SuperCoach team of the year led by ruck giants, Bulldogs midfield stars

Ruck goliaths Brodie Grundy and Max Gawn will feed a fleet of brilliant Bulldogs midfielders in a team of the top SuperCoach players of 2019. So how did James Sicily make the cut?

How many Dogs can we pick in the midfield in 2020?

That will be one of the big talking points of the SuperCoach summer after the Bulldogs tsunami swept through the midfield in 2019, claiming three of the four topscoring slots — if we include forward/midfielder Josh Dunkley.

It’s strange to think now that Dunkley started the year in the forward line, averaging a modest 85.6 points a game over the first six rounds. Then Luke Beveridge swung the magnets and his midfield caught fire, with Dunkley averaging 127.9 for the rest of the year including cracking the magical 200-point barrier against Melbourne in Round 17.

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Most SuperCoach players selected Dunkley in the forward line, and they will be praying he is assigned dual-position status again next season. With Patrick Dangerfield, Tim Kelly, Travis Boak and Rowan Marshall all likely to lose their forward eligibility, it could be slim pickings in front of goals in 2020.

The Dogs domination in the midfield was led by Dunkley, Marcus Bontempelli and Jack Macrae — plus one of the season’s best bench midfielders in Bailey Smith, who started slowly but went on to play every game in his debut season.

Western Bulldog's training at the Whitten Oval . Marcus Bontempelli during the warm up . Pic: Michael Klein

That reliability was a key factor in the backline, which was the subject of so much pre-season debate.

After predictions of a scoring bonanza due to the new kick-in rules, five defenders averaged more than 100 points a game, but only one made the top six on total points.

On averages the top-scorers were Lachie Whitfield (111), Jake Lloyd (108.9), Bachar Houli (106), Shannon Hurn (103.5) and Zack Williams (101.6), but Whitfield was ranked 24th for total points (behind Heath Shaw, Callum Mills and Shane Savage) after playing only 16 of a possible 22 games, while Houli and Hurn each missed three games, and Williams two. He was the best value pick in the backline after starting the year at $407,800.

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The dependability factor elevated some unlikely names into the team of the year, including Lion Daniel Rich and — surprisingly for some who traded him out late in the year — Hawk James Sicily. Despite concerns over his volatile approach and some rollercoaster scoring, Sicily played all 22 games to be the fifth-highest scoring player in his position by total points.

In the ruck the pre-season tip to slash the cash on Brodie Grundy and Max Gawn proved astute advice, with Crow Reilly O’Brien proving one of best cash cows of the year.

Finding bench players in the forward line was a source of major pre-season headaches and it turns out they were justified. We should have all picked Rising Star runner-up Connor Rozee - who was in 35,000 teams in Round 1 - and Cat Gryan Miers (4400). Compare that to the 83,000 teams who started with Saint Matt Parker, who played five fewer games than Miers and scored 571 fewer points.

The SuperCoach team of the year for 2019.

SUPERCOACH TEAM OF THE YEAR

DEFENDERS

Jake Lloyd (total 2396, av 108.9)

Tom Stewart (total 2160, av 98.2)

Daniel Rich (total 2130, av 96.8)

Rory Laird (total 2130, av 96.8)

James Sicily (total 2064, av 93.8)

Dane Rampe (total 2041, av 97.2)

Bench:

Callum Wilkie (total 1555, av 70.7)

Xavier Duursma (total 1479, av 74)

MIDFIELD

Jackson Macrae (total 2710, av 123.2)

Lachie Neale (total 2668, av 121.3)

Marcus Bontempelli (total 2524, av 114.7)

Adam Treloar (total 2495, av 113.1)

Clayton Oliver (total 2406, av 109.4)

Nat Fyfe (total 2400, av 120.0)

Dayne Zorko (total 2346, av 106.6)

Patrick Cripps (total 2342, av 117.1)

Zach Merrett (total 2342, av 105.6)

Bench:

Sam Walsh (total 1912, av 86.9)

Bailey Smith (total 1685, av 76.6)

Sydney Stack (total 1362, av 80.1)

RUCK

Brodie Grundy (total 2860, av 130)

Max Gawn (total 2696, av 128.4)

Bench:

Reilly O’Brien (total 1715, av 95.3)

FORWARDS

Josh Dunkley (2562, av 116.5)

Patrick Dangerfield (total 2419, av 115.2)

Tim Kelly (total 2276, av 103.5)

Travis Boak (total 2252, av 107.2)

Michael Walters (total 2217, av 100.8)

Rowan Marshall (total 2205, av 110.2)

Bench:

Connor Rozee (total 1710, av 77.7)

Gryan Miers (total 1481, av 67.3)