SuperCoach AFL 2024: Champion Data guru Fantasy Freako explains round 3 scores, talking points
Fantasy Freako - April 2, 2024 - 4:00PM
News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom
Kicks, marks and handballs all score points, but there is a lot more to the SuperCoach scoring formula than that.
Champion Data’s SuperCoach guru Fantasy Freako will be here every week to explain key scoring trends and moments from the round just gone.
This intel is crucial to gaining a deeper understanding of the game and how players score – info you can use to make the best trade and selection decisions every week.
Here are eight key stats you need to know from round 3.
BONTEMPELLI v MARTIN
Nic Martin bounced back in a huge way in Essendon’s thrilling win against St Kilda, racking up 44 disposals and scoring 136 SuperCoach points. The next day Marcus Bontempelli registered 110 points from just 16 disposals against West Coast.
The way each player reached their score is a great window into how players are rewarded in SuperCoach.
The first point to note is that every game is judged in isolation based on how individual players influenced that match.
Bontempelli’s points were spread out with 26.2 coming from tackles, 20.7 from effective kicks, 19.4 from contested marks and 18.4 from his three goals. More importantly, only three disposals didn’t hit the target – he lost just 13.7 points from negative acts.
Martin’s score was based on volume, scoring 65.9 points from effective kicks alone. He scored 18.2 from loose ball-gets, 16.8 from handball receives and 11.6 for uncontested marks. His score could have been much higher if he hadn’t lost 20.5 points from negative acts.
CLANGER KING
Hayden Young was another player to bounce back in round 3, rewarding coaches who kept the faith with 132 points. After a wayward opening two rounds, 13 of Young’s 18 kicks were effective against the Crows. He had four ineffective kicks and one direct turnover.
Jordan Dawson had 27 disposals in the same game but his radar is still broken. He recorded just eight effective kicks for the match, plus six ineffective kicks and five direct turnovers.
Only Errol Gulden (11) has had more clanger kicks than Dawson (10) this year.
DON’T CRY OVER SPILT MARKS
Last week we mentioned that
retaining possession is the key to recording an effective disposal, but there is an exception to the rule.
A dropped mark costs you points in SuperCoach, but it doesn’t hurt the player delivering the ball.
Jack Steele sent a perfect pass inside 50 to Tim Membrey on Saturday, only for Membrey to spill the mark. Steele was still credited with an effective kick, although he missed the opportunity to add a score assist to his tally.
Nick Daicos was part of a similar play on Thursday night when Reef McInnes couldn’t hold onto his long kick to the goalsquare. The Daicos kick was effective and in this case McInnes wasn’t awarded a dropped mark as he was under pressure. He was credited with a loose ball-get when he picked up the ball and snapped a goal.
Daicos was moved back to defence against the Lions, playing 80 per cent of game time in that role, compared to just 20 per cent in the midfield.
GOING BACKWARDS
Coaches relying on Blake Howes and Toby Pink to hold up their backlines would have watched in alarm at both players’ scores on the weekend.
Howes had zero points to his name at halftime of Melbourne’s win against Port Adelaide while Pink was in the negatives for much of Good Friday, before the pair finished with 26 and 19 points respectively.
Howes had seven disposals, hitting the target with four of them, and lost a total of 10.4 points for negative acts consisting of a clanger kick and free kick against. Pink had just five disposals against Carlton and lost 18 points for negative acts including giving away a free kick and a 50m penalty – the worst offence a player can commit in SuperCoach.
He wasn’t alone, with North Melbourne giving away six 50m penalties for the match, the equal fourth-most every recorded.
SAVING BEST TIL LAST
Making an impact when the game is on the line is given extra weight in SuperCoach, as Caleb Windsor demonstrated against the Power.
Windsor had 12 disposals for the game including four in the final quarter, but he scored 41 of his 56 points in the close final term. Nine of those came from his big goal and he added 4.6 for a goal assist.
POWELL MAKES HIS MOVE
Tom Powell was one of the most traded in players last round, with his ownership spiking from 520 to over 28,000. He repaid his new owners with 92 points against Carlton, including a major boost in the third quarter when he picked off a behind kick-in. Powell completed a 16-point play made up of the intercept mark, effective kick, and goal.