No Patrick Dangerfield, no Dustin Martin in Ben Higgins’s first SuperCoach team
NO PATRICK Dangerfield. No Dustin Martin. Herald Sun SuperCoach expert Ben Higgins has taken some risks with his first draft SuperCoach team. SEE THE TEAM HERE
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IT’S almost unthinkable ... no Danger and no Dusty.
I’ve taken a calculated risk in not including the top two SuperCoach scorers from 2017 in my first draft team.
Firstly, Dangerfield is simply too expensive at just under $750k. Surely he’s got to drop in price.
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Danger started 2017 at $716,900 but dropped almost $500,00 by Round 5 while averaging 125.
I expect a similar drop in 2018 and with a couple of stepping stones - Lachie Weller for example - Danger will be back in at Champagne Footy before Round 8.
Dusty is more of a risk after his incredible 2017 season saw him average 119.
I’m banking on a bit of a slow start after Richmond’s late return to pre-season training in comparison to Tom Mitchell, Scott Pendlebury and Patrick Cripps, who all missed finals.
That said, if Dusty comes out and blitzes the pre-season, Rory Sloane is a relatively easy upgrade.
I’ve banked on Mitchell being my No.1 midfielder after his stunning first season at Hawthorn.
The Hawks B&F winner had just one score below 98. In SuperCoach terms, that’s insanely consistent.
Elsewhere in the midfield, Pendlebury, Cripps and Hannebery are just too good to pass up at their prices and will be very popular heading into Round 1.
In defence, Alex Witherden certainly raised some eyebrows in the office.
The Lions young gun had an outstanding debut season after some early injury issues and I believe with the addition of Luke Hodge is set for a breakout freshman year.
Defence is all of a sudden a points goldmine. There’s plenty of great rebounding half-backs and intercepting key defenders available.
Grant Birchall and Cam O’Shea loom as must-have cheapies while Sam Murray could be the No.1 cash cow.
Finally, in the forward line, I’m sticking with Luke Dahlhaus despite his struggles last season.
As a club, the Bulldogs struggled in 2017 but I expect a bounce back and Dahlhaus will be one on the key contributors.
Allen Christensen is my mid-price gamble here - just pipping his Brisbane teammate Tom Bell - after missing the entire 2017 season with a shoulder injury.
The Lions midfielder had averaged 92, 90 and 86 between 2013 and 2015 while with Geelong and there’s no reason with the Lions improving list, he can’t get back to those numbers.
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