SuperCoach AFL 2024: Injury news, best captains and Fantasy Freako rookie formguide for round 23
Harry Sheezel has joined the round 23 casualty list. How long will he miss? Plus inside word on this week’s top captaincy options and rookie intel from Champion Data’s Fantasy Freako.
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Harry Sheezel will miss his first game since making his debut in round 1 last year.
North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson has confirmed an ankle injury has ruled Sheezel out of the Kangaroos’ clash against the Western Bulldogs on Sunday.
“He hasn’t missed a game for us, Sheez, so it will be different not having him out there,” Clarkson said.
“We want to look after him, he is a really important player for us, but his ankle is just not quite right to go this week.
“If it progresses really well, he will be able to play next week but if it doesn’t it will be curtains for his season.”
With Sheezel, Tim English, Charlie Curnow and Clayton Oliver all ruled out already, SuperCoach preliminary finals will be a war of attrition. And choosing the right captain could make all the difference.
See the data you need on every round 23 game to pick the right C and VC and scroll down for the latest teams news on the injured stars listed above – and more.
FRIDAY: Essendon v Sydney (Marvel Stadium, 7.40pm)
Could a big Friday night VC kick off prelim final week? Zach Merrett’s 145 last week was his first captain-worthy score since his 145 in round 17, but he has a good record against Sydney, scoring 132 and 139 in his past two against the Swans.
Speaking of a return to form, Isaac Heeney is back, and he posted 128 against the Bombers in their round 2 clash this year. But Errol Gulden is the Swan to target here if you want a VC with a high ceiling – his past three games against Essendon have returned scores of 149, 152 (at Marvel) and 130.
SATURDAY: Gold Coast v Melbourne (People First Stadium, 1.45pm)
Gold Coast midfielder Noah Anderson is owned by only 5 per cent of coaches but they have one of the best VC options of round 23. The Suns are back at People First Stadium – where Anderson averages 133 this season – he scored 189 the last time he played Melbourne, and the Dees are giving up huge scores to opposition mids (Marcus Bontempelli 182, Adam Treloar 49, Jason Horne-Francis 141, Zak Butters 131 in the past two weeks).
Max Gawn defied injury to score 177 points last round, but Jarrod Witts is much harder to score against than Jordon Sweet.
SATURDAY: GWS Giants v Fremantle (ENGIE Stadium, 1.45pm)
This could be a game to avoid with both teams hard to score against and master tagger Toby Bedford likely to sit in Caleb Serong’s pocket.
SATURDAY: Collingwood v Brisbane Lions (MCG, 4.35pm)
Lachie Neale owners have had a rough month, but their investment should reap big dividends against a team that hasn’t used a tagger all season. Josh Dunkley is another option here, although he hasn’t cracked three figures in his past three games against Collingwood. Dayne Zorko scored 127 against the Pies in round 3 and has a three-round average of 117.
Nick Daicos averages 111 in his past three against Brisbane and 120.9 at the MCG this year. You never count out a huge score but it would be a big gamble after a 66 last week.
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SATURDAY: Port Adelaide v Adelaide (Adelaide Oval, 7.30pm)
Zak Butters is always worth considering as the third-best scorer in SuperCoach this year. He scored 124 and 134 in his past two against the Power. Jordan Dawson is a two-time Showdown Medallist but he scored 94 when these teams met in round 8.
SATURDAY: St Kilda v Geelong (Marvel Stadium, 7.30pm)
Geelong is one of the best match-ups for ruckmen and Rowan Marshall is primed to take full advantage. He hasn’t been talked about much this year in SuperCoach but just quietly he has a three-round average of 129.
Jack Sinclair continued his elite Marvel scoring run with 123 points against the Tigers, and he scored 137 the last time he faced the Cats.
SUNDAY: Western Bulldogs v North Melbourne (Marvel Stadium, 1.10pm)
A huge game for prelim final captains, with Tristan Xerri owners handed a gift in the form of an ankle injury to Tim English. The hottest player in SuperCoach (three-round average 160) will be rucking against Sam Darcy or Rory Lobb. Meanwhile, Marcus Bontempelli has scored 157 and 169 in his past two against North Melbourne – and the Dogs need to win to keep their season alive.
SUNDAY: Hawthorn v Richmond (MCG, 3.20pm)
James Sicily’s 16,000 owners should slap the C on him now. Richmond has given up more points to defenders this season than any other team, and Sicily loves playing the Tigers – his past three scores against them are 147 (in round 14 this year), 171 and 141.
SUNDAY: West Coast v Carlton (Optus Stadium, 4.40pm)
Charlie Curnow obliterated the Eagles twice last season but with him missing there aren’t a lot of safe back-up captains in the final game, although Jeremy McGovern should take plenty of intercept marks against a makeshift Blues forward line.
AL PATON’S TOP THREE CAPTAINS
1. Tristan Xerri
2. Noah Anderson
2. Lachie Neale
FANTASY FREAKO’S ROOKIE FORMGUIDE
There are just two rounds left in SuperCoach!
As we enter round 23, it could prove to be a tricky one for SuperCoaches without any trades. The likes of Clayton Oliver, Tim English, Charlie Curnow, and Harry McKay have already been ruled out, with Ross Lyon adding on Thursday morning that Mattaes Phillipou will miss a second game with illness. Young gun Harry Sheezel also out with an ankle injury.
Sheezel could have easily put his feet up on the weekend after suffering the injury just before halftime, but he battled on to score an impressive 122.
So, the bench will be needed this week for thousands and one name we can potentially cross off is Billy Dowling. He was omitted last round and wasn’t even listed as an emergency and after a solid win the Crows are likely to make the one change, which is Taylor Walker out. Does Dowling come back, or do they opt for Elliott Himmelberg instead?
For those that own English and still have Sam Darcy in their team, we could see the Dogs youngster step up and take the No.1 ruck role against Tristan Xerri. Darcy is still owned by close to 20,000 SuperCoaches and his hitout-to-advantage rate of 26.2 per cent is just shy of English’s 29.5 per cent.
Oliver Dempsey is another bench option that is more than capable of stepping up. He is averaging 19 disposals, 1.3 goals, 1.3 score assists and 85 points over the past three rounds. Owned by just a touch under 16,000 SuperCoaches, you can confidently put him in your starting team.
The injury ravaged Blues are likely to make up to six changes this week, with Jaxon Binns a chance to play. After scoring 216 in the VFL a few weeks ago he has backed that up with modest returns of 74 and 75 in that order. If he does get named it will be a huge blow to his 2025 starting price.
We have one confirmed debutant in Cooper Lord. The midfielder will be one of several Blues to come in after scoring a season-high 130 from 30 disposals in the VFL last weekend. He has four 100-point point scores in his last six games.
In terms of other debutants, it looks as though Liam Reidy will come into the Dockers side to lead the ruck division. Sean Darcy was on light duties and after rucking with the stronger midfield in match sim on Wednesday, Reidy is poised to debut. That would leave Luke Jackson to play as a forward.
Reidy is averaging 105 in the WAFL from 13 games and is coming off a season-high 161 on the weekend from 19 disposals, 13 hitouts-to-advantage and four tackles.
As always, pick you VC and C wisely and best of luck for the penultimate round!
SUPERCOACH NEWS: ENGLISH OUT, IN DOUBT FOR FINALS
– Glenn McFarlane
Western Bulldogs ruckman Tim English faces a fight to prove his fitness if the club qualifies for the finals next month after suffering a ligament injury to his ankle in last week’s loss to Adelaide.
The big man has already been ruled out of Sunday’s clash with North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium, with the club sweating on his recovery time ahead of the finals.
Bulldogs head of sports medicine Chris Bell said the club was working on a plan to have English return as soon as possible.
“Scans have confirmed that he has a moderate grade ligament injury,” Bell said.
“Tim won’t play this week, and we will work through a process across the next seven days to determine his return to play plan.”
The Dogs have successive Sunday clashes with the Kangaroos and Greater Western Sydney, which will determine their finals fate.
While the club will know more about English’s return timetable in the coming days, the AFL’s pre-finals bye could work in his favour in terms of making it back for the finals.
The good news for the Dogs is that Anthony Scott is likely to be available this week after spending a fortnight in concussion protocols.
“Anthony Scott has been in a concussion management model after suffering a concussion two weeks ago,” Bell said.
“He still needs to tick some boxes for us across this week, but if he gets through main training like I expect, he will return to availability.”
English features in more than 55,000 SuperCoach teams.
The ruck duties will likely tall to 25-gamer Sam Darcy against Tristan Xerri, who is making a strong case to be this year’s All-Australian ruck – in his past three games he has had 75 disposals, 30 tackles and scored 151, 144 and 185 SuperCoach points.
SHEEZEL RULES HIMSELF OUT
North Melbourne and more than 110,000 SuperCoaches are likely to go into Sunday’s clash against the Bulldogs without Harry Sheezel.
The Kangaroos star, who is yet to miss a game since making his AFL debut in round 1, 2023, pulled up sore following the Roos’ loss to West Coast.
“Harry suffered an ankle injury while attempting to smother a ball with his foot,” North Melbourne head of performance Kevin White told the Kangaroos website.
“He has been put in a moonboot to offload that foot for conservative management and to enable greater recovery.”
Sheezel is the third-most popular player in SuperCoach and the fifth-top scorer in the game in just his second season.
During a radio interview on SEN on Wednesday, he said: “I don’t think I will play this week. I’m probably going to miss this week. I’ll give myself every chance to play the last game, but it could be season over. We’re going to play it day by day.”
Coach Alastair Clarkson confirmed on Thursday that Sheezel will miss this week’s game and will be assessed for a possible return for the final home-and-away round.
Harry Sheezel still a chance to face the Bulldogs despite an ankle sprain. Won’t train tomorrow but will be assessed later in the week @FOXFOOTY@FOXSportsNews#AFL
— Drew Jones (@DrewJonesFOX) August 12, 2024
Meanwhile, Zac Fisher could make a long-awaited return from a foot injury this weekend.
“Zac has had a strong 10-day period where he has been in group training and functioning at a high level,” White said.
“He trained today and will look to press his case once again on Thursday.”
CURNOW CURSE
Charlie Curnow will miss Sunday’s clash against West Coast, but Carlton has not ruled out a return for the final game of the season.
The star goalkicker had to be helped from the field after collapsing while trying to make a lead against Hawthorn on Sunday.
Curnow was in doubt to play against Hawthorn after rolling his ankle the week before, but coach Michael Voss dismissed any question the club took a risk in playing the full-forward.
He said after the game: “Unfortunately it’s just a niggle players get at this part of the year. It is one of those we are going to have to manage … we’ll just take 24 hours and make sure we get the right assessment.”
However, the official Carlton injury list late on Tuesday listed Curnow’s availability at 1-2 weeks/
Harry McKay (quad) and Adam Saad (hamstring) have been given the same timeline.
Curnow, who is part of more than 34,000 SuperCoach teams, scored 178 and 186 in his two games against West Coast in 2023, kicking a combined 19 goals.
GAWN POWERS HOME
Max Gawn may not be100 per cent fit, but the Demons captain is planning to finish the year strong, even if Melbourne can’t make the finals.
In his regular appearance on Triple M, Gawn rejected the idea he could be put in cotton wool to prepare for 2025.
“If I got injured I would rest, but … there’s a lot of pride in the jumper and you can’t turn culture on and off,” he said.
“If we, let’s say, threw the towel in the next two, that is hard to get back over the pre-season and next year.”
Gawn, who scored 177 SuperCoach points last weekend, said there was still plenty to play for in the final two rounds against Gold Coast and Collingwood.
The clash against the Magpies has been scheduled for Friday night in round 24.
“Hopefully they are in finals contention and we can spoil it for them,” Gawn said.
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Originally published as SuperCoach AFL 2024: Injury news, best captains and Fantasy Freako rookie formguide for round 23
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