SuperCoach Plus: 11 things you need to know for round 17 of the 2023 AFL season
See the players who set the top KFC SuperCoach teams apart plus Zach Merrett’s career streak, this week’s top captain picks and more.
SuperCoach
Don't miss out on the headlines from SuperCoach. Followed categories will be added to My News.
What sets the elite KFC SuperCoaches apart from the rest?
SuperCoach Plus reveals key insights into the secrets of the top-ranked coaches, plus key stats that lift the lid on how players score points in every match.
Other features available to SuperCoach Plus subscribers including score and price projections, Break Evens and live trade data. Plus exclusive weekly analysis articles just like this one!
Here are 11 nuggets to lift the lid on the KFC SuperCoach scoring system and help you make the best trade and captaincy calls for round 15.
SIGN UP TO SUPERCOACH PLUS FOR 12-MONTH ACCESS HERE!
1. MERRETT HISTORY REPEATS
It’s happening again. Zach Merrett’s form and price has surged after a mid-season dip that smart KFC SuperCoach players are already marking on their 2024 calendars. Merrett started the season priced at $617,500 but dropped to $564,100 after averaging 103.9 points in the first nine rounds. Since then he has gone on a six-week hot streak, averaging over 130 points a game – including two scores over 160 – and spiking to over $644,000 in value. It’s the best six-week stretch of his career, according to Champion Data, ranking elite in that time for disposals, marks, score involvements and metres gained. With a Break Even of 72 against Adelaide this week, SuperCoach Plus projects he’ll be knocking on the door of $700k in two weeks. Merrett did the same thing last year – dropping to $521k at Essendon’s bye (averaging 103 to that point) then averaging 124 over the final seven rounds. In 2021 he lost about $40k in value to mid-season (av 109) then powering home with an average of 122.2 over the final nine rounds. The trend started in the Covid-impacted 2020 season, when Merrett averaged 108 to round 12 then, you guessed it, boosted that figure to 127 over the final six weeks.
2. ALL THE WAY WITH BJ
Many KFC SuperCoaches would have pencilled in a big score for Rowan Marshall against the Eagles’ ruck division last round, but it didn’t quite go to plan. Marshall and Bailey Williams went head-to-head in 63 ruck contests, with Williams narrowly winning the hitout count 29-26 and hitouts-to-advantage 6-3. Marshall had more impact around the ground, gathering 26 disposals to Williams’ 14 and generating an equal game-high eight clearances. His score of 104 could have been much higher if he didn’t lose 22.9 points from negative acts, including three frees against. Williams, meanwhile, has been a low-key success story for the Eagles this year, ranking third at the club for total KFC SuperCoach points and gaining more than $158,000 in value.
3. BRIGGS GOES BACKWARDS
Another ruckman who didn’t quite read the script on the weekend was Kieren Briggs, who was on track for a sixth successive 100-plus score before a costly final quarter. Giving away two late free kicks cost him 8.4 points and he finished with 87 from just eight disposals, his lowest total since coming into the team in round 10. Surprisingly considering his physical style – he had another six tackles against the Demons – Briggs has given away only six free kicks this year – three in round 10 and three last weekend. He still enjoyed another healthy price rise and is now valued at $497,700 – and should keep going up with a Break Even of 67 against the Hawks on Saturday.
4. DAN THE MAN
While Briggs paid the price for negative acts when the game was on the line, Dan Houston did the opposite on Saturday night. He earned a total of 21.4 points for his intercept mark, effective long kick and goal that won the game for the Power. Houston had already had a huge night before that and finished with 156 points, following 146 the week before against the Cats. Houston has now scored at least 112 points in five of his past six matches and has a season average of 105.1, ranked fifth among defenders this season – a huge win for his 4340 owners. SuperCoach Plus projects a score of 125 – and a $50k price rise – against the Suns this week.
5. TRAC OFF TARGET
Christian Petracca put up his fourth 120-plus score in his past five matches – and seventh in the last nine weeks – against the Giants, but he left plenty of points on the table. Despite the challenging conditions in Alice Springs it was an efficient display from Petracca in general play, losing just five points from two clanger disposals. But he let himself down in front of goal with 0.4 – scoring 2.9 points.
5. KICK-IN KINGS
Taking kick-ins from a behind is always a useful way for defenders to boost their scores, and they went to another level at the SCG on Friday night when the Swans and Geelong kicked 30 behinds between them. Nick Blakey was the main beneficiary for the home team, taking seven kick-ins and playing on from six for a return of 21.4 KFC SuperCoach points. Jake Lloyd took four, earning 16.6 points, while Ollie Florent scored 1.3 points for his one kick-in, which he took from inside the goalsquare. For the Cats Tom Stewart cashed in on Sydney’s innacuracy, taking eight kick-ins and playing on from all of them for a total of 31.9 KFC SuperCoach points from this source. Isaac Smith (10.3 points), Zach Tuohy (9.5) and Mitch Duncan (6.0) all took at least two kick-ins as well. Stewart scored 115 points after halftime to finish on a game-high 147.
6. BAD KICKING IS BAD SUPERCOACH
Harry Sheezel and Will Day demonstrated the value of hitting targets to KFC SuperCoach scoring at the weekend, and – unfortunately for their owners – not in a positive way. Sheezel had 31 disposals but scored just 79 points after losing 21.5 points from six clanger kicks and one free kick against. He also posted his equal second-lowest kicking efficiency of the season (56.3 per cent). Day, meanwhile, was playing catch-up all game as the margin blew out early on Sunday, making it harder to score points. His kicking efficiency dropped from a season-high 92.9 per cent in round 15 to 62.5 per cent, with one clanger kick and five ineffective kicks. He also lost 8.5 points from free kicks against. Day’s one tackle was also a season-low return.
7. TOP 1 PER CENT GUNS
A new feature of SuperCoach Plus this season is the ability to filter player ownership based on overall rankings, providing an insight into what the top 1 per cent, 5 per cent and 10 per cent of coaches are doing to set their teams apart. And the findings are fascinating. There are nine players owned by more than 95 per cent of the top 1880 ranked teams – Nick Daicos, Josh Dunkley, Tim Taranto, Marcus Bontempelli, Jordan Dawson, Tom Stewart, Errol Gulden, Connor Rozee and Rory Laird (just three teams in this bracket don’t have Daicos and five are missing Dunkley). Jack Sinclair features in 91.6 per cent of teams in the top 1 per cent, but just 31 per cent overall. For Zach Merrett, the ratio is 88.6 per cent and 22 per cent, while Magpies ruckman Darcy Cameron is in 72.3 per cent of teams in the top 1 per cent and just 17.3 per cent overall. Lachie Neale, meanwhile, is owned by 39.8 per cent of coaches overall but 93.3 per cent of the top 1880. Harry Sheezel is one player whose ownership skews the other way. His overall ownership is 66.9 per cent, but it has dropped to 59 per cent among the top 1 per cent of coaches.
8. TOP 1% DIFFERENCE MAKERS
So how do coaches at the pointy end set their teams apart from each other – and which players will make the biggest difference to final rankings over the next seven rounds? Christian Petracca (44.8 per cent owned), Zak Butters (33.5), Caleb Serong (33.2), Luke Ryan (28.2), Jake Lloyd (22.7), Noah Anderson (22.1) could all catapult teams up the rankings ladder, while Tom Liberatore, Sam Walsh and Jack Steele are in one in five of the top 1880 ranked teams. Some major PODs include Sam Docherty (11.1 per cent), Matt Rowell (7.6 per cent), Jarrod Witts (6 per cent) and Dan Houston (5.8 per cent). Clayton Oliver and James Sicily each remain in 151 of the top 1880 teams.
9. TOP 1% UBER PODS
There are PODs and then there are left-field gambles. A total of 17 of the top 1880 teams include Adam Cerra – who is averaging 11.5 for the season and 122.8 in his past five games – while eight own Adam Treloar (also averaging 111.5), Daniel Rioli is in eight top 1 per cent teams, Isaac Heeney is in four and Scott Pendlebury is in two. The list of players who appear in just one of the top 1880 teams includes Taylor Walker, Jack Crisp, Lachie Whitfield, Charlie Curnow, Brodie Grundy, Jake Stringer, Ryan Lester, Ben King, Quinton Narkle and Phoenix Spicer.
10. CAPTAINS CORNER
There is no shortage of captain and vice-captain options this round, starting on Thursday night. Tim Taranto had his first score under 90 for the season last weekend but he should bounce back against the Swans – a team he scored 115 against in round 5. Friday night’s Bulldogs v Collingwood game includes Marcus Bontempelli and Tim English, but neither has dominated against the Pies in recent times (Bontempelli average 97.6 in past three, English 76), plus Nick Daicos who scored 69 points in his only career game against the Dogs last season. Lachie Neale could feast on the Eagles – his past three scores against them are 123, 133 and 166 – Clayton Oliver has a great record against the Saints if he returns this week (average 134 in his past three), while Tom Stewart averages 122 in his past three against North Melbourne and 115 at GHMBA Stadium this season. The best bet last week would have been to go all in on Zach Merrett, and it could be a similar story against the Crows on Sunday. He has played at Marvel Stadium three times this season for returns of 114, 111 and 137, and averages 132.6 in his past three against Adelaide.
11. FLANDERS FLIPS SCRIPT
KFC SuperCoach can be a cruel game sometimes. Almost 35,000 coaches started the season with Sam Flanders on the back of huge pre-season scores playing in a new role in the Gold Coast midfield. When round 1 arrived the role evaporated and Flanders was dropped after scoring 64, 46 and 26 in the first three rounds – and 25,000 coaches burned a trade to move him on. But he has returned to the Suns line-up in the past two rounds and shown those coaches weren’t totally off the mark. He has collected 27 disposals in both games and scored 100 and 119 KFC SuperCoach points. Flanders’ price, which dropped from a starting value of $256,300 after round 3, is now heading north at a rapid rate – he gained $53,300 last round and is projected to make another $50k if he can score 62 against Port Adelaide. The only concern – apart from top-class opposition – is the return of Touk Miller. The Suns co-captain hasn’t played since he was injured against North Melbourne in round 6. He averaged 115 in the first five rounds and returns with a price of $592,600 and a BE of 170. SuperCoach Plus projects he’ll drop about $70,000 over the next two weeks – pencil him into your bargain book, if you have any trades left to make the move.
10 Dockers rated: Action Jackson poses selection headache
Fremantle has completed its final hitout before its clash with the Indigenous All Stars next week. ELIZA REILLY rates a host of Dockers and provides an injury update.
5 tips for the best shot at winning your footy tipping competition
To dominate your footy tipping competition in 2025, it’s not just about the teams you pick — it’s about how you approach the game. Avoid the common pitfalls and follow this winning strategy.