POD Hunter: Low-ownership players to set you apart

<ul><li>TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: <a href="http://13.210.220.211/2022/03/02/team-announcement-klopp-drops-2022-squad/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Klopp drops 2022 SuperCoach squad</a></li><li>BARGAIN BUYS:&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="http://13.210.220.211/2022/02/18/bargain-buys-assessing-the-defensive-cheapie-crop/" target="_blank">Assessing the defensive cheapie crop</a></li></ul>



If you like to live on the edge with your SuperCoach selections, you’ll be sure to want to hunt point of difference (POD) players for your side.



The low-ownership options players that can help get you off to a flyer if you nail them early on.



Let’s take a look at a few heading into Round 1 of the 2022 AFL season.



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1. Dan Rioli $336,000 (RICH) DEF/FWD



Riolo is a very interesting selection that seems to be flying highly under the radar.



Much like Keidean Coleman, at the back end of 2021, he was used across half back looking really promising for the Tigers.



With Bachar Houli hanging up the boots, the opportunity for Rioli to make that position his own would boost his stocks in that department you&#8217;d imagine, but ownership percentage tells another story.



Hugo Ralphsmith has also been playing in a similar role and impressing which almost appears more of a stop-gap option in pre-season with Rioli not being used in the recent practice match.



Rioli played his last six games in 2021 across half back where he saw a clear boost to his numbers take place.



He averaging 20.5 disposals and scored 75+ KFC Supercoach points in the last 5/6 games.



We may need to get a glimpse of him in the AAMI Series to instil some confidence in the selection.



Available in the forward line, playing half back, $330k&#8230; He might just be this year&#8217;s Nick Hind.&nbsp;



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2. Lachie Weller (GCS) $400,300 MID/FWD



Feels in a similar boat to George Hewett with that awkward price where it has you thinking ‘Should I, Shouldn&#8217;t I?’.



In a shallow forward line, could he be the saviour? If you watched the Suns&#8217; recent practice match, you wouldn&#8217;t rule it out.



He&#8217;s clearly trusted by his teammates for how he distributes the footy, offensively he makes things happen and he had 10-11 kickouts against Port Adelaide.



The asterisk against him is what happens when Jack Bowes comes back from injury as he was mainly at half back in 2021, but in the pre-season was touted for more midfield time so it isn&#8217;t exactly clear what that split looks like and how that would impact Weller.



Also, having already forward and midfield status, this does mean Weller can&#8217;t be eligible as a defender.



It’s hard to say how this selection will pan out, but he definitely has upside with a very Supercoach-friendly role.



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3. Taylor Adams (COLL) $516,700 MID



I really like the way Adams plays and he&#8217;s always felt underrated to me.



This time last year he was priced at $588k, the year before having averaged 109.6 KFC Supercoach points where he had only two scores dip below 94 across the full season. So he&#8217;s certainly beyond capable.



It almost feels like he has that midfield to himself now or at least he&#8217;ll definitely play the biggest part in it maybe since he&#8217;s joined the club.



The scoring power is there, but the concern lies within his questionable durability where he always tends to miss a game here or there.



If he had DEF/MID DPP status, that may have enticed some coaches more. Priced at over $70k cheaper in 2022 from last year, I still rate him highly and think there&#8217;s good value here.



4. Patrick Dangerfield (GEEL) $567,800 MID



For many years the Geelong ace has been one of the first selected and a highly dependable asset in our teams.



Taking out the injury affected game from Round 14 onwards in 2021, Dangerfield went on a run and averaged a stellar 122.4 KFC Supercoach points till the end of the season.



The maestro however is turning 32 very soon, but with Mitch Duncan&#8217;s ongoing injury concerns and Joel Selwood looking likely to play stints in the forward line, can a Dangerfield who still has this crazy ceiling be totally ignored?



Even when he&#8217;d miss games through injury or suspension, I don&#8217;t ever remember his ownership sitting as low as 3%.



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5. Noah Anderson (GCS) $455,000 MID



Another midfielder, another Gold Coast Sun. Just 21-years-old and missed the two games of AFL to date.



Last year in some games he&#8217;d be unbelievable and in some others he&#8217;d be less sighted, so it&#8217;s a part of his development and finding that balance of consistency.



Alongside Rowell and Miller, this trio over the coming years looks to grow and become a strong force together with Anderson playing a big part in what the Suns are building.



His centre bounce attendance numbers look set to soar in 2022 as evidened in the praise he&#8217;s been receiving in the summer as well as what he&#8217;s been doing in match sims and practice matches &#8211; having bulk of the on-ball time.



6. Lachie Ash (GWS) $413,400 DEF/MID



This may surprise a few. The 4th pick in the 2019 draft is making moves and it hasn&#8217;t slipped my attention.



In 2021, he managed a good solid season by raising his Supercoach average by +16.2 points compared to his debut year.



He’s looking to take the next step as he appears ready to get more midfield time for the Giants, having been one of their most impressive players during the pre-season.



Round 6 of 2021 he went off the chain scoring a whopping 139 Supercoach points against the Western Bulldogs, collecting 35 touches and 15 marks which clearly illustrates the super bright potential the Giants have in this young gem.



Ash has already been fairly involved in the GWS on-ball rotations across GWS&#8217; pre-season matches.



It&#8217;s well known Tom Green was tipped to be a breakout contender, which has been the case for a couple of years now but I think we may see Ash do it before him.



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7. Adam Cerra (CARL) $490,200 MID



As a passionate Bombers man I&#8217;ll be the first to admit, I don&#8217;t watch much of Carlton&#8217;s games.



But all jokes aside I&#8217;ve been keeping my eye closely on the Blue&#8217;s new recruit in Cerra and I think he&#8217;s absolutely fantastic.



He&#8217;s having as good of a pre-season as he could hope, starring in match sims and particularly in the practice match against St Kilda which quite clearly showed why this young star deserved more than the 46.3% CBAs he was getting at Fremantle.



There&#8217;s no way around it, he is pure quality. At just 22-years-old, I believe he is ready for that next step that&#8217;ll make him turn heads from a Supercoach perspective.



He&#8217;s a capable goal kicker and a good ball-winner in the contest, I wouldn&#8217;t be totally surprised if he added 10-15 points to his average.



With Sam Walsh missing, it&#8217;s a perfect opportunity for Cerra to show the Blues supporters what they can look forward to when Walsh returns.



8. Andrew Brayshaw (FRE) $584,300 MID



This for me might just be the most exciting and tempting pick in this list of 10 PODS.



He is the clear centrepiece of Fremantle&#8217;s ambitions for now and many years to come.



I was a Brayshaw owner in 2021 and his ability to explode is very real. There were games he&#8217;d be on 35-40 at half time, you&#8217;d be thinking ‘oh no’ and all of a sudden he&#8217;s sitting on 90+ points by three quarter time.



In Round 20 against Richmond he casually just dropped 190 Supercoach points which deserves a mention.



Brayshaw appears very close to joining the competition&#8217;s elite category of A graders, if he isn&#8217;t there already.



Also, it&#8217;s worth noting, Fremantle has such a sweet fixture early, his durability is beyond decent having missed just the two games in the last three years and it wouldn&#8217;t be a complete shock if he just fully broke out to a 115+ average.



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9. Pat Lipinski (COLL) $359,900 MID



Lipinski intrigues me as to what heights he can reach in the black and white.



There’s absolutely no shame in not making the Western Bulldogs starting midfield, most wouldn&#8217;t.



He&#8217;s chosen a home in the Magpies where he&#8217;s still joined a big club and a rebuilding project with a new coach that I believe they will do well under.



He&#8217;s going to get the love, the games under his belt and the midfield minutes he&#8217;s been craving.



With many coaches looking to put at least one or a couple of mid-pricers in their midfield, it&#8217;s a little surprising Lipinski isn&#8217;t in more teams.



He’s a slightly awkward cost I agree, but at this price if he has one belter performance and goes ballistic, he could easily ride that low breakeven number and make $150k. The talent, the opportunities he&#8217;ll get and the Supercoach-friendly role is all there.



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10. Rowan Marshall (STK) $536,800 RUC



I’m not going to beat around the bush here, the R2 spot looks like a proper game of roulette this year.



Of all the options, I really rate the Marshall pick highly. Ryder was training away from the main group a few weeks ago, not participating in any match sims or the practice match.



Marshall didn&#8217;t play in the practice match either, but the difference is he was just being managed, whereas Ryder is having Achilles issues which at 34-years-old isn&#8217;t great for him.



But for Marshall himself and what that means for his scores is intriguing. Jack Hayes has signed for the club also so it&#8217;ll be interesting to see what that means for St Kilda&#8217;s set up.



Marshall is a super value selection, last season had many low scoring games due to being brought back from injury far too early, having really low time on ground, so that average is misleading as his low scores weren&#8217;t games he played big minutes in as he was just working his way back into things to try to find his rhythm.



Post-bye after coming back from his injury, every game Marshall had above 74% time on ground &#8211; he averaged 120.2 Supercoach points.

POD Hunter: Low-ownership players to set you apart

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