Harley Bennell’s return even better than it looks, Carlton ruckman Marc Pittonet on KFC SuperCoach radar
Harley Bennell’s 14 disposals in his AFL comeback don’t scream ‘pick me’ in KFC SuperCoach, but there is a lot more to that number than meets the eye. Plus Carlton’s surprise ruck bargain.
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Harley Bennell’s 59 points in his Melbourne debut don’t scream “pick me” in KFC SuperCoach.
But there is more to the number than meets the eye that will please the 3000 players who took the punt on him before Round 2, and not just the fact that Bennell successfully navigated his first AFL game in almost three years.
Bennell’s 14-possession display — kicking at 86 per cent efficiency — came despite playing only 50 minutes and nine seconds of the 100-minute game.
SCROLL DOWN TO SEE CARLTON’S SURPRISE SUPERCOACH BARGAIN
As that game time ramps up in coming weeks, expect Bennell’s numbers to soar.
Former coach Ross Lyon said the Dockers medical staff had turned over most options as they tried to fix Bennell, including sending him to Germany.
But he said they would in hindsight wonder why he hadn’t had surgery to fix those calves after he was able to run pain-free after surgical intervention over the summer.
Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin has indicated Kosaiah Pickett will immediately find his way back into the Demons line-up despite missing the win over Carlton for a COVID-19 protocol breach.
The Demons take on Essendon next Sunday after a nailbiting one-point victory in which they coughed up a 42-point lead but hung on in the final moments thanks to a Bailey Fritsch behind.
Pickett played in a Saturday afternoon scratch match against Carlton and showed his electric speed and tricks in an impressive display.
Medium forwards Mitch Hannan and Aaron vandenBerg also played in that contest, while tall forward Sam Weideman kicked five goals.
Goodwin said on Triple M that Pickett and Charlie Spargo had made a mistake but fans should realise they were under extremely strict rules.
Speaking about Melbourne’s forward line make-up, he bemoaned first year player Pickett’s spark in the senior side.
“Missing Kosi Pickett before the game, probably our quality small forward that we have brought into the footy club, we certainly missed him,” he said.
He said Pickett and Spargo, who was suspended for two games, had made a silly mistake but the club would quickly move on.
In other KFC SuperCoach rookie news, Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew told Channel 9 on Sunday that much-hyped youngster Izak Rankine was still some weeks away from an AFL debut as the club attempts to protect his fragile body.
He could play in a practice match next week but the club is keen to control his high-end speeds to protect his hamstrings before unleashing him in an AFL game.
BIG BLUE LOOMS AS SUPERCOACH BARGAIN
Tim Michell
First it was Sam Naismith.
Now Marc Pittonet is the bargain big man KFC SuperCoaches are desperate to get.
Sydney ruckman Naismith ($251,500, RUC) was set to soar in price before being ruled out of the Swans’ Round 2 clash with Essendon due to a hamstring issue.
That left more than 16,000 SuperCoach teams with a huge hole after Naismith posted 121 in the opening round.
Enter Marc Pittonet — at least for 141 of those teams.
With a career-best score of 75 from seven career matches, the Carlton No. 2 had a monumental task to quell Max Gawn in his first match in navy blue.
While the Demons captain amassed 184 to help his side to a one-point win, Pittonet was the Blues’ leading scorer with 134 points.
It was significant reward for those who took a leap of faith and added the $236,200 SuperCoach ruck when he replaced the injured Matthew Kreuzer.
The former Hawk only features in 1615 SuperCoach teams, but that number is set to spike after he had 14 disposals and 23 hit-outs on Saturday.
“He’s a great ruckman. He's (been) a great ruckman for years," Pittonet told the club website after his clash with Gawn.
“Anytime I can play against a good player I watch what they do. I’ll review it, check what he does, see what worked well (and) what didn’t work well.
“I’d like to think I’m in the prime of my age but I haven’t played many games so I can only get better from here.”
Marc Pittonet’s ($236k) 134 #SuperCoach points up against Gawn was no mean feat.
— Dan Batten (@danbatten_) June 14, 2020
-Had 10 hitouts to advantage (43% of his 23)
-Averaged 114 (2019) and 108 (2018) in the VFL
-Faces Stanley and Bellchambers in his next two
With Kreuzer sidelined, he could be ROB 2.0.
#supercoach Price Projection* - Marc Pittonet
— Brice Mitchell (@bricemitchell) June 13, 2020
2019Av 73 (2g)
R2Price $236.2k
R2BE 45
R2Score 134
ProjScore 100
Projected Prices
R3:$236k->$301k (+$65k)
R4:$301k->$373k (+$73k)
R5:$373k->$412k (+$38k)
R6:$412k->$440k (+$28k)
R7:$440k->$460k (+$20k)
R8:$460k->$474k (+$15k) https://t.co/IioY7TvoGm
Blues coach David Teague said Pittonet “competed really strongly”, especially early when Melbourne threatened to blow Carlton away.
Another score of 100 in Round 3 would result in Pittonet’s SuperCoach price jumping to about $300,000.
His career-best total continued a trend of ruckmen dominating the early rounds of KFC SuperCoach in 2020.
Ten big men scored triple figures in Round 1 and Brodie Grundy (115), Ivan Soldo (108), Rhys Stanley (122), Reilly O’Brien (161) and Scott Lycett (117) have posted tons in Round 2.
Coaches face a challenge to fit Pittonet into their side for Round 3, with SuperCoach reverting to two trades a round.
Harley Bennell, Trent Rivers and Sam Sturt are among the popular rookies whose prices are set to change after Round 3.
ROUND 2 HITS AND MISSES
HITS
— Matthew Rowell: No. 1 draft pick was the top scorer in Gold Coast’s upset win over West Coast with 171 points. From a starting price of $207,300, he’ll rise by about $80,000.
— Jeremy Howe: The most-popular trade target of Round 2, Collingwood defender Howe backed up his Round 1 score of 156 with 126 against Richmond.
— Max Gawn: The Demons skipper had a break even of 172 before Round 2 but destroyed any hopes coaches had of picking him up cheaply with a score of 184.
MISSES
— John Noble: A popular rookie defender at $215,400, Noble’s cash generation will be slow after a score of 41 against Richmond. Noble features in more than 40 per cent of teams.
— Shannon Hurn: A premium trade target after scoring 152 in Round 1, Hurn was unable to repeat his heroics against Gold Coast. A total of 73 only just met his break even — 61.
— Dan Houston: A buzz player in pre-season, Houston has averaged 69.5 in the opening two rounds. He had a break even of 106 but was Port Adelaide’s fourth-lowest scorer with 60 in the showdown.