SuperCoach 2016: Replay The Phantom’s blog

TRADES can make or break your season. Injuries and suspensions can ruin even the best of plans but what was your SuperCoach side’s defining move in 2016? Blog replay.

Will Lance Franklin be fit? (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

TRADES can make or break your season. Of course injuries and suspensions can ruin even the best of plans but what was your SuperCoach side’s defining move this season?

And which trade would you reverse if you still could?

With the Olympics in full swing, let The Phantom know which one of your trades gets the gold medal in 2016.

There are plenty of other issues to talk about this week, too, with the fitness of Scott Pendlebury and Lance Franklin at the top of the list.

RORY Sloane is on fire, with SuperCoaches who have him in their team being treated to scores of 141 and 137 in the past two weeks. Unsurprisingly, he is The Phantom’s player of the week.

THE PHANTOM’S PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Rory Sloane MID (Adel)

Yes, the Crows have had it easy in the past two weeks with convincing victories over the Lions and Bombers but Sloane has been dominant. The Brownlow Medal fancy’s 34 disposals, two goals and 137 points against Brisbane followed his 33-disposal, 141-point performance a week earlier.

Adelaide’s midfield general has had a ripping second half of 2016, averaging 120 SuperCoach points over the past nine games and is the seventh-ranked midfielder in the game. And out of the six players above him, only Patrick Dangerfield boasts a better five-round average.

The Crows will start warm favourites in each of their final three matches and, after this weekend’s tricky trip to Perth to face the Dockers, will be at home in the final two weeks. In 2016, Sloane averages 123 points at Adelaide Oval and has posted six scores of 130 or more in 10 games.

The 26-year-old is The Phantom’s early favourite to replace Magpie skipper Scott Pendlebury if he doesn’t recover from the ankle injury that forced him off the field against the Tigers.

Scans have revealed no significant damage and Collingwood has said Pendlebury “is a reasonable chance of getting up this week”, so we will have to wait.

THE DISAPPOINTMENT

Robbie Gray ... didn’t see much of the ball against the Swans. Picture: Sarah Reed

Robbie Gray MID (Port)

After five consecutive SuperCoach tons, the Port star could only manage seven disposals and an equal season-low 53 points against the Swans on Saturday. While 53 points is an impressive return from seven touches, how can a player of Gray’s quality only get the footy seven times? That is the question The Phantom continues to ask anyone who wants to listen. Even the great players have bad days but more than once a year? Gray’s performance against the Swans was reminiscent of his horror day out against the Cats in Round 5 when he had 11 possessions and 53 points.

The Phantom expects a response from the Power midfielder against Melbourne this week, with Gray boasting a career average of 109 against the Demons. Even though he was disappointing against Sydney, still consider Gray as a point-of-difference selection if Pendlebury is ruled out.

MARKET WATCH

Going up

Luke Dahlhaus ... time to snap him up, says The Phantom. Picture: Michael Klein

Luke Dahlhaus FWD/MID (WB)

Thanks to that injury-affected score of 29 in Round 12 and two sub-85 scores on return, the Bulldog star is now available for less than $400k. While he only managed 84 points in Round 20, Dahlhaus looked impressive and moved freely to collect 28 disposals — 11 of them in the last quarter. If you waited the extra week, now is the time to jump on.

TOP 5 TEAMS

on advertiser.com.au

44544 Missy’s Marvels

44448 Free Spirit

44394 Mr_Nyah

44296 monkey

44244 Marto’s Magic

THE PHANTOM’S R20 SCORE: 2414

OVERALL RANKING: 1224

How the Media All-Stars League finals are shaping up.

Originally published as SuperCoach 2016: Replay The Phantom’s blog