Stats insider: Full round 18 centre bounce numbers, key SuperCoach intel

Two of the biggest SuperCoach stars of 2024 have fallen off a cliff. See the numbers behind the scores plus full round 18 CBAs and the stats you need to know this week.

AFL coaches were swinging the magnets in round 18, searching for a winning combination or a fresh look in the final third of the season.

There were some new faces in the centre bounce mix, and some old hands returning to former roles after a long absence.

Scroll down for full round 18 CBAs plus more exclusive SuperCoach intel

Here are some of the key stats moves:

JORDAN Dawson was back in the centre square for the Crows, attending 16 centre bounces, a 42 per cent bump from last week. His score of 108 SuperCoach points was his best since round 13.

COLLINGWOOD had a new look in the middle with second-gamer Ned Long attending 15 centre bounces, fourth-most for the Pies behind Darcy Cameron, Nick Daicos and Jordan De Goey – and ahead of Jack Crisp and Scott Pendlebury. Long finished with nine disposals and 41 SuperCoach points.

AFTER a big dip last week, Marcus Bontempelli was the main man in the middle for the Dogs, attending 93 per cent of CBAs against Carlton.

TOM De Koning’s CBAs dropped from 31 to 11 with Marc Pittonet back in the Carlton team. He still managed 95 SuperCoach points but that was his lowest score since round 10.

Tom De Koning had five hitouts to advantage against the Dogs while Marc Pittonet had 12. Picture: Michael Klein

MATT Rowell’s numbers are down across the board, and he had his lowest CBA rate for the season on Sunday. He was at 14 centre bounces, one fewer than Alex Davies.

MELBOURNE split ruck duties in the absence of Max Gawn, with Jacob van Rooyen at 48 ruck contests and 15 centre bounces, while Harrison Petty attended 44 ruck contests and 12 CBAs.

JACK Sinclair is a full-time midfielder again. His 16 centre bounces was the most for St Kilda. Mattaes Phillipou was at 13.

DAYNE Zorko was at one centre bounce in round 18, his first since round 7.

AFTER taking all 11 of North Melbourne’s kick-ins last week, Colby McKercher took nine against the Swans, playing on from all nine. But with the Swans kicking 20.18, six other Kangaroos players also took a turn bringing the ball back into play, including Luke McDonald (2), Aidan Corr (2), Harry Sheezel (1), Bailey Scott (1) and Dylan Stephens (1).

ADAM Saad took over kick-in duties at the Blues with Mitch McGovern out. Saad played on from six of his nine kick-ins, helping him to a season-high 133 SuperCoach points.

Secret SuperCoach stats

Each week Champion Data guru Fantasy Freako lifts the lid on the SuperCoach scoring system by analysing key moments from the weekend games.

Here are the numbers you need to know from round 18.

WHAT’S UP WITH KEY DOCKERS?

Scoring his dried up for two of the biggest SuperCoach stars of the first half of the season, Fremantle teammates Caleb Serong and Luke Ryan.

Ryan was averaging 130.3 at round 10, and has averaged 105.9 since, including one 100-plus score in his past five games. Serong was averaging 130.2 at round 10, but just 96.9 since.

The volume hasn’t been there since round 14 for Ryan, having 20-plus disposals just twice. Add to that a drop in his marks and intercepts and you get a decline in output.

Opposition sides have made him more accountable as well with Ben Long and Blake Hardwick keeping him in check in recent weeks.

Serong hasn’t hit 30 disposals since round 10 and his scoreboard impact has plummeted. He had 15 score assists from rounds 1-10 but has added just four score assists in his past seven games.

In round 17 against the Tigers, he had a kicking efficiency of just 9 per cent.

Luke Ryan failed to win an intercept possession in Round 18 for the first time in his career. #SuperCoach#AFLFantasy

— Fantasy Freako (@FantasyFreako) July 16, 2024

EFFICIENCY IS KING

Efficiency is so important in SuperCoach. Ineffective disposals are worth 0 points and clangers result in points coming off your score, so if you don’t hit targets then your score will suffer – as it did for a host of ball winners across the weekend.

Tom Green had hit the target with just two of 15 kicks and had seven ineffective handballs and two clanger handballs. Overall, he lost 20.7 points from negative acts.

Nick Daicos had his second-lowest kick-to-handball ratio of the season and went at 54 per cent by foot – losing 15.8 points from negative acts. One week earlier he hit the target just 30 per cent of the time by foot against the Bombers. That included having a kicking efficiency of 0 per cent at stoppage from 12 kicks.

Harry Sheezel, meanwhile, won only seven contested possessions against the Swans and by the time he began to find the ball the game was a blowout – the match pressure factor dipped to 0.5 which meant his disposals weren’t worth much in that part of the game. Sheezel won 12 disposals in the final term but that only equated to 16 points in SuperCoach.

He also lost 13.6 points from negative acts.

Tom Green paid the price in SuperCoach for missing targets by hand and foot. Picture: Brett Costello

Those scores can be contrasted with Sam Berry, who scored 106 SuperCoach points from 15 disposals against St Kilda.

Berry had just one negative act in this match, which was a free against. He won most of his possessions in a contest, with his 12 contested possessions the second-best for Adelaide. He also set the tone defensively with 12 tackles from 12 tackle attempts. Also, just two of these disposals were ineffective so he got full value for his touches.

The Crows v St Kilda game had the second-fewest disposals of the round – 668 compared to 777 in Melbourne v Essendon – which illustrates why every game should be considered individually. There are 3300 SuperCoach points allocated for every match.

CAT ON TARGET

Geelong rookie Lawson Humphries is also showing the rewards of efficient ball use. Overall, 46 of Humphries’ 55 disposals have been effective in his three games, including 22 of 23 on the weekend.

His disposal tally is the fifth-highest of any Geelong player after three games played post-1999.

BILLY BOILS

Billy Dowling was the second-ranked player on the ground in the final term against St Kilda with 45 points from eight effective disposals, two tackles and one goal.

It’s his highest score of the season in that quarter – scoring 34 on his debut in round 13. His other scores in the final term are 3, 9 and 21.

Originally published as Stats insider: Full round 18 centre bounce numbers, key SuperCoach intel