SuperCoach AFL 2024: Bolters and busts from pre-season matches
Who shot into SuperCoach calculations after the practice matches, and who is on shaky ground? Experts name 11 bolters and nine busts from the community series.
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You can’t beat form.
SuperCoach players spend the summer pulling apart last year’s numbers and analysing statistics in the hope of uncovering clues about which players will dominate this season.
But sometimes it’s simple as watching someone dominate a pre-season game on the eve of round 1.
Who is entering the season in red-hot form and must be considered for our SuperCoach teams this year? And who is out of sorts or battling injury, flashing a big warning sign for coaches who have selected them?
Scroll down to catch up on who's hot and who's cold with just days until the first lockout of 2024.
STOCKS UP
ZAC FISHER $378,600 FWD
Twelve disposals and four intercepts in the first quarter against St Kilda confirmed what most SuperCoaches already thought, and by the final siren 36 touches put it beyond doubt – Fisher is set to pig out in defence in the same way Jack Ziebell and Aaron Hall did in recent years. It’s worth remembering Ross Lyon has never given much credence to manning up backline distributors – remember last season when Luke Ryan (171 points), Brennan Cox (154) and Hayden Young (137) went huge against the Saints? Ziebell and Hall both became SuperCoach relevant after storming into a North defence which is often under siege. On the evidence from Sunday, having to share some backline ball with Colby McKercher and Harry Sheezel isn’t going to hurt Fisher’s scoring. He might start as F1 in a few SuperCoach teams, which says as much about this year’s forward pool as it does Fisher’s positional switch.
TIM ENGLISH $715,100 RUC
Remember this guy? All pre-season the talk has been about the return of the set and forget Gawn/Grundy duo but English reminded SuperCoaches why he was the best ruckman of 2023 by more than 300 points. The Bulldogs big man showed his scoring hasn’t been affected by a few off-season issues which interrupted his preparations for 2024, scoring 134 points in the Community Series – 69 more than Grundy. English logged 15 disposals, seven tackles and 26 hitouts against the Hawks. Suddenly the talk isn’t about set and forget but whether Grundy is really worth the $230k discount you get from overlooking English. If the difference between Grundy and English is 20 points a week, you’ll have to ensure you spend those savings wisely to avoid being left behind.
NICK DAICOS $650,000 DEF/MID
In case you have been living under a SuperCoach rock, Daicos has an early bye (round 5) and will probably get tagged by his nemesis Finn Maginness in round 4. So, yes, there are reasons to try and get away with waiting until round 6 for him. But there’s also one big reason not to wait. He’s probably the best footballer in the AFL. If he hadn’t clashed knees with James Blanck in round 21 last year when he scored 41, Daicos wouldn’t be available as a defender and would probably cost close to $700k. Daicos had 21 disposals and scored 102 in 57 per cent game time against the Tigers in an ominous warning to coaches fading him.
ERROL GULDEN $622,100 MID
Oh, Errol, I would give anything to be able to fit you into my SuperCoach team. Well, almost anything. Those two pesky byes in the first 12 rounds make Gulden hard to start with, but who knows how many points he will have scored by then and what his price could be if you’re thinking he’s a round 13 trade target coming off the second bye. He racked up 24 disposals, kicked a goal, laid nine tackles and seven marks against Brisbane, while also attending 11 centre bounces as John Longmire reshapes the midfield without Mills, Parker and Adams after he was injured. Gulden scored a team-high 133 points and has a strong case to be considered one of the game’s most rounded midfielders. He just does it all. And very well.
NIC MARTIN $492,800 MID
No surprise to see the Bombers dasher’s ownership surge to 17 per cent by Sunday afternoon after a blistering display against the Cats. As The Phantom pointed out, Martin might be streaming from defence, but he is far more than a ‘seagull’ eyeing off uncontested possessions. He had 28 disposals, took 11 marks, kicked two goals and tallied 109 points against the Cats. The question everyone is asking now is, can he be a top-six defender? Why not. He’ll be DEF-MID by round 7 barring a huge role shift. It boggles the mind how Essendon got a player of Martin’s class as a SSP signing a few years ago. Forward, wing, defence. Wherever he plays, he looks like a natural.
MAX GAWN $583,700 RUC
The main questioned being asked after the Demons skipper monstered Marc Pittonet was, how is he only in 50 per cent of teams? It’s now more than 57 per cent but plenty would argue that is still unders. Gawn was on more than 100 SuperCoach points by halftime, finished with 185 and played only 74 per cent game time. He had 24 disposals, five marks, kicked two goals, seven intercepts and 30 hitouts. Look out, Tim English. Gawn is coming for the No.1 SuperCoach ruck mantle in 2024.
RILEY BONNER $284,500 MID
Who would have thought Bonner would be a genuine SuperCoach option this year after being signed by St Kilda as what seemed backline insurance. It’s hard to know exactly how many stocks we should be buying when he has dominated in pre-season with Jack Sinclair not in the team. Of course, there’s also the possibility Ross Lyon unleashes Sinclair as a midfielder and uses Bonner and Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera as his defensive quarterbacks. Bonner had 30 disposals, seven marks and 127 points against North Melbourne on Sunday. He’s MID only which hurts, but one factor mitigating the risk is there’s so many other similarly-priced options; if Bonner doesn’t work out after a few rounds you could flip him to Fyfe, Harmes or any other the other players in that price range. Bonner’s job security will almost certainly be boosted by a lengthy suspension to Jimmy Webster for his late hit on Jy Simpson, too.
TOUK MILLER $545,500 MID
Quite incredible to consider one of the best SuperCoach scorers of the past four years hasn’t been getting more love this pre-season at a discounted price of $545k. So much focus has been on Sam Flanders but Miller is only $51k more expensive with a history which includes 120 averages. Miller posted 116 points despite GWS dominating the Suns, racking up 33 disposals, 16 contested possessions and a goal. His price is only set to rise once before the tricky round 3 bye but there’s a strong case to start Miller regardless. Damien Hardwick doesn’t appear to see Miller as a half-forward, the position where he was shunted under interim coach Steven King last year.
JAMES JORDON $275,500 MID/FWD
No Callum Mills. No Luke Parker. And now no Taylor Adams for a month. Sydney’s recruitment of James Jordon as a free agent is looking better by the week. Jordon had six CBAs against Brisbane but has shown he doesn’t need to be at the coalface to score well. He had eight turnovers from 31 disposals and still scored 115 points – so there’s arguably real upside if he can be cleaner with the ball, which was a strength of Jordon’s at Melbourne. Jordon was in more than 50,000 SuperCoach teams by Sunday afternoon as his ownership was still rising as more and more coaches move towards a mid-price forward line structure.
KARL AMON $483,300 MID
The defensive distributor role is real. Amon had 28 disposals against the Dogs, of which 24 were kicks and eight were kick-ins. A score of 96 points was slightly underwhelming considering his stats, but at this time of year SuperCoaches should be looking for confirmation of roles rather than scores. Amon provided exactly that and although there is a risk Sam Mitchell could reassess and send him back to a wing, that appears a long shot as it stands with Amon getters looming as an important part of the Hawks’ backline. His stocks haven’t soared as high as Nic Martin, but there might be a case for picking both considering how important backline ball winners have become in SuperCoach.
DARCY PARISH $604,200 MID
There are 13 more midfielders who are $600,000-plus who are more popular than Parish, and on Friday’s evidence you have to wonder why. The talk out of Tullamarine has been that Parish has blitzed pre-season and that flowed into the clash against Geelong – the team Parish has been linked with several times during his career. He had 34 disposals, which is about par for the course with Parish, but more impressively went at 82 per cent disposal efficiency. Parish was Essendon’s top SuperCoach scorer with 123 points at the Cattery. The knock on him in the past has been that he often needs 30 disposals just to hit 100 points. If he can continue going at 80 per cent DE or better, that will change quickly. Those who thought Parish might start the season as a POD will be slightly miffed.
STOCKS DOWN
JACK MACRAE $558,400 MID-FWD
When SuperCoach positions were announced late last year Macrae looked like one of the easiest selections of the season. With so many of last year’s high-scoring forwards being designated as midfielders for 2024, Macrae earning FWD-MID status was a SuperCoach gift. After all, this was a player who averaged at least 115 from 2018-2022. But things haven’t gone to plan since then, with the Bulldogs veteran battling hamstring issues as teammates like prized draftee Ryley Sanders stake their claims for centre square roles in his absence. Macrae will enter round 1 without a pre-season hitout at the top level, and coaches are taking the chance to dive into the bargain bin with a plethora of mid-price and rookie options up forward.
FINLAY MACRAE $152,600 FWD
It’s been a tricky pre-season for the Macrae family. The Collingwood youngster lit up early scratch matches to the point teammate Isaac Quaynor declared he was on track for “world record” numbers in an intra-club game. That prompted many SuperCoaches to pencil him as one of the most promising forward line rookies – until the Pies played close to their best 23 against Richmond last week. The 21-year-old showed he had no difficulty getting his hands on the ball, the only problem was he didn’t come off the bench until the third quarter. That makes him an ideal candidate for the sub vest early. Don’t rule him out completely – he could still be a great option at some stage, but it might not be in our starting squads.
BRODIE GRUNDY $481,900 RUC
The logic all points to Grundy being one of the best value picks in SuperCoach this year. Priced at an 86 average, Grundy averaged at least 103 from 2018-22, and over 115 in four of those seasons. The partnership with Max Gawn clearly didn’t work, but in a three-game stretch early last year when Gawn was injured he scored 143, 144 and 128. Now he’s the No.1 man again at the Swans, and at the ruck-friendly SCG. On the other hand, he scored a lacklustre 65 points against the Lions last week. History tells us not to read too much into a single practice match, and it’s worth noting Grundy played just 60 per cent of game time and the Swans played Peter Ladhams and Hayden McLean in the same game, which is an unlikely tactic in the real season. The bigger issue might be the pre-season has thrown up a number of other great options from the Swans, which could be a problem when they have a bye in Round 5 alongside Collingwood. Could Grundy be the one you fade? With no shortage of other great ruck options, it’s something to think about when the Swans play in Opening Round.
DAN CURTIN $175,800 DEF/MID
Playing in a SANFL trial game is hardly what SuperCoaches wanted to see from the Crows’ top-10 draftee. It was widely assumed he would walk straight into a backline hit hard by injury but Adelaide has made it clear it plans to take a cautious approach with its new star. The form of James Borlase in pre-season is another reason Curtin is likely to start in the state league. He might be a get-out trade option if one of the $200-300k players many coaches are starting stagnates, but isn’t worth starting at an elevated rookie price.
JAMES SICILY $637,400 DEF
The Hawks captain was trying to stay positive after backline partner James Blanck went down with a season-ending knee injury in February. “I don’t know it yet, but there will be some sort of silver lining out of him missing. It creates an opportunity for someone else,” he said. That positivity must have been tested when Denver Grainger-Barras had surgery for “turf toe” barely days later. The Hawks have signed rookie Ethan Phillips to hold down full-back and allow Sicily to play the intercepting role we love in SuperCoach, but it’s easy to imagine a situation where Sam Mitchell has to throw his captain onto a rampaging opposition key forward. He stood next to Rory Lobb in the Hawks’ final practice match and scored 52 points. Most rivals don’t have third forwards that big, but it’s enough to put many off spending $637k.
ANDREW BRAYSHAW $608,900 MID
How many Fremantle midfielders can you pick? Hayden Young is a popular SuperCoach option after moving into the guts, Caleb Serong has established himself as a fantasy star and Nat Fyfe is all the rage again. Will Brayshaw get squeezed out of the Dockers’ centre bounce setup, and SuperCoach teams? Brayshaw attended 13 centre bounces in the Dockers’ final practice match against Port Adelaide, compared to 20 for Young and 19 each for Fyfe and Serong. Even if he starts on a wing his huge tank will still allow him to rack up stats, and SuperCoach points, but Brayshaw might not present the upside we might have thought.
SAM FLANDERS $494,200 MID-FWD
It takes a lot of willpower to ignore the SuperCoach scores and focus on a player’s role in pre-season games, but that’s exactly what we should be doing. After all, points from the community series won’t help anyone claim the $50,000 SuperCoach prize. On that score, Flanders delivered exactly what his fans were hoping for, getting healthy centre bounce action and involved in transition in the forward half against GWS. So – ignoring his score of 65 points – what’s the problem? Apart from some uncertainty around whether he can hit the heights of the back end of last year under Damien Hardwick’s low-possession game style, the biggest worry is teammate Alex Sexton. If you start him on field in the forward line, which many will in his new half-back role, picking Flanders as well would leave you two players short in the forward line when Gold Coast has the bye in round 3. Could you watch his first three games and target him with an early trade if he takes off?
LUKE DAVIES-UNIACKE $635,100 MID
Have we mentioned not to worry about SuperCoach points in pre-season games? Stars often roll around in second or third gear and as long as they have the right role, the points shouldn’t matter. But ... 36 points is not very many. Giving away six free kicks didn’t help. Hopefully LDU was just blowing out the cobwebs and will hit round 1 firing as he did last year.
CONNOR BUDARICK $301,200 DEF
The Suns small defender returned from two ACLs in the final two rounds last season and put up scores of 83 and 71 to catch the eye of astute SuperCoaches. That interest skyrocketed when Budarick said new coach Damien Hardwick had earmarked him to play a “Jayden Short” role off half-back this season. That screamed value, but there might be better options available based on Gold Coast’s final practice match. Will Powell returned from injury and took eight kick-ins on his way to 98 points, while pre-season sensation Alex Sexton helped himself to six and 125 SuperCoach points. Budarick was the third wheel with just one kick-in, 20 disposals and 63 points.
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