Rory Laird - Adelaide Crows
Price: $587,600
Ownership: 39.8%
2018 Avg: 108.2
Three year Avg: 101.7
Pos. to rank: 2
Must own rating: 7/10
Verdict: My first defender picked over the last few years and a player that will end 2019 in the top 6 defenders. I will not be starting Laird in 2019 though. With Brodie Smith back and with Laird being the number one Crows player to mark kick ins last year (18 marks), I can see the new kick in rules not positively affecting Laird as much as others. My concern with Laird is that the Crows set up 8-6-4 (two extra men back) 29.2% of the time and 7-6-4 (48.7% of the time. Laird is undoubtedly the main distributor for the Crows, but with Brodie Smith returning the new set up rules will force Laird to play one on one more (which he did well with a 51% win rate and a meagre 19% loss rate).
Lachie Whitfield - GWS Giants
Price: $542,100
Ownership: 33.0%
2018 Avg: 99.8
Three year Avg: 92.8
Pos. to Rank: 5
Must own rating: 7/10
Verdict: Whitfield is a classy, smooth moving left footer, and is coming off the back of an All Australian year. This year, he is classified as a defender, but with the return of Zac Williams, Whitfield is expected to spend most of his time on the wing or in midfield. Whitfield took 51 (24%) kick ins for GWS last year, which was almost the most in the competition. Whitfield has improved his SC average every year since debuting in 2013.
Jake Lloyd - Sydney Swans
Price: $608,200
Ownership: 30.2%
2018 Avg: 112
Three year Avg: 94.6
Pos. to Rank: 1
Must own rating: 9/10
Verdict: Lloyd was my POD defender last season, but he turned out to be a great pick. Lloyd ended the year as the highest scoring and averaging defender, and saw him claim the Swans B&F. Lloyd is the key distributor for the Swans and players look to get the ball in his hands at every opportunity. Lloyd took 147 kick ins for the Swans last year at staggering 55.5% success rate, placing him second behind Shannon Hurn (61.7%) for the highest percentage of kick ins taken. My number one premium defender option this year and I see Lloyd’s SuperCoach average rising again this year.
Zac Williams - GWS Giants
Price: $408,800
Ownership: 26.0%
2018 Av:
Three year Avg: 93.7
Pos. to Rank: 59
Must own rating: 9/10
Verdict: While Williams returned for GWS’ two finals games at the end of the 2018 season, the year was essentially a write off for him. In those two finals matches, Williams showed his class and importance to the Giants, ranking inside the top three for effective kicks, score launches, intercept marks and intercept possessions. In my opinion, with Williams, you are getting a top 10 defender at a heavily discounted price, and he should be in 100% of SuperCoach teams. Over Williams’ previous three previous seasons, he averaged 69, 88.1 and 94, so he is tracking beautifully for a big 2019 season.
Brodie Smith - Adelaide Crows
Price: $332,500
Ownership: 20.0%
2018 Avg: 87.5
Three year Avg: 81.6
Pos. to Rank: 127
Must own rating: 7.5/10
Verdict: Similar to Williams, 2018 was essentially a write off for Smith too. Smith, like Williams, made it back for a few games in 2018, and I foresee him taking from Luke Brown the majority of kick ins at the Crows. In Smith’s two games last year, he averaged 3 kick ins per game, which was only slightly behind Brown, who averaged 4.9 per game for the season. Smith is a quality player, and a mid priced SuperCoach player that I am happy to roll the dice with. I think Smith can be a top 15 averaging defender by the end of the season. If you start the season with him in your side, he will score well and earn a hefty price rise, enabling you to upgrade to an out-and-out gun.