Possible rule changes for 2012

[Alaska]

Dustin Martin will be a FWD/MID in season 2012

That means we don't need top pick up Higgins.

[Dogmatic]

COLLINGWOOD star Scott Pendlebury is the top-priced player in SuperCoach next season, breaking the $700,000 barrier.

All prices for next year's SuperCoach have been finalised, and SuperCoach gold subscribers will have access to the full list soon.

But SuperFooty can reveal Pendlebury, who averaged 129 points a game in 2011, will start the year as the most expensive player in the competition.

Pendlebury has a price tag of $700,500, a jump of more than $160,000 from his starting price this season.

No.2 on the list is Gold Coast skipper Gary Ablett at $689,000, ahead of Eagles ruckman Dean Cox ($662,600) and Brownlow medallist Dane Swan ($661,100).

Of the 17 players valued at over $600,000, 12 are midfielders, four play in the ruck and one - Lance Franklin - is a forward, and he just sneaks in at $600,600.

The most expensive defender, Saint Brendon Goddard, is $584,700.

The big mover at the top end of the price list is Brisbane Lions points machine Tom Rockliff, who is priced at $615,600 - making him the 10th most expensive player after jumping almost $200,000 from the start of 2011.

This year's No.1 draft pick, GWS forward Jon Patton, has a price tag of $196,600.

There are plenty of bargains and surprises - scroll down for a quick sample.

Also of intense interest to keen SuperCoaches is the positions players have been assigned on the field, especially those who are listed in more than one spot - the invaluable dual-position players. These will be even more important in 2012 with the new trading rules.

Some players have switched positions completely - Gold Coast's Danny Stanley was a defender last year but is listed as a forward in 2012 - and others have either picked up, or lost, DPP status.

Among those acknowledged for their versatility are young Richmond star Dustin Martin, who can be selected as a midfielder or forward. Magpies Steele Sidebottom and Dayne Beams, Crow Patrick Dangerfield, Cat Travis Varcoe and Hawk Jordan Lewis are all have mid/fwd next to their name in 2012.

Stars Adam Goodes (fwd/mid), Matthew Pavlich (fwd/mid), Brent Harvey (fwd/mid), Brett Deledio (def/mid), Ryan O'Keefe (fwd/mid), Paul Chapman (fwd/mid) and Goddard (def/mid) all have DPP status again.

But Blue Bryce Gibbs can only be selected as a midfielder in 2012, losing his DPP status. Rising Star Award winner Dyson Heppell can only be picked in defence and Drew Petrie's days as a ruck/fwd are also over - he can only be picked as a forward.

Keen SuperCoaches will also be looking for cheap dual-position players, and the good news is there are plenty to choose from. Finding the right players who will play games is the challenge, but options include exciting Fremantle draftee Hayden Crozier (fwd/mid $106,600), young Cat Billie Smedts (def/fwd $113,200) and Carlton's mature-age recruit Sam Rowe (ruck/fwd $106,600).

FIVE PLAYERS WHO WILL COST YOU BIG BUCKS

$700,500 Scott Pendlebury (Coll) mid
$698,000 Gary Ablett (GC) mid
$662,600 Dean Cox (WC) ruck
$661,100 Dane Swan (Coll) mid
$647,100 Nick Dal Santo (StK) mid

FIVE DUAL-POSITION PLAYERS TO THINK ABOUT

Dustin Martin (Rich) forward/midfielder
Dayne Beams (Coll) forward/midfielder
Steele Sidebottom (Coll) forward/midfielder
Jarryd Roughead (Haw) ruck/forward
James Sellar (Melb) ruck/defender

FIVE POTENTIAL BARGAINS

$422,000 Lenny Hayes (StK) mid
$397,900 Jonathan Brown (BL) fwd
$338,300 Ivan Maric (Rich) ruck
$157,200 Paul Bower (Carl) def
$106,600 Orren Stephensen (Geel) ruck

FIVE GIANTS

$483,100 Callan Ward mid
$423,400 Tom Scully mid
$196,600 Jonathan Patton fwd
$191,600 Stephen Coniglio mid
$124,700 Israel Folau fwd

FIVE BIG PRICE JUMPS

$456,100 Cam Pedersen (NM) - up $346,400
$452,400 Dyson Heppell (Ess) - up $298,800
$431,100 David Swallow (GC) - up $242,500
$585,700 Nathan Fyfe (Frem) - up $232,600
$615,600 Tom Rockliff (BL) - up $197,400

SuperCoach will be open to all players on February 1, 2012. Stay tuned to SuperFooty for more news and tips all summer

[Hondo]

Nathan Fyfe will be too expensive to start IMO but many will start him. Trying to have both Ablett and Pendlebury will prove difficult and most will pick Ablett out of the two.

Gibbs' ownership will drop sharply without the DPP status. Dustin Martin will be strongly represented now.

Orren Stephenson will be locked into many teams already!

Thanks Dogmatic.

[Alaska]

I thought the talk towards the end of last year on Tooserious was that the Ruck scoring would be altered to bring them back to the field.
So good ruckmen may be hard to select as keepers, Cox certainly seems too expensive if that were the case.

[Rik E Boy]

700+ bugger that.

regards,

REB