SuperCoach formguide: Best trade and captain tips to boost your team for Round 11

WE were on the money with Buddy, so see the rest of our SuperCoach tips that could set up your season. PLUS COACH CRAWF VIDEO

Round 10: Collingwood v West Coast Nic Naitanui Picture : Wayne Ludbey AFLR1014

IF YOU’RE reading this, it means you survived the three bye rounds in SuperCoach — congratulations!

We all took some hits along the way but hopefully those three trades per week were used to their best advantage and our teams look just about bulletproof.

JACK FLASH: SUPERCOACH MARKET WATCH

ROUND 10: SUPERCOACH STUDS AND DUDS

As Mick Malthouse likes to say, the SuperCoach season is a marathon, not a sprint, so any trades still in the bank should be guarded carefully.

But with 13 games to go, there is a case for one big bold move that could set you up for a shot at ultimate SuperCoach glory (or at least knocking off the supposed expert in the office, which is just about as good).

And it just so happens that four huge names present themselves this week that could do just that.

In this game you generally want guys who deliver consistent scores week-in, week-out; you can’t have too many players who go up and down like a yoyo or it will do your head in.

But if everyone else is doing OK you can get away with one roll of the dice, especially when bargain prices reduce the downside if things go pear-shaped.

Picking any one of these players is a huge risk and could blow up in our faces. But if it pays off it could lead you all the way to SuperCoach triumph.

Nic Naitanui (WC) $368,300 ruck

Break-even: 66

The numbers above don’t look like cause for excitement but there were glimpses at the MCG on Saturday of the old Nic Nat. If points were awarded for jumping on players’ heads and nearly taking the mark of the year, he would have scored a lot more than the 80 he was awarded. The big leaps were hopefully a sign Naitanui’s persistent groin problems are not troubling him so much these days, and he is $150,000 cheaper than he was in Round 1. With limited affordable ruck options, he could be worth a punt.

Taylor Walker (Adel) $299,500 fwd

Break-even: 66

Tex is ready to jump in price after playing two games on return from a knee injury. He has scored 56 in both outings so far but he will only improve as match fitness and confidence returns. At that price he’s almost an expensive rookie and the sweetener is the Crows play Brisbane and St Kilda in the SuperCoach finals (the Saints on grand final day).

Dale Thomas (Carl) $377,400

Break-even: 41

OK, this is a bit out there. Even the boldest gambler probably wouldn’t pick Daisy this week, but all we’re saying is he’s worth keeping an eye on. Mick says he started the season six weeks behind everyone else and on Sunday against the Crows it looked like he caught up. His telling goal with 10min to go was impressive — especially since he barely made the distance from the same spot earlier in the season — but his dash down the wing with just 2min left was almost as good. You wouldn’t fork out that cash on the back of one big game (126) but if he starts producing scores like that on a regular basis, his price won’t be that low for long.

AND LAST NIGHT WE TIPPED YOU ...

Lance Franklin (Syd) $405,000 fwd

Break-even: 19 (Score v Geelong: 108)

After being one of the most popular picks at the start of the year (back when we thought he was a bargain at $487,700), Buddy is now in just 30,000 teams. But is it time to swallow your pride and bring back the Budweiser? He showed signs of life against Hawthorn three weeks ago (despite kicking 2.7) and lit up against the Bombers. The common denominator in those two games? Kurt Tippett. His timely arrival takes the focus of Buddy and lets him get on his bike where he can use his enormous athleticism to maximum advantage. He’s even taking contested overhead marks that we haven’t seen since 2008. Amazingly, you could have traded out Shaun Higgins for Franklin and had $25,000 left to spend elsewhere.

JUMP ON

Cameron Shenton (StK) $155,300 mid/fwd

The shaggy haired Saint is the buy of the week. The promoted rookie has scored 47 and 99 in his first two matches and is due for a price rise of close to $50,000 next week if he maintains that sort of form. He should be a safe bet as the injury-ravaged Saints look to get games into their younger players and the fact he can swing between the forward line and midfield is an added bonus.

Jed Bews (Geel) $123,900 def

Finally a rookie in defence! The son of Cats champ Andrew hasn’t set the world on fire in his two matches with scores of 60 and 40 but he has looked comfortable at AFL level, avoided the sub vest and is projected to rise $33,000 after his third game. Most important, he allows us to cash in a defensive rookie like Jeremy Laidler or Will Langford (or, if you’re stuck with him, Alex Georgiou) and use the money to buy another star.

Brendon Goddard (Ess) $505,500 mid

A massive bargain, BJ’s price took a big hit when he scored just 11 against Fremantle — a match in which he was injured early in the first quarter. Every other week he has scored at least 100 and he averages 122 in his past three games. With a break-even of just 57 and centuries in his past three games against the Tigers, now is the time to buy. If you missed Joel Selwood last week (and have a little more cash) he also fits this category with a price tag of $557,900 and a break-even of 79.

JUMP OFF

Jared Polec (PA)

A controversial call given Polec has been the buy of the season, gaining a whopping $285,000 since Round 1. But his most recent price rise is likely to be his last, unless he can achieve his break-even score of 123 this weekend. The key question is do you see Polec as part of your final midfield, and unless you have massive problems in other parts of the field the answer should be no. Ideally we’d have eight superstars in the guts but even with a more realistic mix of superstars and value picks (like Ryan Griffen and Brendon Goddard), you should be expecting 100-plus each week from all of your starting onballers. As great as he’s been, Polec has only passed the century three times in 10 matches, and his past two scores are 66 and 83.

Nick Robertson (BL)

The young Lion is a goer, and he has to go from our SuperCoach teams. After gaining $130,000 in his first five games, he has scored 12 and 11 in consecutive weeks. His price dropped $15,000 after his last game and if he’s picked again it’s likely to plummet with a break-even of 115.

Blake Acres (StK)/ Joel Tippett (NM)

Two popular rookie picks in recent weeks have both gone down with long-term injuries. We won’t get much for them but there’s no point having a guy on your bench who won’t play and won’t go up in value. At least they made a little bit of cash for us before being traded out again.

CAPTAINS CORNER

Gary Ablett

Gazza had his worst game of the year last Sunday as Liam Picken tormented him all day at Metricon Stadium. Expect the little master to bounce back against the Crows. Their No.1 tagger is Sam Kerridge who restricted Marc Murphy to 75 points on Sunday, but the week before

his opponent was Scott Pendlebury who pumped out 128.

Scott Pendlebury

Speaking of Pendles, he plays the Saints on Friday night and could have any one of Tom Curren, Mav Weller or Clinton Jones for company. It probably won’t matter. Fresh off a 153, he makes the perfect Friday night vice-captain loophole option with recent scores of 161, 126 and 149 against St Kilda. If he scores 150-plus again, we recommend you take it!

Matthew Boyd

He’s in only 4000 teams, which is surprising considering the Bulldogs veteran averages 115 points a game. The more relevant point this week is he absolutely loves playing Fremantle. In his past three games against the Dockers, Boyd has scores of 123, 162 and 160. With Ryan Crowley set to lock on to Ryan Griffen or Tom Liberatore, Boyd is free to run around and do what he likes. The timing of the game is awkward but you could put the VC on Ablett and if he’s stranded on 20 points at halftime again, jump on Boyd.

CHAMPION DATA FORMGUIDE

Every week the stats gurus at Champion Data crunch the numbers to find the best bargains in the SuperCoach universe. CLICK HERE TO SEE THIS WEEK’S EDITION

TWEET STREET

Traded Ablett and Polec for Libba and Fyfe in my experimental team #supercoach

— Footyfunk (@footyfunk) May 28, 2014

Sub-type: comment CAPTION: Traded Ablett and Polec for Libba and Fyfe in my experimental team #supercoach & mdash; Footyfunk (@footyfunk) May 28, 2014

To many players on the bubble this week in #Supercoach. Who to bring in?#dilemma

— Dean Donoghue (@sheeb9) May 27, 2014

Sub-type: comment CAPTION: To many players on the bubble this week in #Supercoach. Who to bring in?#dilemma & mdash; Dean Donoghue (@sheeb9) May 27, 2014

NISSAN SUPERROUND

At the completion of the AFL season the participant whose Nissan SuperCoach team has earned the highest number of points for a single round during the entire season will be declared the SuperRound winner and receive a Nissan Altima ST-L.

Sunk Loto coach Jason Lienert (SA) retains the keys with his season-high 2642 score in Round 7. Better clean out the garage just in case you need room for the Nissan Altima ST-L!

Originally published as SuperCoach formguide: Best trade and captain tips to boost your team for Round 11