How to get the most points from your SuperCoach AFL team without using trades
Remember having 40 trades? Now most teams are down to a handful – or fewer. But there are still lots of ways to squeeze the most points out of your squad. Check out this free guide.
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Trades are the quickest way to change the fortunes of your SuperCoach team (usually for the better).
But they aren’t the only way.
As we enter the final stages of the 2024 season, many coaches are holding onto their final trade, or trades, like grim death – if they haven’t used them all already.
Our advice – only part with those final trades in the event of a long-term injury or to cover a missing star in a cut-throat final.
So, if you can’t trade, what can you do to maximise your scores each week? The answer is plenty, and SuperCoach Plus comes into its own at this time of year with a treasure chest of stats and tools to help subscribers make the best calls every round.
CAPTAIN CALLS
You can make – or lose – a lot of points by getting the captaincy right each week. Just ask players who put the C on Caleb Serong (140 points) or Marcus Bontempelli (122) in round 19 as opposed to Zak Butters (89) or Isaac Heeney (72).
There is a science to picking your captain – a perfect prediction is almost impossible but you can dramatically increase your odds by studying form and SuperCoach numbers.
Three and five-round averages are a good place to start, and SuperCoach Plus allows you to go deeper – click on Career Stats in a player’s profile to see their full history against every opponent, and at every venue, to find nuggets like the fact Brodie Grundy averages 126.7 at the SCG over his career.
Match-ups also play a big role. History v opponent tells you recent scores against every rival (Bontempelli averages 128 against Richmond), and you can take this to another level by factoring in how easy or difficult each opponent is to score against.
Champion Data ranks every team by position and this data is available to SuperCoach Plus subscribers in every player summary, so you can see Sydney’s rank vs MID is 1, which means the Swans have conceded the fewest points to opposition midfielders this season – which helps explain Lachie Neale’s 78-point return against the Swans.
At the other end of the scale, West Coast is ranked 18th for Rank v RUC, so if you have a ruckman playing the Eagles there’s a good chance they will score well.
LOOPHOLE FUN
You can also maximise your captain score each week by using the vice-captain loophole. Here’s how it works.
1. Nominate a player who features early in the round with a high scoring ceiling as your VC.
2. If they score well (above 120 is a good benchmark), move a zero-scoring player onto the field and make him captain, and your VC score will be doubled.
3. If your VC fails to fire, nominate a captain from later in the round as usual.
IMPORTANT (1): The order of matches is crucial. Make sure you have a guaranteed zero after your VC plays, and a player you would be happy to use as a back-up captain.
IMPORTANT (2): If you are fielding a non-playing player and moving one of your starting 22 to the bench, MAKE SURE they are nominated as an emergency so their score is counted in your total at the end of the round. Many experienced SuperCoaches have been caught out by forgetting to allocate the E!
MORE LOOPS
You can use the same loophole tactics to get the best scores off your bench, using rookies or even unreliable premiums.
Again, the order of matches will dictate your moves. Check the fixture and if you have a rookie who features in an early game, slap the emergency on them before the round starts. Players like Billy Dowling, Shaun Mannagh and Lawson Humphries have shown the ability to put up big scores in recent weeks. If that happens you can move a zero-scoring player (who isn’t locked out yet) on field and you’ll get the rookie score in your total. The tricky part is deciding who to take off and sacrifice their score, but a player with a difficult match-up or tag threat can be a good choice.
If a premium that you don’t entirely trust plays early, you can move them to the bench as a nominated emergency and make a call on whether to take their score after you know the result, or roll the dice on a rookie instead.
This tactic can be especially useful for high-variation players like key forwards. Charlie Curnow, for example, can score 118 points one week and 33 the next.
Coaches who had the E on Shaun Mannagh in round 18 and took his score by moving Zac Fisher to the bench gained 57 points. It’s a calculated risk, but it can really pay off.
BENCH MANAGEMENT
If you have a well-stocked bench of players who are getting games and scoring well, you’re in a great position.
Most coaches might be lucky enough to have two or three back-ups of the calibre of Dowling and Humphries, and a collection of rookies who aren’t playing or are sketchy options at best.
You can squeeze the most points out of them by using dual-position swings to set up the best cover and loopholes, as described above, each week.
Match-up intel can help you make calls here, too, as well as monitoring who is under an injury cloud coming into each round. Whispers Colby McKercher is sore? Make sure MID-DEF Humphries is in the backline to provide cover if needed.
If you do have trades remaining, this is why it can be so valuable to prioritise dual-position players who can play a role even if they aren’t playing by allowing you to swing players across lines where you need them. Isaac Heeney out for a week? Move him to the midfield and swing Dowling into the forward line as cover. Toby Nankervis out? Move Luke Jackson into the ruck then swing Mannagh to the forward line to come on in Jackson’s place.
You can track how the round unfolds over the weekend and make moves in real time, but keep a close eye on when teams play so you aren’t caught out by the rolling lockout.
Loopholes can boost your score but sometimes the best use of the bench is simply to have a player on each line ready to cover an unexpected late out.
OPTIMISE!
There is one more great SuperCoach Plus tool that can get you out of jail without using a trade.
The Optimise button will automatically adjust your starting line-up to place highest projected-scoring players on your field. It even picks your best reserves on the bench, and the best captain and vice-captain – and can make DPP moves.
You can then choose to play that team, or continue to tweak with a solid base and starting point for the round.
Shout out to the @Supercoach optimise button that gets my good rookies on field after I break my team for the 100th time #supercoach
— Lekdog (@lekdog) February 14, 2021
STAY IN TOUCH
Make sure you’re tracking the official SuperCoach social channels for the latest news on injuries and team selection, plus expert advice for the run home.
And good luck!
More Coverage
🚨Any SuperCoaches available to give Gov a lift to Perth?
— SuperCoach AFL (@Supercoach) July 8, 2024
"Gov was discharged from hospital last night, he is still in Melbourne with a staff member," a club spokesman said in a statement.
He has broken ribs and is unlikely to play in rd 18.
âž¡ï¸MORE: https://t.co/yDId11Bx00pic.twitter.com/iLcVhxIGBw
Originally published as How to get the most points from your SuperCoach AFL team without using trades
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