SuperCoach AFL stats dossier: Full CBAs, kick-ins, time on ground for round 14, captain tips for round 15

Exclusive Champion Data match-up stats reveal the easiest, and hardest, opponents every round. Who can take advantage in round 15? Plus full CBAs, kick-ins and more.

Marcus Bontempelli tested his owners’ trust as a SuperCoach captain last round, but expend a major rebound on Sunday.

Match-up data reveals The Bont is primed for a bounce-back game against Richmond – the Tigers have conceded the third-most points to midfielders this year, and the two teams ranked below them (West Coast and Melbourne) both have the bye this week.

Bontempelli has played Richmond 11 times across his career, and he averages 128 in those games – clearly the most of any opponent. In their past three encounters, he averages 137.

Still need convincing? Recent midfield scores against Richmond include Isaac Heeney 123, Tom Green 115, Zach Merrett 156, Luke Davies-Uniacke 117 and Jai Newcombe 123.

And there is no Marcus Windhager on the Tigers’ list.

SCROLL DOWN FOR FULL CBAs, KICK-INS AND TIME ON GROUND STATS

One potential spanner is these teams meet in the last game of the round, so Bontempelli is a captain only, with no fall-back. And there might be an even better option in that game.

The Tigers are also ranked 16th for giving up points to general defenders, and these are some recent scores from rebounding half-backs against the Tigers: Nick Blakey 146, Nic Martin 163, Ryan Maric 126, Changkuoth Jiath 135. Hello, Bailey Dale.

If neither of those Dogs take your fancy, Ed Richards has a three-round average of 129.7 and scored 163 last time these teams met. Of interest, Sam Darcy scored 113 that night, kicking four goals in his 14th career game.

But you don’t have to back in a Bulldog this week. Even with Max Gawn on a bye, there are still a host of excellent VC and C options as revealed by Champion Data’s match-up numbers.

Marcus Bontempelli has a three-round average of 91. Picture: Michael Klein

WHO TO TARGET THIS WEEK

Midfielders v Richmond, Collingwood, North Melbourne, Geelong: Carlton mids should also fill their boots, with George Hewett the top pick after he put up 171 against the Kangaroos in round 6 (he’s great value at $537k if you need a premium midfielder). When the Cats and Lions met in round 3 Will Ashcroft scored 136 but Lachie Neale managed only 71. Essendon is a mid-table match-up for midfielders but last week they gave up 155 points to Max Holmes and 41 disposals to Bailey Smith. Andrew Brayshaw has scored 137, 129 and 132 in his past three against the Bombers and is having a career-best year.

Rucks v Geelong, Richmond, Carlton, St Kilda: Tristan Xerri hit the wall in the final quarter last week but he still has a five-round average of 144 and Carlton is the fifth-best ruck match-up this year. In round 6 Xerri scored 144 against Tom De Koning. If you are a lucky Luke Jackson owner, he’ll be rucking solo against Essendon first-gamer Vigo Visentini after the Dockers decided to manage Sean Darcy.

Luke Jackson's #SuperCoach average this season by centre bounce attendance.

More than 70% CBAs - 134.2 (six games)
Less than 70% CBAs - 91.5 (four games)

Let's hope we see him in there plenty tonight.

— SuperCoach Bandit (@SC__Bandit) June 18, 2025

General defenders v Gold Coast, St Kilda, Richmond, Collingwood: Rebounders have been the most reliable scorers this year and best four match-ups are all in action this weekend. Lachie Whitfield played 100 per cent of game time in defence last week after Adam Kingsley experimented with him as a forward, and last time he played the Suns he scored 137. It should also be a good week for Saints pair Jack Sinclair and Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, who scored 120 against Collingwood last year. Curiously, Sinclair averages 89 in his past three against the Pies.

WHO TO AVOID THIS WEEK

Midfielders v Brisbane, Gold Coast, Western Bulldogs, Fremantle: Bailey Smith has missed the ton only twice this year, and one of them was against the Lions in round 3. Max Holmes scored 127 that day. St Kilda is the seventh-hardest match-up for midfielders and surely Nick Daicos has a Marcus Windhager-sized target on his back.

Rucks v Brisbane, Sydney, North Melbourne: Tom De Koning scored a flat 100 against the Roos in round 6.

General defenders v Carlton, GWS Giants, Essendon, Geelong: Some tough match-ups for popular SuperCoach picks this round including Colby McKercher, Caleb Daniel, Jordan Clark and Dayne Zorko.

AL’S TOP CAPTAIN PICKS

1. Marcus Bontempelli

2. Luke Jackson

3. Bailey Dale

4. Tristan Xerri

5. Andrew Brayshaw

SUPERCOACH STATS: MUST-SEE NUMBERS FOR XERRI, MERRETT, ROOKIES

When making trade decisions in SuperCoach, player roles are all important.

Knowing how a player fits into a team’s game plan can give you a vital edge when making calls between players, including rookies who are new to the AFL scene.

And that data shows some cheapies who emerged in round 14 have exactly the roles we want to see in SuperCoach.

Giants midfielder Harry Rowston ($119k MID) scored 79 points at the weekend on the back of 20 centre bounce attendances – No.2 at GWS behind Finn Callaghan, who attended 28 in his return from injury.

Meanwhile, Tom McCarthy ($99k DEF-MID) stepped straight into the role of West Coast’s No.1 kick-in taker in his AFL debut, taking 10 and playing on from all of them.

Curiously, Ryan Maric took one kick-in – his first in three weeks – but Tyrell Dewar lost his kick-in role against the Blues.

Harry Rowston was thrown in the centre bounce mix in his ninth AFL game. Picture: Phil Hillyard

It comes after Bombers cheapie Zak Johnson, who was traded into more than 60,000 SuperCoach teams last week, took five kick-ins against Geelong, the first of his AFL career.

Champion Data’s weekly SuperCoach stats report also reveals:

ZACH Merrett took zero kick-ins after taking 11 over the past three rounds. He was back in the centre square, attending 20 CBAs against Geelong. He had 29 disposals and scored 100 SuperCoach points despite some close attention from Oisin Mullin.

A BOOST in CBAs for Sean Darcy, who took more of the ruck load from Luke Jackson on Saturday night. Darcy attended 48 ruck contests to Jackson’s 46, winning 23 hitouts (12 to advantage) while Jackson won 17 (2). Tristan Xerri had to battle solo all night for the Kangaroos, attending a whopping 85 ruck contests for 36 hitouts (10 to advantage).

GEORGE Hewett stepped up his centre square minutes with Sam Walsh out injured, with a 23 per cent spike in CBAs.

See the big movers and sliders in round 14 and search every player in the table below.

Originally published as SuperCoach AFL stats dossier: Full CBAs, kick-ins, time on ground for round 14, captain tips for round 15