Defenders
Lock and Load: He’s been the top scoring defender for each of the past two seasons, and Jake Lloyd ($591,400) should figure strongly in your defensive considerations again this year. Lloyd has posted midfield-like numbers of 112 and 109 ppg in 2018 and 2019, playing every game and scoring with a consistency that is extremely rare amongst defenders. Even with the rise of Jordan Dawson (see below), who it must be said did affect Jake’s output towards the end of last season, Lloyd will still be the main guy that the Swans look to on the rebound. That fact combined with his sound disposal and positional play will surely lead to another year of heavy scoring. If you do decide to start with Jake though, just make sure you keep him away from your hot chips…
Feeling Lucky: Jordan Dawson ($467,800) has been a NEAFL superstar for a few years now, and in 2019 he finally got the time in the seniors he’d been craving. Dawson averaged 86 in 20 games in 2019, but it was his increased output in the back half that has everyone in Supercoachland excited. A shift back from the wing to a distributing halfback role after the bye saw an uptick in his scoring to 94 ppg. Definitely a breakout contender and his preseason should be monitored closely for role and involvement. Added bonus: Jordan comes with dual position status goodness!
Callum Mills ($444,100) has promised a lot for a long time, but still the former number 3 draft pick finds himself with that irritating mid-400K price tag at the start of his fifth season. Is this the year he goes into the midfield to impose his own brand of class and polish, or will he spend another frustrating year playing his role and posting a high-70s scoring average?
Money Maker: Big Will Gould ($117,300) comes to the Swan with a rep to match his physical stature. Taken with pick 26, Gould spent 2019 honing his game and winning a SANFL premiership with Glenelg, and shapes as the long-time replacement for retired club stalwart Heath Grundy. Horse sometimes lets his later draft picks work their way in through the NEAFL, but if Gould wins a spot in the 22 he is a must-have cash cow in your backline.
Ryley Stoddart ($123,900) is the other Swans rookie def to keep an eye out for in the early going. Ryley has managed a couple of games in each of the past two seasons and is highly regarded by Swans management.
Midfielders
Lock and Load: Yeah, personal bias intrudes here. I admit it, I love Josh P. Kennedy ($579,000). The greatest contested ball winner of the past decade is certainly on the downhill run in his career trajectory, but that doesn’t make him irrelevant when it comes to Supercoach. JPK averaged a very respectable 107 in 2019, including a 178 point outburst against the Saints in the Supercoach grand final. Super-consistent and will again be a POD to be considered.
Feeling Lucky: In 2016, Luke Parker ($570,700) pumped out a season average of 112 ppg and looked like he was going to be a fixture in our midfields for years to come. It hasn’t quite worked out that way for a few different reasons, but there is definite upside to Parker in 2020. With Buddy seemingly fit (see below) and the arrival of Nick Blakey, there may be less need for Parker to drift forward, which will allow him more of that coveted midfield time. Finished 2019 down on form, but still managed 141 in the GF.
Money Maker: The Swans feted recruitment team sprang somewhat of a surprise at the draft by taking Dylan Stephens ($189,300) at pick 5. Likened to Josh Kelly, Stephens is a smooth-moving outside mid with a scything left boot who gained valuable senior experience in the SANFL with Norwood in 2019. With Sydney looking to regenerate their midfield, it’s very possible Stephens sees senior time this year. He comes with the premium price of a top draft pick, but may be worth the risk if the cheaper cows don’t come through for us.
Rucks
Feeling Lucky: The Church of Bromax will again have many followers this season, but if you’re wary of blowing 15% of your budget on three players, then Sam Naismith ($251,500) may be the answer. Naismith unfortunately ruptured his ACL in the 2018 pre-season. Recovery and a follow-up arthroscope mean he hasn’t been seen at senior level since, but there are high hopes in the Swans camp that big Sam can re-establish himself as their premier ruckman this season. The clear plan here is that Naismith makes you 100K while in the meantime either Grundy or Gawn lose that much – and then you only need to find $250,000 for the upgrade! Sounds easy, no?
Forwards
Lock and Load: Isaac Heeney ($510,700) was undoubtedly the most frustrating forward who scored heaps of points last year. That’s right, despite all the consternation and hand-wringing that Heenz caused among Supercoaches in 2019, he still finished as the 9th highest scoring forward of the season. Isaac’s strength has been his ability to impact the game with a low possession count, so if he can lift those numbers then there is certainly scope for SC improvement. With all but one of the forwards who scored more than Heeney in 2019 now relegated to mid-only status, Isaac has to be near the top of your list again in 2020.
Feeling Lucky: Jordan Dawson ($467,800) was mentioned above as a defender, but is also available as a forward this season.
I can’t really say much about Lance Franklin ($394,200) that you haven’t heard before – a sure-fire Hall of Famer when he eventually retires, which is hopefully not for a few years yet! All reports have Buddy looking trim and moving well in the pre-season More knee surgery. Maybe another time.
Money Maker: Barry O’Connor ($102,400) is a 21 year old Gaelic footballer who is still learning how to play Aussie Rules. Save for a rampant bout of gastro making its way through the Swans camp, there is no way O’Connor will see game time in 2020. So why is he mentioned here? Well, Barry is a Supercoach double threat – he is both ultra-cheap, and a def/fwd dual position player. So you pick O’Connor in your forward line, Dawson in your defence, and there you have a highly useful DPP swing AND a loophole option. Bam!
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Luke Parker is the interesting midfielder at the Swans. Durable, still only 27 years old and has a record of getting on a roll as with his seven consecutive scores of tons mid season including 4 that were 130+.
Leading player at the Swans for both clearances at stoppages and centre clearances in season 2019, and has a well balanced all-round game.
With Josh Kennedy “getting on” hoping that Luke will be the prime midfielder at the Swans in 2020.
With the departure of Zac Jones opens up a position for a speedy outside runner type player to fill the vacated role.
If josh Kennedy wasn’t around Parker would be in consideration… Parker was only meh Rd 1-8 nothing special then when Luke went on a tare it was those 4-5 rounds where Kennedy was actually out injured soon as he returned Parker’s scores dropped and had some stinkers Again only tonning up twice between rounds 16-23… It’s a no for me as long as jpk’s in the swans engine room
Another great write-up!
Dylan Stephens has got me interested…Does anyone know what sort of numbers he put up in the SANFL?
Gould’s a lock
Heeney & Lloyd: Upgrade targets
Dawson: Don’t know much about him, but love the flexibility he brings paired with Hill. If he can average 94 that should be good enough for top6 fwd or back.
No to the rest
Stephens had good stats for an 18 year old against the men for a lad who was listed at 172 cm and 60kg.
13 games, 18 possessions 9/9, 4 marks, 4.5 tackles, 1.6 clearances, 3.4 inside 50 with disposal efficiency @79%. 77.8 dream team points.
Had 5 games with 20+ possessions with all his best possession games being in roster games where Norwood thrashed their opposition. Played in two finals games.
He’s still lightly built, but I think he’s going to be a very good player in a couple of years. Beautiful mover and very creative with the footy.
Good stuff as always Chillo.
Lloyd will no doubt be a starter for my team for the first time ever. The Rd13 bye is quite a put off for me to really consider any other season keepers from the start.
Nice one Chillo.
Barry O’CONNOR is my first pick EVERY time I press the ‘Clear Team’ button. Gould and Stephens subject to selection obviously.
HEENEY only premo I’m considering at this point.
Definite NO to starting Lloyd and/or Dawson for me. Happy to write an explanation if anyone wants one.
Interested as to why you consider Lloyd a definite NO?
The short answer is that there is just too much uncertainty for me.
When Jordan DAWSON went back to a HBF or a rotational role in DEF after their bye, LLOYD’s ave. plummeted. LLOYD averaged 98.5 Rds14-23, while he averaged 117.6 in Rds1-12. That is a startling difference and one that may well continue to play out in 2020. Even when Dawson played on a wing, it appeared he was picking the ball up deep and playing as a distributor (and Lloyd scored 88 that week).
Lloyd is priced at $591 400, which means he will have to maintain a 3Rdave. of 105.9 to retain that price come rounds 6 and 7. While I’d love to be proven wrong, but I’m just not certain he will this year.
At this stage I feel Sicily and Williams are both relatively under-priced (Laird might be too) and will be picking them ahead of LLOYD to start, with the aim of picking him up later. I’ve no doubt he will be a top6 DEF come season’s end but I think we can probably afford to not start him.
The positive for LLOYD is that with Buddy now out, DAWSON may well go back to that half forward/lead up role I50 that he played a lot in the front-half of last year. He can play anywhere after all. That would be great news for LLOYD owners, but a disaster if you pick Dawson, who averages less than 70 in that role.
They are the reasons I won’t be starting either in 2020. It fills me with uncertainty and makes me nervous just writing this!
After thoughts:
Even if Dawson plays that HF role in the JLT/Marsh series, I will hopefully not be tempted. Horse may well change it as early as Rd1!!
The risk in doing this is that LLOYD starts like he did last year, averaging 120+ in the first 5 weeks and missing out on all those points.
It’s a risky business this bloody SuperCoach game isn’t it?! What does everyone else think about this? Lloyd in particular?!
TYPO: LLOYD will have to maintain a 3Rdave. of 118.3 (NOT 105.9 as posted above) if his price is to not drop from Rd6 onwards.
That’s my reasoning and makes the above arguments far more emphatic.
Possibly the Swans were ‘done’ in the latter half of the year and they were experimenting with roles?? Expect them to revert to normal for start of season maybe?? It’s an interesting one to watch for sure!!
Yep, I’ve got Dawson at the moment but with little to no confidence. Hopefully the pre-season tells us something about his role this year, and how it might affect Jake.
Is Dawson not to SYD what Battle is to STK? The ultimate swingman, with a huge engine, who can play anywhere. That’s an SC no-no for me. Enjoy the ride if you’re gonna risk it Chillo 😉
Yes Chillo, I conceded to Allsaints ruck analysts. LOL.
ATM I don’t think Buddy will play Round 1.
Reidy IMO, will be our focal point, with Lloydy and Dawson our delivery and running backs, and Millsy our backup man.
I also foresee either Gould or Stoddart as interchange, but not both.
IMO because of the lack of KPF last year and the breakdown to our running backs, is why we struggled a bit, (and some).
We have an abundance of running forwards, and good defensive backs, still great mids, and yes, we might be a little light on in Ruck brilliance, but we still have the formula to achieve plenty and score well for SC and beyond!!!
Oops, sorry, got a bit off track, but I think you guys have worked out, Dawson, yes for me, Lloyd wait and see.