The draftees who should be on your 2020 SuperCoach cash cow radar
Ball-magnets, mature-age guns, elite kicks and big-bodied midfielders, The Phantom takes an early look at the potential SuperCoach cash cows – and their numbers – from this year’s draft.
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The Phantom takes an early look at the potential SuperCoach cash cows - and their numbers - from this year’s AFL draft.
LOCK THEM IN
Matt Rowell
Gold Coast (Pick No. 1)
Likely price (approx): $210,000
Thought Sam Walsh had a good SuperCoach season in his first year?
The output of this kid might be even better.
Like Walsh, Rowell has enjoyed a near-perfect junior career, dominating at all levels.
The strong-bodied, well-balanced midfielder averaged 32 disposals, 17 contested possessions and 171 SuperCoach points in the NAB League last season and 133 points for Vic Metro at the under-18 national carnival.
All going to plan, he’ll be there for the Suns in Round 1 and with a big role to play.
Don’t even worry about the top rookie price tag.
Will Gould
Sydney (No. 26)
Likely price (approx): $117,300
The ready-made defender, who played an important role in Glenelg’s drought-breaking grand final win, could play 22 games next year without a problem.
Gould, 18, delivered with precision from the back-half and knocked around some of his more senior opponents in the SANFL, averaging 19 disposals and 89 SuperCoach points per game at the top-level in SA.
He’s worked hard to improve his fitness since the combine wake-up call and could slot straight into the Swans’ defence, allowing – potentially – for the long-awaited full-time midfield move of Callum Mills.
Of all the teenagers drafted, Gould, who stands at 191cm and 98kg, appears the most AFL-ready behind Rowell.
PENCIL THEM IN
Jackson Mead
Port Adelaide (No. 25)
Likely price (approx): $117,300
At 184cm and 83kg - and with terrific versatility in his game - the father-son prospect is a strong chance to see early action at the Power in 2020.
A smart and skilful midfielder, who wins the ball at the contest and away from it, Mead averaged 21 disposals and 106 SuperCoach points for South Australia and 20 disposals, eight marks and 101 points for the Eagles at reserves level in the SANFL.
But Mead is also strong overhead and it’s his ability as a forward which is likely to see him in the Round 1 conversation in the club’s 150th year.
Mitch Hibberd
Essendon (Rookie draft)
Likely price (approx): $150,000
The 23-year-old failed to make it playing predominantly as a defender for North Melbourne but after being delisted at the end of last year, Hibberd turned himself into tall, big-bodied running midfielder in the VFL in 2019.
Playing for Williamstown, the 191cm Tasmanian averaged 24 disposals, seven tackles and 128 SuperCoach points per game to be named on a wing in the VFL’s team of the year.
And he fills a need at the Bombers.
“Throughout this whole period we were looking for a ready-made inside midfielder and we believe we have found one in Mitch,” list boss Adrian Dodoro said following the rookie draft.
Hayden Young
Fremantle (No. 7)
Likely price (approx): $180,000
Any kid who mentions playing kick-to-kick to get the SuperCoach points up – even if as a joke – in their first interview as an AFL player, becomes an instant favourite.
And, as is the case with Young, it’s even better if they’ve got the runs on the board at junior level.
The damaging left-footer, who ranked first for intercept possessions and second for metres gained, averaged 107 points at the national under-18 championships for Vic Country.
Young, regarded as the best kick in this year’s draft class, went even bigger in the NAB League, averaging 129 points per game.
Sam Flanders
Gold Coast (No. 11)
Likely price (approx): $160,000
Next season, the Suns won’t be short on talented young midfielders and, with the inclusion of Hugh Greenwood, players who win the ball at the contest.
But Flanders’ ability as a strong-marking, explosive forward with great goal sense – in the mould of Demon Christian Petracca and Sydney’s Luke Parker in the early-part of his career – will see the 18-year-old jostling for a Round 1 debut.
Flanders has averaged 100 SuperCoach points or more at every level over the past two years, with the 121-point mark, on the back 23 disposals and 1.1 goals per game, for Gippsland in the NAB League the standout.
WATCH CLOSELY
Noah Anderson
Gold Coast (No. 2)
Likely price (approx): $200,000
With Rowell a lock, can SuperCoaches really afford to pick the two most-expensive rookies?
It’s not usually part of the plan but Anderson might convince us otherwise over the pre-season.
The 188cm midfielder averaged 25 disposals and two goals in the NAB League this year, joining Tiger Jack Higgins, Brisbane’s Hugh McCluggage and Bomber Devon Smith as the only players to achieve this feat in the junior competition.
It’s no surprise, Anderson finished with a 143-point SuperCoach average.
The very slight chance of forward-status is the key.
Deven Robertson
Brisbane (No. 22)
Likely price (approx): $117,000
SuperCoaches – and Brisbane – will be happy the WA under-18 captain slid to No. 22 on draft night.
Instead of being priced at $150k or more as a top-10 selection, Robertson, who broke Sam Walsh’s disposal record at the national carnival, will be at the bottom-end of rookie-pricing. And the tough midfielder, who averaged 128 SuperCoach points for WA and 153 at WAFL Colts level, is ready.
A strong Lions midfield will be the only thing getting in his way.
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Harry Schoenberg
Adelaide (No. 24)
Likely price (approx): $117,000
It might be a similar story for Schoenberg at the Crows, especially with the likely emergence of Chayce Jones and Ned McHenry next year.
But, given a need for a refresh in the middle, the Croweater, who averaged 27 disposals, five marks, five tackles and 122 SuperCoach points at the national carnival, will be around the mark early.
His hands are brilliant at the contest and Schoenberg, who averaged 128 points at SANFL under-18 level, also wins plenty of football on the spread.
Caleb Serong
Fremantle (No. 8)
Likely price (approx): $175,000
Serong, who has drawn comparison to Port Adelaide’s Robbie Gray, ranked fourth for clearances and fifth for contested possessions in the NAB League, where he averaged 129 points per game.
He’ll be a popular SuperCoach name in the future, but can he break into the Fremantle midfield during his debut season?
Tom Green
GWS (No. 26)
Likely price (approx): $165,000
After averaging 16.2 contested possessions per game at the 2019 under-18 national carnival – the most ever-recorded by Champion Data – and 111 points, Green is a SuperCoach star in the making.
But can the 18-year-old, who could develop into a Patrick Cripps-like midfielder, break into the Giants line-up early in 2020?
MIGHT SURPRISE
Dylan Stephens
Sydney (No. 5)
Likely price (approx): $190,000
Stephens won’t come cheap but, despite his slight frame, showed he can mix it with the big bodies, averaging 18 disposals and 82 SuperCoach points at senior level in the SANFL.
Jake Riccardi
GWS (No. 51)
Likely price (approx): $117,300
After booting 38 goals in 2019, the 195cm forward won the Fothergill-Round-Mitchell medal as the VFL’s best young player. Bayley Fritsch (Melb), Luke Ryan (Freo), Nic Newman (Carl), Kane Lambert (Rich), Michael Hibberd (Melb) and Michael Barlow are other players to win this award since 2009.
Chad Warner
Sydney (No. 39)
Likely price (approx): $117,300
The midfielder with a huge appetite for the contest, who averaged a huge 156 SuperCoach points per game at WAFL Colts level in 2019, might get a chance to push his case over summer.
Ben Keays
Adelaide (Rookie Draft)
Likely price (approx): $250,000
He was drafted as a midfielder but Keays played exclusively as a forward in the NEAFL in 2019, averaging 20 disposals, three tackles and 2.7 goals per game.
And Adelaide’s pressure inside 50 last season was poor.
Originally published as The draftees who should be on your 2020 SuperCoach cash cow radar
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