Sam Mitchell hamstring injury creates SuperCoach dilemma

SAM Mitchell’s hamstring injury is not just a blow for Hawthorn. More than 122,000 SuperCoach players are now facing a dilemma.

Sam Docherty after his arrival at Visy Park.

SAM Mitchell’s hamstring injury is not just a blow for Hawthorn. More than 122,000 SuperCoach players are now facing a dilemma.

Injuries to key players are never welcome but this one couldn’t have come at a worse time.

On the eve of the bye rounds, the obvious move of swapping Mitchell for another star defender is not so clear-cut; any player traded in now is guaranteed to miss one of the next three weeks.

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Whether you make the move will depend largely on how well your team is placed over the bye rounds, and where you sit on your private league ladder(s).

Remember that only our best 18 players’ scores count towards your total from Rounds 8-10, and we also have three trades a week to help manage the bye minefield.

Most coaches will struggle to field 18 this weekend with a long list of popular picks (Ablett, Pendlebury, Beams, Dangerfield, Cotchin and Luke McDonald, to name a few) taking the weekend off.

Sam Mitchell is set to miss eight weeks with a hamstring injury.

Does that mean we put the cue in the rack and just take what fate deals us — or do we turn a crisis into an opportunity and pounce while our league rivals are weakest? We say the second one!

One silver lining is that there are a host of good options down back to replace Mitchell (who will miss up to eight weeks), and most of them don’t have the bye this weekend.

They will be missing in either Round 9 or 10 but most SuperCoaches will have much better cover in those rounds — and we have the chance to improve that situation with those bonus trades (for example by trading out Jeremy Laidler before Sydney’s bye in Round 10 and replacing him with a rookie who has already had his bye, thereby dodging a donut).

If you’re ready to roll the dice, here are the top trade options. We’ve grouped them by their bye so you can pick someone from the group that gives you the best bang for your buck.

ROUND 9 BYE GUNS

Shaun Burgoyne (Haw) $490,800 def/mid

Average: 106

Value: +$31,200

VERDICT: An easy swap that doesn’t involve changing your bye strategy. Burgoyne has scored below 96 only once in seven matches and is a DPP. The only word of caution is a 128 in the Hawks’ walloping of St Kilda has pushed up his average.

Kade Simpson (Carl) $511,700

Average: 99

Value: - $1500

VERDICT: Simpson is flying the flag for the struggling Blues, averaging 110 over the past month. If Carlton’s form improves he should get some more easy kicks.

Heath Shaw (GWS) $519,800

Average: 96

Value: - $2800

VERDICT: The most consistent defender in recent years has flown under the radar at GWS but showed he’s still got it with 134 against Gold Coast.

Grant Birchall (Haw) $452,200

Average: 91

Value: - $44,400

VERDICT: Burnt a few coaches last year but that price is attractive considering he has scored at least 80 in all but two games.

Andrew Walker (Carl) $491,900

Average: 89

Value: - $80,600

VERDICT: Suffering post breakout year blues but has hit his stride with scores of 101, 94 and 109 in the past three weeks. He averaged 106 points a game in 2013.

Heath Shaw in GWS colours.

ROUND 10 BYE GUNS

Cale Hooker (Ess) $475, 100

Average: 101

Value: + $57,600

VERDICT: One of the surprise packets of the season, he has transformed into an attacking defender averaging 24 disposals and 11 marks a game.

Michael Hibberd (Ess) $531,700

Average: 102

Value: +$14,400

VERDICT: Mr Reliable. If you don’t like stressing about your score all weekend, Hibberd is your man. Has scored between 84 and 124 in every game, with five of those from 96-112.

Jarrad McVeigh (Syd) $551,100 def/mid

Average: 105

Value: -$21,400

VERDICT: A little pricier than Mitchell but still great value for a player with a 120-point average over his past three games. With a breakeven of 79, he won’t be this price for long.

Nick Malceski (Syd) $508,100

Average: 99

Value: +$18,500

VERDICT: Like the Swans but short on cash? Malceski averages 107 over his past four.

Rhyce Shaw (Syd) $404,000

Average: 81

Value: + $104,600

VERDICT: This would be a gamble. Averages 109 over his past three but did throw in an 18 in Round 2.

Sam Docherty after his arrival at Visy Park.

TRADING DOWN

Rather than replacing Mitchell with a player who you hope will deliver a similar number of points each week, another option is to swap him for a bargain basement player and use the money to upgrade to a superstar elsewhere.

There aren’t a lot of ripe rookies, but these guys could do the job (and could also serve as handy replacements for Kangaroo Luke McDonald, who is ripe for trading on the eve of his bye after a $111,600 price rise):

Joel Tippett (NM) $123,900

Games: 2. Average: 42

Bye: Round 8

VERDICT: Has the bye this week so that doesn’t really help us.

Jonathan O’Rourke (GWS) $123,900

Gamnes: 2. Average: 44

Bye: Round 9

VERDICT: Was subbed off last weekend which had alarm bells ringing but if he’s named on Thursday night he could be traded in to a lot of teams.

Angus Litherland (Haw) $125,900

Games: 2. Average: 26

Bye: Round 9

VERDICT: His scores don’t excite us and the Hawks like to rotate their kids. Pass.

Darcy Gardiner (BL) $139,600

Games: 3. Average: 40

Bye: Round 10

VERDICT: Played his third game last weekend but still affordable after scores of 48, 36 and 36. Job security seems OK.

Sam Docherty (Carl) $285,000

Games: 1. Average: 61

Bye: Round 9

VERDICT: Will cost a bit more than the guys above but should keep his place in the Blues’ backline after holding his own in a horrible loss to Collingwood.

Blake Acres (StK) $127,300

Games: 1. Average: 59.

VERDICT: Another one-gamer, Acres faces a baptism of fire in a 145-point loss to Hawthorn and wasn’t the Saints’ worst player. With a long injury list, the highly-rated West Australian should play plenty of games.

DUAL-POSITION SWING

If you are lucky (or smart) enough to have another def/mid player in your midfielder you can use Mitchell’s dual-position status to bring in another gun midfielder.

The move would look something like this:

1. Trade out Mitchell

2. On the trade screen move a def/mid player (such as Tom Langdon or Jarrad McVeigh) from your midfield to your defence — this does not use up a trade.

3. Trade in a midfielder to fill the vacancy.

With the cash gained from the Mitchell trade you could grab Matt Priddis, Brendon Goddard or Ryan Griffen.

Originally published as Sam Mitchell hamstring injury creates SuperCoach dilemma