Weekly wrap: Round 17 studs & duds

Jack Steele.

That’s all this article will be about.

JACK STEELE!

To set the scene, I had him locked in as a trade-out. Steele had averaged just 87 since I traded him in and to be completely honest, I could not be happier seeing the back of him as I kicked him to the curb, gleefully anticipating the moment where I could write his name down alongside Luke Ryan’s on my ‘never again’ list.

But, something happened.

Something that not even science can explain.

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News began to circulate on Friday regarding Jack Ziebell being named as the tactical substitute ahead of North Melbourne’s match against the Cats.

So, like any sane SuperCoacher, I understood that there was no conceivable explanation for why I would trade Jack Steele (no matter how bad he had been) over a guy who had just been confirmed as the sub.

And just like that, JZ departed Elite Dadds, and JS retained his position at M7 albeit with judging eyes following his every move.

31 touches, 6 marks, 12 tackles, a goal, and 140 points later… I am one happy, happy man.

This week, Elite Dadds scored 2610 which moved me up 812 spots to 3293^rd.

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I’ve only got two trades left and I plan on making every one of them count, so it looks like I’ll be entering Round 18 with an unchanged squad.

The general plan of attack from here is to get Maric up to Jezza Cameron at some point and loop him with Harry Sheezel at F6. More on that to come in the next few weeks…

I’ve gone on long enough.

Let’s get into the wrap.

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Richmond v Sydney

• Shai Bolton (158) is far too inconsistent to properly consider
• Dustin Martin (131) had just six CBAs but did have the second most contested possessions in the game
• Toby Nankervis (108) was reported for a high bump on Jake Lloyd (31) who was subbed out in the second quarter with concussion
• Tim Taranto (84) struggled for the second week in a row. He has a juicy next two matchups against the Eagles and Hawks though
• Errol Gulden (143) delivered as a smoky VC option
• Callum Mills (99) was a hugely popular trade-in and you’ve got to be happy with that score if you did bring him in. 17 CBAs is extremely promising
• Luke Parker (85) failed to ton up for just the second time in his last ten games
• Angus Sheldrick (53) had just 54% TOG after he had to get his ankle checked and re-strapped in the first quarter

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Western Bulldogs v Collingwood

• Tim English (130) has a low score of just 127 in his last three games. He’s the clear #1 ruck in the game
• In ten years, we will look back on Marcus Bontempelli’s (123) 2023 SuperCoach season as one of the best of all time. Since Round 3, he’s averaged 133 points… And in that time, he has not dropped under 110 ONCE
• Bailey Dale’s (92) high scoring is on its last legs with JJ getting ever so closer to a return
• Tom Liberatore (75) put up his lowest score of the year but still remains as a very solid buy for the last seven games of the season
• Nick Daicos (139) continues to take his game to absurd new heights
• FINALLY, a good score from Tom Mitchell (109). I brought him in three weeks ago and up until this game, owning him had been nothing short of torture
• Darcy Cameron (80) has just two tons since his Round 10 return… He’ll also have another tough match when he comes up against big Shrek this weekend

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Brisbane v West Coast

• Does anybody still own Will Ashcroft (148)?? He’s averaging 106 points at the Gabba this season… Unreal!
• Lachie Neale (142) was understandably the most captained player in Round 17
• Jaspa Fletcher (49) has one more game to make some cash before it’s time to trade him
• Ryan Maric (44) was serviceable enough cover for Josh Dunkley. We’re gonna need Dunks back ASAP though

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GWS v Hawthorn

• Stephen Coniglio (119) had 30 touches and kicked 3 goals
• Kieren Briggs (107) was on 79 at halftime, dropped to 75 with five minutes to go in the match, and then got massively scale up to yet another ton by fulltime
• Harry Himmelberg (90) got a lot of the footy down back
• Tom Green (73) couldn’t replicate his 127 and 128’s from the previous two weeks

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• Josh Kelly (23) was absolutely shut DOWN by Finn Maginness (64) in one of the best displays of tagging we’ve seen all year. He now has a breakeven of 219 and is projected to drop to just above $500k in two weeks time. Kelly could be a huge underpriced POD for the run home
• Will Day (107) hurt his shoulder in the third but managed to tough it out for the remainder of the game. He did rotate forward that quarter though which is some cause for concern
• Seamus Mitchell (55) has now maxed out and can be traded to make way for a premium. It’s been a pleasure, S.Mitchell

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St Kilda v Melbourne

• Rowan Marshall (149) BULLIED the so called “greatest ruck duo in history”
• I’ll try to not ramble on about Jack Steele (140) more than I already have but holy moly… Is he back??
• Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera (110) has already written himself down in my ‘2024 SuperCoach breakout players’ list
• Jack Sinclair (96) was floating in-between half-back and midfield
• To be completely honest, I’m not sold on Christian Petracca (120)… He needed to kick FOUR goals to score as well as he did which he’s obviously not going to be able to do every week, and Simon Goodwin has since come out and said they’ll likely need to play him more permanently forward in Fritsch’s absence. It just doesn’t seem sustainable enough
• With Clarry sidelined and Trac up forward, Angus Brayshaw (91) has been seeing a lot more time in the middle. He has a five-round average of 96

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Port Adelaide v Gold Coast

• Ollie Wines (110) has shown glimpses of being back to his best in the last couple months
• Connor Rozee (95) could have had a huge score if it wasn’t for his game-high seven clangers
• This was Zak Butters’ (81) lowest score since Round 3
• The return of Touk Miller (92) didn’t faze Noah Anderson (131) who has a five-round average of 114
• Matthew Rowell (101) shrugged off a Willem Drew (76) tag
• As mentioned, Touk did indeed make his highly anticipated return to footy. I thought he would be close to a must-have, but I’m a bit concerned regarding how much time he spent up forward. He attended just 17% of the CBAs, 72% less than the last time he played an AFL game

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Geelong v North Melbourne

• Mitch Duncan (144) played a half-forward role and seemed to be everywhere the ball went
• Tom Stewart (124) found a lot of the footy in junk time
• Patrick Dangerfield (79) was tagged by Hugh Greenwood (91)
• Oisin Mullin (38) found his way back into the team
• Luke Davies-Uniacke (134) is averaging 114 since his Round 16 return
• Harry Sheezel (65) started off well enough but drifted forward as the game went on. Just one ton in his last six games is a massive worry
• Luckily for coaches who held Jack Ziebell (59) despite being named as the sub, he came on in the first quarter in place of Griffin Logue (17) who went off with a knee injury
• Cooper Harvey (52) made his debut and didn’t look out of place at all

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Essendon v Adelaide

• God it feels good to be on the right side of a Zach Merrett (136) demolition job. His five-round average of 134 is the best of ANY player in the comp
• Nic Martin (127) has five 120+ scores in his last six games
• Darcy Parish (126) is still tremendous value if you’re in the market for a premo midfielder
• Mason Redman (80) was tagged by Ben Keays (82) up until the last quarter
• Jordan Ridley (80) came down on his knee very awkwardly but has since been cleared of any major damage. He’s even a chance to play this week after luckily just suffering bone bruising
• Jordan Dawson (127) was elite as per
• Rory Laird (117) had game highs in both contested possessions and clearances

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Fremantle v Carlton

• Luke Ryan (168) was unstoppable in defence, racking up 35 touches and 10 marks
• Sean Darcy (145) made light work of Carlton’s “rucks”
• Andrew Brayshaw (107) bounced back from his effort last week
• Caleb Serong (90) couldn’t crack the ton due to his 50% DE
• Sam Walsh (119) narrowly missed out on FWD DPP

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• Patrick Cripps (118) has three tons in a row for the first time all season
• Sam Docherty (112) spent most of his time out on a wing
• Adam Cerra (111) has a five-round average of 126
• Matthew Kennedy (109) hyperextended his knee and played just 45% of the game
• There’s a vacant spot in midfield now and it looks like George Hewett’s (17) for the taking. His last four games have been sub-affected, leaving him at just $281k, $333k down from his original starting price. Dare I say he’s a borderline must-have??