SuperCoach Pre-season 2018: The Phantom’s verdict on the premium ruckmen
MAX Gawn is a lock but, if you’re not convinced on the mid-priced Nic Naitanui, then where do you look? The Phantom tells you where.
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MAX Gawn is a lock but, if you’re not convinced on the mid-priced Nic Naitanui, then where do you look? The Phantom tells you where.
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THE PHANTOM: SECRETS BEHIND FIRST TEAM REVEAL
YESTERDAY: THE PHANTOM SCOPES PREMIUM MIDFIELDERS
MONDAY: PREMIUMS TO TRUST IN DEFENCE
THE MUST-HAVE
Max Gawn (Melb) $503,700
The Melbourne big man stormed onto the SuperCoach scene in 2016, posting 15 SuperCoach tons - six of them in excess of 150 - to finish the season as the third-ranked player in the game, behind only Patrick Dangerfield and Scott Pendlebury. It looked as if Gawn was headed that way again in 2017 with scores of 128 and 111 in the opening two rounds before a severe hamstring injury against the Cats in Round 3 saw him miss the next two months of footy.
Although the 26-year-old, who is cutting a lean look at training after shedding eight kilograms over summer, reminded us of his huge ceiling with a 160-point performance against the Giants in Round 20, he never really got going.
But that’s good news for SuperCoaches in 2018.
At $503k, Gawn, whose hitout-to-advantage percentage of 33 is the best in the game since 2015, is priced at an average of 92 but that figure is well below his scoring capabilities.
Expect it to be more like 110 come the season’s end.
The Phantom’s verdict: Currently in 57 per cent of teams, Gawn is the most-popular player in SuperCoach. It should be 100 per cent come Round 1.
THE CONTENDERS
Now this is where it gets interesting. If you’re not convinced about pairing the returning, mid-priced Nic Naitanui with Gawn to form the popular ‘DreadBeard’ combo - as named by The Eradicator - here are a few more premiums to consider.
Paddy Ryder (Port) $566,500
If you are looking at another premium, the All-Australian ruckman should be the first name you look at.
As expected, after a year out of the game, Ryder took a while to settle into his groove, breaking the 100-point mark in only two of the first 10 games of 2017.
But, with 40 hitouts, two goals and 119 points against the Lions in Round 13, that changed. The athletic Ryder, who won more contested possession than any other ruckman last season, was Port Adelaide’s most influential player in the second-half of the year, averaging 114 SuperCoach points from that point - one point more than No. 1 SuperCoach ruckman Matthew Kreuzer.
The Phantom’s verdict: At almost $40k cheaper, Ryder provides slightly more value than Kreuzer and should only improve on his comeback year in 2018.
Matthew Kreuzer (Carl) $603,700
Not since Dean Cox in 2009 has a player been crowned the No. 1 ruckman in consecutive seasons. While that doesn’t mean Kreuzer can’t do it in 2018, it’s just something to be aware of.
After a number of years battling his body, Kreuzer finally delivered on the potential we had seen many glimpses of in the past. The 28-year-old played 21 games last year, after reaching the same tally in 2016. It was great to see Kreuzer finally get some consistency in his body because in the previous six seasons, he only managed 75 out of a possible 132 home-and-away games.
What was even better to see was the impact the 200cm big man had. Kreuzer, who is just as good below his knees as he is in the air, posted 14 SuperCoach tons, six of them in excess of 130, with the allround nature of his game helping his scoring.
Out of all ruckmen, only Shane Mumford laid more tackles and Kreuzer won the third-most disposals and the second-most contested possessions.
The Phantom’s verdict: If he plays another 21 games he averages more than 100 again.
Sam Jacobs (Adel) $526,300
Given he’s only missed four games in the past six seasons, Sauce Jacobs is just about as reliable as ruckmen come.
But his scoring isn’t what it used to be.
Back in 2014, Jacobs averaged 115 points per game – the third most in the competition – and scored more than 250 points than any other ruckman. He followed up with another outstanding season in 2015, with his 108-point average putting him behind only Todd Goldstein’s competition-leading 129 in the big man bracket.
But then Champion Data changed the ruck scoring in SuperCoach. No longer was every hitout rewarded with a point but only those which went to a team-mate’s advantage.
In the first season of the new scoring system in 2016, Jacobs’ average fell by almost 20 points.
Of course, this wasn’t the only reason. A late-season injury was another major factor in Jacobs’ form.
The 29-year-old bounced back to some degree in 2017 but, in a telling statistic, won 165 more hitouts than any other ruckman in the game, yet finished the year the fourth-ranked overall SuperCoach scorer.
The Phantom’s verdict: Can score big - especially when he gets forward and gets on the scoreboard – but I’m not sure it’s often enough for him to challenge for the No. 1 ranking again.
WHAT IF?
Todd Goldstein (NM) $518,300
If Goldstein return to anything near the form of 2015, when he scored 150 SuperCoach points more than any other player in the game, he’s a bargain at $518k.
But it’s a big if.
While he only averaged 95 last season, Goldstein still posted some big numbers.
And they all came when he played as the solo ruckman. In the four matches Goldstein scored more than 120 points, Braydon Preuss was not in the side.
The Phantom’s verdict: Yes, Goldstein did score well when Preuss wasn’t there but he just remember Goldstein was also dropped to the twos. The way in which coach Brad Scott works his ruck set up will be the key.
The fact he shares the bye with Max Gawn isn’t helping.
AVOID… FOR NOW
Brodie Grundy (Coll) $534,700
While the young star averaged midfield-like numbers - 18 disposals, 10 contested possessions and four tackles per game in 2017, coach Nathan Buckley has suggested he will be playing Mason Cox and Grundy in the same side in 2018.
And we only like solo ruckmen around here.
Originally published as SuperCoach Pre-season 2018: The Phantom’s verdict on the premium ruckmen
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