Champion Data breaks down some of the biggest moments in SuperCoach in 2018

DEBATE has raged over which performance was better; Trent Cotchin and Ben Cunnington? Champion Data reveals the winner and explains Robbie Gray’s explosive third term and Ben Ronke’s big Friday night.

Trent Cotchin at Richmond training.

DEBATE has raged since Sunday ... who was better Trent Cotchin or Ben Cunnington?

Cotchin guided Richmond to the win while North Melbourne’s Cunnington broke the AFL contested disposals record.

ROUND 9: THE PHANTOM’S SUPERCOACH TRADE CHAT

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Now, Champion Data has given its verdict.

Plus, we reveal how Robbie Gray’s explosive Showdown third quarter was scored, why Aaron Naughton copped a donut and where Ben Ronke’s points came from (hint: goals and tackles).

GRAY’S THIRD-TERM BURST

Robbie Gray proved to be the match-winner with a scintillating third-quarter burst in the Showdown, booting five goals straight.

In fact, 40 of his 80 points for the quarter were derived from goals alone, with a further 24 points coming from disposals and 14 from contested possessions.

Gray also had a score assist which earned him two points at the time.

Robbie Gray at Port Adelaide training.

SHOWDOWN GOES DOWN TO THE WIRE

In what was a frantic final minute in Showdown 44, late goals in a close contest provided a massive boost to scores.

In this instance, Taylor Walker (11.2 points), Mitch McGovern (12.2 points) and the match-winner, Steven Motlop (12.4 points) were the beneficiaries of major boosts for their late goals. Even Sam Gray, the provider of the goal assist for Motlop’s goal, earned himself 5.4 points.

Earlier, Matt Crouch’s assist to McGovern earned him 13 points for an effective long kick as well as the goal assist.

AARON NAUGHTON

SuperCoaches with Aaron Naughton would have been dismayed at the sight of his zero points, especially if he was fielded on the ground.

Previously, if you had a player score zero points and he was on the field, you would have had your emergency score come into play.

However, a change to the rules has altered this, subsequently resulting in a dreaded donut.

Even though Naughton had one kick, one intercept possession and one point to his name before suffering the injury, he ended up being scaled back to zero points, as his

input for the game was 0.03 per cent of 3,300 points.

Naughton is the second player this season to finish a match on zero points after Tim Broomhead’s Round 2 donut.

SWANS SURGE

SuperCoaches flocked to Charlie Spargo last round, but it was Ben Ronke that proved to be the shrewder pick after he starred with a seven-goal haul.

Sydney’s come-from-behind win was important from a SuperCoach perspective, with late goals to Luke Parker (nine points) and Ronke’s match sealer (10 points) providing a major boost to final scores.

Ronke scored 45 points from goals and a further 31.5 points from 10 tackles.

TRENT COTCHIN

Cotchin led the Tigers to an important win over the Kangaroos and played a starring role, racking up a game and season-high 155 points.

He ended up scoring 12 more points than Ben Cunnington who smashed the contested possession record to finish with 32 for the match.

So why did Cotchin outscore Cunnington?

The answer is clangers. Cunnington lost 37 points as a result of negative acts compared to Cotchin’s 13 points – a swing of 24 points between the two.

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