KFC SuperCoach 2021: All the late mail, selection news and trade advice ahead of Round 6
There is good news and bad news for KFC SuperCoaches facing a backline crisis. Have you got the right rookie? Latest news and whispers.
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KFC SuperCoach players staring at a zero in defence this round have been delivered a boost — some of them, at least.
More than 76,000 players with Jacob Koschitzke will be relieved to see he has held his spot in the Hawthorn line-up after an encouraging performance against the Demons last week.
Koschitzke scored 62 points, his best return of the season, and will be part of a three-pronged forward line against the Crows on Sunday alongside Tim O’Briuen and Mitch Lewis, who returns from suspension.
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The news wasn’t so good for Tom Highmore.
The Saints defender, who has remained in the VFL since being demoted ahead of Round 3, returned to the senior squad and didn’t play for the Sandringham Zebras on Saturday, sparking hope of an AFL return against Port Adelaide.
But the 23-year-old has been named as an emergency, with Irish backman Darragh Joyce preferred as a replacement for injured defender Jimmy Webster.
The Saints also dropped rookie ruckman Tom Hunter but named Rowan Marshall for his second game of the season. He will be a player to watch as a potential trade target in coming weeks with a huge break even of 172.
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Highmore could be named as the medical sub against the Power, which leaves his status uncertain.
On Saturday popular KFC SuperCoach players Braeden Campbell and Jordan Clark started as the sub and were both subbed into their respectice matches, with mixed results.
Campbell joined the fray early but could manage only 35 points against the Suns.
Clark had to wait until there was just 13 minutes left in the last quarter to join the action against West Coast, with Geelong already 90 points ahead.
He did well to scrounge 13 KFC SuperCoach points in his limited game time but it was well short of his low 36 break even, with a looming price drop a cruel blow for those who held the Cats speedster.
In other teams news, Essendon left out Alec Waterman, Sam Berry is out for Adelaide with an ankle injury and former Giant Jackson Hately has been named for his first game as a Crow.
Pre-season draft pick Hately enters the game after averaging 25.5 disposals in his two SANFL matches.
PIES TO THE RESCUE
Young defender Nathan Murphy will answer an SOS from KFC SuperCoaches with his first senior game in more than two years.
Murphy will play his first match since Round 23, 2018, on Anzac Day.
The 21-year-old, a $123k KFC SuperCoach defender, scored 48 and 29 KFC SuperCoach points in his only career games three years ago.
Murphy scored 71 ranking points in Collingwood’s VFL clash with Werribee last week and averaged 42 points in three state league matches in 2019.
The Pies have come to the rookie rescue for KFC SuperCoach teams with Beau McCreery ($117k FWD) on the bubble in Round 6, Finlay Macrae ($126k FWD-MID) to play his second game on ANZAC Day and onballer Jay Rantall ($123k MID) set to debut.
ROOKIE CARNAGE ON THE WAY
There’s more KFC SuperCoach rookie pain on the way – and not just in defence this time.
Port Adelaide young gun Lachie Jones was the No. 1 downgrade option in KFC SuperCoach this week after his impressive start at the top level.
But he will miss up to a month after undergoing surgery for an ankle syndesmosis injury.
Jones isn’t the only popular KFC SuperCoach cheapie from South Australia who has an ankle issue, either, with Crow Sam Berry hobbling off the track on Thursday morning.
“I think he’ll be doubtful, he looked a bit ginger in the rooms,” teammate Rory Laird said after Berry’s incident at West Lakes.
The Adelaide draftee has played every game this season, adding almost $100k to his price tag, and was already a chance to be rested in Round 6 as teammate Daniel Talia flagged on radio earlier this week.
Unfortunately for thousands of KFC SuperCoaches, he’s not the only young gun in line for a week off.
Sydney coach John Longmire confirmed the Swans will assess the workload of their young stars ahead of Saturday’s clash with the Suns.
Draftees Braeden Campbell, Errol Gulden and Logan McDonald, along with second-year midfielder Chad Warner – who only played two matches in his debut season - have played every game so far this year.
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“We’ll look at that, we’ll consider that,” Longmire replied when quizzed about the idea of resting the kids on Monday.
“We understand the development of all players, particular younger players, is not always onwards and upwards.
“You go through different stages with development of players and part of that is understanding and managing each individual player.
“We’ll weigh that up.”
Campbell managed just 39 points after spending plenty of time in the loss to the Giants on the bench, playing just 62 per cent game-time.
It’s unlikely to be all at once but expect some of those popular KFC SuperCoach names to be rested over the next month, especially with Longmire also confirming the return of midfielder James Rowbottom in Round 6.
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GIANT WINS
Every time we doubt Leon Cameron, he delivers some good news to keep KFC SuperCoaches on the hook.
This week, it was the GWS coach’s early declaration that Matthew Flynn would return after being ousted for veteran Shane Mumford in the past two weeks.
Flynn features in 54.1 per cent of KFC SuperCoach teams and has a break even of -34, projected to rise by $60k this round.
However, it remains uncertain whether he will take on the likely combination of Stefan Martin and Tim English on his own or whether Kieren Briggs (123k DEF-FWD) could debut.
Coach Leon Cameron has flagged Briggs is close to debuting this week after an impressive hitout in the pre-season.
Meanwhile, Lachie Whitfield ($561k DEF) is set to make a long-awaited return to football this weekend after being named in GWS’ VFL team.
Whitfield is yet to feature this year after suffering a lacerated liver in pre-season but the Giants said they were confident he would play “within the next 14 days.”
That was before he was named for their state league game against Footscray.
KEY CROWS LIKELY
Star Crows Rory Laird and Taylor Walker left the ground with injury concerns in Sunday’s loss to the Dockers.
Both returned to the field, and are expected to be available for the trip to Tasmania, but Crows footy boss Adam Kelly this week confirmed Walker, the fourth-ranked KFC SuperCoach scorer in the competition, is battling a calf strain.
“Tex carried a low-grade calf strain into the game on the weekend,” Kelly said.
“That will continue to be monitored throughout the week with the expectation he will play against the Hawks this weekend.”
Laird copped a big knock to his left shoulder which was tested thoroughly on the sidelines – prompting medical sub Nick Murray to warm up – before he played out the rest of the second-half.
Speaking to the media on Thursday, Laird, himself, put the minds of thousands of KFC SuperCoaches at ease, declaring he was right to go.
“I’m sweet, a bit of carry on from me,” he said.
“It was just a stinger, it went dead for a few minutes and was a bit worried but saw the doc and he cleared it up.
“I took a couple of painkillers and I was back out there. No stress.”
The star defender-turned-midfielder also gave a strong indication his former skipper will also line-up on Sunday.
“He (Walker) said he felt really good today and felt better than he did last week,” Laird said.
DONS STAR ON TRACK
Reverse those Jordan Ridley trades - unless of course you’re desperate to avoid a defensive doughnut this round.
Essendon has flagged the No.1 ranked defender in KFC SuperCoach will return to full training early next week after suffering concussion against Brisbane.
Ridley was subbed out and only scored 31 KFC SuperCoach points, dropping by $25,500 in value.
That was welcome news for coaches who thought they’d been priced out of the Bombers star and he’s tipped to be $536k - less than his starting price - after his next two games.
He is poised to return against Carlton in Round 7.
On Wednesday, Essendon said: “He’s come back to (a) baseline, he had a good day yesterday and he’ll gradually build up his training this week. We predict he’ll fully train next week and be up and going for the Carlton game.”
Ridley to Tom Stewart (609 trades) was the most-popular move as of midday on Thursday, with Josh Dunkley (187), Alex Witherden (158) and Daniel Rich (153) other targets.
Originally published as KFC SuperCoach 2021: All the late mail, selection news and trade advice ahead of Round 6
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