AFL SuperCoach studs and duds from Round 1, 2018

SUPERCOACH is back. Based on one round, which picks did you get right and wrong? Here are our stars and flops of Round 1.

Charlie Curnow of the Blues celebrates a goal.

SUPERCOACH is back. Based on one round, which picks did you get right and wrong? Here are our stars and flops of Round 1.

RAGE TRADES: WHO ARE YOU PULLING THE TRIGGER ON?

THE TACKLE: CAN BEVO FIX INSIPID DOGS?

RICHMOND 121 d CARLTON 95

STUD: Tip of the hat to the 4 per cent of coaches who backed in Charlie Curnow as a

mid-price pick up forward. Curnow showed the signs of a potential breakout season

late last year but a quiet JLT Series had most players looking elsewhere. We might

be correcting those moves after a five-goal, 10-mark and 126-point performance.

DUD: Brandon Ellis also had a strong second half of 2017 which prompted some to

start him as a $502 defender. But the alarm bells were ringing in the finals and

the JLT Series and Thursday night showed that high-scoring run might be an

aberration rather than the norm. He finished with 51 — 40 below his break-even.

Charlie Curnow celebrates one of his five goals against Richmond.

ESSENDON 99 d ADELAIDE 87

STUD: We know Rory Laird can find the footy, the question mark is how much damage

he does with his touches. But if he gets it 40 times, he’s going to score big —

especially when he hits the target with 35 of them. Laird backed up his 49 per cent

ownership with 137 points.

DUD: It’s not his fault but Zach Merrett’s 17 was very painful for the 12 per cent

of SuperCoach players who thought they had a brilliant point of difference in the

midfield — though not half as painful as it was for Merrett himself when he copped

a high bump from Richard Douglas. Lachlan Murphy’s 32 wasn’t ideal if you had him

on the field.

ST KILDA 107 d BRISBANE 82

STUD: Who says the Saints don’t have A-graders! Only 2 per cent of SuperCoach players took the risk on mid-price option Jack Steven and they were well and truly rewarded on Saturday. Steven was everywhere in the Saints’ fighting win over Brisbane. He told the Herald Sun in the lead up to pre-season he would find his best footy in 2018 and early indications are he was right.

DUD: Has anyone seen Dayne Zorko? That was far from the start to 2018 we were looking for. At a whopping price of $608,900, Zorko produced a very underwhelming 32 thanks to a Koby Stevens tag. This is a guy who had 15 scores over 100 points last year. Ouch!

Jack Steven sends the Saints into attack against Brisbane.

Riley Bonner was a revelation for Port Adelaide. Picture Sarah Reed

PORT ADELAIDE 110 d FREMANTLE 60

STUD: “The Phantom expects skilful Riley Bonner — who has four career games to his name — to establish himself as a regular in the Power’s best 22.”

This was the quote we all should have listened to during the pre-season. The Phantom tried to tell us that Bonner needed to be looked at but only 6 per cent of coaches listened. They were rewarded with a whopping 119 points on Saturday. At just $257,300, how many will look to add the 21-year-old into their backlines this week?

DUD: Calling Nat Fyfe a dud never feels good and I can’t wait to wipe the egg off my face when he likely drops 200 next week. But after an off-season of hearing that this version of Fyfe is at the same level as the one who won a Brownlow Medal two years ago, we need more than 75 points. The saving grace is that Fyfe is in over half of all SuperCoach teams so his below par score impacted everyone.

GOLD COAST 55 d NORTH MELBOURNE 39

STUD: Nick Holman, take a bow. One of the most popular and cheapest picks in SuperCoach this year, the midfielder delivered — and then some. Holman, whose projected score was 19 points, posted a whopping 96 against the Roos. Can you feel his price going up by the second? He could turn out to be one of the great cash cows.

DUD: When Luke Davies-Uniacke was drafted, he thought he’d be playing footy — not swimming on a football ground up in Cairns. The conditions were so tough on Saturday night it’s hard to be critical of anyone who couldn’t find much of the footy. But as an expensive rookie selection, scores of 25 aren’t going to cut the mustard. Hopefully he can bounce back next week.

HAWTHORN 101 d COLLINGWOOD 67

STUD: Can’t go past Tom Mitchell and his world record 54 disposals. Collingwood fans might be scratching their heads but Mitchell’s SuperCoach owners don’t mind if Nathan Buckley lets him run free every time they meet. Unfortunately, that won’t happen again this season so we have to be happy with his 167 points.

DUD: Some brave coaches started with Mason Cox to provide a vital forward-ruck link, and the choice seemed justified after his massive 145-point JLT Series game. But the old Cox was back on Saturday night, dropping marks on his way to 47 points and, worse, landing himself in potential hot water with a high bump. If he is banned for the week he’s desperately needed as cover for Matthew Kreuzer, it could be the last straw.

Mason Cox spills a mark in front of Hawthorn’s Ben McEvoy. Picture: Michael Klein

GWS GIANTS 133 d WESTERN BULLDOGS 51

STUD: Pencil in Stephen Coniglio at the top of your “trade in” list for next week. Most SuperCoach players use both available trades after Round 2 to snap up any bargains they missed before prices change, and if you’re one of the 76 per cent who don’t have the GWS onballer, that probably needs to change. Starting at just $452,400, he scored a huge 129 points — just two behind the game’s topscorer, Toby Greene.

DUD: Could choose from a number of Dogs here but we won’t add any more salt to Tom Liberatore’s wounds (he scored 13) and Aaron Naughton (25) was playing his first game against a marauding GWS. No such excuses for Marcus Bontempelli. Pre-season hype fell flat with 18 disposals, no influence and 63 points.

GEELONG 97 d MELBOURNE 94

STUD: Max Gawn missed out on about 30 more points when he fluffed his set shot to win the game, but he still delivered 139 so we can’t be too unhappy. A whopping 65 per cent of coaches can seriously consider him as a captain option each week.

DUD: Michael Hibberd saved himself from a severe grilling with a brilliant 40-point final quarter. Until the final change he had just 34 points, including a measly 15 in the first half. Not what his 51,000 owners were expecting from their $545,200 outlay.

SYDNEY 115 d WEST COAST 86

STUD: We asked in the pre-season why everyone was ignoring Lance Franklin as a SuperCoach option. The question is even more relevant after a round-high 175 points on the back of eight goals against the Eagles. At least 27 per cent of coaches cashed in.

DUD: We knew going into the season that forward line rookies were an issue and 41 per cent od coaches punted on mature-age Eagle Liam Ryan. He managed 38 points on debut which isn’t ideal but at the moment we don’t have too many options.

Enjoy all of Lance Franklin's eight goals from Sydney's strong win over the Eagles👇 pic.twitter.com/gQVmrZOdCh

— AFL (@AFL) March 25, 2018