Doctor’s Orders: Top KFC SuperCoach trade targets in WA hub

The Western Australian hub starts this week and it’s the perfect time to take advantage of some of the best KFC SuperCoach bargains of the year. These are the players you should be targeting.

It’s been two weeks of KFC SuperCoach carnage.

Jeremy Howe, Tom Stewart, Sam Naismith – all succumbing to long-term injuries in Round 6.

Now Josh Kennedy and Isaac Heeney have joined them on the sidelines.

Then of course there was Nat Fyfe, who somehow recovered from a hamstring injury in one week but wasn’t at his best against St Kilda.

There are trade options are aplenty if you’re still stuck with any of these players, bar Fyfe; in fact the only players you will need to find excess cash for are Lachie Neale and Max Gawn – who are enjoying the hottest of hot streaks to start the season.

So let’s approach this from a different angle.

There is little certainty in 2020, but what we do know is in the short-term West Coast and Fremantle will return to WA and Geelong and Collingwood will join them to create the Western Australian hub.

So let’s hone in on a few options that may take your fancy, with a specific focus to their numbers at Perth Stadium.

MR CONSISTENCY

ANDREW GAFF $558,500 MID – 105.8 AVERAGE

It’s natural for our minds to immediately move to players from the two WA clubs, and the ultra-consistent Andrew Gaff is the frontrunner.

Gaff started the campaign with career-best SuperCoach numbers, albeit from a small sample size of four games.

The ball magnet averaged 121.2 to Round 4, not dipping under 110, despite the Eagles struggling to find their mojo.

The one knock on Gaff’s ability to be a genuine fantasy premium is that he doesn’t always have the impact of some other players, resulting in season averages between 90-105, but the past two years he has upped his average.

His ceiling remains low but his floor, high. His average has fallen slightly in recent rounds due to attracting the attention of taggers but he’ll enjoy the wide expanses of Optus Stadium.

Andrew Gaff has been in career-best form.

So, why should we pick him now?

Well, as mentioned earlier, the Eagles will return to Perth Stadium for their next cluster of matches and Gaff loves that ground as much as anyone.

In Gaff’s 23 matches at the ground he has an impressive average of 110.2, and in typical Gaff consistency, 17 of those have been centuries with his lowest score being 82.

Combine those numbers with the fact he is in fine touch throughout this season and at $558,500 Gaff is one of the safest bets to replace a fellow Western Australian gun.

The beauty is he’ll be even cheaper in Round 8.

BACK IN BUSINESS

PATRICK DANGERFIELD $585,500 MID – 108.2 AVERAGE

Dangerfield has returned to some of his better form in the past three weeks, racking up scores of 140, 104 and 146.

Dangerfield is averaging his lowest numbers since 2011, but there have been promising signs in his last three outings — in particular how dominant he was against the talented Brisbane Lions’ midfield.

Dangerfield is 30 now, at some point it becomes impossible to maintain the unbelievable standard he has for so long.

But Dangerfield showed his trademark in-and-under grunt and burst-away speed against the Dees and Lions in particular as he continues to find his new groove with life without Tim Kelly.

Coaches who didn’t start Dangerfield could benefit from an added bonus by bringing him in now.

At $585,500, Dangerfield will almost certainly lift his numbers for the remainder of the season, he’s too good not to.

While his Perth Stadium numbers aren’t pretty, Dangerfield has never had a problem scoring against Fremantle, West Coast or Collingwood, with three-year averages against them of 108.5, 111.6 and 111.3 points respectively.

Scott Pendlebury is starring for the Magpies.

TURNING BACK THE CLOCK

SCOTT PENDLEBURY $565,000 MID – 105.7 AVERAGE

From one man to another who has delivered outstanding numbers in the KFC SuperCoach world over a long time.

Pendles is averaging 105.7, with the highlight of his campaign a monster 150 in Round 4.

At 32 years of age, we would excuse Pendlebury for a slight drop-off in performance, but he continues to deliver.

And he has an impressive record in Western Australia.

In his two appearances at Perth Stadium, he has returned scores of 98 and 119, while the trip west does not provide him with any jet lag whatsoever, notching up three-figure scores in eight of his past nine matches at Subiaco.

Can Pendlebury keep producing these sorts of numbers? It is worth noting prime midfielder mover Adam Treloar’s return has resulted in scoees of 84 and 90.

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BEST OF THE REST

Other options venturing to the WA hub include in-form Magpie Taylor Adams ($572,200) who is averaging 113. Elliot Yeo ($481,200) and Tim Kelly ($500,000) are yet to hit their straps but should enjoy returning to Western Australia, while Dom Sheed ($487,900) doesn’t attract much fanfare but has three scores of 114+.

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Originally published as Doctor’s Orders: Top KFC SuperCoach trade targets in WA hub