SuperCoach AFL 2025: Who was hot and cold in round 4, early trade advice

Thousands of SuperCoaches made what could be the best trade of the year last week. If you missed out, it’s not too late. See all the hits and misses of round 4 plus early trade advice.

SuperCoach is about points – and cash.

Score points on field and build your team value and you’re on the path to success.

Each season one or two ‘unicorn’ players come along who do both to an absurd degree.

We have our first for 2025, and he was the highlight of round 4. If you missed out, it’s not too late to enjoy the spoils.

Here are the winners and losers of the round, and early trade advice for round 5.

WHO’S HOT

Riley Bice – 124 points

Sydney’s mature-age defender was on the bubble coming into round 4, and almost 45,000 coaches made what could be the best trade of the season. He was arguably the Swans’ best player with 26 disposals (22 effective), seven inside-50s and two tackles. He’s set for a massive price bump of close to $90,000 in one week – but with this score, plus a 96 from two weeks ago, in his price cycle, he’s going to make a lot more money yet. If you missed the boat, find a way to get him in this week.

Riley Bice has been a revelation for the Swans. Picture: Morgan Hancock/Getty Images

Jason Horne-Francis – 153 points

Don’t anger the SuperCoach gods. All the talk about Horne-Francis being off his game, and coaches (this author included) trading him out, was only going to bring about one result. Horne-Francis looked a totally different player from the moment he kicked the first goal of the game, and finished with 28 disposals and three goals – to just hit his 151 Break Even.

Hugh McCluggage – 156 points

The focus of the SuperCoach world has been on Lachie Neale, Jush Dunkley and Dayne Zorko, but McCluggage put a big gap on all of them at the MCG. He has scored over 130 in his past three games and is averaging 126 for the season – not bad for a player in 1 per cent of teams.

Harry Sheezel – 144 points

Don’t write off a champion. It’s only Sheezel’s third season so champion might be pushing it, but he’s a proven SuperCoach star – and it helps when his coach does him a favour by starting him at half-back to get him into the game after two quieter games.

Clarko looking at the 5000 SuperCoaches who traded out Harry Sheezel after he decided to start him at half-back

10 disposals at 100% and 46 #SuperCoach less than 20 minutes in. #AFLRoosSwanspic.twitter.com/b1xvBvKcFw

— The Phantom (@ThePhantomSC) April 5, 2025

Harry Perryman – 101 points

After being banished from the Collingwood midfield, and thousands of SuperCoach teams, many coaches were surprised (to put it nicely) to see him back at centre bounces on Thursday night. Twenty disposals and eight tackles was exactly the output we thought we were going to get this season.

Sam De Koning – 92 points

Speaking of role, SDK seemed to have lost his completely when Rhys Stanley was a late inclusion for Geelong. After rucking for the first three rounds, De Koning went back to his job as a key defender, which is supposed to be a disaster for SuperCoach scoring. He promptly collected 18 disposals, nine marks (and two hitouts) and managed to kick a goal. Funny old game sometimes.

George Hewett – 125 points

A rare bright spot for the Blues in a 0-4 start to the season, Hewett has now posted three 120-plus scores in a row and averages 117 for the year. That’s well ahead of Patrick Cripps (92) and Sam Walsh (94). He is averaging 27 disposals a game, seven clearances and a whopping 8.5 tackles – ranked No.3 in the AFL.

George Hewett is doing his part for the Blues. Picture: Mark Stewart

Max Gawn – 122 points

Sheezel might not be in the champion category yet but Max unquestionably is. The Stanley inclusion made his job tougher but he responded like Champions do. The Demons are in struggle town but you can’t blame Max, who attended a massive 70 ruck contests for the night and produced the score his owners were waiting for.

Darcy Jones – 160 points

A week is a long time in SuperCoach. In round 3 Jones scored 39 points. On Sunday against the Eagles he had gone past that halfway through the first quarter. The small forward bobbed up at half-back to kickstart the Orange Tsunami, then was quick enough to get on the end of a couple himself in front of goal.

Ryan Maric – 88 points

Top scored for the Eagles, proving he’s the real deal as a SuperCoach pick after being shifted to defence. He was going at 100 per cent efficiency for a fair chunk of the game, finishing with 22 touches (15 kicks) at 77 per cent. He took eight kick-ins and played on from every one, almost matching his nine from nine last week. Looks like a super cash cow.

WHO’S COLD

Matt Rowell – 74 points

Rowell started the season red hot, scoring 137 and 136, and looked on for another big score at halftime against Adelaide. But the wheels fell off in the second half, managing just six touches after the break. He also recorded a very un-Rowell like four free kicks against. The Suns’ next two games are against North Melbourne and Richmond – keep the faith.

Finn Callaghan – 72 points

His raw stats look good enough – 25 disposals, four tackles, five centre clearances. But Callaghan is a victim of the SuperCoach scoring formula, which distributes exactly 3300 points in every game. Other Giants (Darcy Jones, Lachie Whitfield, Jesse Hogan) posted huge scores to hog most of the points for the match, and Callaghan was hurt by a slow start, with two turnovers in the first quarter and just two effective kicks. By the time he got going, the game was over.

Dayne Zorko proved there’s no such thing as a guaranteed high score in SuperCoach. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Dayne Zorko – 94 points

Hardly a disastrous score but the 23 per cent of coaches ranked in the top 10 per cent who had the captaincy on Zorko were underwhelmed. He rarely got out of fourth gear and never looked like matching the 160-plus he scored against the Tigers last year.

Conor Stone – 29 points

On borrowed time for his 52,000 owners. He hasn’t cracked 50 points in his past three games and while he is making money, it’s a very slow burn. If you can find another forward bench option (potentially moving a MID-FWD from the midfield to the forward line) it could be time to wave him goodbye.

Charlie Spargo -2

Played only 20 minutes after starting as the sub, and when he came on his one disposal – a handball – was ineffective. His only other action in the game was giving away a free kick.

Originally published as SuperCoach AFL 2025: Who was hot and cold in round 4, early trade advice