AFL SuperCoach 2024: Five players who can help you tackle the forward line
The forward line is the toughest line to tackle in SuperCoach. Luckily, Max Stainkamph has gone through the list and picked five guys you can build your forward structure around.
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The forward line is the bane of most SuperCoachers’ existence.
It’s always the hardest line to fill at the start of the season, with so many players who’s picked up DPP losing it the following season.
This year is no exception, with Zak Butters, Tom Liberatore and a host of others losing forward eligibility, so we’ll have to get creative to fill the forward line.
There are several ways of approaching it, with some SuperCoachers looking to find value and wait for some midfielders to gain DPP, while others are loading up with guns who’ll be in the top eight or 10 forwards come season’s end.
One strategy I’ve always liked - it doesn’t work, and it’s too early to tell if it’s an option this year - is loading up with rookies and spending the cash elsewhere.
But here are some options to fill your forward line with no matter the strategy you take.
JACK MACRAE $558,400
You want a safe option in the forward line? Jack Macrae is your safe option in the forward line.
He’s a player who’s averaged more than 120 in multiple seasons, and should be in line for more minutes in the midfield in 2024 with Bailey Smith going down with a season-ending knee injury.
I don’t think we see him back averaging Gary Ablett Jr-like numbers again, but he’s the safe pick, while his teammate Caleb Daniel ($518,800) is also a reasonably safe bet after being seen rocking up numbers in the midfield again across the pre-season.
Despite the risk of Luke Beveridge tossing his players around like a salad, both these guys know how to get their hands on the ball and will find it unless they play out of the goalsquare at either end.
He is one to keep an eye on through the preseason, though, with reports he’s battling a low-level hamstring injury.
CHARLIE CURNOW $545,300
Every year, while scrolling through options, I’d remember the old adage of never starting key forwards in SuperCoach.
They’re notoriously unreliable and inconsistent and there always seemed to be a midfielder who was a better option.
And then every single year Tom Hawkins would come out and finish in the top eight forwards for total points.
He did it for four years straight until father time caught up with him last season, and also countless more times before that.
I’ve learned my lesson, but it’s too late for me to make amends with the Tomahawk. Maybe Charlie Curnow can fill his void.
Curnow is the third-most expensive forward in the game, but his lowest price was $500,000 on the dot for all of 2023, and he only had five shocking games across the season.
The only issue I now have with starting Curnow is the AFL’s bye structure - Curnow has a week off in Round 2, which will be a pain to cover if you have any other Carlton or Sydney players.
DUSTIN MARTIN $527,300
While he has genuine claims to being the best player of the 21st century, Dusty’s only had the one year of being an out-and-out SuperCoach star, which was his unstoppable 2017 year where his average kissed 120.
Under a new coach in Adam Yze, will the points flow more freely at Tigerland?
Around five per cent of coaches are backing him in early doors for season 2024, and we get an early look at his role and form due to his Round Zero clash with his old coach Dimma on the Gold Coast.
At less than $530,000, an in-form Dustin Martin could be very tricky to ignore.
Last season he proved his floor is exceedingly low, with just the one game under 80 across 2023, and if he can lift those 80s into 95s with the odd game where he goes bananas, Martin could be the man for us again up forward.
NAT FYFE - $283,200
What if you’re going mid-priced in the forward line, I hear you ask? Dear reader, of course. I always have time for people going cheap in the forward line.
Has it worked the last few seasons?
Well, no.
But it just might work this season.
Thinking about picking Nat Fyfe despite all the people who picked him last season having a terrible time... pic.twitter.com/fWoeIn28p7
— patch (@PatchToTheMax) January 29, 2024
Okay, we have to take it with a grain of salt that he’s been running through the middle at training.
We have to take it with a grain of salt that he’s healthy and fit and has both his legs attached.
And I know it’s a dream that he’ll get back to his dual Brownlow Medal-winning form.
But gee whiz he’s $283,200. That’s cheaper than Jamie Cripps. That’s cheaper than Jake Stringer. That’s somehow cheaper than Sam Reid - remember him?
Look, he’s got some hoops to jump through before he can be named in anyone’s side, but if he gets a whiff of some midfield action … well, you’ve gotta think about it, don’t you?
JAMES JORDON - $275,500
James Jordon was on the fringe of Melbourne’s side - he was sub in their grand final victory and donned the dreaded vest a heap in 2023.
Sydney went hard after him in the trade period, signing the former delisted free agent in the opening days.
The beauty of opening round is we get to see him in action during the pre-season and in Round Zero, and he has one of the later byes - coming in round five - when we’ve already had some cash rolling in.
If Jordon scores well straight out of the gate, and a rookie has a rapid rise alongside him, the youngster could be a ticket to a very early forward upgrade.
Although, he could also be worth holding if he’s going that well. Jordan is a cheap crack at someone who could top out at an 85 average if he finds the right role, which could see him hit the 400k mark.
Best case scenario is he becomes someone to keep as cover during the late part of the season as he jumps into a role on a wing or rotating through the middle.
Clubs rarely target players who they don’t have a role in mind for, and Sydney have a special knack for finding the exact player they want and sliding them in the perfect-shaped hole.
If there’s a James Jordon-shaped hole in the harbour city, I want a part of it.
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Originally published as AFL SuperCoach 2024: Five players who can help you tackle the forward line
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