Doctor’s Orders: Who to target after the first bye round

The gift of three trades this week is the perfect opportunity to get your SuperCoach team into shape. The expert team at Doctor SuperCoach name three players we should be laying the groundwork for.

The byes have finally arrived. It has been a tough opening 11 weeks of the season for SuperCoaches, but with some clever planning ahead, the byes can be the best thing your team needs to jump right back into the hunt – be it for overall rank or league standings.

To repeat the key point from last week’s bye article, planning is the most important element to bye success. Ensuring that you are able to field 18 players this week as well as in the next two weeks will be incredibly beneficial to your rankings.

However, as all good plans generally fall apart due to unexpected injuries or circumstances, there are plenty of reasons to use these three trades offered before the start of Round 12 to get your teams into shape.

Many will be using this opportunity to downgrade non-playing players or rookies to cheap playing rookies to bank a “war chest” of money to spend on upgrades for the coming week. The expert team at Doctor SuperCoach delve into a few key upgrade targets to look at getting into your sides immediately at the conclusion of Round 12.

JAMES SICILY $491,600 | AVG: 99.8 | BREAK EVEN: 95

Following last round, Sicily has scored over the heralded triple figures more times than not this season. It is a jam-packed backline this year and Sicily is fighting with a pack of players to secure a top-six rank among his fellow defenders.

As unappealing as Sicily’s temper may be to coaches, his scoring ceiling is undeniable. Half of Sicily’s scores over 100 have cleared 115, with a season-high of 127, enormous numbers for a defender in SuperCoach.

James Sicily escaped with a fine for a striking charge this week. Picture: Jay Town

The mention of potential time up forward may have scared coaches off in the pre-season but, as has been evident so far this season, it seems highly unlikely that we see the intercept defender moved forward. With Sicily coming off of his bye in a week and at a season-low price, could it be now is the time to pounce? Although James hasn’t exactly been demanding selection, the 2018 average of 105 should still resonate well with coaches who have doubts over the top-six defender potential.

ESSENTIAL INFO: SUPERCOACH BYE BIBLE

TRADE GUIDE: WHO TO GET, WHO TO CUT

DR SUPERCOACH: TOP THREE TARGETS

JOSH DUNKLEY $556,000 | AVG: 102 | BREAK EVEN: 83

In a run similar to the end of last year, Dunkley is forcing his way back into our teams.

After showing the competition his midfield capabilities in the latter part of last season with an average of 127 in the final six rounds, we are seeing a similar trend now as Josh is boasting an average of 121 in his past five games played in his favoured midfield role.

This kind of ceiling is matched by very few players, especially those that have forward eligibility. The only reason to pass up on the Bulldogs’ No.5 is the erratic behaviour shown by coach Luke Beveridge. In the opening six rounds of this season, Dunkley was relegated to a mainstay forward and managed an average of 85 points. Considering the dominance of Dunkley when deployed through the middle, it is reasonable to believe that we will see him stay in the centre — however this can never be guaranteed with ‘Bevo’ at the helm.

ROBBIE GRAY $405,900 | AVERAGE: 83.8 BREAK EVEN: 31

Gray has averaged 105 or more three times in his career and 90 or more six times — including all five of his most recently played seasons. Now averaging his lowest output since 2013, it feels like just a matter of time before Gray reverts to the norm, with a recent string of strong showings increasing his lowly average.

Robbie Gray was back to his best form in China.

In the past two weeks since returning from a broken hand and sore shoulder, Gray has produced scores of 89 and 122, which could partly be due to the absence of co-captain Ollie Wines and the extra midfield slot this opens up in the Port Adelaide side. The question on everyone’s mind is the same: Will this role change be a permanent switch for Gray?

It’s impossible to know for sure, but with such a strong history of finishing within the top six forwards, Gray will be exiting his bye at a more than enticing price. Sometimes when players are cheap enough, they can be worth a punt and in a worst-case scenario, they end up as your seventh forward. The only thing we know for certain is that Robbie will have an uptick in scoring compared to his opening six rounds, where he managed to average only 76 SuperCoach points.

Ken Hinkley decides whether Robbie Gray is a #SuperCoach option this season. Averages 77 points when he has played predominantly as a forward and 106 as a midfielder (albeit 2 games).

— Fantasy Freako (@FantasyFreako) June 4, 2019

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Originally published as Doctor’s Orders: Who to target after the first bye round