The AFL Supercoach rookie carnage continued in round three with several underperforming rookies on the edge of being axed from their best 22's.
How should you navigate these tough times? Which premiums should you be looking at?
Sporting News' Supercoach expert Kieran Francis looks at the issues you need help with as decisions become more important.
Time for Paddy to Dow out
Many Supercoaches had such high hopes for Carlton rookie Paddy Dow in 2021.
The 2017 No.3 draft pick had a promising pre-season and looked ready to step up this campaign.
He wasn't expected to be a midfield beast or a consistent Supercoach scorer, however an average of 70-80 would have generated some decent cash and kept the score ticking over.
The 21-year-old's performance against Richmond in round one was promising. After getting to 50 Supercoach points at half-time, Dow had a quiet second half and finished with 60 points from his 18 disposals.
Despite tailing off in the latter stages of the match, it was a promising start to Dow's potential as a Supercoach option this season.
But since then, Dow has managed 13 and 11 disposals, for Supercoach scores of 53 and 27 respectively.
After making a paltry $9k, he is set to drop in price following this round if he fails to reach his breakeven of 44.
We will find out on Friday night if he is selected for Saturday's match against Port Adelaide, but even if he does get picked, it's time to flick Dow.
If you have bench cover, maybe it will better to wait until Essendon rookie Alec Waterman is on the bubble next week.
With DPP flexibility, you can possibly trade Dow for Fremantle cash cow Heath Chapman too.
Another option is to swap the Carlton midfielder for Chad Warner, but it's worth noting you have missed out on the Swans talent's initial $80k rise.
Ridley looks the real deal
Prior to last season, Jordan Ridley was relatively unknown outside Essendon circles - having played only nine games across 2018-19.
But the intercept defender exploded in 2020, winning the Bombers best and fairest, and averaging a hugely impressive 101.9 in Supercoach.
The 22-year-old appears to have taken his game to the next level in 2021, averaging a mammoth 136 after three games, with scores of 125, 136 and 147 despite Essendon losing two of those matches.
It's important to note that in addition to being an excellent intercept mark and efficient with his disposals, Ridley also takes the Bombers' kick outs
After starting the season at a price that many deemed too expensive - $547,700 - Ridley has now jumped to $586,000 and is looking a must-have defender.
If you have the spare cash, it's time to bring in Ridley for injured Fremantle rebounder Hayden Young or likely-to-be axed Hawks tall Jacob Koschitzke.
It's worth noting that missing Ridley this week isn't the end of the world. He will sharply rise in price after this week, but he went under 100 seven times last season, so there is a decent chance you can get him around the same price or less later in the campaign.
Beware Heath Chapman
The most traded in rookie this week is Fremantle defender Heath Chapman - who is on the bubble with a price of $148,800 after scores of 42 and 86 in his first two matches.
With defensive rookies such as Tom Highmore and Harry Sharp out of their senior teams - and Jacob Koschitzke likely to be dropped - Supercoaches are bringing Chapman into their team in droves.
At the time of publication, 13,616 coaches had traded Chapman into their team - for a mixture of Paddy Dow, Hayden Young and Koschitzke.
While Chapman is a certainty to be selected for his third game this week, it's worth noting his role is generally as a tall defender - standing at 193cm tall.
Within the next two weeks, tall defenders Joel Hamling and Griffin Logue are likely to return, while Alex Pearce is only a month away.
Will Chapman keep his place in the team and make enough cash?
It's certainly a big gamble that not enough Supercoaches are thinking over as much they should.
