The final reveal: The Phantom’s SuperCoach forwards for 2018
ROUND 1 is here, SuperCoaches. And, after a long, gruelling SuperCoach pre-season, it’s time for The Phantom to reveal his final 2018 team. Re-cap all the answers from his live chat below.
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WE made it, SuperCoaches.
Thursday night marks the start of the 2018 SuperCoach season.
And as the final part of The Phantom’s long, gruelling pre-season, it’s time to reveal my starting forwards.
Forget top-priced forwards Lance Franklin and Sam Menegola, young Swan star Isaac Heeney is The Phantom’s tip to finish as the No. 1 scorer.
Next to him sits another player who has been locked in from day one, even with the pre-season hamstring setback.
This is the year St Kilda’s Jack Billings takes the next step and pushes himself into the elite category.
There is plenty of mid-priced value in the forward line this season and, at F3 and F4, The Phantom is taking advantage of it.
Bomber Devon Smith is set to become a full-time midfielder at his new club after crossing from the Giants and the Demons are finally ready to unleash Christian Petracca.
Both young guns, who have spent the early part of their AFL careers as a forward, have impressive junior records as midfielders.
I’ve seen many SuperCoaches query the selection of Petracca but, I’m telling you, it’s time.
Given the lack of sure-thing rookie-priced forwards, returning Lion Allen Christensen — who is too cheap to pass up, given his scoring potential — sits at F5 and I’ll only be starting one rookie on the field.
At this stage, Melbourne’s mature-age recruit Bayley Fritsch is the leading candidate, ahead of Giant small forward Zac Giles-Landgon and Eagle Liam Ryan, who appears the perfect bench option.
Of course, all of the rookie-price players are subject to change, depending on Thursday night’s team selections, with Crow Darcy Fogarty also in the mix.
RUCKS
LET’S not spend too much time on Max Gawn.
The Melbourne big man has been locked in from day one and he should be in your team, too.
If he’s not, take a good hard look at yourself.
But the position as his ruck sidekick has been up for grabs all summer.
Nic Naitanui was the early front-runner but, in the end, after some further complication with this knee over the pre-season, The Phantom is playing it safe.
Then his mid-price teammate Scott Lycett rocketed into calculations but, after thinking it over, The Phantom moved on quickly.
Paddy Ryder and Matthew Kreuzer are tempting but The Phantom has decided to go with the value.
If Braydon Preuss isn’t selected in North Melbourne’s Round 1 side, Todd Goldstein will be The Phantom’s other starting ruckman for 2018.
His tough year off the field last year was a major factor in his on-field decline but, just as coach Brad Scott has, The Phantom is backing Goldstein to return to his best this season.
Depending on the team selection, Brisbane big man Stefan Martin is also right in the mix, if, he too, is named as the Lions’ solo ruckman in Round 1.
On the bench, although young Swan Darcy Cameron, who should see plenty of game time in 2018 with the season-ending injury to Sam Naismith, was considered, The Phantom will be ‘throwing’ the R3 position for captain’s loophole purposes.
Eagle Tony Olango gets the nod with West Coast featuring in 10 Sunday games in 2018.
MIDFIELD
The Phantom saw first-hand last season the problems — mainly revolving around cash generation — that can arise if you don’t nail the selections when starting with a stacked midfield.
And, with more than 15 players capable of finishing inside the top-eight scorers and, potentially, a number of great rookie-priced scorers, The Phantom is starting with just four rolled-gold premiums.
Patrick Dangerfield, even if he misses Round 1 with a hamstring injury, is locked in.
It’s just going to be too hard, without wasting multiple trades, to bring him in within the first month.
And I wouldn’t want to be going any longer without him.
Whenever he does play, I can’t see him starting slow. This is the bloke who scored 141 SuperCoach points on one leg against the Hawks last year.
If Dangerfield doesn’t line up against the Demons, given the game is on Sunday, he will still be valuable in ensuring the highest-scoring rookie players count, via the emergency loophole.
That, in itself, could almost make up the difference between starting a rookie and another premium.
After adding 27 points to his average in 2017, The Phantom believes Josh Kelly has another level to go to this season and he could finish 2018 with an average in excess of 120.
Nat Fyfe is a no-brainer.
The Fremantle skipper could once again challenge for the No. 1 ranking this year.
And, as the 32nd-most expensive player in the game, I can’t leave out Carlton star Patrick Cripps, who is ready to explode after an injury-interrupted 2017.
Then, before three rookie-priced players, sits Giant midfielder Stephen Coniglio, who, at $452k, might be the Marc Murphy of SuperCoach in 2018.
The Phantom believes Coniglio can average between 105 and 110 to become a keeper — and that’s the reason I am starting with him.
The midfield is where most of the rookie points come from and, unlike I did last season, I’m not ignoring it in 2018.
With the idea of letting the topscoring players of 2018 show themselves before committing, I’ll be starting with three rookie-priced players on the field and six in the midfield in total.
Fremantle’s top draft pick Andrew Brayshaw, who — along with mature-age recruit Bailey Banfield — is a confirmed starter in Ross Lyon’s Round 1 side, was the standout rookie scorer in the JLT Series and should be one of the top cash cows this season.
The Phantom has been a fan of second-year Gold Coast midfielder Will Brodie, who boasts a contested game suited to SuperCoach, for a while now and I expect him to play a big role in the Suns’ new-look engine room.
I’m pretty set on Brayshaw and Brodie occupying on-field spots but M8 is still undecided with mature-age Geelong recruit Tim Kelly the favourite, just ahead of St Kilda’s Hunter Clark, Banfield and fellow mature-ager Nick Holman, who is a lock if he’s named on Thursday.
DEFENDERS
AS The Phantom mentioned in the initial team reveal back in January, a shallow defence, which included a few failed mid-priced selections, set me back in 2017.
So, just like in that first team, I’ve gone big at the top end.
Michael Hurley, who is in only 11 per cent of teams, despite posting 12 SuperCoach tons in his final 16 matches of 2017, is now a genuine point-of-difference after just one underwhelming JLT Series game.
Rory Laird just gets the job done — as he showed again with 102 and 90 in the JLT Series — and is as safe as selections come.
Demon Michael Hibberd’s blend of attacking rebound and intercept ability makes him a great SuperCoach scorer.
Expensive, yes, but you get what you pay for.
The trio should comfortably sit inside the top 6 at season’s end.
And, in my opinion, it’s an easier task to predict the top scorers in defence than it is in an overcrowded midfield pool and uncertain forward line.
At D4, replacing Tiger Brandon Ellis from the first team, sits a young Port Adelaide defender.
The Phantom expects skilful 21-year-old Riley Bonner — who has four career games to his name — to establish himself as a regular in the Power’s best 22 in 2018 and, as we saw in JLT Series clash with the Crows, become the No. 1 ball-carrier out of defence.
For a while over the pre-season, The Phantom had experimented with just one on-field rookie-priced player but, after the arrival of a number of genuine options, I’ll be going with two in defence.
The forward line is the place to go with just one.
Tom Doedee reaffirmed his place as a Round 1 lock after an impressive JLT Series for the Crows across halfback. The versatile 21-year-old wins the ball in the air and on the ground and will help fill the void left by Jake Lever.
After missing the AFLX Tournament and the first JLT Series game, his spot was under serious question for more than a month but Collingwood recruit Sam Murray also holds his place on the field after an impressive display against the Bulldogs last week.
Jeremy Finlayson, who looks to have locked down a spot in the Giants’ back six, is a great D6/D7 selection, while Lachie Murphy will be too cheap to ignore if, as some expect, he makes Don Pyke’s Round 1 side.
Top-price rookie Aaron Naughton is appealing but you’ll get bang for your buck with Doedee, Murray, Finlayson and Murphy.
Originally published as The final reveal: The Phantom’s SuperCoach forwards for 2018
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