AFL captains reveal who to pick and who to avoid in SuperCoach for the 2019 season
It’s time to make your final SuperCoach decisions ahead of the first lockout, so who better to give you the lowdown on who to pick than AFL captains. They reveal who to pick, who to avoid the players they’d be picking first in their own SuperCoach teams.
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It’s time to make your big final SuperCoach decisions ahead of the first lockout on Thursday night, so who better to give you the lowdown on who to pick than AFL captains.
We surveyed a selection of the AFL’s biggest names to find out who SuperCoaches should pick from their club, who we should avoid and who the captains would pick first if they were selecting a team for season 2019.
Get the lowdown on clubs including Collingwood, Geelong, Hawthorn and Port Adelaide below.
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WHICH PLAYER SHOULD WE PICK FROM YOUR CLUB?
SCOTT PENDLEBURY (Collingwood)
“Brodie Grundy. I think he’ll go to a whole new level this year.”
JOEL SELWOOD (Geelong)
“Patrick Dangerfield and I think he’ll sit as captain for a fair few players out there and Jordan Clark is a young bargain pick who’ll rise in price quickly.”
JACK ZIEBELL (North Melbourne)
“I think guys like Shaun Higgins — he scores well and is a very good player, Ben Cunnington — he’s very underrated and Ben Brown — he kicks a lot of goals.
“Jared Polec is another one who we’ve got across, he’s a very damaging left-footer who kicks a lot of goals from the wing.
“Aaron Hall, we used to play against him and he’d chop us up. He’s going really well at the moment and I think he’s going to have a good year. He’s ready to go.”
DAYNE ZORKO (Brisbane Lions)
“Daniel Rich. He’s had a good pre-season and he plays off halfback where they seem to share the ball around, the halfbackers.”
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BEN STRATTON (Hawthorn)
“Jaeger O’Meara definitely. He’s had a year of footy under his belt now where he’s had no injuries and I think that’s done his confidence a world of good. Now all he has to concentrate on is game day and not worry about what could happen. And his pre-season has been really good.
“Luke Breust has been zipping around in our match sim and playing on him first-hand, the way he crumbs and gets around is impressive. He’s probably in the prime (of his career) age-wise.
“And James Frawley is looking really fit.”
TOM JONAS (Port Adelaide)
“Tom Rockliff. I think he’ll be a bit of value this year. The way he’s started in the JLT Series was really good.
“If you want a bit of a roughy, Zak Butters. He’s super classy on his right and left foot, he takes the game on — he doesn’t wait for anyone — he’s got a little bit of niggle but he’s also very tough, hardworking and modest. He’s a good bloke to have around the club. I’d be surprised if he didn’t get an opportunity in Round 1, but obviously that’s not my decision.”
PHIL DAVIS (GWS Giants)
“Jacob Hopper. With Dylan (Shiel) moving out there’s another spot in the midfield (available), so he’ll get more midfield time. He’s coming into his fourth year, he’s obviously got a lot of talent but he’s a hard worker and he’s tough, so I think he’ll naturally find the ball and kick a few goals as well. I think you’ll get $600,000 worth of value from him.”
WHO SHOULD WE AVOID FROM YOUR CLUB?
SCOTT PENDLEBURY (Collingwood)
“I don’t really know. I think all our guys can be decent scorers. Sorry, I don’t have an answer for that.”
JOEL SELWOOD (Geelong)
“Probably Mark Blicavs and probably because he doesn’t want me to say it. He’s the easiest one to pick on.”
JACK ZIEBELL (North Melbourne)
“Robbie Tarrant, for example, is a very good player but as a key defender you can’t control whether you score 100 SuperCoach points or not. So I’d be looking to pick ball-winning rebound defenders who’ll score more points.”
DAYNE ZORKO (Brisbane Lions)
“Probably a forward where, yes you kick goals but they might only come every couple of weeks because we like to share it around a lot. He’s not going to like me saying this but maybe Charlie Cameron. I hope he comes out and kicks three a game, though.”
BEN STRATTON (Hawthorn)
“Myself because I just don’t score many points and if it was points based purely on tackles then you’d have to get ‘Poppy’ (Paul Puopolo) in your team.”
TOM JONAS (Port Adelaide)
“Steer clear of me I think. I spend a fair bit of time in the cage. I’m generally not a SuperCoach favourite anyway, so I’d be one of those to avoid.”
PHIL DAVIS (GWS Giants)
“Avoid me and avoid Sam Taylor — he’ll play a lot of games but he’s a backman like me and we’re not allowed to take the kick-outs, which means there goes five kicks (from our stats).”
WHO AT YOUR CLUB WOULD PICK THEMSELVES IN THEIR SUPERCOACH TEAM?
SCOTT PENDLEBURY (Collingwood)
“I reckon Jeremy Howe would pick himself. He’s pretty confident.”
JOEL SELWOOD (Geelong)
“Dan Menzel and Stevie Johnson were always the ones for this but right now probably Zach Tuohy. He still thinks he’s going to be right for Round 1, but he’s not going to be there.”
JACK ZIEBELL (North Melbourne)
“There’d be a line of guys who I reckon would do this. Ben Cunnington would definitely pick himself and have himself as captain every week to get double points and Jy Simpkin would put himself in there as well.”
DAYNE ZORKO (Brisbane Lions)
“Mitch Robinson. You don’t even need to finish the question, definitely Robbo. Yeah, he’d be picking himself.”
BEN STRATTON (Hawthorn)
“Jack Gunston.”
TOM JONAS (Port Adelaide)
“Ollie Wines. He’s not arrogant but if he’s going all right he’d know, so he’d probably put himself in his team.”
PHIL DAVIS (GWS Giants)
“Heath Shaw and he’s not even ashamed. He’d captain it as well.
“I think Josh Kelly — he’s very humble but we all know he’s very good so you shouldn’t be afraid to pick yourself if you’re that good.
“Toby Greene would, because he’s very good too.”
IF YOU HAD A SUPERCOACH TEAM, WHO WOULD YOU PICK FIRST?
SCOTT PENDLEBURY (Collingwood)
“Probably Brodie Grundy. He gets a lot of hit-outs, so they’re pretty easy points and he‘s good around the ground, so it makes a lot of sense.”
JOEL SELWOOD (Geelong)
“Patrick Cripps. I think he’ll have a pretty good year again because he’s just so big and strong and has so much good footy in front of him.”
JACK ZIEBELL (North Melbourne)
“I’d have to get my analytics out and go through it all but probably Max Gawn — I don’t think he scores too much under 100 — Nat Fyfe and Dangerfield.”
DAYNE ZORKO (Brisbane Lions)
“My first picked would be Rory Laird. He’s a halfbacker, he’s aggressive, he gets a lot of touches and he works extremely hard so he’s always going to be around the ball. He’ll go really well.”
BEN STRATTON (Hawthorn)
“Probably Jaeger O’Meara or Patty Cripps.”
TOM JONAS (Port Adelaide)
“Tom Mitchell would have been, but not this year now obviously. There’s a few accumulators around. ‘Zorks’ (Dayne Zorko) kicks a few snags and gets a fair bit of the rock.”
PHIL DAVIS (GWS Giants)
“I’d go one of the superstars. I’d go Danger, Fyfe or Dusty. If I could get all three, I’d just get them all in.”
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