Your SuperCoach Coach Blog

The Bargain

The Bargain

Mark McVeigh, $342 400, his 2009 was savaged by both injury and suspensions. Has had a strong preseason thus far, and is looking fit and raring to go. Averaged 95 and 96 in ’07 and ’08, and at $342 400 he offers the best value on Essendon’s list. Will work hard to put a horrid ’09 behind him – a year in which he forfeited a shot at the Essendon captaincy after skipping a training session resulting in internal suspension, a year in which he was penalised twice for striking, a year in which injuries haunted him and a year in which his on-field performances were poor. Hopefully this drives him to a career-best season. Was BOG in the intra-club match and played reasonably well in the round 1 NAB Cup game against the Weagles (72SC). Will be suspended for the first round so that’s something to consider.

The ‘I Told You So’

Tom Bellchambers, $138 100, every year Bellchambers draws a ridiculous number of selections as a backup ruck. Put simply – don’t pick him. Seriously. Here is his scoring history: 20, 47, 39, 61, 4, 16, 5, 67, 3. Nuff’ said.

The Rookie

The Rookie

Scott Gumbleton, $100 200, gets injured getting out of bed, gets injured taking a shower, gets injured eating his morning cereal, gets injured changing channels on the TV, gets injured getting into bed. I hope you get the point… Look, he’ll play if he manages to stay on the park so, as much as I exaggerate, there is some sense in picking him. He’s possibly the highest-rated player ever to play 5 games in 3 seasons though. The extent at which he’s currently overrated in the SC community will probably be evident when he finally gets on the park and plays. A bench player for you and not much else. Remember – he’s a KPF, and his development had been stunted by a horrid run of injuries. Even still – he’s likely the best rookie to choose from at Bomberland.

The Smokey

David Hille, $311 300, read ‘A Player A Day’ article here.

The Superstar

The Superstar

Jobe Watson, $541 000, had his career-best season last year and averaged 102 SC points in the process. Last year 37% of his possessions were from a contest (in context – Brett Kirk’s CP% last year was 38). He was 5th in the league last year for hardball-gets. Averaged 4.5 clearances a game. Averaged 4.5 tackles a game. Basically he’s a sublime inside player – but unfortunately a steady year-to-year kick to handball ratio of only 0.7 will see Watson unable to take the next step up to the ultra-premium level of 115+SC a season.