SuperCoach AFL 2024 rookie guide: The cheapies you need for round 5

Now is the time to prime your SuperCoach team for upgrade season. See the must-have rookies, who can be traded out and this week’s big steal.

Ryley Sanders of the Bulldogs.

Cash is king in SuperCoach.

After a frantic first month of the season, it’s time to watch our cash cows appreciate in value to be ripe for trading in for expensive premium scorers in a few weeks’ time.

As tempting as it is to chase the latest hottest player you haven’t got, the priority right now is to maximise the cash your squad is making.

Do you have all the must-have money-makers? Do you have holes on your bench that could be filled by a cheapie who could triple in value (we’re looking at you, defensive bench)?

Gold Coast has delivered the biggest gift of the SuperCoach season at just the right time.

Scroll down for our top picks, and the starting rookies we can start thinking about cashing in.

ON THE BUBBLE

Tyler Sonsie $150,900 | Average 38.5 | Break Even 9

Mykelti Lefau $127,900 | Av 38 | BE -15

Not much action here this week, and we had to be generous by including Lefau even though he has had one price rise after his third game.

Both Tigers appear set for a solid run of games but with both confined to the forward 50 they won’t do much for our scores or bank accounts.

We can safely pass on both and jump straight to ...

Richmond forward Mykelti Lefau. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

ONE GAMERS

Sam Clohesy $102,400 DEF | Score 108 | BE -68

Will Graham $117,300 DEF/MID | Score 67 | BE -21

Charlie Comben $227,100 FWD | Score 129 | BE -40

Max Ramsden $123,900 FWD | Score 71 | BE -22

Now we’re talking.

Traditionalists like to enforce a one-game rule in SuperCoach – never trade a rookie in after just one game.

Call it the Blake Drury rule, after the North Melbourne cheapie who scored 51 in his first game last season and was promptly traded in by thousands of SuperCoaches. He proceeded to score 17 and 12 in his next two games before being dropped and spending the next 12 weeks in the VFL.

But we couldn’t get that unlucky again, could we?

The temptation will be enormous to trade in at least one of the players on this list this week, and in the case of Clohesy that will be almost impossible to resist.

The 21-year-old scored 108 on debut, starring on a wing for Gold Coast and earning praise from coach Damien Hardwick, who described his game as “outstanding”.

Teammate Will Graham was almost as impressive, being injected straight into Dimma’s centre bounce rotation. He comes with the bonus flexibility of MID/DEF status – something Clohesy is likely to gain after round 6.

Sam Clohesy at Gold Coast Suns training. Picture: Supplied

Comben is another juicy option in the forward line after scoring a ridiculous 129 points against Brisbane playing as an intercepting defender.

Coach Alastair Clarkson said he had resisted the temptation to throw Comben forward after an injury to Callum Coleman-Jones

“Comben playing his first game back for 12 months. We decided to play him back. We’ve trained him as a back all summer. He looked really accomplished in the back end of the ground,” Clarkson said.

At least factor the trio into your trade plans for next week, with Clohesy the safest of the bunch if you’re going early to get an extra scoring player on field this round.

Ramsden is a back-up ruck who is worth keeping an eye on against the Suns.

LAST CHANCE

Jeremy Sharp $255,600 MID | Av 82.5 | BE -51

Tom Brown $213,800 DEF | Av 72.7 | BE -33

Sam Darcy $204,700 FWD | Av 82.3 | BE -21

Harvey Gallagher $207,100 FWD | Av 55.8 | BE -17

Jacob Wehr $208,100 MID | Av 58.3 | BE -20

Buku Khamis $226,000 FWD | Av 62.8 | BE -6

Sharp has already made $131k – including $70k this week – but with the second-lowest Break Even in the game (behind one-gamer Clohesy) he has a lot more money to make. Is it enough to justify paying $255k this week? SuperCoach Plus projects he’ll be worth $360k in round 8, assuming an average of around 70.

Brown’s elite kicking wowed watchers in Norwood and he would be a clear target this week if not for the new rookie defenders arriving on the scene. But he’s a nice get for the 17,000 coaches who picked him up last week.

Darcy was added to 50,000 teams last week and dispelled any fears of Rory Lobb taking his place in the team with a three-goal return against the Cats.

Another 2200 coaches saw enough to bring him in this week at an elevated price, hoping he can exceed SuperCoach Plus projections of another $80k price rise over the next month.

Gallagher, Wehr and Khamis have been sneaky good rookie picks this year but none have the scoring power to justify bringing them in now at their current price tags.

Jeremy Sharp scored 126 points in round 4. Picture: Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

GONE

Ryley Sanders $292,900 | Av 75.3 | BE 8

Harley Reid $274,100 MID/FWD | Av 71.5 | BE 12

Colby McKercher $299,500 MID | Av 77.8 | BE 43

Matt Roberts $335,900 MID | Av 83.4 | BE 14

Oliver Dempsey $265,400 FWD | Av 80.3 | BE -14

Sorry, the ship has sailed on the cheapie “fab four”, and we can add Dempsey to that list given he has most likely made at least half of his overall profit already.

Most of these players won’t be part of trade plans for a few more weeks, but we will keep an eye on McKercher’s Break Even, which jumped up after a season-low score of 54. That was largely due to being moved from half-back to the midfield – if that role continues, he could be ready to cash out sooner than we thought.

Jhye Clark at Cats training. Picture: Alison Wynd

TRADE OUT?

Blake Howes $223,300 | Av 59 | BE 56

Jhye Clark $186,700 MID | Av 42.3 | BE 11

Alex Sexton $182,800 FWD | Av 61 | BE -6

The golden rule with rookies is to trade them when their Break Even climbs above their season average, and Howes is in dangerous territory. He is averaging 59 points a game, three above his Break Even, but he needed a big last quarter to score 46 against Port Adelaide after crawling to 26 the week before.

One good score is enough to reset his BE and get the cash rolling again (as Harley Reid did last round), but with some promising defensive cheapies suddenly on the table, a trade now could deliver a $120k profit to fix an issue in your team or start building the bank for upgrade season.

Clark should continue to make money but he’s a slow burn, and could be in danger at selection after being subbed off against the Dogs.

Sexton still has a negative BE but has dropped out of Gold Coast’s best 23 and might not find his way back for a while.

Originally published as SuperCoach AFL 2024 rookie guide: The cheapies you need for round 5