SuperCoach 2017: Patrick Dangerfield trade tips and Round 18 market watch

SUPERCOACH players face one of the biggest decisions of the year ahead of the first week of league finals. What should we do? Plus Champion Data market watch. NEW PODCAST

Dustin Martin at Richmond training. Picture: Alex Coppel.

ONE of the biggest decisions of the season has landed in one of the biggest weeks of the year.

Should we trade Patrick Dangerfield on the eve of SuperCoach finals?

The Cats superstar, who accepted his one-week suspension today, is in almost 140,000 teams and hitting the trade button could give you an instant edge in an elimination final. But is it a crazy move?

STUDS AND DUDS: WHAT MADE SUPERCOACHES GRUMPY THIS WEEK

EXPERT TIPS: THE PHANTOM ON TRADING DANGEROUSLY

MARK ROBINSON: DANGERFIELD DECISION IS WRONG

The case for holding Dangerfield is simple. He’s the No. 1 scoring player in 2017, averaging 134 points a game (next best is Sam Docherty’s 119).

He’s the standout captain option for the final three games after he returns from suspension including a match-up against GWS in the final round — SuperCoach grand final week. The last time he played the Giants he scored 196.

There are three arguments for making the trade:

1. If you’re playing in a sudden-death final, you can gain a serious edge over your opponent who is relying on a bench player as cover.

2. If you care about overall rankings, a trade should give you a clear win. Based on Dangerfield’s average he is expected to score 402 more points for rest of season (134 x 3), so if you replace with someone who averages at least 101 over four rounds, you’re ahead.

3. Every Dangerfield replacement is a lot cheaper than his $741,200 price tag, which free up cash to fix other problems.

If you roll the dice on a Danger trade, the leading candidates are Dustin Martin and Tom Mitchell. Dusty, in particular, is capable of Danger-like scores in the run home.

A player to seriously consider is Dayne Zorko. He returns from his own suspension this week, has a three-round average of 131 and faces the Bulldogs, Lions, Demons and Kangaroos in the final four rounds.

Last time he faced North Melbourne, Zorko scored 148.

In the end one factor that might sway the decision is the fact Dangerfield is untaggable, something you can’t say about almost every other player, including Zorko.

Whichever way you go, good luck!

Dustin Martin is averaging 120 over his past five games.

HOW TO WIN $200,000

The jackpot for SuperCoach Perfect 9 hits $200k this week and there’s no reason not to try your luck.

The concept is simple — nominate the highest-scoring SuperCoach player in each game of the round. If you get them all right, you pocket the cash.

In practice it’s not so easy but you only need a bit of luck to be $200,000 richer. Pick your Perfect 9 here!

ROUND 19 STARS

192 Tom Hawkins

170 Clayton Oliver

144 Taylor Adams

142 Dustin Martin

140 Luke Dunstan

WEEKLY TOP-SCORES

2601 Lorraine’s Champs, Lorraine

2520 Dusty’s Chopsticks, Luke

2511 Extreme Team, Sheryl

2497 8 Daisy Week, Jordan

2496 Kamrita Tigers, Joel

OVERALL LEADERS

42,738 The Big Kabosh, Stuart

42,341 Tyrannosaurus Tex, Kyle

42,322 The Hyphen, Jamie

42,190 Aydan, Aydan

42,075 Zoolander, Luke

THIS WEEK’S WINNING TEAM

Lorraine’s Champs

Coach: Lorraine Coxhello, Vic

Score: 2601

DEFENDERS

Sam Docherty 102

Taylor Adams 144

Rory Laird 85

Michael Hibberd 81

Alex Witherden 103

Luke Ryan 136

Jake Lloyd 0

Ben McNeice 0

MIDFIELD

Patrick Dangerfield 108

Dustin Martin 142

Clayton Oliver (c) 340

Marcus Bontempelli 123

Marc Murphy 105

Ollie Wines 93

Nat Fyfe 132

Josh Kennedy 50

Shai Bolton 38

James Cousins 0

Josh Deluca-Cardillo 0

RUCK

Stef Martin 96

Max Gawn 111

Luke Strnadica 0

FORWARDS

Jack Macrae 100

Elliot Yeo 80

Paddy Ryder 130

Tom Lynch 113

Jarryd Roughead 130

Josh Kennedy 97

Toby Nankervis 66

Brett Eddy 0

Patrick Dangerfield and Tom Hawkins had plenty to discuss on Saturday night.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: TOM HAWKINS

Hawkins had a blinder against the Blues on his way to a season and round-high 192 SuperCoach points. He was involved in a game-high 13 scoring chains, finishing with five score assists and an accurate 6.1. Hawkins recorded 27 disposals, four marks inside 50, nine contested possessions, three tackles and seven inside 50s from 93% game time.

CHAMPION DATA MARKET WATCH

Marcus Bontempelli

Bontempelli lifted his output after halftime against the Bombers, recording 86 of 123 SuperCoach points in the second half. He collected 23 disposals and won a game-high 15 of his possessions in a contest, also recording six clearances and five inside-50s. His impact on the scoreboard was also important, recording four score assists and five scoring shots (2.3).

Taylor Adams

Adams piled on a season-high 144 SuperCoach points against the Crows despite playing a team-low 66 per cent of the game. He finished with 34 disposals, 15 contested possessions, six tackles, six inside-50s and eight clearances. Adams also had a major impact on the scoreboard, recording three goals straight and one score assist.

Rory Sloane

Sloane’s woes continued after he was held to a season and game-low 36 SuperCoach points against the Magpies from 81 per cent game time. He finished with 16 disposals, seven contested possessions, three clearances, three tackles and zero inside-50s. Sloane had no impact on the scoreboard and was involved in five scoring chains.

YOUNG GUN: MATTHEW SCHARENBERG

Scharenberg finished with a season-high 86 SuperCoach points on the weekend after returning to the side. He hit the target with 16 of his 24 disposals, also recording 17 uncontested possessions and six ground ball-gets. Scharenberg read the play extremely well, recording eight intercept possessions, of which two were intercept marks.