SuperCoach AFL 2025: Hits and misses of round 1, rookie report card

Which SuperCoach calls paid off in round 1 – and which were way off base? Heroes and villains, early trade advice and every rookie rated.

Round 1 lived up to its reputation for throwing up bizarre results in the AFL, and in SuperCoach.

The lesson from past years is don’t judge players on one performance – it’s a long 24-round season, and we have seen countless examples of players reversing round 1 fortunes.

But coaches will be tempted to make some big moves before round 2.

Here are the big winners and losers from the first official round of the 2025 SuperCoach season, and scroll down for a rating on every relevant rookie.

BIG HITS

Josh Dunkley – 173 points

There was a move among SuperCoaches to Brisbane players after their early bye was cancelled, but Dunkley was still overlooked by the vast majority. Dayne Zorko (139 points) rewarded his new owners, while it was a different story for Lachie Neale (more on him below). Dunkley started the season in just 1.8 per cent of teams – the ninth-most popular Lion – but smashed out an epic SuperCoach game – 27 disposals, 10 tackles, 16 contested possessions and a late goal to seal a memorable win.

Josh Dunkley was huge against Sydney. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Tom De Koning – 148 points

When he rucks solo, TDK is a SuperCoach beast. He lost the hitouts to Toby Nankervis 35-30 but does his damage at ground level, winning eight clearances among his 28 disposals. There is a big question mark over what Michael Voss does when Marc Pittonet is fit, but until then let’s enjoy the ride.

Jack Macrae – 127 points

Welcome back, Jack. Amazing what happens when you put an All-Australian midfielder in the midfield and leave him there all day. The Saints recruit and SuperCoach hall of famer had the most disposals on the ground (34) to give St Kilda fans something to smile about on a dirty day.

Bailey Smith – 147 points

Clear best on ground in his first game as a Cat, quickly dispelling any worries about a limited pre-season with 10 disposals in the first quarter on his way to 32 for the day. Insane value in SuperCoach at just $389,200 – if you don’t have him already, get on before his price changes.

Bailey Smith is another win for Geelong’s recruiting department. Picture: Michael Klein

Jack Ross – 134 points

We love a POD (point of difference) and just 840 coaches started the Tiger winger, who has been transformed into a centre bounce midfielder this year. That ownership will grow if he produces another score like that at just $310,400.

Izak Rankine – 128 points

Believe the hype. Plenty of centre square time (13 centre bounces) for the super talented midfield/forward, who collected 28 disposals and still managed to get forward to kick two goals. The sky’s the limit this year.

Game 250 for Jack Macrae:

34 disposals
23 contested possessions
16 first possessions
12 clearances
5 tackles
1 score assist
127 #SuperCoach
109 #AFLFantasy#AFLCrowsSaints

— Fantasy Freako (@FantasyFreako) March 16, 2025

Max Gawn – 129 points

We all expected Gawn to dominate GWS back-up Lachie Keeffe in the ruck, and he did just that – winning the hitouts 46-14. And in a different universe this could have been a classic Gawn monster score. In that reality his set shot from 55m with a minute left cleared the pack in the goalsquare. Unfortunately, in this one it just feel short and somehow Keeffe was the matchwinner. Still a great score from Max, though.

BIG MISSES

Lachie Neale – 41 points

Spare a thought for the 12 per cent of coaches who had the captaincy on Neale in round 1. He became the second victim of Swans tagger James Jordan, who put the clamps on Will Day in the second half in opening round. Remarkably, in the second and third quarters Neale’s stat line read zero disposals and one tackle. But redemption should come quickly – next week the Lions face West Coast, while Jordan will be lining up one of Fremantle’s star midfielders.

A horrid week but it is 1 week.
Breathe friends….
This weeks duds could be next weeks studs and vice versa.
Not saying don’t trade but careful consideration needed #SuperCoach

— Rainman (@ItsTheRainman) March 16, 2025

Will Day – 77 points

The flavour of the month after scoring 113 SuperCoach points in a half a week ago, Day couldn’t find the same spark against the Bombers. Keep the faith, he’ll still be a great pick.

Luke Ryan – 66 points

There are more serious alarm bells around the Dockers defender, who didn’t have any of his usual freedom against the Cats. Five kick-ins couldn’t save his score, and he’s set for a massive price drop unless he produces something special next round.

Luke Ryan found himself trying to contain Patrick Dangerfield. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

James Peatling – 67 points

The question mark over the former Giant was how many points can be shared around among Adelaide’s very deep midfield. And while the Crows feasted on St Kilda, Peatling missed the party – this week, at least.

ROOKIE REPORT CARD

Rookies are the most important players in our teams early in the season, and the hardest to get right. If you had a good score stuck on the bench, you would not have been alone as we all play rookie roulette in the early rounds.

Here are our ratings of the SuperCoach cheapies class of 2025 – so far.

A+: Magpie Ned Long (113) just sneaks into the rookie category, priced at $200,900, and you’ll have to pay almost that much forDocker Nathan O’Driscoll (91), but both shape as very worthwhile investments.

Forward Max Hall was a rare bright spot for the Saints. Picture: Michael Klein

A: Well played if you kept the faith with Levi Ashcroft (84 – 11 more than his brother) despite his coach declaring he would start as the sub, only to change tack at the last minute. Demon Xavier Lindsay (86) faded late in the game but looks a future star. Mitch Knevitt (82) and Max Hall (74) also get big ticks, along with Riley Bice, who collected 12 disposals in just 30 per cent of game time. He should get a lot more opportunity next week, then will be on the bubble coming off Sydney’s round 3 bye – perfect.

B+: Harry Boyd (63) and Isaac Kako (62) did their jobs, and both are shaping as great cash cows this year. Don’t miss out!

B: Ideally you would have wanted Lucas Camporeale (56), Luke Trainer (50), Connor O’Sullivan (48), Elijah Hewett (52) and Angus Hastie (53) on the bench, but even on field they were far from disastrous – and all will make money. Hastie was particularly unlucky, subbed off in the third quarter after a promising start, while we’re backing in Finn O’Sullivan (51), who did some nice things against the Dogs.

C: Tougher days for Elijah Tsatas (50), Sam Davidson (39), Ben Paton (43 and subbed off), Tom Lynch (61 and suspended for a week), Zach Reid (45) and Jaxon Prior (50) – it’s tough in rookie land down back. Connor Stone (42) rallied late to avoid catastrophe.

Docker Murphy Reid (50) had one of the more remarkable debut games – he was in the negatives in SuperCoach at halftime then kicked four goals in five minutes to (briefly) turn the game on its head.

Lucas Camporeale had 20 disposals in his AFL debut. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

D: A very quiet start for Joe Berry (38), Liam O’Connell (28), Dan Curtin (26) and Sid Draper (27), although in Sid’s defence he was Adelaide’s sub and the game was well and truly over by the time he got a run.

F: Thank goodness for Flex. New Best 22 scoring saved coaches with Sam Powell-Pepper (18) or James Leake (13) on field, but they don’t scream money making potential one round into the season. Harvey Langford (18) will also struggle to make cash but through no fault of his own; he only played a few minutes after starting as Melbourne’s sub.

Originally published as SuperCoach AFL 2025: Hits and misses of round 1, rookie report card