KFC SuperCoach: Jean-Paul Haigh claims Holy Grail as 2022 champion
A left-field last trade and a well-aimed curse helped the 2022 champion claim an emotional victory. Here’s how he did it.
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Winning KFC SuperCoach is a dream come true for Jean-Paul Haigh.
JP’s team Raymagoo (based on a childhood nickname) scored 54,886 points in 2022 in Australia’s biggest fantasy sports game to claim the $50,000 grand prize and the first ever KFC SuperCoach Holy Grail.
“This is amazing. I’ve been striving to do this for about 25 years, so I’m pretty stoked,” he said on Wednesday.
“I used to do it when it was cut out of the newspaper back in the day and I’ve had cash leagues with mates for 15 years. I just love it.”
As if the nerves of hanging onto No.1 spot of more than 170,000 KFC SuperCoach players on the final day of the season weren’t enough, JP – who works in the building department at Frankston City Council – had to watch his beloved Blues play for a finals spot against Collingwood.
“I kind of knew SuperCoach was safe after Max Gawn’s average Friday, so I was just there for Carlton. (I was) a little bit crushed, but this makes it a little bit easier to deal with,” he said.
And he revealed an unusual secret weapon in the battle for ultimate footy bragging rights.
“I have to change my password at work monthly, and I changed it to four Carlton players in a row, and they all got injured. So I thought, ‘I’m going to use this to my advantage’,” he said.
He started using players he didn’t have in his SuperCoach team for his password, and the curse continued.
“I went with Jordan De Goey, and he went to Bali, then I went with Josh Kelly, and he got a concussion for a couple of weeks.”
JP’s next password was Zach Merrett, who had been running hot but promptly copped a hard tag, and last Friday afternoon he updated the password again. Going into the final round his biggest worry was if Max Gawn, who featured in the second-placed team, produced a massive score. With the password curse applied, he was no chance. Gawn scored 74 points against the Lions, his lowest score in six weeks.
“He had a stinker. It was fantastic.”
His surprise final round hero was Swan Lewis Taylor, who was traded into Raymagoo for the last game of the season.
“I had Lachie Neale sitting on the bench and just wanted to get his 106 on the field. I could have played Isaac Heeney, and even though he ended up outscoring Neale it just wasn’t a risk I wanted to take on the final day.”
Trading in Taylor – who played just one game this season, as the unused medical sub in round 15 – guaranteed Neale’s score would be part of JP’s total for the round.
“He’s a bit of a funny fella so I just thought it was a bit of fun. I’ll send him a message (to say thanks).”
It’s official. #SuperCoach 2022 Winner. Wowee. I’ll write a thank you speech tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/3ynqvlJ6Fg
— Jay Peeterman (@JayPeeterman) August 21, 2022
HOW HE DID IT
JP started picking his 2022 KFC SuperCoach team about a week before pre-season matches started, then kept a close eye on the games to refine his squad for round 1.
“I’m pretty open to all sorts of players. I went for some mid-pricers this year, I took (Jarrod) Witts, (Braydon) Preuss, George Hewett, (Patrick) Cripps, (Will) Brodie, (Tristan) Xerri – all those guys, and it just worked out really well.”
His starting team featured 10 “uber premos” but his most crucial selections were in the ruck, a position that caused chaos for many KFC SuperCoach teams this year.
“I started Max Gawn and Witts on the field and Preuss on the bench because he was suspended in round 1. He banged out a couple of hundreds, so I traded out Max Gawn at the end of round 2 for Isaac Heeney. It worked out pretty well.
“I could see Preuss was going to make a ton of money, so I just wanted to keep him until he missed his usual three games. (As soon as he missed a game) he was gone straight away.”
JP wasn’t afraid make ruthless calls early, with Jack Crisp and Caleb Daniel both traded out along with Gawn in the early rounds.
He used the new Trade Boosts to help upgrade his team, with the last Boost activated during the bye rounds.
Unsurprisingly, his team featured the topscoring players of 2022 including Rory Laird, Clayton Oliver, Touk Miller, Jack Sinclair, James Sicily, Callum Mills, Marcus Bontempelli and Luke Parker. His most unique selection was Brownlow medallist Ollie Wines.
“I was going to do a different upgrade that week and someone ended up pulling out at the last minute,” he said, adding Wines fit his preferred KFC SuperCoach mould of a robust, reliable player unlikely to be the target of an opposition tag.
He was available for the right price ($508,000) at the right time (round 7) and was a solid contributor for most of the year before catching fire in the final month with scores of 125, 118, 140 and 137.
“I actually sent him a message on Instagram, but he probably never opened it,” JP said.
Wines wasn’t the only player who repaid JP’s faith, although the choice of whether to trade out a player or hang tough isn’t always easy.
“Sometimes it depends if I’ve got a bit of a man crush on them and if they’re a good player. Crippa managed to stay in the team all year. I probably would have moved him on, and Jayden Short and Ollie Wines probably, but I was short on trades, so they stayed in the team and they came good.”
But not every move worked out.
“Darcy Parish lasted about 20 minutes in my team before he got injured.
“I started Mitch McGovern, just like I started Paddy Dow last year. It’s very easy to get sucked in or to make a bad trade. I think he (McGovern) will be good long-term, just not in my SuperCoach team.”
GRAND PLANS
Looking ahead to next year, players on JP’s watch list include Luke Davies-Uniacke, Chad Warner and Docker Hayden Young.
And his new status will give him added ammunition in group chats and on social media.
“It’s just a really good community,” he said. “I only use Twitter for Carlton and SuperCoach basically and it’s a bit of fun and a bit of banter. It’s a great way to meet new people and I’ve met some amazing people this year.”
JP plans find pride of place for his new trophy, and will also be rewarded with prizes including a personalised KFC SuperCoach tracksuit.
“I’ll probably put (the Holy Grail) next to the bed for a while, I imagine, and see how many beers I can fit in there.
“My boss has already told me I need to wear the tracksuit to work, so I’ll be wearing it around town. I was going to put (the cash prize) towards the mortgage, but I think I’ll go on a holiday and get a car or something instead.”
And what of his all-important private leagues?
“I won nine out of 10 – I lost one cash league because I was playing conservative, so someone’s got bragging rights over me, but that’s OK.”
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Originally published as KFC SuperCoach: Jean-Paul Haigh claims Holy Grail as 2022 champion
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