KFC SuperCoach Round 14 burning questions: Lachie Neale trade advice, value options, tagger concerns
After being thrown around early in the year, Sydney’s Jordan Dawson has settled in a KFC SuperCoach-friendly role. And his numbers make him a great point-of-difference for the run home. Plus, the key questions answered ahead of Round 15.
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There’s nothing which sums up SuperCoach in 2020 more than 15,000 coaches trading out the No. 1 player in the same round.
A total of 15,669 KFC SuperCoach teams traded Lachie Neale during his Round 14 bye, with Jack Steele (1734), Josh Kelly (1493), Jack Macrae (983), Tom Mitchell (953) and Clayton Oliver (658) the most popular replacements.
Unless those coaches had stockpiled trades — or were focused solely on league glory — they now face the issue of how to bring Neale back and when.
Macrae's price will drop to about $672k after a score of 96 against Geelong and a sideways trade to Neale ($698k) would cost about $26k.
TRADE GUIDE: HOW TO SURVIVE THE ROUND 15 BYE
Marcus Bontempelli is projected to be about $670k after posting 122 points against the Cats and also provides a trade option for those intent on getting Neale back immediately due to the Bulldogs’ Round 15 bye.
Geelong is also on a bye and Mitch Duncan (projected $526k) and Patrick Dangerfield ($582k) are other potential upgrades.
Neale has matches against Collingwood, Gold Coast, Sydney and Carlton to come and if you’re prepared to wait, you could get him closer to $650,000.
The Brownlow Medal favourite will have a break even of 216 heading into Round 15 and is projected to lose about $70k in the next two rounds.
If you can survive the best 18 bye rounds without him, Neale would be primed to come back into your side as a final midfield upgrade if he drops to about $630k ahead of Round 17.
Anyone else trading Lachie Neale today to win a #SuperCoach final? 😲 pic.twitter.com/zZbaJMcKVJ
— SuperCoach AFL (@Supercoach) August 30, 2020
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HOW DID BONT SCORE 122 FROM 14 DISPOSALS?
If you were wondering how Marcus Bontempelli got within 10 KFC SuperCoach points of Patrick Dangerfield despite 18 less disposals, you weren’t alone. But there was good reason for Bontempelli scoring 122 to Dangerfield’s 132 in Round 14. Bontempelli only lost points for one of the 42 stats he was involved in on Friday night, producing a typically-efficient display. Meanwhile, Dangerfield dropped 21 points for three cleanger kicks and two frees against. “Add those 21 points to his match tally and the discrepancy between them increases significantly,” Champion Data guru Fantasy Freako said.
“Bontempelli had 10 tackles for the match which were worth 37 points in total.
“Dangerfield on the other hand had just two tackles worth eight points in total.
Bontempelli’s early goal added seven points to his score, while Dangerfield went goal-less.
Is Max Gawn a must-have again? How can you afford him?
The Melbourne skipper returned with a typically-efficient KFC SuperCoach performance, scoring 135 points against St Kilda’s ruck tag team of Paddy Ryder and Rowan Marshall. Gawn allayed any concerns he would take time to return to his scoring heights with a dominant opening half, scoring 87 of his points to halftime. Gawn will drop to about $673k in Round 15 but isn’t projected to get much cheaper. If you’ve got a RUC-FWD swing or popular KFC SuperCoach rookie Sam Draper, it makes the task of getting Gawn back much easier. Trade Draper ($271k) to Matt Conroy ($102k), make $170k and use that money to upgrade one of your starting ruckmen to Gawn. The rest has clearly done him good.
When will Giants tagger Matt De Boer strike next?
De Boer played his first game since Round 9 against the Dockers on Saturday and he wasted little time in getting back to doing what he does best.
And that’s restrict the influence of our favourite KFC SuperCoach stars.
The Giants tagger spent most of his afternoon on Fremantle skipper Nat Fyfe – and Michael Walters when Fyfe went forward – and, again, did the job.
Fyfe finished with just 11 disposals and 87 KFC SuperCoach points, thanks to 10 contested possessions.
Patrick Cripps is his likely target in Round 15 after he held the Carlton co-captain to just 12 disposals and 66 points in 2019.
Adelaide defender-turned-midfielder Rory Laird or Brodie Smith might cop some attention the following round but Demon Clayton Oliver will be his next big target.
In Round 10 last year, Oliver tallied 17 disposals and 53 points with De Boer by his side.
Then it could be Saint Jack Steele in the final home-and-away match.
Is Swan Jordan Dawson back in the KFC SuperCoach conversation?
The long-kicking left-footer’s versatility has always worked against him in KFC SuperCoach but, after settling into the attacking wing/halfback role, which he was prolific in late last season, Dawson has posted scores of 121, 91, 92 and 110 in the past four matches.
Dawson, a defender-forward in KFC SuperCoach, has played 60 per cent of games as a wingman and just 25 per cent in defence since Round 10.
In the opening nine rounds it was the opposite with Dawson playing 68 per cent down back, as well as filling gaps forward and in the ruck.
The 23-year-old has taken 14 intercepts marks and nine contested marks in the past five matches and only Jack Lukosius, Luke Ryan, Luke McDonald and Jake Lloyd have scored more KFC SuperCoach points in defence than Dawson since Round 10.
The dual-position status and $454k price tag is appealing, too, if you’re after a value option at D6 or F6.
Who are the best of the M8 options?
The last midfield spot has been a point of contention for many KFC SuperCoaches. Unless you’ve managed your cash perfectly — and had a fair bit of luck — the likelihood is you will need to settle for a fallen premium at M8. Two contenders thrust their names forward when Andrew McGrath (124) and Andrew Gaff (135) scored tons in Round 14. Both have already had their bye. Tim Kelly is another to consider after he returned to form with 118 against the Tigers, while veteran Swan Josh Kennedy will be a crazy price in Round 15 at about $417k. Otherwise you could grab a MID-FWD such as Michael Walters ($472k), especially if you’re running low on trades. Walters’ teammate David Mundy ($500k) is another to consider after a run of five tons in six games.
Is Matt Crouch worth some thought?
The Adelaide midfielder has burnt many KFC SuperCoaches in the past, even earlier this year, when he scored 68 points in the season-opener and was dropped in Round 4. But, given some of his scoring history, is hard to ignore his recent numbers.
Crouch, who is in just one per cent of teams, is averaging 26 disposals, 11 contested possessions, seven tackles, five clearances and 119 KFC SuperCoach points since Round 10.
Round 14 #supercoach Price Projection*-Josh P. Kennedy
— Brice Mitchell (@bricemitchell) August 29, 2020
StartPrice $579k
2019Av 107
2020Av 90
2020Scores 129/91/126/93/85/18///////84
R14BE 171
R14Score 96
R14 $450k->$417k($-34k)NewBE 73
ProjScore 100
R15 $417k->$429k($12k)NewBE 65
R16 $429k->$445k($16k)NewBE 71
*approx https://t.co/YSmGQlGeep
How many trades should you have left?
All depends on what your priority is. If you’re playing for league glory, you shouldn’t be trading in Round 15 as it’s a head-to-head bye. That is unless you have six or more trades left and need to set your team up for a Round 16 semi-final. While very little is predictable in 2020, the likelihood some players will be managed in the last four rounds of the home-and-away season suggests those targeting a rankings rise should still have a minimum of four trades left. Anything less than that and you risk being left short in rounds 17 and 18 when scoring returns to best 22.
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Originally published as KFC SuperCoach Round 14 burning questions: Lachie Neale trade advice, value options, tagger concerns