Five strategies to picking a winning SuperCoach defence

Premiership teams are built from the backline, and the same is true in SuperCoach — especially this year. What’s your selection strategy in defence? Here are five options to choose from. SAMPLE TEAMS

Premiership teams are built from the backline, and the same is true in SuperCoach — especially this year.

Last season 10 SuperCoach defenders averaged at least 95 points a game, topped by Swan Jake Lloyd’s 112 average, good enough to rank in the top 10 overall scorers.

And the riches on offer promise to be even greater in 2019. Changes to kick-in rules are set to yield more points in the backline, making top-line defenders more valuable and presenting a string of tempting mid-price targets. And where SuperCoach players were staring at a drought of backline rookies, cheap players have started to emerge who can build cash on the bench and offer potentially reliable points on the field.

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How you structure your defence will go a long way to deciding your SuperCoach fate. Do you load up on proven scorers, take a punt on mid-pricers or throw the rookies to the wolves — or some combination of those, or something else entirely?

Here are five selection strategies you can adopt when picking your squad. Note that the players listed here can be interchanged for others of a similar value while keeping the same structure — this is about having a plan that you’re backing for the season. And you can take it as a given that each suggested line-up also includes two cheapies on the bench who we are confident will get early games.

1. STACKING THE BACKLINE

Given expected boost in backline scoring this season, packing your defence with gun players could be a winning SuperCoach move.

If the new rules boost player scores as much as some experts are predicting, this is a one-off chance to take advantage of a host of underpriced defenders. Next season the new scoring will be calculated in every player’s starting price.

The likely points boost presents potential value in mid-range selections like Alex Witherden, Jayden Short and Luke Ryan, so you might not have to break the bank to select a deep top-scoring defence.

Sydney’s Jake Lloyd was the top-scoring SuperCoach defender of 2018. Picture: Phil Hillyard

The downside is spending big in defence slashes the budget for other positions, especially if you’re locking in Patrick Dangerfield and at least one of the two expensive ruckmen. That means exposing more rookies or risky mid-pricers in the midfield and up forward.

And if the scoring boost doesn’t pan out the way we think it will, you could be in trouble.

What a stacked SuperCoach defence could look like.

2. THIN DEFENCE

Taking the totally opposite approach, this strategy allows you to save big down back to finance a spending spree in other parts of the ground — especially the ruck and midfield.

The impact of new rules on SuperCoach scoring is still speculation, and you could gain a jump on rivals by punting on the rules not having a big impact. Based on early evidence from JLT matches, it seems there will be more points on offer but it’s hard to know exactly who will benefit from them.

If defenders across the board score more points, that should apply to cheap players as well which would mean extra cash generation from rookies in this part of the ground.

Having some more expensive rookies who appear to be reliable point-scorers with solid job security makes this a more viable proposition, but it will help if some more cheapies put up their hands in the JLT Series.

What a thin SuperCoach defence might look like.

3. GUNS AND ROOKIES

The classic, trusted approach to building a SuperCoach team — in any position.

This strategy is based on limiting your selections to top-line defenders priced above $500,000 and cheapies priced under $200,000.

This approach makes it easier to select three of the likely top-six defenders for the season who you shouldn’t have to trade all year.

Is spreads the risk and avoids taking gambles on mid-priced players who can be so tempting in the pre-season but often bomb once the real stuff starts, while also fostering cash generation from the best rookies to fund your trades during the season.

The downside is potentially missing out on bargain mid-pricers who might score as well as your premiums while saving a heap of cash.

What a guns and rookies SuperCoach defence could look like.

4. MID-PRICE MADNESS

Did we say mid-pricers are too risky? Forget that!

This approach limits your key defensive picks to players valued between $300,000-$500,000, and we’ve thrown in Saint Dylan Roberton ($297k) as well.

If it works out, this strategy can give you five high-scoring players without breaking the bank, and avoids playing too many rookies on the field who could be dropped or rested.

Tiger Jayden Short had a breakout season in 2018. Can he improve again? Picture: Michael Klein

Boosts to scoring from changes to kick-in rules mean mid-pricers could score like premiums, and the signs were very positive in the first weekend of pre-season matches with Jayden Short (100), Nic Newman (97), Roberton (103) and Zac Williams (82 from 53 per cent game time) all off to a flyer.

Picking multiple mid-pricers in one position normally sets off the alarm bells, but the backline this year is a unique circumstance with less risk (we hope). And if they pay off, you’re a genius.

But buyer beware — picking five mid-pricers in one team who all work out would be just about a first in SuperCoach, doing it in one position would be close to a miracle. And you’re missing out on the A-grade scorers like Jake Lloyd and Rory Laird.

What a mid-price madness defence could look like.

5. BALANCED BACKLINE

This strategy allows you to have your cake and eat it too by picking the best of the selection approaches above — a couple of top-liners, the best rookies and a throw at the stumps with a couple of risky mid-price selections.

This is a flexible approach — depending how much you want to spend you could pick an extra premium or an extra rookie, going with just one mid-pricer.

The downside (apart from still relying on a mid-pricer or two, which some seasoned SuperCoach players swear off), is that it is too defensive. You’re picking a team to avoid major pitfalls, but is it brave enough to set you apart from the pack?

It’s also a bit boring.

What a balanced SuperCoach defence might look like.

Originally published as Five strategies to picking a winning SuperCoach defence