Team Reveal – Ben

Written by Huttabito on March 12 2020

Ok Supercoach community, you’ve seen the rest, now it’s time to see the best, cos it’s my turn to reveal my team for the 2020 season!*

*(I am heavily biased in this statement, also my team is subject to change based on rookie selections come round 1.)

So with the cow-pocalypse that’s going on right now, it’s obvious some sacrifices have to be made in order to even come close to a traditional guns and rookies approach, which means running some *gasp* mid-pricers. I know, how truly terrifying. The common strategy I’ve seen from teams so far is to either:

  1. Have a cheap second ruck (like Naismith or Jacobs) to free up the money equivalent to the GDP of a small country, or
  2. Not go full Uber-Premo and have some cheaper options like T. Kelly, Cogs, McCluggage etc.

These are not the strategies I will be running simply because you get most of your points from your mids and rucks, so it makes no sense (in my opinion) to make sacrifices on either of those lines. Wanna know where not as much scoring comes from? Your forward line and defence. So that is where I’ve decided to make some sacrifices, especially with the plethora of mid-price options we have available to us this year.

So now you know the rationale behind my team, let’s get into actually looking at it. Please note that I won’t be explaining most of my rookie selections in this article, however if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask in the comments!

DEF:

SICILY is my proper premo pick in the backline, as he is one of the cheapest premo options back there and very underpriced if he can get back to his 2018 best of 105ppg. Plus with Hawthorn recruiting some lockdown defenders and key forwards in the off-season, his intercepting role should be his to keep this season (but Clarko I swear to god if he even plays one second in the forward line this season I WILL call you mean names on Twitter).

SAM LOCHERTY at D2 is not something I had envisioned at the start of the season and I’m not really sure if I’m ok with it still, but he seems to be back at full health and two full Marsh series games has instilled full confidence in me that he can average around 95 this season, which is a steal at that price. His 2017 best of 114ppg may be a bit out of reach, but we don’t need him to score that much. Locked in.

Howe on earth is JEREMY HOWE not in more teams? I’ve argued his case on Twitter a lot but at only $431k he is a steal. He started slow last year due to some injury troubles and not completing a full pre-season, but once he returned from an injury in round 18, he averaged 99.8 to finish the season off. He’s looked fantastic so far this pre-season (evident by a huge 135 in his only pre-season game) and looks the goods to return back to his usual average of 90-95ppg, which in defence is enough to finish top 6.

I’ll quickly touch on JOHN NOBLE, who I think is the pick of the expensive rooke options down back. He’ll score well and Collingwood are looking to use him aggressively to attack out of the backline, which bodes well for his job security.

Quick shout-out to Dan Houston, who I’ve had all pre-season but just couldn’t fit in at the last hurdle, and to Caleb Daniel, who is my preferred choice at D1 but I just couldn’t fit him into the budget.

MID:

So as you can see, I have not stuffed around when it comes to the mids. I just couldn’t bring myself to start someone like Coniglio or McCluggage when the best case scenario for them is probably around 105-108ppg, and every premo currently in my midfield could easily average 120ppg+. Like stated earlier, I think the mids are not the place to cut corners.

MACRAE has been one of the top two mids in Supercoach the last two years now, and I’d wager that he’ll be up there again this year. Incredibly consistent and with a ceiling to boot, he’s well worth the price tag.

NEALE is someone I’ve had nearly every year I’ve played Supercoach, but last year was the first I’ve actually started with him, and boy did I pick a good year to do that. He exploded for an average of 121ppg, making him the 3rd best midfielder on average. With a big focus of his in the off-season learning how to break a tag, I can’t see his average going backwards much this year.

I remember talking to my friend early last month and making fun of all the people who were going on about how JOSH KELLY finally has had a full pre-season and how that somehow made him immune to injuries, and that everyone who started with him was an idiot. But then I saw him in the State of Origin game. Then I saw him in Marsh game 2. Then I saw his averages without a full pre-season while carrying injuries. Then I had PTSD flashbacks at every single time he has torched the Blues, including a huge 205 in 2018 in an embarrassing loss for us. I’m really, really eating my words now. IF he’s healthy, he can definitely push for 120+.

This write-up is long enough already so I’ll just say that PATRICK CRIPPS is God’s gift to us mere mortals and it is a privilege and an honour to be able to put him into my Supercoach team.

JOSH DUNKLEY should be in everyone’s team. He is priced at an average 116ppg, but that’s only because he started the year forward. Once he was put back in the midfield, he averaged 125ppg. The only way he doesn’t turn out to be a fantastic pick is if he gets injured, or if Bevo for whatever reason decides to want to lose games and puts him back in the forward line. As locked as a player can get.

Can I also please have a moment’s silence for Sam Walsh. I really, really, really wanted to get him in my team, but he was far too expensive for M6 and I just couldn’t justify dropping one of my Uber-Premos to have him at M5. I’ll start him many Supercoach seasons in my lifetime, just not this year.

RUCKS:

BRODIE GRUNDY and MAX GAWN could and should average 10-20ppg more than the next best ruckman, which means they’re worth the insane starting prices. Comben is the best loophole in the game due to a combination of price, lots of Sunday games, and FWD DPP eligibility. Locked and loaded.

FWD:

Like my defence, I’ve decided to include only one genuine premo in my forward line, however this time I’ve chosen the most expensive option available. I get the injury concerns, but LACHIE WHITFIELD averaged 11ppg more last year than the next highest averaging forward option (Michael Walters at 100.8ppg). In my opinion, if you don’t start with him you are going to be left so far behind right from the get go, and if he gets injured you just trade him to the next best available option. Easy!

I am all in on the DARCY MACPHERSON train, I nearly traded him in towards the end of last year (thankfully I didn’t), but after his Marsh series form (4th highest Marsh series average) and his midfield role seemingly locked, I’m tipping a breakout year for him, which makes him a steal at his price.

If you follow me on Twitter (which you should by the way, @BenSCT1) you will know that my F3 spot is down to a race between two people. Currently I have ANDREW BRAYSHAW in that spot, as like MacPherson he had some ripping Marsh series form and seems to have a midfield role locked down, which means he should push for an average of roughly 90-95ppg. The other contender is TOM LYNCH, who started to pick it up at the end of last year, averaging 91ppg after the bye. With a full pre-season and a full year in the Richmond system, I can see him averaging something similar, if not better, for the whole year. I am literally swapping between these two on a day-to-day basis, so I have no idea who I’ll actually start with at this stage.

At F4 I have the popular DEVON SMITH, who is so incredibly cheap I couldn’t leave him out of my side. Worst case scenario he is a great stepping stone to a premo forward, best case scenario he returns to his 2018 average of 97ppg and is a keeper for only $335k.

Well, that about does it, thanks for reading through that gigantic wall of text! If you have any questions, queries or criticism, don’t hesitate to comment down below. Thanks!

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15 thoughts on “Team Reveal – Ben”

  1. Hey everyone, I just realised in the forwards section I was referring to everyone as “M3” and “M4”, instead of “F3” etc.

    My bad!

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    1. Just a little side note, hope the rookie downgrade targets are good to you with 5 players missing from the forward line in the round 14 bye!

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  2. Love it Ben. After the sh1t fight with cowpocalypse, we are now very similar indeed. Only two different on the non-rookie picks! And I love the HOWE pick, so it may become just one!
    Best of luck in 2020 mate!

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    1. Thanks All-Saints! I believe we were actually in a similar situation last year, and we barely consulted each other about our teams both years. You know what they say about great minds…

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  3. Like the look of this team structure at the moment.

    What do people think of rolling with Parish and Dev Smith in the same FWD line?
    I’m tossing up between Parish and MacPherson, Smith locked in at the moment.

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    1. Bombers supporter here. I wouldn’t do it. We’re a notoriously jeckyll and hyde kinda team, when (not if) we have a bad game both players’ scores will suffer, especially in the guts.

      If you’re going to have a second Bomber in your team after Devon “tackling machine” Smith, it should probably be Zerk-Thatcher.

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  4. A 90 ave for Howe will be lucky to get him in the top 10 let alone 6 Defs imo, quite like your team though.

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  5. Nice one Ben.

    I like the way you have kept the 5 main Mid beasts, G&G and Whit Impressive. No Dusty ?
    At 60% ownership i’ve been thinking that might not be such a good idea. He looked pretty fired up in the Bushfire game too.
    Anyway..
    I’m running something quite close, I will post it later in the new Rate my Team thread.

    One again a great team, and all the best in 2020.

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  6. Hey Ben,

    Thought your team structure was the best, it was just what i was trying to get but was blind sided by having Houston D2, Doc D3, and Roberton D4, i couldnt drop them until i saw your team and thought going Doc D2, Howe D3 was much better.

    You nailed it, Howe 20ppg under. And in ripper nick/form.

    So i added him, made the changes and been happy since.

    It was the final piece to my side

    He came out smashed 156sc

    Thanks man, your post/call was spot on, i knew it was when i read it

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    1. Well done guys.

      Kudos to both of you for having the Balls / Foresight to get in Howe.

      I thought I was pretty good getting in Short at $350K for an 86.

      Housten better do something special or he maybe getting downgraded for Howe . With all theses spare trades we can afford to make corrective trades on almost anyone.

      I know don’t chase points etc..
      I’m more worried about the $$$
      In a short season with extra trades, throw the rules out the window.

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