KFC SuperCoach Round 19 trade guide: How to replace Dustin Martin

Having trouble deciding on who to trade in for Dustin Martin in KFC SuperCoach? To help, our experts reveal their Round 19 trade plans.

Time is running out to find the best replacement for Dustin Martin in KFC SuperCoach.

Is it worth using two trades to get the big name forward? Or is the value option the best way to go at this stage of the year?

KFC SuperCoaches will go many different ways, depending on trade counts and money in the bank.

To help you decide, this is the way we’re going.

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Geelong midfielder Cameron Guthrie is great value in KFC SuperCoach. Picture: Peter Ristevski

Al Paton

Dustin Martin to Cam Guthrie.

As tempted as I was by Lance Franklin (check out his run home), I’m going to use the fact I had to trade Patrick Dangerfield into my midfield a couple of weeks ago to my advantage.

By swapping Dusty into the mids I can pick up Guthrie, who is exceptional value at $483k for a guy who averaged over 120 in the first nine rounds. His output has dipped a little since then, but tons in the past two weeks (including 35 touches against the Dockers) point to a strong finish to the year against Richmond, North Melbourne, GWS, St Kilda and Melbourne.

That will leave me with one lonely trade with five rounds left and $40k in the bank. I will only deploy it for a season-ending injury even though my bench cover is very weak everywhere except the midfield (last week I copped a doughnut when Lachie Whitfield missed) or, if a miracle happens and I still have it with a couple of rounds to go, in comes Buddy for his grand finale against the Kangaroos and Suns.

SUPERCOACH JURY: HOW TO NAVIGATE THE RUN HOME

THE PHANTOM: ALL THE BURNING QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Dustin Martin to Shai Bolton is a lock for The Phantom. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

The Phantom

Dustin Martin to Shai Bolton.

I’ve got all the big names in the forward line - Dangerfield, Zorko, Hall, Ziebell and Marshall - so this is a pretty simple call for me. Especially as I need all the money I can get to trade Changkuoth Jiath to someone worthwhile in defence - at the moment that’s Caleb Daniel. But Bolton is value full stop. And, just like you should all be aiming to do with limited trades, it only takes one move. He was quiet in Rounds 15 and 16 but he’s bounced back with impressive displays in the past two matches. And, now, his responsibility increases with Martin missing. Given the need to also trade CJ, I will be down to one trade, but with some pretty solid cover on all lines.

Tim Michell

Dustin Martin and Callum Coleman-Jones to Dayne Zorko and Tom Fullarton - I think...

I’m sick of not having Zorko and felt pretty fortunate when he ‘only’ scored 74 last week. He’s not going to go at 38% kicking efficiency again, which is the only reason he didn’t ton again last round. He has a formidable record against Gold Coast which is why, despite his 180-point breakeven, I’m not prepared to wait. Ideally, I’d grab Trey Ruscoe but owing to my budget and only having two trades left I’d need Zorko to drop at least $20k, if not more, to grab him next round. That’s a risk I’m not prepared to take as we inevitably know if I need him to score 100 or less he’ll likely score 101. That’s how the KFC SuperCoach gods work. I apologise for whinging so much about Zorko all year. I feel like I’ve sent more tweets about him than he’s had disposals. Let’s enjoy the last five rounds together. After Zorko, I only have $181k to spend and ideally need it to be for a forward so I can keep the DEF-MID and DEF-FWD swings I have available. I would like to go Connor West, but I’m not prepared to part with those valuable DPP swings to make it happen. Who knows when I might need Trent Bianco in the midfield or Kieren Briggs forward, now that I’ll be going down to zero trades. Yes you heard right, zero trades. It’s been a tough year when F6 has eluded me and Jarman Impey and Dustin Martin’s injuries mean I won’t get to full premo. My original plan last week was to trade Tim Taranto to Lachie Bramble but Dusty’s injury forced a rethink. Now I’ve just got to pray to the KFC SuperCoach gods.

Jordan De Goey has scored four consecutive KFC SuperCoach tons.

Dan Batten

Dustin Martin to Jordan De Goey.

Batten for Glory is in a precarious position entering Round 19 with Saints duo Rowan Marshall and Tom Highmore sidelined – for vastly different reasons. In order to field a full side, I am relying on Patrick Cripps, Lachie Whitfield and Josh Kelly to all play while using one of my three remaining trades to bring in De Goey. While Cripps and Whitfield should take the field, I am bracing for a Kelly late withdrawal at 5.10pm on Sunday night. For this reason, I am considering trading Highmore to a reliable rookie with scoring potential - like Lachie Bramble or Jeremy Sharp, despite both being priced $150k above their starting price – to serve as bench cover for the run home. However, at this stage, I think I will resist the urge and cop a donut if Kelly doesn’t face the Bombers. I was tossing up between De Goey and Marshall last week, with the Pie’s fourth 110-plus score on the trot proving he can be among the top-five forwards until season’s end.

TRADE GUIDE: Nine of the best Dusty replacements

The race for KFC SuperCoach glory changed dramatically in one bump.

The most-popular player in the game -— Richmond superstar Dustin Martin — has been ruled out for the rest of the season after suffering kidney damage in a collision with Mitch Robinson on Friday night.

Martin features in 67 per cent of KFC SuperCoach teams, but perhaps more importantly 93 per cent of teams ranked in the top-5000 as of Round 18.

This is the exact scenario which leads most seasoned KFC SuperCoaches to hold trades until the last month of the season — at the very least.

R18 #supercoach Price Projection*-Dustin Martin
2021StartPrice$542k
R18Price $472k

2021Av 94(15g)
Last5Scores:102/110//94/86/74

R18BE 120
R18Score 62* 🚑
R18:$472k->$446k($-25k) 😬
R19BE 129

ProjScore 94
R19:$446k->$431k($-16k)NewBE 100

2022Price*$498k

*approx

— Brice Mitchell (@bricemitchell) July 16, 2021

KFC SuperCoach stats guru Brice Mitchell projected Martin would lose about $26k and finish with a price tag of $446k after he scored 65 points against the Lions.

His price dropped to $446,200.

That means to reach any of the topscoring forwards left, you will need to shell out at least $20k this round.

Assuming you will need to replace Martin as a forward, these are the nine options you should be considering:

Pretty much everyone : pic.twitter.com/DE0PbRP7LG

— SuperCoach Data (@DataSupercoach) July 17, 2021

Dustin Martin has been ruled out for the rest of the season.

1. ROWAN MARSHALL RUC-FWD $464,600

Marshall has jumped to more than $460k after his best performance of the season against Port Adelaide. The Saints big man suggested he’s definitely over the foot injury which troubled him earlier in the campaign with 19 disposals, six marks, five tackles, two goals and 127 points against the Power. If you’ve got North Melbourne’s No. 1 pick from the mid-season draft Jacob Edwards as your R3, it’s a no-brainer to grab Marshall. He’s still incredible value and could be valuable cover via a DPP swing if one if your starting ruckmen misses any of the remaining five rounds.

2. JOSH DUNKLEY FWD-MID $628,100

The prolific Bulldog was shaping as the No. 1 forward of 2021, opening the season with six consecutive scores of 113 or better before being injured. You would almost certainly need more than two trades spare to get from Martin to Dunkley, who is unlikely to be available for less than $600k anytime soon due to his barnstorming start. He’s going to be a serious point of difference if you’re chasing a late rankings surge or need a unique player in a league final. He was only in 7 per cent of teams at the start of Round 18.

Dayne Zorko has been on an incredible KFC SuperCoach run.

3. DAYNE ZORKO FWD-MID $604,300

If Zorko has eluded you for this long, this might finally be your chance. He has dropped to his lowest price since Round 14 after a score of 75 against Richmond. Zorko owners would have been frustrated, but it’s worth noting he still had 24 disposals and seven marks. It was only disposal efficiency which let him down and had he converted any of his five shots on goal (for 0.3) he would have likely scored another monster. Like Dunkley, it might take you two trades to get there but Zorko will almost certainly reward the outlay.

4. TOM HAWKINS FWD $461,900

Hawkins was back in big way against Fremantle on Thursday, dominating around the ground and booting four goals to finish with 128 KFC SuperCoach points. He appeals as a sideways trade option for Martin as the switch could likely be achieved in one trade and his draw is favourable barring a Round 23 match-up against Steven May. Geelong takes on Richmond, North Melbourne, GWS Giants, St Kilda and Melbourne in its remaining games and with a top-four finish on the line and no Jeremy Cameron, Hawkins will be the focal point of the Cats’ tilt at a double chance.

Bailey Dale has been one of the breakout KFC SuperCoach scorers of the year.

5. BAILEY DALE FWD $480,900

One of the many players whose KFC SuperCoach scoring has benefited substantially from a move to halfback this season — think Jack Ziebell and Aaron Hall, who are both great trade options if you don’t have them. With Caleb Daniel spending more time as a centre bounce midfielder, Dale has become the Dogs’ No. 1 kick out player and an incredibly consistent KFC SuperCoach scorer. He has only dropped below 85 once since Round 7 and that sort of reliability is hard to come by.

6. NICK HIND FWD $482,500

The dashing Bomber has been a revelation off halfback and like Dale his consistency will appeal to some KFC SuperCoaches. Hind has only scored less than 85 five times this season and has relished a role drifting across halfback and deploying his speed at will for the Bombers. He’s arguably got a bigger ceiling than Dale, as he displayed in rounds 9 (127 points) and 17 (134). It’s a toss of the coin between Dale and Hind but the Bomber should get the nod for teams who are already stacked with Bulldogs such as Jack Macrae and Marcus Bontempelli. There’s only so many points to go around in every match after all.

Patrick Dangerfield has hit his stride again after a long layoff.

7. PATRICK DANGERFIELD FWD-MID $594,900

Dangerfield and Zorko are the uber premium options in the forward line at close to $600k. Many coaches jumped on Dangerfield at closer to $500k when his price bottomed out three weeks ago, but it’s not too late – as long as you have a few trades spare or a whole heap of money banked. Dangerfield has not dropped below 95 in his past five games as he has steadily built his game time after returning from injury. His score of 184 in Round 16 was a reminder of his scoring ceiling, arguably one of the highest in the game. To get to Dangerfield, you could downgrade a player such as Tom Highmore to Sam Durham and use the spare cash to move Martin to the Cats star.

8. JORDAN DE GOEY FWD $490,600

It’s time we started to believe the hype. De Goey is the real deal, at least in this form anyway. He rocketed home on Sunday to register 114 points against Carlton, his fourth successive score of 114-124. Those are elite numbers among this year’s forwards and put him in the same echelon of scoring as Dayne Zorko and Patrick Dangerfield. De Goey has registered 32, 32, 29 and 31 disposals in his past four matches and also had 12 marks and six inside-50s against the Blues. It will take a decent chunk out of your bank to get from Martin to De Goey but in this barnstorming form it’s a small price to pay.

9. SHAI BOLTON FWD-MID $420,800

Is Bolton the man to benefit from Dustin Martin going down? There’s certainly a strong argument that could be the case. At only $420k, he’s a slight downgrade from his Tigers teammate and coming off a score of 107 when he was back to his dynamic best against Brisbane. Bolton’s score could have been even better had he not registered three free kicks against. His last month before Round 18 was below-par, only averaging 70.8 and failing to register a ton. But the signs were promising against Brisbane and suggest a trade from one Tiger to another could pay off. Someone is going to have to stand up if Richmond is going to sustain a finals push and Bolton could be the man.