KFC SuperCoach Plus: The 11 things we learned in the pre-season

Round 1 is getting closer and KFC SuperCoaches are running out of time. From pre-season scores to positions changes and rookie intel, here are the 11 things you need to know.

The final round of pre-season action is here and Round 1 of KFC SuperCoach is getting closer.

To help you prepare, and get your final team in order, The Phantom has dug back through his pre-season notes, practice match scores and the key KFC SuperCoach Plus stats to make sure you are across everything you need to know.

SuperCoach Plus is a treasure trove of stats and tools including Break Evens, score and price projections, a bye planner, the new Trade Assist button and lots more. And now SuperCoach Plus subscribers can see live KFC SuperCoach scores for every AFL game in the 2022 season.

And you get exclusive weekly analysis articles just like this one!

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Jason Horne-Francis is a KFC SuperCoach lock. Picture: Kelly Defina/Getty Images)

1. The top-end rookies will be worth the price tag

Top draft picks Jason Horne-Francis ($207k MID) and Nick Daicos ($193k MID) are just as good as we thought they would be.

Kangaroos coach David Noble tried to tell KFC SuperCoaches otherwise, declaring Horne-Francis wasn’t in the Round 1 side “just yet” in early February. But just days later, Horne-Francis sat on a teammate’s shoulders and impressed during the intra-club hitout, before tallying 17 disposals, four clearances and 83 points – the third-highest for the Roos – in the practice match against Melbourne.

Daicos will play across halfback, and pinch hit through the midfield, after rotating through both roles with skipper Scott Pendlebury over summer. The 18-year-old, who has already been described as “an elite decision-maker” who “sees things that others don’t” by new Magpies coach Craig McRae, already looks comfortable at the level and is a chance to gain dual-position status early in the season.

In the forward line, Josh Rachele ($184k FWD-MID) has emerged as the top rookie option in a shallow pool. The young Crow finished with 17 disposals, five marks, three goals and 85 points in a side that was thumped by the Lions. He immediately improves Adelaide offensively and won’t need a lot of the ball to have an impact.

Then there’s Josh Sinn ($157k DEF-MID) and Dylan Stephens ($167k MID) to consider.

2. And you probably have to pick more than you usually would, too

Elijah Hollands ($123k FWD) played in the reserves trial last week, Greg Clark ($117k MID) hurt his shoulder, and Will Gould ($123k DEF) is, well, who knows what Swans coach John Longmire is thinking.

So you’re probably going to need to spend more money to get the right cash cows in 2022.

But Nathan O’Driscoll ($123k DEF-MID), Charlie Dean ($102k DEF) and Jackson Mead ($123k MID), along with the SPP signings James Tsitas ($102k MID), Nick Martin ($102k FWD) and Tex Wangeneen ($102k FWD) provide hope for basement-price picks. Let’s see what the AAMI Series throws up.

ROOKIE BIBLE: PROFILES AND VERDICT ON MORE THAN 80 CHEAPIES

PRACTICE MATCH INTEL: ALL THE KFC SUPERCOACH POINTS, KEY STATS

Stephen Coniglio presents plenty of KFC SuperCoach value in 2022. Picture: Mark Jesser/AFL Photos

3. The forward line value is real

Thankfully, however, there is plenty of value in the lower-mid-price bracket this year – especially in the forward line. Stephen Coniglio ($261k MID-FWD) had plenty of the ball against the Swans and will resume a more-permanent midfield role in 2022, after coach Leon Cameron confirmed Coniglio has spent 80 per cent of the pre-season with the midfield group.

Chris Fagan has been raving about Cam Rayner’s ($278k FWD) strength and power through the midfield over summer and he attended 12 centre bounces in the practice match against the Crows. Rayner only finished with 15 disposals, five marks and 41 points but the role is there and he was always going to be a little slow to get going after such a long injury lay-off.

Sun-turned-Docker Will Brodie ($224k FWD-MID) was anything but slow in the first start for his new club. The strong midfielder attended 19 centre bounces and tallied 28 disposals, nine clearances – the most on the ground – and 120 points against the Eagles. Coach Justin Longmiur likes Brodie’s strengths and looks set to make use of them this year, after the 23-year-old was starved of consistent opportunity at Gold Coast.

4. It would be brave to overlook Josh Dunkley

Sure, the forward line value is undeniable, but that doesn’t mean you should overlook the Bulldogs star. Yes, he struggled on return from injury last season but he scored 105, 109 and 84 in the finals and has taken his running to a new level over summer.

In the practice match against the Bombers, Dunkley ($558k MID-FWD) finished with a game-high 35 disposals, 12 clearances and 124 KFC SuperCoach points.

Zak Butters tackles Sam Powell-Pepper during Port Adelaide’s intra-club. Picture: Sarah Reed

5. Zak Butters the midfielder is here

The Port Adelaide young gun showed early last year – before injury – and over summer just why his speed, skill, attack on the ball and ability forward of centre instantly makes Ken Hinkley’s midfield more dangerous.

He’ll make KFC SuperCoach forward lines better, too. Butters ($443k FWD) dominated the intra-club before starring in the practice match, to finish with the 32 disposals, seven marks and a game-high 167 points. And he only attended five centre bounces against the Suns – look for that number to increase in the regular season.

6. George Hewett the midfielder has returned

When Blues skipper Patrick Cripps said Hewett ($399k DEF-MID) had come in and made a “big impact” in the midfield in early February, KFC SuperCoaches took notice.

He may have only averaged 73 points in his final year at the Swans – the lowest since his debut season of 2016 – but Hewett averaged 88 points playing and on-ball role in 2019.

So his 27-disposal, 99-point performance in the practice match wasn’t out of the blue. With Sam Walsh missing, Hewett attended the third-most centre bounces (14) against the Saints.

He’s unlikely to post numbers close to the star KFC SuperCoach midfielders, especially when Walsh returns, but, as a dual-position defender in 2022, he doesn’t need to.

Is Patrick Cripps back? Picture: Michael Klein

7. So has the old Patrick Cripps … maybe.

The Carlton skipper moved well through the midfield – something we haven’t said with conviction for a while – against the Saints, on his way to 27 disposals, eight clearances and 98 KFC SuperCoach points.

Hewett and high-profile recruit Adam Cerra have added much-needed support and the performance comes after what has been described by assistant coach Ash Hansen as a “faultless” pre-season.

Although cheaper than we’ve come to expect, Cripps is priced awkwardly at $454k. With so many rolled-gold stars to choose from above, and great top-priced rookie options below, where do you fit him in?

8. There’s even more KFC SuperCoach gold at Brisbane this year

Just above those top-end cheapie options sits injury-plagued Lion Jarrod Berry at $268k. Yep, the same Jarrod Berry who tallied a game-high 158 points, on the back of 25 disposals, five marks and three goals, in the practice match against the Crows.

The 24-year-old only played 11 games last year – many of them forward – after battling multiple injuries. But he posted six KFC SuperCoach scores of 120 or more in 15 games in 2020.

And watch Keidean Coleman’s ($263k DEF-FWD) role in the AAMI Series closely, after the talented 21-year-old averaged 85 points in his final three matches of last year, including finals, playing in defence.

Oh, and forget the concern over Lachie Neale’s position, he attended a team-high 23 centre bounces, on his way to 24 disposals and 144 points in the practice game.

Lachie Weller looks set to be the go-to man for Gold Coast in defence this year. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

9. We could have a new kick-in king

Coleman might take a few, following the retirement of Grant Birchall at Brisbane, but it might not be as many as Lachie Weller ($400k MID-FWD) at the Suns.

Port Adelaide did kick 19 behinds, but Weller, in a new role in defence following Jack Lukosius’ move forward and in the absence of Jack Bowes, played on with eight of 11 kick-ins.

But it wasn’t just bringing the ball back into play, with Weller impressing with his run-and-carry from halfback. He had 25 disposals in total, to finish with 111 KFC SuperCoach points – the third-most for the Suns.

10. Jake Kelly will help Jordan Ridley in KFC SuperCoach

Ridley ($537k DEF) may not get a monopoly on the kick-ins, like he did in his extraordinary start to last year, but the arrival of Kelly from the Crows looks set to free him up.

It’s been discussed over summer after the Bombers recruited Kelly, the defender who has only lost 35 of his 193 one-on-one contests since 2018 – ranked second in the competition during this time.

And in the practice match against the Bulldogs, it came to fruition, with Ridley playing with more freedom in a floating role, which enable him to take nine marks – most of them intercepts – on his way to 104 points.

11. BRAYSHAW BREAKOUT 2.0 IS ON

OK, it was against a depleted West Coast side. But you would have to be a very harsh marker not to have been impressed by Andrew Brayshaw’s outing. The Dockers on-baller amassed 139 KFC SuperCoach points against the Eagles and looks primed to go from an elite scorer to join the uber elite this year. It’s now just a matter of whether you can justify leaving out one of Jack Macrae, Jack Steele, Darcy Parish and Clayton Oliver to squeeze him in. Brayshaw opened last season with scores of 125 and 132 and showed his ceiling when he posted 190 points in Round 20. Speaking of breakouts, Brayshaw’s teammate Caleb Serong is showing all the signs of a player ready to go to the next level. Serong scored 113 in the rout of West Coast as he looks to build on scores of 115, 135 and 103 to end 2021. His price is awkward, but the rewards could be huge.

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Originally published as KFC SuperCoach Plus: The 11 things we learned in the pre-season