Whitfield and Martin are must-haves, but who else should make your SuperCoach forward line?
Is Dusty a lock? Who is set to breakout? And why we can’t ignore an old favourite. The Phantom runs the rule of the premium forwards in KFC SuperCoach for 2020
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There’s two top-price locks in the forward line but who else should you consider? The Phantom looks at the all-important premium options for 2020.
THE MUST-HAVES
Lachie Whitfield (GWS) $604,100 and Dustin Martin (Rich) $543,000
We’ve been handed two gifts in the forwardline this season.
Whitfield and Martin should be automatic selections and form the foundation of any serious SuperCoach team come Round 1, 2020.
If you take out the star Giant’s two injury-affected scores last year, he averaged 119 from 15 matches. Enough said, really. He played every game in 2018 so don’t let the seven regular-season fixtures he missed last year put you off.
But what about if Martin starts slow again?
I’ve heard this question raised a number of time already this pre-season – and the argument, in parts, to start without him is a reasonable one.
Even if Martin’s start to 2020 mirrors that of last year, which featured just two SuperCoach tons – and two scores of 66 or less – in the opening eight rounds, he’s a certain top-six forward by the year’s end.
And isn’t picking the players you believe will finish the year in the top six-to-eight in their position what you set out to do?
Anyway, if you include the finals series, the dual Norm Smith Medallist averaged 115 points in the final eight matches of 2018.
THE PHANTOM’S VERDICT: Set and forget.
THE NEXT STEP
Hugh Greenwood (GC)
$463,100
In his 51 career matches, Greenwood has scored 80 points or more in 31 of them, passing the 100-point mark on 12 occasions.
And the impressive scoring record comes on the back of the 27-year-old’s elite ability at the contest.
His contested possession rate of 64.1 per cent was the highest of the 225 players in the competition to average 17 disposals or more in 2019.
Across his career, the 191cm midfielder also rates elite for groundball gets, clearances, tackles, pressure acts and contested marks, despite never being part of Adelaide’s first-choice on-ball rotation.
In fact, despite spending 65 per cent of is time in the midfield during his time at the Crows, he was only the sixth-ranked player for centre bounce attendances.
It’s hard to see him anywhere else, when the first ball is bounced against Port Adelaide at Metricon Stadium in Round 1.
He’s never averaged more than 17 disposals in a season but even if there’s an increase of four per game, on the back of a greater midfield role at the Suns, there will be a spike.
THE PHANTOM’S VERDICT: Locked in.
Jade Gresham (StK)
$456,400
The breakout year is coming.
In 2019, Gresham took another step away from the forward-line role he played so well in the first three years of his career.
And one toward becoming the midfield star he was throughout his junior career.
In his draft year of 2014, the Northern Knights captain averaged 29 disposals, 12 contested possessions and 146 SuperCoach points per game.
On numbers, he was the best-performed midfielder in the TAC Cup. No draftee to play at least five games was better.
Gresham had regular AFL midfielders Clayton Oliver, Tom Phillips, Darcy Parish and Jacob Hopper covered.
After an impressive first two years stationed inside-50, Gresham’s midfield minutes increased in 2018 and he tallied 22 more clearances and 72 more disposals than the previous season.
And last year, despite playing three less matches, he finished with 43 more disposals, 37 more contested possessions and 33 more clearances.
Across his 81-game career, Gresham has played 32 per cent midfield and 67 per cent forward.
In 2019, he spent 61 per of his game-time in the midfield.
His goal tally might have gone from 35 to 15 but he added five points to his SuperCoach average.
But Gresham, who recorded career-high disposals (32), contested possesions (13) and clearances (9) in Round 20 last year, is a chance to double that increase in 2020.
THE PHANTOM’S VERDICT: I’d love to fit him in but it might be too difficult with the value of Devon Smith and Jack Steven.
IS THIS THE YEAR?
Isaac Heeney (Syd)
$510,700
After averaging 98 and 97 in the third and fourth years of his career, many – The Phantom included – thought 2019 was the year Heeney would finally leave the forward-line behind him and become an elite premium.
But that didn’t happen. None of it did.
The 23-year-old’s influence in attack was still too important to John Longmire’s side and, as a result, the midfield minutes just weren’t consistent.
That wasn’t the only reason, however.
Heeney injured his ankle in the Swans’ final pre-season fixture and played through the pain of a deltoid tear for most of his 22 games in 2019.
“My body has been battered and bruised through the year, more than it ever has,” Heeney said in August.
So, maybe, the 94-point average, on the back of nine SuperCoach tons, wasn’t as disappointing as it looks.
Is this the year he finally reaches three figures?
THE PHANTOM’S VERDICT: Intially, I convinced myself it was. And it might still be but after breaking his thumb at training in the final week of January, he’ll be coming off another limited pre-season. Now, an almost-definite wait-and-see.
CAN WE TRUST THEM?
Michael Walters (Freo)
$547,200
In 2019, the mercurial star played 22 games – after missing nine in the previous two years through injury and suspension – and added 13 points to his average.
After 12 SuperCoach tons last year, Walters is one of only three eligible-forwards coming off a three-figure average.
And with a new coach – or one that isn’t Ross Lyon – maybe there’s no reason to not trust the 29-year-old anymore.
The question is, however, with all the value in the forward group in 2020, can you afford to start three players worth in excess of $540k?
THE PHANTOM’S VERDICT: Not over Dusty for me.
Toby Greene (GWS)
$510,100
Early in the first quarter of the Round 17 clash with the Tigers, GWS star Stephen Coniglio goes down with a knee injury.
Enter Toby Greene the midfielder.
The match-winning forward, who started his career as an on-baller, finished the day with game-highs in SuperCoach points (138) and disposals (34).
He then posted SuperCoach tons in the next five games, reinforcing the view the 26-year-old is among the top fantasy scorers in the competition when unleashed in the midfield.
But with the return of Coniglio and Callan Ward, who played less than 5 minutes of football in 2019, Greene is likely to revert back to the All-Australian forward, who can pinch hit through the midfield.
THE PHANTOM’S VERDICT: He’ll still be right around the mark of the top-six scorers but far from a certainty.
MORE SUPERCOACH ADVICE
The premium alterngives to Grundy and Gawn
Four must-have starters to build your team around
Rookie Bible: All the early cheapies
Top 50 SuperCoach Draft rankings
THE VETERAN
Gary Ablett (Geel)
$519,500
He’ll be 36 in May but that doesn’t mean you should ignore the greatest SuperCoach scorer of all-time.
Last year, at 35, Ablett played 21, scoring 90 or more in 14 of them, and was picked in the All-Australian squad of 40.
His relevance was low last year in a stacked midfield pool but as a forward, only Whitfield, Martin and Walters averaged more points per game last year.
And, in December, Geelong football manager Simon Lloyd said Ablett is “working very hard at the moment to get himself in the right condition to be ready to go for a long season.”
THE PHANTOM’S VERDICT: Don’t write off this champion.
Originally published as Whitfield and Martin are must-haves, but who else should make your SuperCoach forward line?