Welcome to another edition of Rare Gems, where we try and uncover those low owned players ( under 5% ) that may help you get a jump on the competition. My last edition included Tom Green who had another great few weeks and is now owned by 13.9% of coaches. Some of these Rare Gems get popular fast, so let’s see who we can uncover this week. Last time I included BE’s as I felt it maybe helpful , this week I have included the players Bye round as it seems there’s a heap of defenders that share that R12 Bye.
(Name , Club , Price , 3 round ave, Ownership %, Bye Round)
DEFENDERS:
Jack Sinclair ( STK, $526.500, 121.7, 2.3%, R12 )
He looks confident
There’s been a heap of chatter on the Trade Talk thread about Jack this week, so I wanted to drill down into his numbers and see if he’s worth a punt. This year is Jacks 8th year of AFL and to be honest he has never done very much to get noticed. Spending most of his early career forward he’s never really been that SC relevant. late in 2021 that all changed with a move to half back. This coincidently (or not), happened around the same time the Saints finally started putting some wins together. From Round 12 2021 Jack played 10 of 11 games and averaged 96. Solid but nothing spectacular. This year, playing a mix of inside Mid and HB, Jack hasn’t been under the 100, and has been getting better every week. The Saints seem to like his mix of speed and precision kicking either around or behind the ball. Last week he also proved that he doesn’t really need CBA’s to score well either. He wasn’t sighted in the middle, yet still put up his best score for the year. He is far from a proven entity and that R12 Bye maybe difficult for some. I do feel with The Saints current structure and form, Sinclair is as good a bet as any to continue to flourish and finish in the top 6 -10 Defenders. There’s one every year that pops up , could it be Jacks turn in 2022 ?
Isaac Cumming ( GWS $522.900, 113.3, 0.6% R12 )
What can’t this man do ?
Talk about flying under the radar. Last years breakout defender has just continued to get better and better. While everyone was jumping on an injury prone Whitfield to start the year (me included ) Cumming at almost exactly the same price was totally ignored. Why do we always get sucked into the big names ? This kid has one of the best kicks in the league, takes the majority of kick ins at GWS and very rarely wastes a possession. Not only that but he’s tough. He’s rarely beaten one on one, and for his size is a very good intercept mark. The only downside seems to be his Round 12 Bye. With only 918 lucky owners he is a Rare Gem indeed, I see him getting a heap more kudos sooner rather than later.
Just quickly.. Last time I mentioned Jeremy McGovern ( WC, $530.300, 112.3 2.7% R13 ) he is still killing it, and is one of the few relevant defenders without the Round 12 Bye. With Nic Nat now out for a while, I can’t see his supply drying up anytime soon. Anyone for some Mc Lovin‘ ?
MIDFIELDERS:
Callum Mills ( SYD, $586.100, 115.7, 1.0% , R13 )
Another blonde Swan
Starting Mills over Lloyd in defence last year was one of the best moves I made in 2021. Unfortunately he was injured late and it really hurt me as I was out of trades. This story may prove to be useful this year when considering Mills. His talent and ceiling are hard to miss, but can his body hold up ? A yoyo scoring pattern and those injury concerns, makes it hard to recommend him at this stage. Then there’s a BE of 145 to consider, more than achievable for Mills, but theres no rush to pick him up either. When he’s up and running there’s few players that gather stats and score as fast as Callum. One to watch list and consider down the track, unless you’re flush with trades and want to take a punt early. I will probably wait until after the Byes to consider him for my side.
Last time I mentioned Travis Boak ( PA $639.200 135.3 R12) and Ben Keays ( $598.500, 124, 1.5%, R13 ) Both are still in the top 6 scoring players for the year and although now rather pricey deserve another mention none the less.
RUCKS:
Peter Wright. ( Forward , ESS, $466.200 , 99.7 , 1.8% , R 12)
Giant ginger ninja.
Come on Freo, you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel here, I hear you all saying. Well you maybe Wright, ( sorry ) but his numbers this year are pretty impressive . Take out a slow start (61) when the Bombers were honestly putrid, and he’s actually been pretty good. When it comes to forward entries for Essendon, all roads lead to Two Metre Peter. Also he hasn’t relied on Ruck time to gather his scores. ( he’s only attended 6 CBA’s in 4 weeks, none in the last fortnight.) So there’s some upside if they decide to drop the second ruck. Even with his handy DPP I know you won’t pick him, but he’s the only Ruck that fits the criteria so gets the nod today.
FORWARDS:
Dylan Moore ( HAW, $455.300, 100.7, 0.5% R14 )
This Dylan Moore
Not this one..
The phrase “small forwards are too inconsistent for Super Coach” is very common in our circles. Most of the time this generalisation is spot on. Very occasionally someone like Toby Greene will buck this trend and score well enough to impress a few punters. This year a certain small forward named Butters was promised more midfield time and we all ( half of us anyway ) jumped on expecting big things. What if I told you we picked the wrong guy ? What if the right guy was one Dylan Moore ? If you had bothered to even consider him, ( I know I didn’t, I’m not sure I even knew what he looked like ? ) Anyway.. Dylans role and his teams projected ladder position would of lead us to think Dylan would struggle to score consistency. We would of been wrong, even though the signs were there. Here we have a small high half forward that is producing the numbers expected of a HB. Not only that, but he’s actually started doing it last year, and no one really noticed. In his last 10 games Dylan has averaged 101.15. His lowest this year is 90 and his highest is 105. Now thats pretty consistent in my book. Rated an elite general forward by champion data in 2021 Moore is probably the most underrated player in the game at the moment. I think it’s time he gets a little more respect. I can’t realistically recommend trading Butters to Moore, although on numbers alone it maybe the right call. I do know his 730 owners are pretty happy they chose him in 2022.
Much to my surprise..another ” last time” guy.. Daniel Rioli ( DEF, RICH, $419.800, 106.3, 5.2 %, R12 ) has been very consistent, so well done to anyone that took a punt on him .
Ok thats it for another instalment of Rare Gems. As always, let me know in the comments if there’s any low owned players you are considering for you side.
Thanks for reading FT.
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Great write up FT. Pendles is still only in 1% of teams, I’m happy with that. Here’s hoping he gets DPP after round 6.
Nice pick up Joestar.
I was actually searching for another mid to write up and missed him altogether.
If he gets defender status as expected, I may include him next time around. That’s if everyone doesn’t pile on first 😉
Hi All,
Words of wisdom please,
DPP update,
TU before R6
TD after R6
….and comment,
Do they have to have played all games to qualify????
…..or just tell me where to look it up.
After this round extra dual positions are allocated if a player spends 35% of his time in another position. Apparently you don’t have to have played every game. (four out of five are required)
Tristan Xerri, Nick Daicos, Brady Hough, Connor MacDonald, Zak Butters, Scott Pendlebury, Tom Liberatore, Nic Martin and Angus Brayshaw likely to be given dual positions.
Isaac Heeney and Bailey Smith are borderline.
It depends how much time Heeney has in the forward line with Buddy missing this week.
Smith is marginally just under the threshold and this round will be the deciding factor.
Great post FT.
Thanks CT.
I heard somewhere that they only need to play 3 of 5 to be eligible but I can’t remember where ?
I also heard Gawn is at about 30% so if he spends more than half of the next game forward ( unlikely ) he will also be eligible. Now that would throw the cat amongst the pigeons.
T/U Ridley – Sinclair
T/D Ridley – Sinclair
Yep, doing it anyway haha.
Gotta be said…… That’s pretty Funny Will …. hahaha!!
Hinge and Cripps to O’Dris and Gawn?
Hold both Cripps & Hinge IMO
Hinge should be right to play and has more $ to make.
Cripps looking like only a week off. Sideways moving him will net you 50 points over a rookie? Not worth burning a trade
Fair enough logic. Was mainly chasing Gawn in was all.
Hmmm fair call, Gawn is going to rise in price and if you’re sold on wanting him, he does have friendly fixtures upcoming.
Don’t have Rowell who’s looking much more like a trade-out?
Could do Xerri -> NOD and Rowell -> Gawn for example. Much prefer that than binning Hinge & Cripps.
Not interested in selling Xerri just yet, feel he will continue to go well and like having ruck/fwds. Cripps I was looking to offload due to that low score remaining in his cycle for some time, and Rowell will surely be re-tasked with his preferred role (which coincides with Gold Coast’s success)
Nice one FT!
Dylan Moore is a gun for us.
Starting the season off in AA form after emerging as a serious player as you mentioned last season.
For those a bit wary, definitely worth a shout in Draft mode.
Thanks Abs.
Moore just seems to buck the trend of small forwards. Even in that horrid loss last week he went 105. A little hard to think he can keep it up, but who knows ?
My other worry with Moore is he seems to lack a high ceiling at this stage. This basically means if he stinks it up for a few weeks it’s highly unlikely he can lift enough to get back to a healthy average. Saying that we all went Butters for his high ceiling and it hasn’t been sighted really as yet.
Great write up FT.
Finding a rare gem is great way to make up ground, as long as you can trust them.
I’m hoping a few pop up with the right timing for me.
Thanks TC
Yeah Rare Gems often don’t stay that way for long if they keep performing. Nice to find a few to jump on a few weeks ahead of everyone else though.
Don’t want to be a negative Nancy but is Sinclair screaming 2020/1 Houston Vibes?
Yeah maybe Nato.
For my mind Houston is more a MR fix it than Sinclair. When they send Houston back it’s usually to do lock down roles and that kills his scoring. Sinclair seems to either play midfield or as a pure HB talking kick ins. He seems to have a more sustainable role at this early stage.
He’s still a risk , but maybe one worth taking.
When scouring the pre season trying to find some rare gems for the Tech Leagues you come across players that you go “mmmm they’re a chance”, but they rarely get the nod in Classic.
With this year’s Tech criteria being POD and only one from each team, Dylan Moore had to give way to Titch, unfortunately. I was so tempted for my Classic team when he was only $416k but like most, got sucked into Butters.
The other one I thought could be the go was McInerney, who I did include for one game before his injury, and promptly traded him to Hewitt so no loss. However still thinking of bringing him back ??
Can’t stop laughing at “he looks confident”. Lol.
Excellent write up, FT. Takes a lot of work to be so comprehensive on under the radar players.
While I do love a cheeky POD, my plan right now is to get two premo MID upgrades done as fast as possible.
Currently have Macrae, Neale, Steele, Miller and Parish. Brayshaw next week then Satan when he bottoms out after a tag this week.
That’ll give me 7 of the Top 8 MIDs by Round 7-8. JHF and Daicos can be swung to their new DPP spots to make room.
Anyway, that’s the plan. Premo MIDs first then spice it up later.
Thanks, FT!
Always like reading these! Such a challenge to find players who are slipping under the radar.
Thanks guys.
I like your plan GD.
Hope we get the rookies to make it happen.
Nice write up FT. Is Justin McInerney a possible ‘rare gem’? Did he play on a wing or off half-back last week when he gained 30 possessions? Can he keep up the same scoring?
Thanks Mick.
He’s in the mix as a breakout contender this year. He seems to play on the wing but runs deep into defence to help their run and carry. It really hard to know what happening with the Swans boys. Lloyd has been down but could get back to form.
Theres also Blakey that has been good but was clamped by Turner last week. Then Campbell bobbed up and scored well. Not too mention they’ve Been playing JPK down back as well.
Theres no doubt the talents there with McInerney , I’m still a little unsure on his role in that ever changing Swans line up .
Sorry not much help really
I think he’ll be up and down with scoring. Definitely the potential to put up some big ones and accumulate the ball as the Swans will look to him as one of their better ball users but will have weeks where he’ll disappear as there’s lots of different options for the Swans as you mentioned FT .
Could still definitely average over 100 though! You might just have to put up with the roller coaster ride.
I did start with him as a breakout contender but the injury forced my hand to trade.