With a handful of teams playing their third home & away match over the weekend, the SuperCoach financial year has started.
Coaches who jumped on Isaac Heeney, Sam Flanders, Blake Howes and Matt Roberts are reaping the rewards while the value of Hayden Young, Toby Greene and others plummet.
As we hit Round 3, the rest of the league are set to join the price-changing fold and a few names must be considered for your team ahead of their first spike.
Massimo D'Ambrosio (Def)
Price:ย $224,900
Breakeven:ย -82
A good percentage of coaches jumped on the Hawthorn recruit before the season under the assumption that D'Ambrosio would be given the coveted half-back roamer role under Sam Mitchell.
Most teams should be littered with half-back flankers like Sheezel, Daicos, Fisher, Sexton, Wanganeen-Milera and the like, and D'Ambrosio is one who we now know will be the major generator early in the year.
Hawthorn let him roam free in Round 1 with 29 disposals and eight score involvements and owners should be satisfied with his Round 2 score of 87 in a five-goal performance from his team.
His price will rise regardless of next Monday's performance against Geelong, and hopefully he can continue his current form and spike dramatically.
Tom Powell (Fwd)
Price:ย $312,200
Breakeven:ย -47
With Sheezel, Davies-Uniacke, McKercher, Wardlaw, Fisher and Duursma stealing the spotlight, few expected Tom Powell to be the point scorer and cash generator for North Melbourne, even with hints of inside mid minutes ahead of the season.
Powell's Round 1 score of 95 excited owners, but a recent score of 129 will have coaches annoyed by their pre-season ignorance and pondering how to make room for him in their forward line before it's too late.
A -47 breakeven means a major price jump is coming, but against perhaps the top-dog midfield of the competition this Friday night in Carlton, we'll see if the 22-year-old can maintain the rage.
Jarryd Lyons (Mid)
Price:ย $258,000
Breakeven:ย -41
The forgotten Lion in Chris Fagan's midfield since the emergence of Will Ashcroft, Jarryd Lyons has found his way back into the lineup and back up high in the SuperCoach scoring book.
Granted, a Round 1 score of 81 doesn't leap off the page but it was in the top five scores for Brisbane on the day and added to his 106 from just 19 touches in Opening Round.
He'll turn 32 in July and many have made the call that the game has moved past him, but right now he is the most popular Lion in SuperCoach with nearly 10% ownership and as the fourth highest scoring member of the side so far, his job security should be safe for a little while at least.
Lachlan Bramble (Def/Mid)
Price:ย $292,100
Breakeven:ย -26
The former Hawk seems to be highly regarded by Luke Beveridge, given his surprise collection of coaches votes in the Bulldogs' Round 1 loss to Melbourne.
Dual-position status increases Bramble's value slightly, given the lack-there-of amongst the pickable crop of defenders in 2024.
Obviously the sample size is small, but an average thus far of 95, a breakeven of -26 and an opposition of West Coast's calibre this weekend provide good reason to add Bramble to your lineup as a brief money-maker.
Max King (Fwd)
Price:ย $341,500
Breakeven:ย -32
Few will jump on this pick, but King has put up back-to-back 110+ scores without any major scoreboard impact thus far.
Five goals in two weeks is solid, but it's the contested marking, surprise possession count and even his ground-ball work that's bolstering his score - straighter kicking could be taking him to 130+ territory.
He clearly has the best job security on this lot but is a considerable injury risk and may be absent this Saturday if his suspension is upheld.
However, with over 70 games in the system and a near 24-year-old frame, King may still be building into this season and he may have the capacity to score big against the lesser ranks and smaller key defensive crews.
Matt Crouch
Price:ย $490,800
Breakeven:ย 36
Matt Crouch is another midfielder making an unexpected comeback to the high SuperCoach scoring mix.
He looks back to his best, averaging 121 from his two outings after emerging back onto the scene in Round 19 last season with a three-week stretch of 144, 112 and 122 scores.
A lower price would have coaches head over heels for his inclusion to their midfield, so he may just be too much for owners to bite on this early.
The 7% who have him will be banking on a continued stretch of bulk accumulation from the 2017 All-Australian as the Crows search for their first win of the year.
