gutsroy
Brownlow Medallist
The Empire Strikes Back
As the SuperCoach Gods surveyed their kingdom, they were struck by a great sense of anger.
Despite their best efforts to curse every rookie within a 6000km radius of the Melbourne CBD, brave coaches had been merrily going about their work and churning out surprisingly decent scores.
Coaches had lost their fear for the gods. They were swanning around drinking their piss, putting their feet up on their table, cutting their grass and rubbing their noses in it.
One of the recent weekly winners had even gone so far as to champ them in The Hun.
But nobody, and I mean nobody, makes the SC Gods bleed their own blood. The square up was as swift as it was brutal. How badly you got belted depended on how many underperformers you were forced to field. Very few escaped fully unscathed, those that did rocketed up the rankings.
If you scored north of 1,900, you went exceptionally. North of 1,800 very solid, 1,750 probably par-ish, depending on your rank.
Tomorrow is another day, every dog has his day, a smile is just a frown turned upside down and all that shit.
The byes have always best been considered a block of 3-5 weeks (depending on the year). You can’t declare the winner until all the votes have been counted, and that will be at the end of Rd 16.
Each team has its own bye balance, trade targets and strategies (from fairly evenly distributed if overall is your go to tanking one round to win three to four if you’re all about that league action, boss).
There is more than one way to skin a cat and plenty of inventive ways to survive the byes.
Rookies – Trade-Ins:
There are not a lot of options this week. Ignoring the potential to go early on a Zak Johnson / Tom McCarthy purely on spec:
Angus Clarke (ESS, DEF, 113.5k, BE -73) will be the most popular trade in amongst those who chose not to go early. His second game was never going to match his first and he might not end up that lucrative, but he is very low risk as basically everyone will be trading him in.
Luke Pedlar (ADE, FWD, 150.4k, BE -56) is not only the premier midfielder of the future, he’s one of the better rookies of the present. He is rated internally, they like what he brings to the team, but he has a pretty fair propensity to get injured, has never really had a proper crack at it.
EDIT: Two genuinely rookie priced players not relevant this week but worth keeping an eye on are:
Dev Robertson (BRL, MID/FWD, 121.2k), who has been impacted by being the sub with low game time twice in a row now. He has a BE of 47 and he is one you can't go near until / unless he is named on-field, but the price is OK.
Bo Allan (WCE, DEF/MID, 136k): Here, again, he has been impacted by sub games, most recently last week's very late entry for a 3. He has useful DPP and if / when he gets named on-field, given Jeremy McGovern's situation, might become relevant.
There are other options that are near rookie priced and available this week such as:
Rory Atkins (PTA, DEF, 233.7k, BE 1 with a most recent score of 104 after a low TOG 1st outing) may be worth a look if you think he might have better JS / output potential than the two above, but the investment is substantial and the margin for error slim.
Cobra Kai Lohmann (BRL, FWD, 230.2k, BE 11) is another who may attract interest. His output this season has been curtailed by in-game shoulder and ankle injuries and he is only just starting to round into some shape. He’s coming of a 76, he did manage to average 70.5 in 2024, so he is one you can consider if you think he can avoid injury setbacks and maybe make you some cash up to / potentially even beyond his bye. But he’s clearly coming with an elevated risk.
Midpricers:
As Shakespeare famously remarked, midpricedness is in the eye of the beholder, but there are a couple of standouts that people will be looking at this week. You can argue the toss as to whether these are midpricers or fallen premiums amongst yourselves, Scoops loves all God’s children just the same.
Jye Caldwell (ESS, MID, 440.5k, 21 BE) managed to score more than 80 points in a single quarter last week. It’s not easy to present his statistics because they have been punctuated by the odd injury-impacted score and comeback games where he has been eased back into it, but in four of seven games this year he has gone around 120 or higher and he finished off last year averaging 100 post-bye. He clearly has the ceiling and even if you think when / if Parish and Shiel types push back more into the midfield and they don’t play Merrett off half back that he might not have it all his own way, he still seems a pretty safe bet to give you a touch north of 100, priced at around 86-odd. Essendon don’t have the easiest fixture, for what that is worth.
Miles Bergman (PTA, MID/DEF, 382.3k) has gotten more exposure through the middle of late, with two 104’s and a 62 in a dirty night against the Cats, and they seem to want to keep giving him time in there. He’s not gilt-edged but he has shown a bit and if he can keep the role can outperform the price, and he is now bye-free.
Tom Stewart (GEE, DEF, 429.8k) has bottomed out off the various false starts. The Cats have a great run home and if he can avoid injuries and restings, he will outperform the price comfortably. The obvious risk is that he’s burnt more folks than the director of the Frankston crematorium and his coach is Chris Scott. They don't pay me enough to draw you a diagram.
Burnt more blokes than we've had hot dinners, but luck's a fortune
Similarly, Jeremy Cameron (GEE, FWD, 467k, 3-Rd average 109) is worth mentioning on the strength of the Cats’ run home and his pursuit of the Coleman. The Dart copping a rest?
exxy but, big Jez, you'd rather be getting on 100k cheaper, tbh
Riley Hardemamn, Angus Sheldrick, Sam Berry and Kane McCauliffe are now probably all priced a little awkwardly to consider, hard to say if the remaining juice is worth the squeeze. But run your own slide rule over them, Sheldrick in particular has been a Bobby Dazzler for owners.
Premos:
There are some fairly obvious now bye-free targets if you don’t have them.
Tristan Xerri (NM, RUC, 731.2k, 5-RD AVG 153.2) and Marcus Bontempellli (WBD, MID, 643k, 129 AVG) are obvious must-haves if you can find the money. Both are perma-captain options and Bontempelli plays 9 of 12 remaining games at Marvel, a venue where he tends to go off chops. Hard to go past either.
There are some other angles / players worth mentioning. Ed Richards (WBD, MID, 603k, 124 5-Rd AVG) and Tom Liberatore (WBD, MID, 592k, 120 5-Rd AVG) are eminently bankable, and Matt Kennedy (WBD, MID/FWD, 497k, 99 AVG) has flown under most people’s radar all year. The return of Adam Treloar might have some impact for all.
Carlton also has a number of midfielders some will be considering. This is in part due to a very favourable upcoming fixture. Patrick Cripps (CAR, MID, 529k, 5-Rd AVG 109) Adam Cerra (CAR, MID, 513k, 105 AVG despite Crazy Vossy shifting him left right and centre instead of letting the people’s champ cook in the guts), George Hewett (somewhat ‘discounted’ off a recent blip at 558k for a 115 AVG, but only a 98 5-Rd AVG) and Sam Walsh (just going, to be honest, but again, great upcoming run at 496k for a 98 AVG). Tom De Koning (110 AVG, 528k, 131 BE) is worth a shout as a bye-free RUC. The larynx thing seems fully behind him, Pitto going the Tonya Harding always the danger.
For the Kangas, Luke Davies-Uniacke (NM,MID, 507k, 105 5-Rd AVG) is worth mentioning. He has been poor and amongst the worst in the competition in kicking efficiency going inside forward 50 but does tend to get on streaks and has the CBAs, worth a thought at least.
For Port, the obvious one to flag is Zak Butters (586k MID, massive 197 BE and a potential date with Toby Bedford). He is one to wait a week on, could get as low as 520s in a couple of weeks. No point getting aheadof yourself there, let it play out.
This list isn’t exhaustive, but should serve as base orientation. Harry Sheezel is one you either hold if you’ve held till now or steer clear of till the dust settles if you haven’t, can’t see too many worlds in which he has any relevance going into this week.
EDIT: There are two other Bulldogs worth a mention. The Dogs have a nice upcoming run and Bailey Dale (WBD, 553k DEF, 106 AVG) is an option. I personally would prefer Nasaiah Wanganeen-Milera at 507k next week fresh off the bye, I think he has a higher ceiling and comes priced 9 pts cheaper. I would also take Lachie Whitfield over Dale. The only conceivable situation in which he might be worth a look is if you have both of those and / or you are really low on numbers this week, such that bringing in Dale would avoid a donut. Else, I would take Whitfield / NWM over Dale and a 50-pt head start (difference between a premo score and a rookie score) going into next week.
Tim English (WBD, RUC, 557k, 5-Rd AVG 113) is also a name worth at least tossing up. He is one you could consider if you like their run and already have at least one of the two big dogs, but he is a JAG* this year and you might be better off waiting for a genuinely discount priced ruck for your flex when opportunity presents than committing 560k to a bloke who is just going.
Rookies / Trade-Outs:
If you were wondering who ate all the pies and torpedoed a wonderful young man in entering his prime in the form of Caden Cleary, look no further than Deano ‘fat campaigner’ Cox.
Yeah, nah. Not so much. We hate the campaigner
Wayne Milera wouldn’t say boo to a goose, so when he’s out there calling your mob a rabble, might be time for you to take a look in the mirror. If you can find one big enough, you generously proportioned campaigner. Am sure Wayne will now have to knit the Swans a quilt and throw in a COLA voucher and other restorative acts, but the reality is sometimes you just have to….
Anthony Edwards Call A Spade | TikTok
Cleary (230k, BE 91) simply has to go, Luke Ryan Maric probably does to at 441k with an eye-watering BE of 155, if you have either / both.
You killed Cleary (and Bice, Bice, Baby, see below)
Edit: Riley Bice (SYD, 313.5k DEF) also has to go on the heels of a 9 and a subbing out. His price has already plummeted a further 33.5k and with a BE of 110, that seems set to continue. If you have him, it's time to say goodbye. We'll always have Miami Bice, Bice, Bice, Baby, The Biceman, Andrew Bice Clay, Vanilla Bice to comfort us.
Elijah Hewett and Xavier Lindsay have both bought themselves a stay of execution unless you need their money this week. Isaac Kako is hardly worth the trade-out, one you can hold until his bye, I guess. Or trade out, it doesn’t really make a heap of difference. Levi Ashcroft can go, but you can also just hold until his bye, unless you need his money. Been excellent, by and large, barely a blot in the copybook.
Henry Hustwaite and Clay Hall would be welcome returns, but whether and when they get back in is anyone’s guess. Watch team sheets and pray to your divinity of choice, I guess. Both are destined to be traded out by 94.7% of coaches the exact week before they get another gig. Don’t blame me, I just work here. Think I'll hold, personally.
Have a nice week, campaigners, and make sure one of you volunteers for next week's duties. Easiest job in the world topping this pap I've served up.
Don't make me get on a plane., you characters. The decline in standards of this joint simply won't be tolerated.
Good luck with your trades, make sure to map them out and look ahead beyond just this week, for what it's worth.
As the SuperCoach Gods surveyed their kingdom, they were struck by a great sense of anger.
Despite their best efforts to curse every rookie within a 6000km radius of the Melbourne CBD, brave coaches had been merrily going about their work and churning out surprisingly decent scores.
Coaches had lost their fear for the gods. They were swanning around drinking their piss, putting their feet up on their table, cutting their grass and rubbing their noses in it.
One of the recent weekly winners had even gone so far as to champ them in The Hun.
But nobody, and I mean nobody, makes the SC Gods bleed their own blood. The square up was as swift as it was brutal. How badly you got belted depended on how many underperformers you were forced to field. Very few escaped fully unscathed, those that did rocketed up the rankings.
If you scored north of 1,900, you went exceptionally. North of 1,800 very solid, 1,750 probably par-ish, depending on your rank.
Tomorrow is another day, every dog has his day, a smile is just a frown turned upside down and all that shit.
The byes have always best been considered a block of 3-5 weeks (depending on the year). You can’t declare the winner until all the votes have been counted, and that will be at the end of Rd 16.
Each team has its own bye balance, trade targets and strategies (from fairly evenly distributed if overall is your go to tanking one round to win three to four if you’re all about that league action, boss).
There is more than one way to skin a cat and plenty of inventive ways to survive the byes.
Rookies – Trade-Ins:
There are not a lot of options this week. Ignoring the potential to go early on a Zak Johnson / Tom McCarthy purely on spec:
Angus Clarke (ESS, DEF, 113.5k, BE -73) will be the most popular trade in amongst those who chose not to go early. His second game was never going to match his first and he might not end up that lucrative, but he is very low risk as basically everyone will be trading him in.
Luke Pedlar (ADE, FWD, 150.4k, BE -56) is not only the premier midfielder of the future, he’s one of the better rookies of the present. He is rated internally, they like what he brings to the team, but he has a pretty fair propensity to get injured, has never really had a proper crack at it.
EDIT: Two genuinely rookie priced players not relevant this week but worth keeping an eye on are:
Dev Robertson (BRL, MID/FWD, 121.2k), who has been impacted by being the sub with low game time twice in a row now. He has a BE of 47 and he is one you can't go near until / unless he is named on-field, but the price is OK.
Bo Allan (WCE, DEF/MID, 136k): Here, again, he has been impacted by sub games, most recently last week's very late entry for a 3. He has useful DPP and if / when he gets named on-field, given Jeremy McGovern's situation, might become relevant.
There are other options that are near rookie priced and available this week such as:
Rory Atkins (PTA, DEF, 233.7k, BE 1 with a most recent score of 104 after a low TOG 1st outing) may be worth a look if you think he might have better JS / output potential than the two above, but the investment is substantial and the margin for error slim.
Cobra Kai Lohmann (BRL, FWD, 230.2k, BE 11) is another who may attract interest. His output this season has been curtailed by in-game shoulder and ankle injuries and he is only just starting to round into some shape. He’s coming of a 76, he did manage to average 70.5 in 2024, so he is one you can consider if you think he can avoid injury setbacks and maybe make you some cash up to / potentially even beyond his bye. But he’s clearly coming with an elevated risk.
Midpricers:
As Shakespeare famously remarked, midpricedness is in the eye of the beholder, but there are a couple of standouts that people will be looking at this week. You can argue the toss as to whether these are midpricers or fallen premiums amongst yourselves, Scoops loves all God’s children just the same.
Jye Caldwell (ESS, MID, 440.5k, 21 BE) managed to score more than 80 points in a single quarter last week. It’s not easy to present his statistics because they have been punctuated by the odd injury-impacted score and comeback games where he has been eased back into it, but in four of seven games this year he has gone around 120 or higher and he finished off last year averaging 100 post-bye. He clearly has the ceiling and even if you think when / if Parish and Shiel types push back more into the midfield and they don’t play Merrett off half back that he might not have it all his own way, he still seems a pretty safe bet to give you a touch north of 100, priced at around 86-odd. Essendon don’t have the easiest fixture, for what that is worth.
Miles Bergman (PTA, MID/DEF, 382.3k) has gotten more exposure through the middle of late, with two 104’s and a 62 in a dirty night against the Cats, and they seem to want to keep giving him time in there. He’s not gilt-edged but he has shown a bit and if he can keep the role can outperform the price, and he is now bye-free.
Tom Stewart (GEE, DEF, 429.8k) has bottomed out off the various false starts. The Cats have a great run home and if he can avoid injuries and restings, he will outperform the price comfortably. The obvious risk is that he’s burnt more folks than the director of the Frankston crematorium and his coach is Chris Scott. They don't pay me enough to draw you a diagram.
Burnt more blokes than we've had hot dinners, but luck's a fortune
Similarly, Jeremy Cameron (GEE, FWD, 467k, 3-Rd average 109) is worth mentioning on the strength of the Cats’ run home and his pursuit of the Coleman. The Dart copping a rest?
exxy but, big Jez, you'd rather be getting on 100k cheaper, tbh
Riley Hardemamn, Angus Sheldrick, Sam Berry and Kane McCauliffe are now probably all priced a little awkwardly to consider, hard to say if the remaining juice is worth the squeeze. But run your own slide rule over them, Sheldrick in particular has been a Bobby Dazzler for owners.
Premos:
There are some fairly obvious now bye-free targets if you don’t have them.
Tristan Xerri (NM, RUC, 731.2k, 5-RD AVG 153.2) and Marcus Bontempellli (WBD, MID, 643k, 129 AVG) are obvious must-haves if you can find the money. Both are perma-captain options and Bontempelli plays 9 of 12 remaining games at Marvel, a venue where he tends to go off chops. Hard to go past either.
There are some other angles / players worth mentioning. Ed Richards (WBD, MID, 603k, 124 5-Rd AVG) and Tom Liberatore (WBD, MID, 592k, 120 5-Rd AVG) are eminently bankable, and Matt Kennedy (WBD, MID/FWD, 497k, 99 AVG) has flown under most people’s radar all year. The return of Adam Treloar might have some impact for all.
Carlton also has a number of midfielders some will be considering. This is in part due to a very favourable upcoming fixture. Patrick Cripps (CAR, MID, 529k, 5-Rd AVG 109) Adam Cerra (CAR, MID, 513k, 105 AVG despite Crazy Vossy shifting him left right and centre instead of letting the people’s champ cook in the guts), George Hewett (somewhat ‘discounted’ off a recent blip at 558k for a 115 AVG, but only a 98 5-Rd AVG) and Sam Walsh (just going, to be honest, but again, great upcoming run at 496k for a 98 AVG). Tom De Koning (110 AVG, 528k, 131 BE) is worth a shout as a bye-free RUC. The larynx thing seems fully behind him, Pitto going the Tonya Harding always the danger.
For the Kangas, Luke Davies-Uniacke (NM,MID, 507k, 105 5-Rd AVG) is worth mentioning. He has been poor and amongst the worst in the competition in kicking efficiency going inside forward 50 but does tend to get on streaks and has the CBAs, worth a thought at least.
For Port, the obvious one to flag is Zak Butters (586k MID, massive 197 BE and a potential date with Toby Bedford). He is one to wait a week on, could get as low as 520s in a couple of weeks. No point getting aheadof yourself there, let it play out.
This list isn’t exhaustive, but should serve as base orientation. Harry Sheezel is one you either hold if you’ve held till now or steer clear of till the dust settles if you haven’t, can’t see too many worlds in which he has any relevance going into this week.
EDIT: There are two other Bulldogs worth a mention. The Dogs have a nice upcoming run and Bailey Dale (WBD, 553k DEF, 106 AVG) is an option. I personally would prefer Nasaiah Wanganeen-Milera at 507k next week fresh off the bye, I think he has a higher ceiling and comes priced 9 pts cheaper. I would also take Lachie Whitfield over Dale. The only conceivable situation in which he might be worth a look is if you have both of those and / or you are really low on numbers this week, such that bringing in Dale would avoid a donut. Else, I would take Whitfield / NWM over Dale and a 50-pt head start (difference between a premo score and a rookie score) going into next week.
Tim English (WBD, RUC, 557k, 5-Rd AVG 113) is also a name worth at least tossing up. He is one you could consider if you like their run and already have at least one of the two big dogs, but he is a JAG* this year and you might be better off waiting for a genuinely discount priced ruck for your flex when opportunity presents than committing 560k to a bloke who is just going.
Rookies / Trade-Outs:
If you were wondering who ate all the pies and torpedoed a wonderful young man in entering his prime in the form of Caden Cleary, look no further than Deano ‘fat campaigner’ Cox.
Yeah, nah. Not so much. We hate the campaigner
Wayne Milera wouldn’t say boo to a goose, so when he’s out there calling your mob a rabble, might be time for you to take a look in the mirror. If you can find one big enough, you generously proportioned campaigner. Am sure Wayne will now have to knit the Swans a quilt and throw in a COLA voucher and other restorative acts, but the reality is sometimes you just have to….
Anthony Edwards Call A Spade | TikTok
Cleary (230k, BE 91) simply has to go, Luke Ryan Maric probably does to at 441k with an eye-watering BE of 155, if you have either / both.
You killed Cleary (and Bice, Bice, Baby, see below)
Edit: Riley Bice (SYD, 313.5k DEF) also has to go on the heels of a 9 and a subbing out. His price has already plummeted a further 33.5k and with a BE of 110, that seems set to continue. If you have him, it's time to say goodbye. We'll always have Miami Bice, Bice, Bice, Baby, The Biceman, Andrew Bice Clay, Vanilla Bice to comfort us.
Elijah Hewett and Xavier Lindsay have both bought themselves a stay of execution unless you need their money this week. Isaac Kako is hardly worth the trade-out, one you can hold until his bye, I guess. Or trade out, it doesn’t really make a heap of difference. Levi Ashcroft can go, but you can also just hold until his bye, unless you need his money. Been excellent, by and large, barely a blot in the copybook.
Henry Hustwaite and Clay Hall would be welcome returns, but whether and when they get back in is anyone’s guess. Watch team sheets and pray to your divinity of choice, I guess. Both are destined to be traded out by 94.7% of coaches the exact week before they get another gig. Don’t blame me, I just work here. Think I'll hold, personally.
Have a nice week, campaigners, and make sure one of you volunteers for next week's duties. Easiest job in the world topping this pap I've served up.
Don't make me get on a plane., you characters. The decline in standards of this joint simply won't be tolerated.
Good luck with your trades, make sure to map them out and look ahead beyond just this week, for what it's worth.
Last edited:
.
, slipped my mind as had already knifed him)
