SuperCoach AFL Draft 2025: Who to drop and who to pick up off the waiver wire for round 2

This piece will take a look at the best players available in under 60 per cent of leagues that you should ‘cop’ each week and the players in over 50 per cent of teams that I think you should ‘drop’ each week.

Dropping won’t always mean you need to release a player into the free agency pool, it may mean that you should try and sell that player in a trade – read each player’s description for context.

COP EM

Steele Sidebottom | MID | 17.8% Picked

Sidebottom turned back the clock and delivered a 31 disposal game for 109 SuperCoach points in Collingwood’s destruction of Port Adelaide. The weekend’s performance gives me some faith that he can replicate his historically strong outputs against the Western Bulldogs. Sidebottom averages 95.1 points across 15 games against the Bulldogs, but has failed to hit triple figures in his past two outings against them. Grab him to see if round 1 was just an anomaly or not.

Josh Rachele | FWD | 32.1% Picked

As spoken about by Dossy on the Drafted podcast, Rachele looks primed for a big year. He was disappointing in 2024 but the early signs are that he has taken on the criticism and elevated his game to a new level. Rachele produced 21 disposals and two goals for a whopping 107 points in the Crows’ win over St Kilda. The fast-paced handball chain game that Adelaide played on Sunday should give Rachele the opportunity to thrive as a SuperCoach option.

Jeremy Finlayson | FWD | 54.6% Picked

Finlayson backed up his big pre-season performance with a solid 85 points in Port Adelaide’s thrashing from the Pies. He looked comfortable as a defender for the second game in a row, and the versatile tall now presents serious value as a forward-eligible SuperCoach selection. Has Richmond this weekend and should have plenty of intercept opportunities.

Jack Darling | FWD | 7.2% Picked

It’s a very small sample size, but it looks like Darling has found his new Josh Kennedy in Nick Larkey. Darling doesn’t thrive as the primary target, but he can be effective as a secondary tall who pushes up onto the wing to create contests, which is what he did on Saturday for 80 SuperCoach points. Darling probably won’t average 80 points for the year, but in the short term he can provide decent value as a forward, he might also see some ruck contests in the forward line for a bit of added value. Faces off against Jake Lever and Tom McDonald this weekend.

Lachlan Bramble | DEF | 10.4% Picked

The Bulldogs coaching staff loves this guy and we’re starting to see it translate to SuperCoach points. Bramble blacked up his strong pre-season with 86 points against North Melbourne. Playing primarily behind the ball, he was also able to push up onto the wing for spurts of the game. His job security was already really high but the injury to Luke Cleary should remove any uncertainty from your mind.

Logan Evans | DEF | 23% Picked

The second-year defender had a tough day in round 1, but he wasn’t alone in that Port Adelaide side, so I’m willing to give Evans the benefit of the doubt. Port takes on Richmond this weekend in a fixture which saw Evans score a career-high 110 points last year. Hopefully Ken Hinkley and his coaching staff give Evans another crack this week.

DROP EM

Jordan Ridley | DEF | 95.3% Picked

Ridley had a great pre-season and looked really strong in the practice matches but unfortunately has suffered a concussion to open the season. A contact injury like this can mostly be put down to bad luck but I do worry about Ridley’s body in general and, as a result, I’m happy to drop him. I’ll be very clear that you should only be looking to move Ridley in a trade and it’s very unlikely that you’ll get equal value back in return. But if there’s a Bombers fan in your life that you can flip Ridley to in exchange for a 90-plus defender, I’d pull the trigger.

Sam Switkowski | FWD | 59.1% Picked

Switkowski’s SuperCoach average jumps between 65 and 78 points every year across his career and if the Fremantle we saw on the weekend is what we’re expecting to see for the rest of 2025, then a 65 looks more likely than a 78. I certainly don’t expect a 34-point performance every week for Switkowski, but I do think that there’s value to be found in the forward line. Drop him if a Josh Rachele or Jeremy Finlayson level of player is available in your league.

Kai Lohmann | FWD | 53.1% Picked

Lohmann was subbed out early on the weekend after suffering what appeared to be quite a serious ankle injury. He was impressive in the Lions’ premiership push last year but I don’t think the SuperCoach upside is there to make Lohmann a must-hold while he recovers from injury. I’d be happy to drop him and go hunting for value elsewhere.

Jake Waterman | FWD | 87.5% Picked

Waterman had a career-best year in 2024 during which he averaged 83.1 SuperCoach points and crossed the 20-games played threshold for the very first time. But seeing him subbed out of the game against Gold Coast on just 38 points has emphasised some red flags I already had over him as a selection. With the absence of Jack Darling, I have some question marks over the responsibilities of the talls in the West Coast forward line and there’s enough concern for me to want to drop Jake. See if you can flip him for a player with a safer floor of 80 points.

Harley Reid | MID | 79.6% Picked

I understand the Harley Reid hype, he should become a fantastic player and West Coast fans should be really happy with him. However, his value will come if he ever gains FWD status and as long as he focuses on doing the things on-field that he’s great at. It’s a small sample size, but I really didn’t like what I saw from Reid on the weekend and he is a drop for me in redraft leagues. There will be someone in your league who will trade a really solid veteran midfielder for Reid in hope of capitalising on his potential, I would take that deal. He is an obvious hold in keeper leagues.

Will Powell | DEF | 74.8% Picked

Powell was pretty low on all of the pre-season SuperCoach Draft rankings because there was no clear role for him in the Gold Coast SUNS outfit. With the additions of John Noble and Daniel Rioli and the return of Connor Budarick, it’s hard to see where Powell’s points will come from. He is a player with some name recognition and that should get you some equity in a trade – drop him if there’s an 80-plus scorer coming back in return.