SuperCoach formguide: In week two of the byes, it’s time to trade, trade, trade!
IN WEEK two of the byes it’s time to use all three available trades. Who to pick, who to avoid plus the best captain tips for Round 9.
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ONE down, two to go.
The good news is, the worst of the bye nightmare is behind us.
All the superstars we missed last week are not only back, they are now available for every round until the end of the season (barring unforeseen injuries).
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INS AND OUTS: SEE ALL THE ROUND 9 TEAMS HERE
We again have three trades to play with and only the best 18 scoring players on the field contribute to our total score.
There was some debate over the worth of pulling the trigger last week but this week there is no dispute this week — trade, trade, trade!
The smart play is to trade out a player about to miss a week with his bye (say, Xavier Ellis) for a gun coming off his bye (like Joel Selwood) — thereby dodging a zero on the field and improving your team in one massive hit.
Hopefully you’ve got a bit of cash in the bank, but even if you don’t you should be able to make one good upgrade this week by trading down a player with a Round 9 or 10 bye for a rookie yet to go up in price (Saint Blake Acres is the No.1 candidate).
And there is a great list of talent ripe for the picking fresh off their bye week.
As a refresher of who’s missing when:
BYE THIS WEEK (need cover for these guys)
Hawthorn, West Coast, Western Bulldogs, Carlton, Port Adelaide, GWS
BYE NEXT WEEK (avoid trading in)
Sydney, Essendon, Fremantle, Melbourne, Brisbane Lions, St Kilda
BYE LAST WEEK (buy, buy, buy!)
Collingwood, Geelong, Adelaide, North Melbourne, Richmond, Gold Coast
Below are the best trade-in targets from the six teams above.
Of course, if you want a Magpie or Crow you’ll have to make the move before the first bounce in the Adelaide v Collingwood game at 7.20pm tonight.
For everyone else we have until at least 7.50pm on Friday.
MIDFIELDERS
Dane Swan (Coll) $564,600
Are his days as a rolled gold premium scorer over? Swanny is spending more time forward but averages 119 over his past three.
Scott Pendlebury (Coll) $645,300
Elite scorer who you can rely on every week. If you haven’t already got Pendles in your team, now’s the time to splash the cash — or is it? A breakeven of 162 means he is likely to be a little cheaper next week, although he did score 153 in his last game against the Crows.
Joel Selwood (Geel) $555,700
Crazy price for a superstar even if he has had a slow past three weeks. Like Pendles he could be even cheaper next week thanks to a 159 breakeven and a likely date with Ryan Crowley.
Gary Ablett (GC) $740,600
More than 161,000 coaches already have Gaz — but that means another 100,000 or so don’t. Our advice: Get him now, although you may have to mortgage the house to do it.
Trent Cotchin (Rich) $520,800
Has an average of 100 knocked down by a couple of seriously heavy tags. The return of Brett Deledio and hopefully Ivan Maric should give him some more freedom and the Tigers’ draw improves from here. Has scored 119 and 126 in his past two against Melbourne so this is the week to pounce.
Rory Sloane (Adel) $574,500
One of the few players to score at least 100 in every game this year. Flies under the radar next to teammate Patrick Dangerfield but his average is almost the same. In just 6000 teams, he makes a great point of difference.
Scott Thompson (Adel) $487,400
Need a bargain midfielder? Thompson is a proven scorer at an extremely attractive price. Doesn’t get tagged any more.
Dion Prestia (GC) $497,000
Has somehow dropped nearly $29,000 despite averaging 105 points a game and only scoring under 90 once. Great point of difference with plenty of upside.
DEFENDERS
Jimmy Bartel (Geel) $531,100
Is down $41,400 since Round 1 despite having the third-highest average among defenders. Also happens to be the top-scoring Cat against Fremantle. Buy!
Corey Enright (Geel) $438,100
Not the regular 100-plus scorer of previous seasons but still reliable and capable of a breakout 130.
Harry Taylor (Geel) $388,400
Averaged 94 points a game last year but is tracking at 75 this season, resulting in a $118,000 price drop. At a jump of less than $100,000 from Luke McDonald is that price too good to ignore?
Scott Thompson (NM) $476,600
Like Taylor, he is well down on last year’s output — down from 98 to 86 so far in 2014. That makes him good value — if he can get back to his 2013 form.
RUCK
Sam Jacobs (Adel) $511,800
Not a bargain but could be the answer to our ruck headaches. Averages 105 points a game.
Charlie Dixon (GC) $440,500
Has dropped almost $50,000 on the back of a 61-point average but offers crucial forward-ruck flexibility. Only buy if the Suns start playing him as their No.1 ruckman.
FORWARDS
Brent Harvey (NM) $485,800
The little champ has still got it and could prove a smart investment at that price.
Travis Cloke (Coll) $374,500
Anyone want to take a gamble? Cloke has caught fire only once this season but at that price he could be worth a punt. I’d pick him ahead of Drew Petrie who is $500 cheaper (but then I probably wouldn’t pick either).
CAPTAINS CORNER
Gary Ablett (GC)
Welcome back. Refreshed after a week off Gaz faces St Kilda — a team he averages 151 against in his past three matches. Tom Curren has done some impressive tagging jobs this year but this will be his biggest test by a long way.
Scott Pendlebury (Coll)
Has scored 153, 118 and 124 in his past three against the Crows. Can’t see Sam Kerridge stopping him. Ideal vice-captain loophole candidate.
Lance Franklin (Syd)
If you haven’t got Pendlebury try whacking the VC on Buddy. He found life last weekend (if he’d kicked straight he could have scored 130) and he loves beating up on the Bombers — they are his No.1 team to play against in his career, averaging 119 in nine games.
CHAMPION DATA FORMGUIDE
Each week the stats gurus at Champion Data crunch all the key numbers to find the best buys in the SuperCoach universe. CLICK HERE FOR THIS WEEK’S EDITION
TWEET STREET
NISSAN SUPERCOACH 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.
CONGRATULATIONS Sunk Loto coach Jason Lienert (SA) for posting the NEW 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: In week two of the byes, it’s time to trade, trade, trade!