We’ve reached round 16, which is arguably the point of no return for rookies. That is, anyone you bring in now will most likely be in your team for the duration, so choose your downgrade options carefully!
Here’s a review of the rookie performances from Round 15. Players “on the bubble” are marked with an asterisk.
DEFENDERS
| Player | Club | Price | Score (avg) | BE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luke FOLEY | WCE | $161 000 | DNP (51) | -54 |
| Thomas HIGHMORE | STK | $251 900 (+$42.2K) | 91 (63) | -54 |
| Kieren BRIGGS (FWD) | GWS | $174 700 (+$50.8K) | 77 (63) | -43 |
| Harry EDWARDS | WCE | $252 200 | DNP (67) | -23 |
| Brandon WALKER* | FRE | $117 300 | 36 (43) | -17 |
| Liam STOCKER | CAR | $293 300 (+$26.4K) | 73 (55) | 27 |
| Nathan MURPHY | COL | $192 400 (+$4.6K) | 72 (46) | 29 |
| James MADDEN (FWD) | BRL | $243 500 (+$21.3K) | 51 (61) | 32 |
| Trent BIANCO (MID) | COL | $194 000 (+$23.2K) | 55 (59) | 36 |
| Jacob KOSCHITZKE | HAW | $259 000 (+$1.5K) | 33 (53) | 47 |
| Denver GRAINGER-BARRAS | HAW | $184 800 | 33 (33) | N/A |
| Leo CONNOLLY (MID) | STK | $123 900 | 23 (23) | N/A |
Goodbye for now: LJones, Prior, Cox.
THE GOOD: Sometimes – not often, but occasionally – Supercoaches see something that AFL coaches don’t. Because we all knew Highmore was a player, but it took Ratts half a season to figure it out! Scores of 111 and 91 in his past two games are what we were hoping for from the start, and just reward for the patient ones out there who kept the faith. Briggs surprisingly held his spot in the Giants 22 and was very solid again, compiling 10 contested possessions and 9 hitouts rotating between ruck and forward. Job security is still tenuous though! Murphy showed what he is capable of when he can get through a game without incident, including 8 marks and 15 touches in his score.
THE BAD: Koschitzke is officially done and it’s well past time to move on. He’s still in 26% of teams for some reason and his job security seems good, but there are better options waiting to swap him out for this week.
THE UGLY: Foley played great in his last two games and seemed like a decent downgrade option, but unfortunate timing will probably see him struggle to get another game this year.
MIDFIELDERS
| Player | Club | Price | Score (avg) | BE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lachlan BRAMBLE* | HAW | $102 400 | 45 (50) | -39 |
| Luke EDWARDS | WCE | $166 700 (+$49.4K) | 22 (60) | -20 |
| Jai NEWCOMBE | HAW | $143 000 (+$40.6K) | 53 (51) | 7 |
| Riley GARCIA* | WBD | $123 900 | 36 (22) | 30 |
| Ryan BYRNES | STK | $276 000 (+$9.8K) | 67 (60) | 32 |
| James JORDON | MEL | $404 400 (+$17.3K) | 86 (76) | 53 |
| Joel WESTERN | FRE | $117 300 | DNP (27) | N/A |
| Jeremy SHARP | GCS | $141 800 | 76 (76) | N/A |
Goodbye for now: O’Connor, Berry, Collier-Dawkins, Powell.
THE GOOD: Jimmy The Jet is a red-hot contender for SC Rookie of the Year, and with Jordon amassing another 21 touches and two goals he’s firming in the markets for that particular title this year. Sharp came in for the Suns on the back of impressive VFL form and didn’t disappoint, racking up 20 disposals and 8 marks. He’s slightly more expensive than your average rookie, but he looked pretty good in a mostly unimpressive Gold Coast lineup, so he’s definitely worth a thought if you’re in the market for a downgrade this week.
THE BAD: Nothing too bad here this week, although a few more points from Garcia would’ve helped give us another downgrade option this week.
THE UGLY: LEdwards also somehow held his spot despite all the returning Eagles, but maybe it would’ve been better if he didn’t? Only 5 possessions and a 74 point drop in output this week will kill off his cash gen for a few weeks – if he keeps playing…
RUCKS
| Player | Club | Price | Score (avg) | BE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Callum COLEMAN-JONES (FWD) | RIC | $281 900 (+$40.6K) | 67 (87) | 18 |
| Josh TREACY (FWD) | FRE | $256 600 (+$39.4K) | 34 (45) | 22 |
| Joel AMARTEY (FWD) | SYD | $222 100 (+$26.5K) | 39 (58) | 22 |
| Riley THILTHORPE (FWD) | ADE | $335 100 (+$22.4K) | 49 (67) | 38 |
| Matt FLYNN | GWS | $431 500 (+$26.8K) | 84 (92) | 72 |
Excuse my French, but Flynn is bloody awesome. Not only is he a reliable ruck, but he tackles and takes great contested grabs too! Along with Jordon, he has separated himself from the pack in the race for the ROTY title. Coleman-Jones couldn’t find the goals this week but still managed a solid score anyway. Not too sure what the full story is on Tom Lynch, but CCJ looks like a decent cow for a couple more weeks yet. Treacy and Amartey really struggled into their respective games and returned disappointing scores this week.
FORWARDS
| Player | Club | Price | Score (avg) | BE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miles BERGMAN | PTA | $311 600 (+$41.5K) | 74 (60) | -6 |
| Paddy DOW (MID) | CAR | $254 700 (+$41.8K) | 88 (52) | 1 |
| Matthew OWIES | CAR | $275 200 (+$31.6K) | 95 (62) | 2 |
| Harrison JONES | ESS | $275 900 (-$2.7K) | 41 (50) | 21 |
| James ROWE | ADE | $288 300 (+$3.8K) | 78 (60) | 26 |
| Alec WATERMAN | ESS | $213 600 (+$10.9K) | 33 (51) | 36 |
| Sam FLANDERS | GCS | $298 500 (+$11.4K) | 86 (56) | 43 |
| Deven ROBERTSON (MID) | BRL | $346 000 (+$6.1K) | 83 (69) | 66 |
| Anthony SCOTT (MID) | WBD | $278 600 (+$4.7K) | 31 (53) | 67 |
| Cody WEIGHTMAN | WBD | $291 400 (+$5.6K) | 41 (68) | 71 |
| Caleb POULTER (MID) | COL | $320 300 (+$7.3K) | 51 (68) | 77 |
| Dylan WILLIAMS (MID) | PTA | $123 900 | 30 (30) | N/A |
Goodbye for now: Rosas
THE GOOD: Carlton had a win and a couple of their rookies led the charge, with Owies and the prodigal son Dow turning in handy efforts. Who knew Paddy would be a better downgrade option than starting cow? Flanders is the great rookie that nobody has, the Fish Creek Freak adding another 20 possessions and a goal to his rapidly burgeoning resume. Bergman continues to punish those who cut the cord during the byes, having added over $50K to his price tag since then and established himself firmly in the Power 22.
THE BAD: A lot of coaches chose (or were forced) to hang on to Poulter through his bye last week, but the flying Pie failed to back up by struggling his way to nine possessions. He may be worth one more chance – or he might not. Decision time!
THE UGLY: Scott and Weightman were very popular through the byes as they provided handy scores in a time of need, but it looks like both are fairly close to the end of their lifespan in our teams, and should be seriously considered for trade this week.
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Great write up again Chillo. The problem with getting rid of the uglies this time of year for most of us is burning trades, especially if they are providing some bench cover.
Agree Wighty. If getting rid of them helps “complete” your team, then that’s great. Otherwise, stick them on the bench and hope that you don’t need to call on them…
What are the chances of Sam Durham getting a gig at Essendon anytime soon. Pick 9 in the mid-season draft, Def/Mid $102k, likely to score ok if he plays.
He was an emergency last week.
A good chance of playing this week.
I’ve heard a rumor that he may debut next few weeks.
Watch this space.
Tom Lynch –
“We think he’s a strong possibility to play (Round 16)”
“I’d like to think” Mabior Chol & Callum Coleman-Jones “stay in with the addition of Tom (Lynch)”
Damien Hardwick
CCJ better effing keep playing!!!
Can’t see how they could drop him – he’s been good and they already have to make at least three changes this week
Tu: sharp
Td: grambles