With Shannon Hurn to miss another week with a calf injury, is it time to trade in SuperCoach?

The Eagles have said they will give Shannon Hurn “another week”. But with a trip east to take on Carlton looming, will it just be one more? The Phantom looks at whether to trade or hold.

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In a blow to SuperCoaches, West Coast will take no risk with skipper Shannon Hurn, keeping the popular defender on the sidelines for a second week with a calf injury.

“He was close, he trained today,” coach Adam Simpson said on Thursday.

“But what we can’t do is train him under fatigue and the type of injury he has is one of those ones that can go half-way through the second-quarter.”

“When you hurt your calf in the captain’s run when you’re 31-years-old and it’s a six-day break, we didn’t want to take the risk,” Simpson added on the club’s cautious approach.

“We’ll give him another week.”

But will it just be one more week?

A win against North Melbourne on Saturday will — at worst — keep the Eagles a game clear in third spot.

Shannon Hurn won’t play against North Melbourne in Round 11.

Then it’s a trip east to Marvel Stadium to take on the Blues, in a game the Eagles, despite Carlton’s resurgence under David Teague, will start heavy favourites in.

If there’s any doubt, it’s very unlikely Hurn, who is in more than 54,000 SuperCoach teams, will be any Melbourne-bound plane next week.

So is it time for SuperCoaches to trade?

Ideally, yes, given there’s only four weeks left after Round 19.

But it won’t be the right move for every team.

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If you’ve got five or more trades in-hand and you can move Hurn on in one move, go for it.

With all the carnage that’s occurred over the past month — Max Gawn, Nat Fyfe, Stephen Coniglio, Josh Kelly and the list goes on — four trades is, ideally, the minimum you want to carry through the remaining four weeks.

Giant Lachie Whitfield, despite the threat of Port Adelaide tagger Cam Sutcliffe, is the obvious replacement.

The running machine has posted scores of 101 and 119 in his two games on return from a five-week injury layoff and, at $521, is almost a straight swap.

Giants star Lachie Whitfield, right, chats to Swan Isaac Heeney earlier this season. Picture: Matt King/Getty.

With four scores of 120 or more in his first six non-injury-affected games this season, Whitfield’s scoring-power is unquestioned.

If you don’t have the $3k to the make the move — or you already have Whitfield — consider Christian Salem (111) and Nic Newman (104) who both rank inside the top-six defenders for five-round average.

There’s also Port Adelaide’s Darcy Byrne-Jones, whose role in the Power side has become more SuperCoach-friendly this season.

The 23-year-old, who is only in one per cent of teams, has scored 80 points or more in his past nine games with five SuperCoach tons.

Port Adelaide’s Darcy Byrne-Jones tackles teammate Connor Rozee at Power training. Picture SARAH REED

At $442, Fremantle interceptor Luke Ryan is also worth considering after posting his first score of 100 or more since Round 14 against the Swans last week.

Or, if you want to make some cash to fund a final upgrade elsewhere, young St Kilda defender Hunter Clark, at $396k, comes into the equation.

The 20-year-old is averaging 23 disposals, 372 metres gained, nine handball-receives and 97 SuperCoach points since Round 15.

If you’re one of those SuperCoaches with less than four trades left and you have bench cover in the form of, say, Griffin Logue, it is best to hold.

But if you don’t have cover, the decision comes down to your priorities this season.

If you are just concerned with your overall ranking, consider a trade, if it doesn’t mean using your last one.

It’s the same for SuperCoaches vying for a top-eight spot in their head-to-head league. There’s no point having trades spare if you don’t make the finals.

But if you’re sitting pretty in your league’s top-four, you’re better off holding as trades during the finals will be vital.