Rookie Bible review: The best SuperCoach AFL cheapies of 2019

Before the search for the best SuperCoach rookies for 2020 begins, take a look back at the cash cows who paid off in 2019, and the misses that can help us avoid next year’s pitfalls. 38 ROOKIES REVIEWED

The 2019 season was filled with a host of profitable rookies that made lives a lot easier as SuperCoaches.

The “super draft” of 2018 gave us the likes of Sam Walsh, Connor Rozee and Xavier Duursma who excelled at the top level and proved to be valuable cash cows.

With the 2020 team picker almost here, the search for the best cheapies for next year’s SuperCoach teams is about to begin. What can we learn from the 2019 crop?

Opportunity plays a massive role. There was no better 2019 rookie than Reilly O’Brien. After Adelaide’s No.1 ruckman Sam Jacobs succumbed to injury, O’Brien stepped up and played 18 games, reaching a peak price of $544,200 – a yield of $407.4k – and finishing the year with a formidable average of 95.3.

Sam Walsh justified his high starting price.

But some of the best rookies came out of nowhere.

The pre-season supplemental selection period gave us Sydney Stack, who posted a SuperCoach ton in his debut game and made a truckload of cash throughout the season.

A move down back turned Darcy Moore into handy dual-position cash cow, while pocket rocket Gryan Miers was a fruitful money-maker for the very few SuperCoaches who took the punt on him.

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And for every rookie star, there were countless others who underperformed, got injured or were dropped undeservingly (I’m looking at you, Chris Scott).

When we look back at our rookies we’ll remember two things – how much money they made before we offloaded them, and how reliable they were as an on-field scorer.

These two factors are most important in the first half of the season, when our SuperCoach teams have more cash cows on the field and require the funds for upgrading and downgrading.

We have named the top 10 rookies for season 2019 on this basis, placing high priority on the early season work of these cash cows.

1. REILLY O’BRIEN (ADEL) $136.8K RUCK

Average: 95.3 (18 games)

Price rise (season): $359.4k

Peak price: $544k (R16)

While few would have fielded “ROB”, the cash he brought to our sides was invaluable. Those who held him beyond his whopping 181-point total in Round 13 were rolling in it as he surged past $500k.

2. SAM WALSH (CARL) $207.3K MID

Average: 86.9 (22 games)

Price rise (season): $191.5k

Peak price: $452.6k (R7)

This year’s Rising Star also was also a SuperCoach star, averaging 90 points until his bye including four 100-plus totals. Forking out the cash for Walsh was worth every penny as he remained a reliable on-field scorer — especially in the first half of the year. New No.1 draft pick Matt Rowell is tipped to provide similar output.

Sydney Stack was a mid-season revelation.

3. SYDNEY STACK (RICH) $102.4K MID

Average: 80 (17 games)

Price rise (season): $296.3k

Peak price: $447.8k (R17)

Stack’s 108 on debut was a sign of things to come as he hurtled towards $400k before Richmond’s bye. The youngster amassed five tons for the season and his low price as a SSP player was extremely beneficial. Harley Bennell is hoping to follow in Stack’s footsteps.

4. MARTY HORE (MELB) 117.3K DEF

Average: 70.6 (14 games)

Price rise (season): $144k

Peak price: $423.3k (R14)

Hore rewarded coaches who didn’t lose faith when he was dropped after Round 1. After returning to the Dees side in Round 4, Hore posted seven 85-plus scores in eight games as he made $300k on his starting price before their bye. His reliable scoring steadied many teams in the first half of the year.

5. CONNOR ROZEE (PORT) $189.3K DEF/FWD

Average: 77.7 (22 games)

Price rise (season): $234k

Peak price: $423.k (R23)

Some thought his high price was too much, but Rozee made the doubters pay with two tons in the opening six rounds. His DPP flexibility was an added bonus and he played every game for the season.

6. LIAM BAKER (RICH) $162.1K FWD

Average: 74.4 (16 games)

Price rise (season): $177.7k

Peak price: $373.2k (R12)

Liam Baker eclipsed 80 points in his first four games and quickly jumped to $373.2k by the Tigers’ bye. Another who more than lived up to his elevated rookie price, and showed you can have success with multiple rookies from one team.

7. GRYAN MIERS (GEEL) $123.9K FWD

Average: 67.3 (20 games)

Price rise (season): $228.5k

Peak price: $371.7k (R9)

A lesson in looking under every rock for the best rookies before Round 1. Miers was the rookie surprise of the year with the small forward owned by fewer than 5000 coaches at the beginning of the season. He appreciated $250k on his starting price by Round 9 and proved to be a fruitful rookie POD.

Gryan Miers was a surprise packet for the Cats.

8. DARCY MOORE (COLL) $239.4K DEF/FWD

Average: 74.7 (15 games)

Price rise (season): $124.4k

Peak price: $381.1k (R11)

Just sneaks into the “rookie” category based on his low starting price, and showed taking a risk on an injury-prone player can pay off. Didn’t make as much cash as most on this list but was a dependable scorer for most of the year – thanks to his tendency to sprint to the kick-in bag whenever a behind was scored. Moore reached 65 points or more in every game before the Pies’ bye, averaging 77.9 points until that point.

9. XAVIER DUURSMA (PORT) $130.8K DEF/MID

Average: 74 (20 games)

Price rise (season): $257.5k

Peak price: $388.3k (R23)

Didn’t score below 60 in first half of season and a century in Round 10 brought him over $380k by Round 13. His DPP status was a bonus, particularly for those who held him through the byes.

10. CALLUM WILKIE (STK) $124.9K DEF

Average: 70.7 (22 games)

Price rise (season): $248.8k

Peak price: $374.9k (R22)

Wilkie was another rookie POD after scoring dismally in pre-season games – JLT scores don’t mean everything. A Round 4 ton saw his price rise nearly $200k before his bye, with the 8000 owners who started with him laughing all the way to the bank.

Callum Wilkie proved a valuable pick-up for the Saints and SuperCoaches. Picture: Michael Klein

Jordan Clark’s season was cut short by an arm injury.

THE REST

DEFENCE

Noah Answerth (BL) 117.3k DEF/MID

Average: 62 (17 games)

Price rise (season): $234.6k

Peak price: $359.7k (R22)

Poor scores early on but finished the year strongly with four 75-plus scores in his last eight games.

Jordan Clark (Geel) $144.3k DEF

Average: 60.9 (18 games)

Price rise (season): $173.9

Peak price: $322.1k (R17)

Could throw up the odd stinker – failing to reach 50 points in five matches – but made close to $150k on his starting price by Geelong’s bye.

Jack Scrimshaw (Haw) $149.8k DEF

Average: 64.5 (10 games)

Price rise (season): $144.6k

Peak price: $315.2k (R8)

One of the most promising rookies before injury struck, climbing to $314.5k by Round 6.

Jay Lockhart (Melb) $102.4k DEF/MID

Average: 52.3 (12 games)

Price rise (season): $142.1k

Peak price: $302.4k (R16)

A low score of 18 and a high of 108 summed up his year. Managed to hit the $300k mark though, which is no mean feat.

Sam Collins (GC) $188.9k DEF

Average: 60.4 (9 games)

Price rise (season): $102.2k

Peak price: $311.6k (R6)

A fielding hazard but made it to $300k by Round 5 thanks to three 79-plus scores on the trot, before succumbing to injury.

Sam Collins at Gold Coast training.

Chris Burgess (GC) $123.9k DEF/FWD

Average: 48.9 (14 games)

Price rise (season): $145.8k

Peak price: $273.6k (R21)

A reminder never to pick key-position cash cows. Burgess failed to reach 45 in six of his first seven games in the first half of the season – how he got over $270k late in the season is a mystery.

Patrick Naish (Rich) $123.9 DEF

Average: 72.5 (2 games)

Price rise (season): N/A

Peak price: N/A

Surely you lock in a cheapie who posts 78 points in his first game, right? Even a solid 67-point total in his second game couldn’t get Naish another game, and was left stranded with a break-even of -70.

Ryan Gardner (WB) $102.4k DEF/FWD

Average: 32 (2 games)

Price rise (season): N/A

Peak price: N/A

More than 25,000 teams went tempted the SuperCoach gods during the byes and traded in Gardner before he had played two games. Inevitably, he was dropped after a score of 22 in his second game.

MIDFIELDERS

Michael Gibbons (Carl) $102.4k MID

Average: 59.2 (21 games)

Price rise (season): $233.8k

Peak price: $346.6k (R19)

Gibbons’ early season form spelt trouble but a move into the midfield improved his scoring immensely, surpassing $300k before his bye. Just outside the top 10 considering his low starting price.

Zak Butters (Port) $157,800 MID/FWD

Average: 60.5 (19 games)

Price rise (season): $132.8k

Peak price: $334.6k (R14)

Had your heart in your mouth starting him on field, swinging from a 23 against Richmond to a 112 against the Saints.

Tom Atkins (Geel) $112,900 MID

Average: 60.3 (19 games)

Price rise (season): $195.5k

Peak price: $337.0k (R15)

Another success story from Stephen Wells’ mature-age production line, especially when he spent more time in the midfield in the middle of the season.

Charlie Constable (Geel) $123,900 MID

Average: 80 (7 games)

Price rise (season): $218.9k

Peak price: $342.8k (R9)

One of the best performing rookies in the early rounds but lost his place in the Cats team after Round 9 and couldn’t win it back. Gave us a very healthy price rise but it could have been more.

Jack Ross (Rich) $117,300 MID

Average: 62.6 (7 games)

Price rise (season): $130.1k

Peak price: $255.6k (R21)

Scored 87 and 89 in two of his first three games and was on track to be a major money maker when he copped an injury that ruled him out until the final couple of rounds.

Dylan Clarke (Ess) $147,800 MID

Average: 64.8 (11 games)

Price rise (season): $136.7k

Peak price: $315.9k (R15)

Couldn't repeat his 99 points in his first game in Round 11 but timed his run perfectly around the byes.

Dylan Clarke grabbed our attention by tagging Patrick Cripps.

Brett Bewley (Frem) $117,300 MID

Average: 51.7 (7 games)

Price rise (season): $114.9k

Peak price: $232.2k (R19)

Was one of the hyped rookies during the pre-season but we had to wait until Round 10 to see him. Another handy bye pick-up but never scored above 68.

Jackson Hately (GWS) $148,800 MID

Average: 61.7 (7 games)

Price rise (season): $95.8k

Peak price: $244.6k (R21)

Takes out the award as the most frustrating rookie of 2019. That wasn’t his fault - he showed early he could find the footy, but Leon Cameron just wouldn’t join the party.

Bailey Scott (NM) 4117,300 MID

Average: 54 (4 games)

Price rise (season): $55.5k

Peak price: $172.8k (R5)

Can’t blame more than 100,000 SuperCoach players from recruiting Scott after an impressive pre-season comp and a 103 in Round 1. Unfortunately his scores fell off a cliff and he wasn’t seen at senior level after Round 5.

RUCKS

Zac Clarke (Ess) $142,600 RUCK

Average: 63.4 (9 games)

Price rise (season): $163.7k

Peak price: $306.3k (R22)

Copped heat after some disappointing games early on but produced much better numbers later in the year. Still, didn’t really justify coughing up that little bit of extra cash for a rookie ruck

Darcy Fort (Geel) $117,300 RUCK

Average: 69.7 (3 games)

Price rise (season): $62.5k

Peak price: $179.8k (R14)

Some experts thought Fort could be Geelong’s No.1 ruckman and that didn’t quite work out, but he did score 105 in one of his three appearances.

Jordan Sweet/Blake Schlensog/Patrick Bines

The real SuperCoach heroes, providing a reliable and valuable zero that allowed coaches to take advantage of the vice-captain loophole. Could Darcy Cameron be that man in 2020?

FORWARDS

Willem Drew (Port) $123,900 FWD/MID

Average: 72.3 (10 games)

Price rise (season): $195.6k

Peak price: $322.4k (R7)

A fast-starter who started with a 103 and averaged 80 over the first five rounds.

Noah Balta (Rich) $123,900 FWD

Average: 47.5 (13 games)

Price rise (season): $130k

Peak price: $327k (R11)

Don’t believe everything you see in the pre-season. Balta jumped onto the radar with a triple-figure score in the JLT Series, then scored 18, 31 and 14 in his first three AFL games. Rewarded coaches who held him with a hot streak from Rounds 8-10 (82, 101, 83).

Jack Petruccelle kicked 23 goals for the Eagles in 2019.

Jack Petruccelle (WC) $123,900 FWD

Average: 50.9 (19 games)

Price rise (season): $108.2k

Peak price: $276.1k (R9)

Played most games which is more than you can say for most forward rookies but didn’t provide much in the way of on-field scoring unless you started him against Port Adelaide in Round 5 (100).

Will Setterfield (Carl) $144,900 FWD/MID

Average: 60.7 (18 games)

Price rise (season): $156.7k

Peak price: $340.9k (R20)

A slow burner who built into the season, peaking too late for most coaches who wanted to upgrade mid-season when he still had almost $100k to make.

SUPERCOACH NEXT STEP SERIES:

Is Crows youngster ready to breakout?

SuperCoach: St Kilda defender Hunter Clark is primed for a breakout season after an impressive finish to 2019

SuperCoach: There’s plenty of Sydney star Josh Kennedy in young Gold Coast midfielder Will Brodie

SuperCoach: Sydney defender Jordan Dawson is starting to translate his big NEAFL numbers to the top-level

Matt Parker (StK) $117,300 FWD

Average: 53.5 (17 games)

Price rise (season): $127.3k

Peak price: $265.1k (R16)

Hit peak ownership in Round 4 with almost 115,000 owners but his scores were typical for a small forward — mostly in the 40-60 range with occasional spikes. The trick is predicting them.

Robbie Young (StK) $117,300 FWD

Average: 39.7 (3 games)

Price rise (season): $21.9k

Peak price: $139.2k (R11)

Drafted as a mature-age recruit, Young had his moment in the sun when he kicked two goals against Collingwood on debut and produced 69 SuperCoach points. That was his career high as he managed just two more games and was delisted at the end of the year.

Originally published as Rookie Bible review: The best SuperCoach AFL cheapies of 2019