KFC SuperCoach AFL 2021: Best ruck options for 2021 analysed
The ‘set and forget’ strategy which has been a staple for many KFC SuperCoaches is under siege in 2021. We’ve analysed the best ruck options for your team.
Tim Michell
The two most-talked about ruckmen this KFC SuperCoach pre-season have a combined AFL tally of 18 games.
Braydon Preuss is the biggest talking point ahead of 2021 after finally making a move to a club where he is destined to become the first-choice ruckman.
The other is Fremantle rookie Josh Treacy, a 194cm key forward from Bendigo Pioneers who is the only RUC-FWD listed at $102,400 this year.
Preuss joined GWS Giants during last year’s trade period and will vie with veteran Shane Mumford for a Round 1 starting berth.
The 25-year-old has done a long apprenticeship behind Todd Goldstein and Max Gawn, but his KFC SuperCoach numbers during rare AFL appearances were eye-catching.
Preuss averaged 102.6 in three matches Gawn missed and posted 111 points in his only full game without Goldstein while at North Melbourne.
R2 was a revolving door in many KFC SuperCoach teams last season and extra trades allowed coaches to trade Gawn when he missed rounds 11-13.
Barring another season of footy frenzies, KFC SuperCoaches will have the regular 30 trades to use in 2021.
That add weight to the idea of paying the hefty $1,399,600 for ruck behemoths Gawn and Brodie Grundy.
The theory is you lock away your starting ruckmen at the start of the year, benefit from their elite scoring and use your trades to strengthen elsewhere.
Gawn is the most expensive starting player in KFC SuperCoach history at $751,400, while Grundy is $57,700 cheaper than he started 2020.
The ‘set and forget’ duo are actually $3400 cheaper than in 2020 despite Gawn’s historic starting price.
The Grundy-Preuss combination has been popular in initial KFC SuperCoach teams as coaches look to spread their wealth and target premiums in other positions.
There’s no perfect answer yet to which starting duo will pay off — in fact Gawn and Grundy or a combination of Gawn/Grundy and Preuss could be work.
Here’s our assessment of the top ruck options in 2021 to help you decide.
THE BIG GUNS
Max Gawn (Melbourne) $751,400 RUCK | 2020 Average: 139.9 | 2019 Average: 128.4
The most expensive starting player ever in KFC SuperCoach after an off-the-charts 2020 season. Gawn posted 121 points or more in 12 of his 14 games and scored 150 points or more in an incredible eight matches — with a season-high of 185. Who could forget the stretch where he went 141, 163, 153, 185 and 157 in successive weeks, a five-round average of 159.8? No doubt he benefited from shorter quarters and the resultant scaling, but you’re going to need Gawn at some point in 2021. It’s just a matter of whether you can squeeze him into your starting budget.
Brodie Grundy (Collingwood) $648,200 RUCK | 2020 Av: 120.6 | 2019 Av: 130
If shorter quarters and the footy frenzy helped Gawn, they had the opposite effect on Grundy. Collingwood had one of the most congested fixtures of 2020 and it ultimately caught up with many of their stars, including Grundy. From Round 8, Grundy scored above 120 only four times and averaged 111.7, almost 20 points less than his 2019 output. As frustrating as that was for KFC SuperCoaches, it means Grundy is available for less than $650,000 in 2021. The return to longer quarters should result in a resumption of his consistent 120-plus scoring.
Todd Goldstein (North Melbourne) $601,700 RUCK | 2020 Av: 112 | 2019 Av: 112.2
The uber-consistent Roo has sat on the rung of KFC SuperCoach scorers below Gawn and Grundy in recent years, although his fast finish to 2019 (he averaged 128 from Round 13 onwards) was on par with the big two. Much like Grundy, Goldstein battled one-out throughout much of the footy frenzy in a team which didn’t win many games. Both of these factors didn’t help his scoring, yet he still matched his 2019 average of 112. What works against him as a starting pick is Grundy is only $46,500 more expensive and the scoring gap between them could amount to 200 points during a full season. There’s no doubt Goldstein will average triple figures again and he’s certain to be a POD.
Nic Naitanui (West Coast) $593,700 RUCK | 2020 Av: 110.5 | 2019 Av: 93.7
Was there a player whose scoring benefited as much from shorter quarters as Nic Nat? His high-impact game was perfectly suited to football in 2020 and he got through 16 of a possible 18 matches for the Eagles. His rate of hitouts-to-advantage was a major factor in a run when he scored 146, 129, 153 and 146 mid-season. Whether those numbers can translate to full quarters is the obvious question mark, with the strong possibility a player such as Bailey Williams partners Naitanui this year. Again, he’s close enough in price to Grundy that KFC SuperCoaches might as well just go for the Pies’ big man instead.