SuperCoach 2016: Top scores, best trades and market watch after Round 20

ANOTHER week, another SuperCoach injury crisis. We help answer the two huge Scott Pendlebury questions, plus Champion Data’s market watch. NEW PODCAST

ANOTHER week, another injury crisis.

After Tom Liberatore threw SuperCoach into a tailspin last week, this week we’re faced with an ankle injury to Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury.

After a quiet first three quarters against Richmond on Friday night, Pendles roared to life with several key touches and a goal early in the final term then rolled his ankle and spent the rest of the game on the bench.

BAROMETER: LATEST INJURY LIST AT EVERY CLUB

Pendlebury is a slim chance at best to face the Western Bulldogs on Friday night and his layoff could extend beyond that — a major issue for his 89,000 SuperCoach owners.

They have to answer two key questions: 1. Who should we trade him to, and 2. Should we trade at all?

The second question (which must be answered first) will depend on your finals position. Have a week off after winning a qualifying final? You can afford to sit Pendlebury on the bench for a week and reassess for preliminary final weekend.

Facing a knockout semi-final this weekend? You probably can’t be so cautious.

Complicating things is the fact popular bench players like Christian Petracca (past three average 80), Ryan Davis (81), Jade Gresham (78) and Sam Menegola (89) are all in form at the right time, providing good cover if you have one trade left and want to save it for SuperCoach grand final week — if you make it.

These are the tough calls that make or break a SuperCoach finals campaign.

If you decide to pull the trigger on Pendles, you can replace him with a rolled-gold superstar for his price of $573,500. We’ve listed the five top contenders below. All are in great form; a close look at their opponents over the final three rounds puts Bulldogs gun Marcus Bontempelli at the top of the shopping list.

Scott Pendlebury comes to the bench in the final term.

Rory Sloane (Adel) $555,500 mid

Last score: 137

Past 3 average: 120

Next 3: Fremantle, Port Adelaide, West Coast

Marcus Bontempelli (WB) $555,300 mid

Last score: 133

Past 3 average: 107

Next 3: Collingwood, Essendon, Fremantle

Dan Hannebery (Syd) $572,600 mid

Last score: 136

Past 3 average: 119

Next 3: St Kilda, North Melbourne, Richmond

Josh P Kennedy (Syd) $592,100 mid

Last score: 95

Past 3 average: 120

Next 3: St Kilda, North Melbourne, Richmond

Matt Priddis (WC) $574,700 mid

Last score: 132

Past 3 average: 126

Next 3: GWS Giants, Hawthorn, Adelaide

Marcus Bontempelli plays a lot like Scott Pendlebury.

ROUND 20 STARS

168 Max Gawn

149 Corey Enright

145 Isaac Heeney

144 Brad Crouch

141 Josh J Kennedy

WEEKLY TOP SCORES

2668 Pappy’s Premiers, Andrew

2649 Always next year, David

2639 Reno rare, Nathan

2637 Hawks2016, Duc

2625 Beams The Keays, Michael

OVERALL LEADERS

45,511 Shemmist Wharehouse, Shemm

45,407 GOODBETTERBEST@SCT, Raj

45,363 Endeavour Storm, Tyrone

45,342 Talkin’ Flags, Louis

45,295 Buzz II, Barry

THIS WEEK’S WINNING TEAM

Pappy’s Premiers

Coach: Andrew Papp, Vic

Score: 2668

DEFENDERS

Sam Docherty 104

Heath Shaw 58

Matthew Boyd 109

Josh Gibson 58

Rory Laird 96

Jason Johannisen 110

Sam Collins 64

Darcy Tucker 58

MIDFIELD

Patrick Dangerfield 99

Dan Hannebery 136

Luke Parker 127

Rory Sloane 137

Marcus Bontempelli 133

Matt Priddis 132

Patrick Cripps 124

Mitch Duncan 106

Rhys Mathieson 83

Sam Menegola 94

Jack Trengove 0

RUCKS

Max Gawn 336 (c)

Todd Goldstein 127

Mabior Chol 0

FORWARDS

Dustin Martin 123

Zach Merrett 98

Dayne Zorko 98

Leigh Montagna 116

Josh Kennedy 141

Daniel Wells 100

Christian Petracca 63

Tom Phillips 0

Max Gawn put in another massive performance against Hawthorn.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: MAX GAWN

Gawn led the Demons to victory with a game and round-high 168 SuperCoach points against the Hawks, of which 107 were recorded after halftime. He finished with 41 hitouts (16 to advantage) from 74 ruck contests attended, also recording 16 disposals and 11 marks, including eight contested. He also drifted forward to kick a goal.

CHAMPION DATA MARKET WATCH

Heath Shaw

Shaw had a shocker against the lowly Suns, finishing with just 58 SuperCoach points — his second-lowest score for the season. He hit the target with 11 of 17 disposals and committed five turnovers, recording a disposal efficiency of 65 per cent. He won only four contested possessions and recorded three rebound-50s.

Kade Simpson

Simpson played a lone hand against the Saints, finishing with 122 SuperCoach points — ranked second on the ground. He racked up a game-high 39 disposals and hit the target with 32 of those, also recording 10 marks, 33 uncontested possessions, 23 handball-receives and six rebound-50s from 98 per cent game time.

Dustin Martin

Martin starred in his milestone match against the Magpies, collecting 123 SuperCoach points from 88 per cent game time. He hit the target with 25 of 34 disposals and won 14 of his possessions in a contest, while also recording 21 handball-receives. He also impacted the scoreboard, finishing with one goal, two score assists and nine score involvements.

YOUNG GUN: JADE GRESHAM

Gresham’s stellar debut season continued against Carlton, finishing with a season-high 91 SuperCoach points — increasing in value for the 14th round in succession. He finished with 25 disposals and team-highs of 13 contested possessions and eight clearances from 73 per cent game time. He also recorded one score assist and was involved in four scoring chains.

PERFECT 9

With three weeks to go the SuperCoach Perfect 9 jackpot remains unclaimed — and that means $110,000 is up for grabs this week.

Just 11 players remained alive after Bachar Houli top-scored last Friday night and while Max Gawn and Marcus Bontempelli were popular picks, only five entries nominated Isaac Heeney to score the most points in the Sydney v Port Adelaide game.

Who will come through in Round 21? It’s free to play and takes five minutes — don’t miss your shot at the prize.

Originally published as SuperCoach 2016: Top scores, best trades and market watch after Round 20