Supercoach 2015 rookie watch list – DEFENDERS
NOTE THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN UPDATED – CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST ROOKIE DEFENDER UPDATE
Any good football team is only as good as the defence they have out on the field.
The exact same is true for you and your Supercoach team. And in 2015 our Supercoach defence is looking like one of the tricker lines we’ll have to sort through. Nailing our picks, especially our rookie priced picks, might just help us avoid some of those nasty mid priced booby traps that we can all fall into. Supercoach defence rookies are going to be very important this season.
So let’s go see what we have available to us.
SUPERCOACH ROOKIE DEFENDERS
Note: All players are sorted by price (lowest to highest) and then alphabetically by last name.
PRIORITY WATCHLIST
REAL POTENTIAL FOR ROUND 1 ACTION
Hugh Goddard – St. Kilda – $122,300
Touted as a potential top 10 pick, Goddard fell all the way to #21 to the Saints. St Kilda Coach Alan Richardson says “The decision is long-term with Patty and Hugh. They are potential bookends for 10 years so we have found ourselves some players. Hugh is a really impressive guy, too. They are both very good people with real leadership potential and people that get the best out of themselves.” Read Maso’s analysis of Hugh Goddard here.
Shaun Edwards- Essendon – $123,900
21 year old. Spent the year in the VFL after being traded from GWS. Neil Craig says “The thing I’ve really liked about Shaun this pre-season is I think there’s starting to be a change in mentality. I think he’s starting to develop an elite mindset about what’s required to be able to perform at this level, and sometimes it takes different individuals different amounts of time to be able to get that picture in their head. At the moment, with the way he’s applying himself, he’s actually giving himself every opportunity to be selected.”
Nathan J. Brown – Collingwood – $146,900
Missed most of last year with a shoulder injury, Nathan Brown says “Most guys are complaining about training long days but I’m sort of right into it (with a) bit of energy and really happy to be out there and the body’s feeling great.” Is aiming for a Round 1 debut, but he hasn’t averaged above 50 Supercoach Points over the past 3 years. Could be a desperation pick only.
Brendan Whitecross – Hawthorn – $198,700
Missed all of 2014 with a knee injury suffered late in 2013. Averaged 84 in 2012, still need to see if he’ll be brought straight back or via the VFL, so there’s a solid chance he could still be bumped down from here. Read General Soreness’ analysis of Brendan Whitecross here.
Aidan Corr – GWS – $205,600
Played 14 games over 2 years, but missed 2nd half of 2014 with a shoulder injury.
POTENTIAL WATCHLIST
MAY NOT PLAY ROUND 1, BUT MAY GET SOME EARLY GAMES
Daniel McKenzie – St Kilda – $117,300
Interesting prospect who’s a heck of an athlete. Saints could surprise and play him early. Read Pieman’s analysis of Daniel McKenzie here
Dillon Viojo-Rainbow – Carlton – $117,300
Rated as having an elite left foot kick, Rainbow has said he’s aiming to line up against Richmond in Round 1. Read Pieman’s analysis of Dillon Viojo-Rainbow here
Nick Holman – Carlton – $123,900
Debuted against Port Adelaide late in the year, whether that was just a once of cameo for a young player or a sign or more to come remains to be seen.
Jake Kelly – Adelaide – $123,900
Still on the rookie list, but with the retirement of Ben Rutten and long term injury to Andy Otten means there’s scope for him to be brought up if Hartigan struggles and the Crows decide Level isn’t ready yet.
Henry Schade – Gold Coast – $123,900
Pick #24 back in 2011, he has spent 3 years developing in the NEAFL. Key defender who may get a shot now that Bock and Warnock are out of the way.
Tom Clurey – Port Adelaide – $150,000
Won the 3km time trials for first-to-fourth year players at the start of pre-season training. Debuted in Round 1 last year, but spent the rest of the year in the SANFL. Hope the same doesn’t happen again!
Update 17/01 – With Port Adelaide Defender Jackson Trengove going in for shoulder surgery and potentially being out for Round 1, Port Adelaide Defence Coach Matthew Nicks says “Tommy Clurey’s probably the first guy that comes to mind in terms of a young up-and-coming key defender … he now gets even more of an opportunity to show he’s up to it. It was hard for him last year, he was playing a slightly different role [in the SANFL] to what he would have played with us. We were playing him on key forwards, he’s probably a second or third tall defender because he’s got an elite engine. With ‘Jacko’ out, whether that takes Tom Jonas to step up and play key back and allow Clurey to come in and play as a third defender – that’s the sort of thing you start to look at.”
The signs for a repeat of last year are happening!
Jake Lever – Adelaide – $157,300
Rehab from his knee reconstruction is done and dusted and is now into full training. Looks likely to be physically ready for Round 1, but others ahead of him likely to be given first crack at replacing Rutten.
Darcy Moore – Collingwood – $182,300
Has had injury setback, spending 3 weeks in a protective boot due to a toe injury. Could potentially delay his debut, but with Jesse White also injured he could be bumped up the depth chart again.
Zak Jones – Sydney – $182,800
Debuted in the middle of 2014 and played a handful of games. Will likely be given a chance again in 2015, the biggest question is when?
Caleb Marchbank – GWS – $197,300
Drafted with Pick #6 in the Draft, GWS have never been afraid of bringing the kids in early (probably because they usually don’t have an alternative). You’d think guys like Corr, Davis and Bugg get first crack, but Lachie Plowman’s injury could bump up his chances.
Brodie Murdoch – St.Kilda – $193,500
Was given a couple of chances last year, but was subbed a fair bit when he did play. St Kilda still rebuilding, so he fits the age profile they’ll be looking at.
MAYBE LATER ON
UNLIKELY TO PLAY ROUND 1, MAY GET GAMES LATER IN SEASON
Tom Fields – $102,400
Adam Saad – $102,400
Mitchell White – $102,400
Harris Andrews – $117,300
Brayden Maynard – $117,300
Oscar McDonald – $117,300
Josh McGuinness – $117,300
Josh Watts – $117,300
Kaiden Brand – $123,900
Ciaran Byrne – $123,900
Darcy Byrne-Jones – $123,900
Matthew Dick – $123,900
Cameron Giles – $123,900
Joel Hamling – $123,900
Jordan Kelly – $123,900
Jake Kolodjashnij – $123,900
Jonathan Marsh – $123,900
Adam Oxley – $123,900
Alex Pearce – $123,900
Xavier Richards – $123,900
Sam Siggins – $123,900
Tanner Smith – $123,900
Michael Manteit – $124,400
Billy Gowers – $128,400
Lauchlan Dalgleish – $145,100
Sam Durdin – $147,300
Ariel Steinberg – $169,900
Sam Colquhoun – $188,300
That’s all for now – I’ll update these rookie posts regularly throughout the preseason so keep the ear to the ground!
Hit me up on Twitter or in the comments below
Barron Von Crow
@BarronVonCrow
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*Bows to the Barron* Wow, lots on the list and with many of them you can put a line through them as SC irrelevant. I would like to see Adam Oxley get a run for the pies, could go very well along with J Kolo for the cats, both I think may have some reasonable close to round 1 claims. Tend to agree re Zak Jones, he will already be behind Heeney imho. Edwards right age for a chance, will be interesting to see who the Bomber's go with. Argh Nathan Brown, for anyone even considering him his last name is a prophecy for the stain he will leave on your team. Do Not Touch!
Oh absolutely, I wouldn't touch Brown either, but he fits the criteria, so he's on the list!
Yea, i'm still not 100% locked in on Shaun Edwards at this stage, and you'd know better than I what his chance would be like. I do like what I've seen of him though.
You left out N Newman from Sydney
Heard anything about him that'd suggest he's a chance for some games?
Massive long shot imo. Rookie listed and plenty of contenders for 'eski's spot before him
Brilliant Baron. Some more names to add to the list. No N Newman or Matty Fuller? I see Shezza is onto the Newman one to.
Could potentially add them both to the "MAYBE LATER ON" pile, but Newman is still on the rookie list so i'm not as gung-ho on him making it this year and Fuller barely averaged 10 possies a game before he blew his shoulder out midway through last year, so he's a big 'ol ? at this stage. Not every player who fits into the price criteria has been included, just those who look like a chance of getting some game time this year.
We're likely going to keep these as a running update between now and the start of the year, so players will likely be moving in and out and up and down as we get more news about them.
Sounds great Baron. Love your work. Couldnt find anything on the Fuller injury. Found it interesting with the clean out they kept him. It will be a while till & if Newman comes off the rookie list.
Kudos Baron!…very comprehensive!
Dillon and Hugh are the most likely to post decent 70+ scores from round one imho. As always tho, there will be rookie diamonds in the NAB rough that will sparkle! Lets hope so coz the pickin's slim down back at the moment, community.
Here is my backline ATM. Tried the theory of nothing over 480k. Toying up with the idea of dropingn one of the mid pricers for an extra rookie. 2750k more than what i planned to spend on DEF
Kelly, Hurn, Houli, Newnes, Rampe, Waters ( Mckenzie, Goddard )
Few pods in there. Putting faith in Rampe getting a piece of the eski pie and lifting his average from 76 to 80+. And waters to go 75+. Not great for the spend I think. Any thoughts, sugegstions discussions.
Thoughts on Liam Dawson
Thanks Barron this is a great bookmark for those who come along in feb and march and don't have the drive to read all the brilliant articles. but you forgot John Smith, David Jones, John Hancock, Mr Black, Mr Green, Mr White etc, etc, etc.
You forgot Zac Dawson. Break out year looms.
This is simply awesome, Barron. Consider it bookmarked and heavily copied and pasted into my watchlist spreadsheet.
One question/suggestion: since we're looking for cash cows, should this be more about $220K and under players rather than rooks? I know I'm being greedy with picking your great mind, Barron.
Cheers Throtts,
It will be rookie priced players, rather than rookie watch i'd say, that's why we've got guys like Nathan Brown and Aiden Corr in the list. Not as much under 220K value in the defenders, but you'll see a few more in the other positions when they get put up.
Usually I have a 15 minutes after waking rule about commenting. I violate that this morning and the results are evident. Ugh. Again, great article.
Hey Baron, great stuff mate lots to consider here! Just wondering why you have Dalgleish on the bottom rung though as believe he’s ahead of Gleeson if fit.
Looks like Hugh Goddard won't be starting in round one. http://stk.lt/1sVa4fk
There seems to be a little interest brewing for Dick. Maybe the ladies are getting on board.
Seriously though, Carlton are talking him up a little….'not here to make up the numbers….'
Do we believe much into this? everyone at this time of year is a chance for the best 18, training the house down and working with the midfield group……