The Phantom’s SuperCoach 2020 Pre-Season: Premium midfielder anaylsis
How many Bulldogs can you start? Who is a sure-thing? And which guns are undervalued? The Phantom runs the rule of the premium midfielders in SuperCoach for 2020
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It’s where the points are but who is worth the top-price in the midfield? Here’s a look at the all-important premium options for 2020.
THE TOP DOGS
Jack Macrae ($668,900), Josh Dunkley ($632,400) and Marcus Bontempelli ($623,000).
The star Bulldogs finished last season as the second, fifth and sixth-ranked SuperCoach players in the game respectively.
Macrae, who was the competition’s No. 1 ball-winner in 2019, finished with 100 points or more in 19 of his 22 games, passing the 120-point mark in 14 of them. It followed 16 SuperCoach tons from his 18 non-injury-affected matches in 2018.
In fact, of the top-10 most-expensive midfielders in 2020, only Patrick Dangerfield has scored more points than Macrae over the past three years.
While Macrae leads the way, his star teammates aren’t far behind.
Bontempelli spent more time in the midfield last season — after being used for long stints forward over the previous two years — and his numbers spiked as a result.
The 23-year-old, who averaged 104 points per game in 2018, passed the 130-point mark in seven games and added 11 points to his SuperCoach average.
With the addition of key-forward Josh Bruce and defender Alex Keath, who will allow Aaron Naughton to stay in attack, Bontempelli could improve that number again, as a full-time midfielder.
Dunkley was the one who did start forward in 2019 but that didn’t last long
After a permanent move into the midfield in Round 7, the 190cm 22-year-old exploded, posting a SuperCoach ton in 14 of the next 16 matches, including a huge 202-point performance in Round 17.
If you remove the first six games of the season, when he failed to pass three figures in attack, Dunkley’s average of 128 as a midfielder was bettered by only ruckmen Brodie Grundy and Max Gawn.
So could we actually start all three in 2020?
Their combined averages - Macrae 123, Dunkley 116 and Bontempelli 115 – make them the 10th-best midfield trio since 2003. Only a number of champion Geelong, Collingwood, Hawthorn and St Kilda combinations have rated better in the past 17 years.
So, yes, you could, depending on how many other Round 14 bye players you go with.
Especially given Luke Beveridge’s side’s fixture this season.
The trio dominated at Marvel Stadium last year and the Bulldogs play 12 matches there in 2020.
Macrae averaged 138, Dunkley 135 – 150 from Round 7 onwards – and Bontempelli 117 points per game at the venue in 2019.
THE PHANTOM’S VERDICT: Macrae is a must but you really could have them all in 2020.
THE SURE-THINGS
Patrick Dangerfield (Geel)
$625,500
As mentioned earlier, of the top 10 – 11 if we’re including Tom Mitchell who missed all of 2019 – most-expensive midfielders this year, Dangerfield has scored 362 more points than any player over the past three years. And he’s seventh on the list by price.
After averaging 130 or more in consecutive seasons, the 29-year-old averaged 122 in 2018, before the figure fell to 115 last year.
It was still the ninth-best in the competition, despite an injury-affected score of 26 in Round 7.
But there is an explanation for the slight fall.
In the past two seasons, with the Cats in need of another marking target in attack and with Tim Kelly’s presence in the midfield, Dangerfield spent plenty of time inside-50.
In 2020, there is no Kelly and Geelong now have Josh Jenkins to fit in alongside Tom Hawkins and a fit Esava Ratugolea.
Geelong coach Chris Scott still might use his best player forward this year – he’s just too good not to – but even if his centre-bounce numbers increase slightly, the 120-point mark is in danger once again.
THE PHANTOM’S VERDICT: Lock him in.
Nat Fyfe (Freo)
$651,600
After 17 SuperCoach tons, six of them in excess of 140, the 2019 Brownlow Medallist finished as one of only four players in the competition to average 120 or more last year – even with the concussion-affected 63 in Round 3.
It was the third time he’s achieved the feat in his career.
And after playing just 41 of a possible 66 matches in the previous three seasons, Fyfe only missed two games last year as a result of minor, and unlucky, incidents – concussion and an infected elbow.
Who’s going to argue the league’s best contested-ball player won’t average 120 again if his body stays sound?
Not me, that’s for sure.
THE PHANTOM’S VERDICT: I’m not using his injury history as an excuse not to pick him this year.
Lachie Neale (Bris)
$658,500
Speaking of durability and 120-point season-averages, there’s no safer selection in 2020 than the Brisbane star.
In his first year at the club, Neale posted 17 SuperCoach tons and finished with 322 more points than any other Lion.
But, while it did to some, the scoring should’ve come as no surprise, given Neale averaged 117 points in his final 18 games as a Docker.
And the previous year he averaged 112, if you take out the injury and role-affected 44 in Round 21.
And in 2016, he finished the season as the fifth-ranked scorer in the competition after recording an average of 113.
Yeah, he’s been doing it for a while.
The 26-year-old has also been playing a lot of football for a while now, too, missing only two matches since 2013.
THE PHANTOM’S VERDICT: As safe as premium selections come in 2020.
Patrick Cripps (Carl)
$635,900
Oh, yes, this guy should probably get a mention in this category, too.
The Carlton co-captain has posted 18 scores of 120 or more over the past two seasons, nine of them in excess of 150.
And on four occasions, the contested-ball beast has passed the 169-point mark.
THE PHANTOM’S VERDICT: Another big scorer who could make you wish you had not left him out. But you can’t start them all.
UNDERVALUED?
Clayton Oliver (Melbourne)
$593,900
Dangerfield and Macrae might lead the way for total points over the past three seasons amongst the most-expensive midfielders but Oliver is the only one of the top-11 to have played every game.
Even after a double-shoulder reconstruction last off-season – a statement which makes his 109-point average of 2019 even more impressive.
But what really stands out is the fact last year was only the 22-year-old’s fourth season in the competition.
And in the previous two he finished with averages of 111 and 115 respectively.
THE PHANTOM’S VERDICT: Don’t forget about the young Demon in the shine of the stars priced above him.
Rory Sloane (Adelaide)
$559,300
Like his side, the newly-appointed sole captain was underwhelming in 2019.
But he still posted 14 SuperCoach tons, six of them in excess of 120.
The 29-year-old was inconsistent last year but he continued to a show a vast improvement in being able to deal with opposition attention – something, along with injury, which played a big part in his disappointing 97-point average in 2018.
But, as Sloane’s nine scores of 130 or more in 2017 proves, his SuperCoach scoring power unquestioned.
He’ll want to – and a young Crows side will need him to – lead from the front in 2020.
THE PHANTOM’S VERDICT: If the Crows win more games than many expect them to this season, it’s likely to be on the back of this guy.
Dayne Zorko (Brisbane)
$579,100
Just quickly, the 30-year-old has stayed well out of the SuperCoach limelight so far this summer with Neale gaining all the attention.
But a closer look, past his 107-point season average, shows Zorko averaged 116 points per game from the Lions’ bye through to the semi-final loss to the Giants last year.
THE PHANTOM’S VERDICT: Just one to keep in the back of your mind.
HOLD OFF
Josh Kelly (GWS)
$637,700
The smooth-moving Giant only played 14 home-and-away matches last season but he finished with a SuperCoach ton in 11 of them – six of them in excess of 120.
In 2018, Kelly only played 15 games but scored 130 or more on five occasions, including a 202-point performance against the Blues.
Even most of the players listed above struggle to match the 24-year-old’s scoring when he’s up and going. But most of them played more than 29 games in the past two seasons.
THE PHANTOM’S VERDICT: It’s hard to ignore a favourite but, while he’s enjoying a solid summer to date, the numbers say there’s better options for now.
Tom Mitchell (Haw)
$630,900
With still no time frame on his return to the field, the discount the Hawthorn ball-magnet received in SuperCoach after a year out of the game is unlikely to be enough to make him worth the risk in Round 1.
Even if he is there for the Hawks’ season opener against Brisbane, will his game-time be limited?
THE PHANTOM’S VERDICT: Start planning on when and how you will be trading him in.
SUPERCOACH SUMMER FORMGUIDES: Essendon | Hawthorn | Carlton | Collingwood | Western Bulldogs | Richmond | Geelong | St Kilda | Sydney | Brisbane Lions | West Coast | Fremantle | Melbourne | GWS Giants | Adelaide
Originally published as The Phantom’s SuperCoach 2020 Pre-Season: Premium midfielder anaylsis