Deck of Dream Team 2012: Reece Conca

Name: Reece Conca
Club: Richmond Tigers
Position: Defender
Assistant Coach 2012 Price: $274,100
Bye Round: 13
2011 Average: 55.41
2011 Games Played: 17
Predicted Average: 75

Why should I pick him?

Reece Conca could be a bit of a smoky for your Dream Team backline in 2012. He is priced at and average of only 55 points, but has shown he will be capable of a much higher average in 2012. Going into his second season, Conca played 17 out of the first 18 games for the Tigers in his debut year before a leg injury kept him out for the final 4 rounds (note: he was omitted for Round 15). The number 6 draft pick was rated highly at Punt Road to play from Round 1 and was given a pretty good chance to make an impact.

As a junior, Conca collected plenty of the ball playing as a midfielder gathering around 20 disposals at the under 16 and under 18 championships – averaging 73 DT points in the U18 carnival. He was also playing senior WAFL football the year before being drafted. While not being an absolute DT jet, he can accumulate and in my opinion, is capable of being a consistent 70+ scorer at AFL level.

The reason for this is that from Round 4-9, Conca went through an awesome Dream Team scoring patch. 87, 70, 77, 83, 80 and 99 points were racked up over that 6 week period at an average of 82.66. This in itself demonstrates plenty of potential. We must take into account his average of 55 from 17 games includes 4 games where he was used as a substitute bringing his average down. Round 3 vs Hawks (30 points – subbed off in 3rd), Round 14 vs Demons (27 points – subbed off in 3rd), Round 17 vs Suns (50 points – subbed on in 3rd) and Round 20 vs Eagles (8 points – subbed on in 3rd).

If he was listed as a midfielder, you wouldn’t touch him… but now that he has been named purely as a defender for the 2012 DT season, then we can find some value. There have been countless articles about players getting midfield time, and Conca had his back on December 4 in the Herald Sun.

Changes are also planned for the midfield, with Conca – likened by the Richmond coach to a young Marc Murphy – to get his chance on the ball next year. He will be joined by dual best and fairest Deledio, set to be released from his role at halfback thanks to the recruitment of quality kicks like Ellis, Morris, Dea and Houli.

That’s all pretty positive. I think no matter which way we look at him, he’s a bargain priced at only 55.

Why shouldn’t I pick him?

It’s a bit of a gamble going with Conca and you’ve got to be realistic with what to expect from him. An average, as I have predicted, of 75 would rank him in the top 30 defenders. Is this enough for that price? Is he too expensive to use as a mid-priced player to upgrade in this world of guns and rookies?

Ok… you’re not picking him as a keeper, but we need to keep in mind the spread of players for the byes. The Tigers have theirs in the horrific Round 13 bye round. You’ve got your St Kilda, Carlton and Hawthorn guys to think about there. But maybe Round 13 would be a great time to upgrade Conca? Hmm.

Will he suffer from some second year blues? Will he really get much midfield time with Cotchin, Deledio, Martin, Foley, et al? Could he find himself with a green or red vest a bit? A lot of questions here that we can’t answer now, but we have the whole NAB Cup to look at him and his role.

Deck of DT Rating.

JACK – Reece Conca is awkwardly priced, but without a doubt a bargain. I have no qualms that he will average 70+… maybe 75-80 which gives him a 20 point per game improvement on 2011. When I threw it out there on Twitter about him, Glenn Luff (big dog down at Champion Data) responded “he’ll play mid this year. Will produce good numbers as a defender. #geton“. So in that case, I am going to ‘get on’ and hopefully look like a genius when he tears it up!

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