The byes are over and The Phantom is back in town as the race to the AFL SuperCoach finals heats up

THE Phantom is back from his international fact-finding mission and with plenty to do to get his SuperCoach team back on track. CHECK OUT THE CHAT RECAP HERE.

Jake Lloyd ... The Phantom’s buy of the week. Picture: Gregg Porteous

THE Phantom is back in town.

Unfortunately, though, not in a SuperCoach sense.

While I am back in the country after a month-long international fact-finding mission, The Phantom’s team is struggling.

What’s happened, Australia?

The Phantom is only gone four weeks and now Tom Lynch is being held goalless by Liam Jones!? And, yes, I did trade in the Gold Coast co-captain two weeks ago.

ASK THE PHANTOM ALL YOUR QUESTIONS BELOW

The Selwood brothers – Joel and Scott – Swan Jake Lloyd and Port midfield bull Ollie Wines have also made their way into The Phantom’s side over the past four weeks as I continue to trade aggressively in order to make up ground.

But just as the team is taking shape, Scott Selwood does a hamstring, Jack Steele gets dropped and Josh Kelly hurts himself at training. It’s been a frustrating year, to say the least.

The Phantom would like to extend a big thankyou to The Eradicator, who did a fine job over the past month.

To be honest, The Phantom is lucky to be back onboard at all, given The Eradicator’s dominance over my side so far in 2017 - he again outscored me in Round 13. But not all is said and done just yet.

The Phantom’s Round 13 score: 1450

The Eradicator’s Round 13 score: 1657

THE RUN HOME

Thankfully, the bye rounds are over and the race to the SuperCoach finals is on.

That means you are hopefully starting to fill your teams completely with premium players.

If you find yourself at the back of the pack, like The Phantom, the quicker you can complete your team, the quicker you will make up ground.

But don’t forget you will still need trades for the run home.

njuries, suspensions and “general soreness” will arise in the second-half of the year and, if you do not have any trades left to cover surprises at the pointy end, all the ground you make up will be lost in an instant.

So make sure you get the balance right. Ideally, if you can keep six-eight trades in the bank, once your team is complete, you are going along nicely.

Given the cash generation issues we’ve had to deal with in 2017, if you are struggling to afford the top-priced players, here are a number of value options to help you complete your side:

Jake Lloyd (Syd) $411,800 DEF

Average: 91 Breakeven: 50

The ball-winning defender has bounced back from a bout of concussion, scoring 92 and 100 in the past two weeks. Prior to the injury-affected four in Round 10, Lloyd scored more than 98 in seven of his first nine games. The buy of the week.

Marcus Bontempelli (WB) $508,100 MID

Average: 110 Breakeven: 116

If you didn’t jump on ‘The Bont’ after his hot start to the year, you’re in luck. No SuperCoach ton for five games means he’s cheap but he won’t be kept down for long.

Ollie Wines ... proven SuperCoach scorer. Picture: Sarah Reed

Ollie Wines (Port) $490,400 MID

Average: 102 Breakeven: 98

Wines averaged 121 over the first four weeks before a quiet patch saw his price drop below $500k. But, after three scores of 100 or more in the past four weeks, it’s on the way back up. When on song, Wines can score as well as any.

Luke Shuey (WC) $499,400 MID

Average: 104 Breakeven: 80

The Eagles midfielder looks to have bottomed out at a tick under $500k and that’s a bargain given his scoring ability. Shuey, who averaged 117 after the bye in 2016, has only posted four SuperCoach tons this season but has scored more than 89 in all but one game. Shuey registed 32 disposals and 114 points in Round 13 against the Cats at Subiano and the Eagles have six more home games to come.

Tom Lynch .... due for a bag. Picture: Steve Holand

Tom Lynch (GC) $432,900 FWD

Average: 87 Breakeven: 114

While he’s shown he is prone to the odd low score – as shown by his 37 points against the Blues – Lynch has still scored 85 or more in nine of his 12 games this year. And he’s due for a bag.

Jason Johannisen (WB) $385,900 DEF

Average: 82 Breakeven: 148

The Norm Smith Medallist averaged 91 across the opening 10 rounds before scores of 21 and 58 saw his average and price fall dramatically. The play-making defender has been targeted heavily by the Swans and Demons in the past two weeks but can he - and a number of his premiership teammates - bounce back? A great bench option after next week, at least.

Originally published as The byes are over and The Phantom is back in town as the race to the AFL SuperCoach finals heats up