Gulden has hit the ground running with scores of 95 and 146. The latest score came on the back of 30 disposals at 83 per cent efficiency. He’s not cheap at $581,900, but he would be a seriously fun POD.

Jordan Clark – 145 points

While the Dockers’ prime ball-winners – Caleb Serong and Andrew Brayshaw – battled against the Saints, Clark was everywhere for Fremantle, leading the game with 31 disposals and also hauling in five intercept marks. That’s his third score over 140 in his past seven games.

Nick Daicos – 131 points

More than 70 per cent of coaches had the C or VC on Daicos, and he repaid the faith with 34 disposals, 10 marks and three tackles. Score could have been higher if he had kicked straighter in front of goal, finishing with 1.3. But on a difficult weekend, we’ll take it.

Matt Rowell had a day out against the Demons. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

Touk Miller – 122 points

Flying way under the radar this season, the former SuperCoach favourite is in just 3 per cent of teams. He deserves to be in a lot more, averaging 111 for the season, dropping under 100 only twice (99 and 85) and scoring 120-plus in his past two games.

Colby McKercher – 108 points

The Kangaroos were smashed in Launceston but the Tassie boy had more disposals (34) than anyone else on the field. Averaging 31 touches and 102 SuperCoach points since being moved back to defence in the past month.

WHO’S COLD

Max Gawn – 90 points

Jarrod Witts is a big man - 208cm and 111kg. And he makes it really hard to score SuperCoach points. Witts scored a rare win over Gawn in the hitouts (37-35) and although Gawn had nine hitouts to advantage and kicked a rare goal, it was one of just four effective kicks for the day and he gave away three free kicks.

Luke Jackson (121) is the only ruckman to score 100+ #SuperCoach points vs Gold Coast this season. Nick Madden (98) is the next best.

— Fantasy Freako (@FantasyFreako) June 28, 2025

Sam Darcy – 73 points

Exploded out of the blocks and had over 60 points at halftime. Players who rely heavily on goals for SuperCoach points will always score in bursts, but this is about as hot and cold as it gets. Darcy failed to record a disposal in the third quarter and had only two in the fourth. With such a low Break Even entering the game, he still gained $23k after this performance.

Shai Bolton – 71 points

Shaped as a potential bargain after scoring 150 against the Giants five weeks ago but hasn’t delivered since then. Since then he has just one triple-figure score – an even 100 against Gold Coast – with the other four all under 80. On Sunday he had 15 disposals at 60 per cent efficiency and one goal, and got away with one when a freakish leaping smother rebounded off his boot and out on the full, but the umpire missed it. After gaining about $60k, his price is back to just $900 above where more than 25,000 coaches jumped on after round 10 – with a Break Even of 119 against Sydney this week.

Adam Cerra – 66 points

A dirty night for Carlton as a football club and Cerra, who has had a terrific season. Just one handball in the first quarter and one kick in the first half, when the game was up for grabs and SuperCoach points are given the greatest value. Hit a peak price of $550k after round 14 but has lost $33k the past two weeks, and has a Break Even of 144 against Collingwood on Friday night.

Marcus Bontempelli – 63 points

We thought last week was the cheapest Bont would get – we were wrong. Bont fell almost 40 points short of his Break Even and dropped almost $18k in value after a strangely quiet night in his 250th AFL game, including just one handball in the final quarter. He averages 149 in his past three games against next week’s opponent, North Melbourne, so expect a big bounce back.

Tom Liberatore – 60 points

Twenty-one touches for Libba but of his 10 kicks, just two hit the target. We could also mention Ed Richards registering his lowest score of the season (66 points) but he has the excuse of copping a James Jordon tag.

Adam Cerra and the Blues had a night to forget. Picture: Morgan Hancock/Getty Images

Harry Sheezel and the Roos had a shocker. Picture: Janelle St Pierre/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Harry Sheezel – 60 points

It’s been a funny year for one of the game’s rising superstars. Sheezel has been moved all over the ground and posted some big totals and dropped three scores under 80. This was a season-low on the back of just eight kicks – and five of those came in the last quarter when the game was well and truly over.

Callum Mills – 56 points

Looked on track for another good score at halftime before everything went pear-shaped. He wasn’t the only popular pick to suffer that fate on Friday night, but his pear was the most unappetising. Mills made some uncharacteristic mistakes, including giving away a 50m penalty, to deliver a tough score first-up for his 24,000 new owners. Gained $22k in value after lockout and has a Break Even of 70 next week.

Jason Horne-Francis – 49 points

One of three top-liners who looked like SuperCoach steals last week – along with Mills and Sam Darcy – who were all way short of their best in round 16. Horne-Francis played only a cameo role for the Power before being subbed off, and post-game coach Ken Hinkley said he had a sore shoulder and he made the move to keep his weapon fresh for the run home. Hopefully that includes some big scores to make up for this shocker.

Originally published as SuperCoach AFL 2025: Winners, losers from round 16, early trade advice