The Phantom’s Trade Talk: The value upgrade options if you’re short of cash
IN SuperCoach - and in life - we all want the best but sometimes we just can’t afford it. Leading up to the all-important final bye week, The Phantom takes a look at the value upgrade options. Plus, re-cap all the answers from his live blog.
Sport
Don't miss out on the headlines from Sport. Followed categories will be added to My News.
IN SuperCoach — and in life — we all want the best but sometimes we just can’t afford it. Leading up to the all-important final bye week, The Phantom takes a look at the value upgrade options to help you complete your team.
BLOG LIVE WITH THE PHANTOM FROM MIDDAY (SA), 12.30PM (AEST). LEAVE YOUR QUESTIONS BELOW
DEFENCE
Michael Hurley (Ess) $460,400
Average: 96, Ownership: 12.4 per cent, Breakeven: 108
While he’s at the top-end of the value bracket in defence, the Bomber defender, who has posted scores of 76 and 93 in his two games back from a three-week injury lay-off, is still too cheap to pass up, given his scoring potential. Hurley averaged 104 points in the first seven rounds, with five SuperCoach tons, yet has still lost more than $100k off his starting price tag. Get on.
Alex Witherden (Bris) $374,000
Average: 84, Ownership: 2.7 per cent, Breakeven: 30
Now we’re talking. The second-year Lion, who posted five scores of 86 or more, three of them SuperCoach tons, in his nine-game debut season, averaged 96 over the opening six rounds of 2018, before a form slump saw him score more than 78 points just once in the following five games. But he was back in a big way against the Bombers in Round 12, tallying 29 disposals — 25 of them kicks — 12 marks and 117 points.
Daniel Rich (Bris) $403,000
Average: 74, Ownership: 0.5 per cent, Breakeven: 49
Thanks to an injury-affected 21 points in Round 1, the damaging left-footer’s average doesn’t look good. But after returning to the side in Round 6, Rich has posted scores of 99, 89, 56, 51, 85, 83 and 110. The two scores in the 50s aside, those numbers are far more appealing. The 28-year-old has burnt many SuperCoaches in the past but he did play 22 games and average 91 points last season.
Adam Saad (Ess) $424,900
Average: 75, Ownership: 3.4 per cent, Breakeven: 49
After taking a while to have an impact at the Bombers, the dashing defender posted scores of 84, 87, 103, 89 and 117 in the five matches leading up to the club’s Round 13 bye. It would take a brave SuperCoach to take the punt given Saad never averaged more than 78 in his three years at the Suns.
MIDFIELD
Tom Rockliff (Port) $403,000
Average: 71, Ownership: 8 per cent, Breakeven: 15
A season-high 127 points against the Bulldogs in Round 13 confirmed what The Phantom had been saying for a while now; Rocky is back! That’s three SuperCoach tons in the past four matches and there should be more to come if Ken Hinkley doesn’t use him as a tagger in the run home. In Ken we trust.
Jarryd Lyons (Bris) $414,500
Average: 92, Ownership: 0.5 per cent, Breakeven: 65
The former Crow is an interesting one. The inside midfielder averaged 103 in the opening six rounds, with two scores in excess of 137, before a three-game slump saw his average fall to 90 by Round 9. Lyons was then sent back to the NEAFL by new coach Stuart Dew, despite averaging 24 disposals, six tackles and six clearances per game. In his first match back after two weeks in the reserves, Lyons recorded 23 disposals, eight tackles and 102 points.
Taylor Adams (Coll) $466,000
Average: 86, Ownership: 0.7 per cent, Breakeven: 55
The Collingwood midfielder, who posted 16 SuperCoach tons in 2017, could only manage scores of 69, 77 and 83 in the opening three rounds of 2018. Adams then missed the following three games through injury before returning in Round 7 to score 45 points against the Lions. But since then, the 24-year-old has posted scores 120, 71, 84, 117 and 108. And the Magpies have Carlton, Gold Coast and Essendon in the next three weeks.
Luke Shuey (WC) $416,600
Average: 82, Ownership: 0.6 per cent, Breakeven: 175
The star Eagle scored more than 95 points in five of his first six games for the year before an injury-affected 12 against the Power in Round 7. After missing four matches, Shuey returned against the Swans in Round 13 but drew some strong attention from defensive Sydney midfielder George Hewett. A score of 63 saw his price fall by another $49k and, with a Round 14 breakeven of 175, it’s set to fall again, meaning Shuey should be available for less than $400k ahead of Round 15. If you’ve got the trades, Shuey could be a great M9 for the run home.
FORWARD
Chad Wingard (Port) $394,600
Average: 77, Ownership: 4.9 per cent, Breakeven: 16
The mercurial Power star, who averaged 93 points per game last season, kicked off 2018 with a 110-point performance against the Dockers in Round 1. But Wingard failed to score more than 89 points in the next eight games, posting three scores of less than 50. In the past two matches, after his inconsistent form as a forward, coach Ken Hinkley has injected Wingard into the midfield on a permanent basis with great effect, with the 24-year-old averaging 30 disposals, eight marks and 110 SuperCoach points. If he stays in the engine room — and it’s hard to see Hinkley taking him out on the form he’s shown — Wingard is almost the buy of the week.
Originally published as The Phantom’s Trade Talk: The value upgrade options if you’re short of cash