SuperCoach trade guide Round 13: Travis Boak, James Sicily and Jack Macrae top targets in week flush with upgrade options
Luke Ryan or James Sicily? Marcus Bontempelli or Jack Macrae? Travis Boak or Caleb Daniel? With a host of stars coming off Round 12 byes, SuperCoaches have several tough calls to make.
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Your SuperCoach trade plan should become a lot clearer from this week.
With six teams coming off the bye, premium options including Jack Macrae, Nat Fyfe and Zach Merrett will be available for the rest of the year.
If you’ve planned accordingly, you should be able to target players who had the Round 12 bye to bolster your team this week.
After a week where many coaches were rewarded for taking a punt on debutant Patrick Naish (78 points), the bubble boys and rookie options are more obvious for Round 13.
Patrick Cripps’ nemesis Dylan Clarke returns after scoring 99 in his first game of the year, while Fremantle’s Brett Bewley (break even -26) will rise in price should he play his third game.
Western Bulldogs mid-season draftee Ryan Gardner ($102,400, Def-Fwd) is back after debuting against West Coast, while Jackson Hately ($148,800, Mid) was the leading possession winner for GWS in the NEAFL … again.
Trade in a player such as Bewley and use your remaining two swaps for upgrades this week to push your team closer to full premium status.
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TOP TARGETS
Jack Macrae $573,900, Mid, Avg: 113.2 Break even: 153
His last two scores were 105 and 84, but Macrae will be hard to resist at his current price. Although he plays Carlton in Round 13, you’re likely to get him even cheaper than this heading into Round 14 if you can hold off. Macrae has scored below 100 three times in his last seven games, but he’s still looming as a top-10 midfielder come the end of the season. He’s second on the upgrade priority list this week in midfield behind Nat Fyfe.
Marcus Bontempelli $543,000, Mid, Avg: 112.5, BE: 133
Only two hundreds for Bontempelli in his last six games after he started the campaign with three scores above 120 in the opening month. He has a ceiling as high as any player in the game, but the consistency of his scoring has always been a worry. He has, however, only gone below 95 once this year — which was last round against West Coast. If 95 is otherwise going to be his low point, you need to consider him.
Travis Boak $518,200, Fwd, Avg: 111.9, BE: 101
Boak is vying with Tim Kelly and Patrick Dangerfield to finish the year as the No. 1 SuperCoach forward. It was only a month ago coaches paid $580,100 for Boak and he’s available for $60,000 less than that this week. It’s a tough call whether to prioritise Boak or the ever-consistent Caleb Daniel, but the resurgent Power midfielder gets the nod for his high ceiling. He has five scores above 120 in 11 rounds this year, whereas Daniel has two.
Nat Fyfe $606,100, Mid, Avg: 120.1, BE: 90
You surely don’t need to be convinced of the merits of picking the Fremantle skipper? Fyfe is on a run of seven consecutive hundreds, six of which have been scores of 110 or better. He’s a reliable captaincy option each week and had the third-best average of any midfielder this year heading into Round 11 behind Lachie Neale and Josh Kelly. He also averages a combined 107.5 against his next two opponents Port Adelaide and Melbourne.
Zach Merrett $565,200, Mid, Avg: 109.7, BE: 148
Merrett comes with a word of warning as tags from Mark Hutchings (Round 14) and Matt De Boer (Round 15) loom large. Still in only 7.2 per cent of teams, the Bomber is the point of difference of the premium midfielders this week. Don’t overlook Fyfe or Macrae for him, but it’s a toss of the coin between Merrett and Bontempelli.
Luke Ryan $523,100, Def, Avg: 104.5, BE: 86
The intercept-possession star has rocketed into SuperCoach calculations this year with scores of 145 and 156 displaying his potential. The biggest difference between Ryan this year and last has been his floor. He scored below 70 five times in 2018, but hasn’t been below 78 this season. If he keeps that up, he’s a good chance to finish the year in a coveted top-six defensive slot.
Caleb Daniel $484,700, Fwd, Avg: 101.3, BE: 59
Speaking of consistency, Caleb Daniel will go down as one of the most reliable SuperCoach players of 2019. Reformed as a running halfback for the Western Bulldogs, Daniel has nine scores of 93 or better in 11 games, with his two low points a 77 and 79. You can make a real case for adding both Boak and Daniel to your forward line, however the Power star wins out if you can only choose one. It is worth noting Daniel is in 17 per cent less teams than Boak.
James Sicily $491,600, Def, Avg: 99.8, BE: 94
Available for almost an $80,000 discount on his starting price, Sicily is clearly one of the standout trade options this week. Even when he’s been asked to play on a direct opponent as opposed to his rebounding role this year in defence, he has scored well. His best run was between rounds 4 and 6 when he scored 117-127 in consecutive weeks. If he reproduces that type of form you won’t want to miss out.
Dylan Clarke $147,700, Mid, Avg: 99, BE: -110 (one game)
Essendon midfielder Clarke returns from a bye this week after his heroic tagging job on Patrick Cripps. Bombers fans had been crying out for his inclusion based on his VFL numbers and he made the most of his chance against the Blues. The golden rule of SuperCoach is not to jump on players after one game, but his scoring potential is better than two-gamer Brett Bewley.
Brett Bewley $117,300, Mid, Avg: 48, BE: -26
After two games for scores of 49 and 47, mature-age draftee Bewley is set for a price rise if he holds his spot. He doesn’t appear to be a prolific ball winner, but has done some nice things in the first two games of his AFL career. Don’t expect big numbers, but he will provide cover through the byes and from your midfield bench from Round 15 onwards.
Robbie Gray $405,900, Fwd-Mid, Avg: 83.8, BE: 31
The bargain pick of Round 12. Whether Gray reprises the predominant midfield role of the past two weeks after his bye is one of the great mysteries confronting SuperCoaches. Ken Hinkley has let Gray loose in the middle in the past two weeks and the result has been scores of 89 and 122. With Ollie Wines and Tom Rockliff to come back over the next few weeks, be wary. But if you plan on using Gray as a M9-F7 swing thanks to dual-position eligibility, it could be a great move.
HOLD
Sam Walsh ($441,200, Mid)
Tom Liberatore ($423,800, Mid)
Xavier Duursma ($362,100, Def-Mid)
Reilly O’Brien ($402,300, Ruc)
Michael Gibbons ($290,500, Mid)
Sydney Stack ($367,500, Mid)
Marty Hore ($418,300, Def)
Walsh, O’Brien, Stack and Gibbons don’t have the bye until Round 14, while Liberatore and Duursma are coming off their rest. Round 13 is shaping as a tough enough week without punting players who will be available. Walsh (141) and Gibbons (109) have given coaches plenty to ponder after their starring roles against Brisbane. Their price will almost certainly still be rising heading into Round 14 and it will be tough to cull them when the Blues have the week off. O’Brien will provide perfect ruck cover for Max Gawn and Brodie Grundy before you move him on in Round 14, while Duursma has a low break even of 16. He’ll have at least a few more weeks before you need to consider upgrading him.
CHOPPING BLOCK
Jordan Clark ($291,800, Def)
Noah Answerth ($237,000, Def-Mid)
Tom Atkins ($329,000, Mid)
Brodie Smith ($413,400, Def)
Matt Parker ($240,200, Fwd)
Noah Balta ($310,900, Fwd)
Jack Petruccelle ($244,100, Fwd)
Prioritise the players with Round 13 byes. Answerth (33) and Clark (24) are top of the list after their disappointing Round 12 scores. Parker is due to return from a bye this week and has a break even of 23, so you can afford to hold him if you will otherwise miss out on fielding 18 players. Jack Petruccelle only managed 36 against Sydney and hasn’t scored 50 for three weeks. Balta has scored 49 and 27 in the past two rounds but does have a Round 14 bye. Try to hold Atkins as midfield cover, although you might need his value to upgrade the weaker defensive and forward lines. I’d hold Brodie Smith until his Round 14 bye, but if you’re frustrated after his 48 against GWS then use his value to upgrade to a defensive keeper. I initially had Marty Hore on this list, but I would have him pegged as a finishing D7 if he was in my team.
BARGAIN BIN
Under 500k
Rory Laird ($498,900, Def)
Tom Stewart ($496,800, Def).
Matt Crouch ($496,500, Mid)
Michael Walters ($494,400, Fwd-Mid)
James Sicily ($491,600, Def)
Zac Williams ($488,100, Def)
Caleb Daniel ($484,700, Fwd)
Jeremy Cameron ($477,500, Fwd)
Jack Ziebell ($474,000, Fwd)
Rowan Marshall ($462,000, Fwd)
Connor Blakely ($455,700, Def)
Under 450k
Jack Crisp ($449,000, Def)
Isaac Heeney ($447,600, Fwd-Mid)
James Worpel ($444,800, Fwd-Mid)
Jack Billings ($439,000, Fwd)
Jack Gunston ($437,500, Fwd)
Angus Brayshaw ($423,000, Mid)
Robbie Gray ($405,900, Fwd-Mid)
Jade Gresham ($397,500, Fwd)
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