(Brown and) Golden SuperCoach Nuggets
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This article will not be for all of you.
Fantasy Footy seems to divide fans - you either hate it and can’t stand people who are so encapsulated by it, or you are in fact the encapsulated - driven by stats, drafts, trades and by the opportunity to prove you know more about footy than your mates.
I have always been the latter.
I was there when it started in the mid-90’s, selecting your team via newspaper cutouts and mailing your selections back in to register them.
I have been part of AFL fantasy, SuperCoach on and off, but most importantly for nearly three decades, part of Footy Rocks - a boutique site set up for DT nuffies like me back in the day when only a handful of people participated.
My son and I have already - together with 15 mates, held our 10-hour, 2022 draft - a draft in which I drafted in seven hawks players (no doubt you will work out who they are in how I write about and defend them during the season).
And while I’m happy to talk about it with any of you until the cows come home, this article will hopefully give those of you participating in SuperCoach some advice on the 2022 crop of brown and gold Hawthorn SC players up for grabs.
DEFENDERS
🤔 BLAKE HARDWICK - $496,400
Averaged a fantastic 91.2 in SuperCoach last season (up from 69.4 in 2020), in what was a breakout for Dimma in fantasyland. Helped that he took all of the kick-ins, a role that he is likely to share with James Sicily this year. He was incredibly consistent across 20 rounds scoring less than 50 on only two occasions. Our most expensive priced defender, and with 0% ownership you could certainly make a case to get him in your team.
👁 CHANGKOUTH JIATH - $459,300
Another breakout fantasy season fro CJ in 2021, going from an average score of 49.6 in 2020 to 84.4 last season. It is hard though to see how his price matches up with the uncertainty surrounding his current injury status. In 2021 CJ broke the 100-point mark in a game five times - three of them coming inside the opening four rounds. Not the consistent high performer you’d expect for shelling out $460k - worth keeping an eye on but its a no for the start fo the season.
🔒 JAMES SICILY - $448,110
For those of you struggling to find Hawk players to justify having in your side, look no further. James Sicily is a LOCK. Well priced given his lack of playing time last year due to injury and has been flying in the pre-season, Sicily is owned by 25% of the competition. In his three years pre-injury he averaged 102.9, 93.8 and 105.1 and if Kyle Hartigan and Sam Frost are playing he will return to his unaccountable third-man up role across the backline, racking up stats. If he’s not in your team, are you even a Hawthorn supporter?
👁 LACHIE BRAMBLE - $411,00
Bramble is a curious watch for me in SuperCoach - though the appeal of picking him as a Point Of Difference (POD) has wavered since he sustained the stress fracture in his foot. He averaged a handy 75.5 per game in 2021 and like Sicily, had been on fire through the pre-season. It will be interesting to see if he claims a half back spot when he does get back on the park, but for now he can’t be considered any more than a watch.
🤔 WILL DAY - $345,700
The price is so tasty. But there is just no way you can justify having Day in your team, using up that money given we have no clear idea on when he will return to the field. Another Hawk in the ‘watch’ category, but I suspect we will need to see him take the field for a few weeks in succession combined with his performances and likely price change, to make him a serious consideration.
MIDFIELDERS
👍🏻 TOM MITCHELL - $638,100
Broken record much? Up until last week and his sort of kind of groin issue thingy, Mitchell was a Hawthorn fan’s lock to take P1 in this year’s competition. But the injury vagueness together with a question on Sam Mitchell’s use of the star have muddied the waters a bit - though 11% of the competition still own him. When you consider that for up to 60k more you could own one of Jack Macrae, Jack Steele, Touk Miller or Clayton Oliver, Titch may have to be sacrificed. That’s the beauty about classic SuperCoach - you don’t need to start him to know you are a HUGE chance to have him in your team at some point throughout the season.
👍🏻 CHAD WINGARD - $501,500
Chad’s Dual Position status makes his possible selection a tasty one, and again provides a wonderful POD for those willing to take a punt. His talent is undeniable and in the last five games of 2021 he cracked the ton four times, scoring 97 in the other game. Yielded a $60k increase from the beginning to the end of last season, and starts the year $12k down on his final 2021 price. I am bouyed by the fact that he played against the Tigers and showed glimpses, so is definitely a Hawk player to consider.
👁 JAMES WORPEL - $399,800
His price makes you sit up and take notice, though it should also be looked at compared to say a Tom Phillips who is priced at $20k less and only averaged 3.7 less last year (though continued a four year end-on-end average nosedive). And while Worps’ overall average has also headed the same way after his 2019 PCM win, his figures in the second half of last year were fantastic. Removing the Pies game where he got injured mid-match, Worpel averaged a handy 87 from round 15 onwards, and 92 in his final four games. After a great pre-season, if you think that Sammy can get the best out of Worps in the new midfield setup, then the sub $400k price seems to represent value.
🤔 JAI NEWCOMBE - $261,300
Averaged 53.3 from six matches in his debut season and will likely be better for the run. Looked very good against the Tigers last weekend and is a cert to be part of Sammy’s re-shaped midfield unit. So with plenty of game time ahead and some experience under the belt, you could do worse than Jai given his price-point and the upcoming game time he will get. Could be a surprising cash cow.
👍🏻 CONNOR MACDONALD - $117,300
Already owned by 17% of the competition, and a pretty good option to have on your bench to start the season ahead. We are all pretty confident that he will debut at some point early in the season - if he does then he becomes an easy early cash cow. If he doesn’t he’s the sort of player you can use as a loophole given we play on Sunday, Saturday night, Sunday, Sunday and Monday through the first five rounds of the season (with caution given he may get selected and play). Definitely in consideration.
🔒 JOSH WARD - $180,300
You thought Sic was a lock. Josh Ward is the lock that all other locks dream of being. Owned by 43% of competitors which effectively provides a useful stat to show that around 57% of SuperCoach managers have no idea what they are doing. Playing round one, will play major midfield minutes, will increase in value big time, and is one of the first picked in 2022.
FORWARDS
👁 DYLAN MOORE - $416,700
Loves a goal - yes, it’s true, but not quite convinced that Dyl is a reliable fantasy player just yet. Cracked the ton in four of his last seven matches in 2021, and managed to increase his average from 63 after round six to 76 by the end of the season.
🙅🏻♂️ MITCH LEWIS - $358,500
There would have been a few Hawk fans that put Mitch into their very early SuperCoach line-ups, and why not after the hype surrounding him in the pre-season. Well we have seen why not… He just hasn’t quite taken the next step yet, and is actually way overpriced for the inconsistent point scoring form he is likely to deliver. In racing parlance, prefer others.
🙅🏻♂️ JACK GUNSTON - $355,200
After years spent hovering around the 90-point average mark, Jack slipped back to the 80-point average across 2019 and 2020. Coming back from injury and with what looks likely to be a limited quality supply into the forward line, even the most optimistic Hawthorn dream teamer wouldn’t go near Gunners with a seven foot pole.
👍🏻 WINGARD AS A DPP OPTION (see above)
Gets the thumbs up from me as mentioned above as a DPP option and major POD.
RUCKS
🙅🏻♂️ MAX LYNCH - $207,700
An intriguing concept, and the only ruck on our list worth considering - albeit he is not really worth considering. Lynchy has been great in the pre-season but still seems to be neck-and-neck vying for the ruck mantle with Ned Reeves, and we may not know who is the preferred option until later in the season. Impossible to back him as a low-cost bench option when you could equally save 90k in cash with a non-starter, or get better value from a Braydon Preuss who is actually priced slightly cheaper.
HI will have our very own SuperCoach League in 2022 which is free to join for the first 20 people who would like to be involved. The league code is 633470 and the name is Hawks Insiders!
I thought Gunston would be paid a little more than that!