AFL great Jonathan Brown gives his special SuperCoach scouting report after the JLT Series

Brisbane traded in four players in the off-season and Jonathan Brown might pick them all in SuperCoach. But they aren’t his only locks for 2019. After watching every team across the JLT Series, he breaks down his must-haves for this year.

Lachie Neale is a SuperCoach lock for Jonathan Brown. Picture: Getty Images

Brisbane Lions beefed up their list with four recruits last off-season.

They must’ve picked wisely, because three are under heavy consideration for my SuperCoach team.

The first is an absolute Lach. Lachie Neale, that is.

You know he’s a safe bet to go and get 35-40 disposals every week.

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At Fremantle last year, Neale won at least 28 disposals in 18 games.

I don’t think Neale is much of a tagging target either, given most clubs will first look to shut down four-time best-and-fairest winner Dayne Zorko.

If you’re struggling to squeeze Neale’s $607,300 price tag under your salary cap then look no further than the reason he’s at Brisbane — best mate Lincoln McCarthy.

The former Cat has flown under the radar but pieced together a handy JLT, scoring 109 points in the win against Hawthorn.

Lachie Neale is a SuperCoach lock for Jonathan Brown. Picture: Getty Images

And then there is Jarryd Lyons, who booted four goals to score 147 points against Melbourne on Saturday.

Lyons is at his third club and costs $502,000 but looks an important cog in the new-look Lions midfield.

The best burst of pre-season football I saw was from Richmond captain Trent Cotchin in the fourth quarter on Saturday night.

If Cotchin and Dustin Martin are primed then the Brownlow Medallists are in for big seasons.

A left-field SuperCoach pick would be Demon Joel Smith, who is listed as a defender in SuperCoach.

Smith will fit nicely into Melbourne’s forward line, complementing Sam Weideman and Tom McDonald.

Smith — who booted four goals against the Lions — is capable of finding the footy and can take a contested mark, which delivers valuable points.

Perhaps an even better Smith is Adelaide defender Brodie Smith, who costs just $332,500 after a knee injury kept him to two games last year.

Smith is Adelaide’s designated kicker and under the new kick-in rules he’ll get plenty of free hits when bringing the ball into play while the Crows will also use his speed through the midfield to complement their big bulls.

The South Australian clubs shared five of the first 18 picks at last year’s draft and I really like the teenagers they selected.

Adelaide’s Chayce Jones is a talent while Port’s trio of Connor Rozee, Xavier Duursma and Zak Butters could all have an impact straight away.

That’s in sharp contrast with last year, when Port went for established talent in Jack Watts, Steven Motlop and Tom Rockliff.

Mind you, Rockliff’s performance on the weekend — 41 disposals, 16 marks and 170 SuperCoach points — showed he might be ready to return as the SuperCoach stud we used to love.

Hopefully AFL coaches subscribe to Richmond’s tactics in last year’s preliminary final, and let Collingwood star Steele Sidebottom run around on his own.

Steele Sidebottom is a SuperCoach stud. Picture: Getty Images

As evidenced by Monday’s win against Carlton, Sidebottom is the AFL’s most damaging midfielder when given an exclusion zone.

Bulldog Aaron Naughton had the biggest impact as a key-position player in his first year since Jesse Hogan in 2015.

The challenge for Naughton will be to replicate that form at the other end of the ground with coach Luke Beveridge set to use him forward.

Naughton’s three goals against St Kilda on Sunday only returned 68 SuperCoach points and while he’s a bright talent, he’s not a SuperCoach prospect this season.

No. 1 pick Sam Walsh has been locked into my team for a while and nothing has changed.

Walsh is the most likely draftee to have an immediate impact since Chris Judd.

I’m also very happy with my choice of Essendon’s Andy McGrath last month, who played significant midfield time off the wing in the JLT.

As a dual-position player that’s music to my ears.

But small forwards Tyson Stengle (Crows) and Ben Cavarra (Dogs) didn’t feature in the JLT and so they’ll fall out of my team.

I’m rejigging my forward line and that’s why Luke Dahlhaus’s performance against Essendon jumped off the page.

Luke Dahlhaus has settled in well at Geelong. Picture: Alison Wynd

With Patrick Dangerfield and Gary Ablett floating around the same attack, Dahlhaus might just get off the chain.

And then there’s Toby Greene. Every time Greene goes near the footy it looks like something is going to happen.

Greene’s impact on games cannot be questioned — he played nine games last year for seven wins and a draw.

With the new 6-6-6 rule I can see Greene anchoring himself in the goal square at centre bounces. That would be the toughest match-up in the game.

I don’t look too closely at team performances in the JLT but Essendon was certainly underwhelming.

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I’ll be talking to my track watchers at Tullamarine closely over the next week to assess where Joe Daniher is at.

I’ve had plenty of so-called SuperCoach experts in my ear saying you’re mad picking a key position forward.

But if I hear Daniher has taken mark of the year on Michael Hurley’s head at training, that’ll be good enough for me.

My final SuperCoach team will be out next week.

Originally published as AFL great Jonathan Brown gives his special SuperCoach scouting report after the JLT Series