How to navigate expanded 2020 bye rounds in KFC SuperCoach

The bye rounds are a dreaded time in SuperCoach — but they don’t have to be that scary. We reveal the best ways to plan for and navigate the bye rounds, and it all starts from Round 1.

Patrick Dangerfield is one of the first premiums to have the bye in 2020. Picture: Peter Ristevski

The bye rounds are a dreaded time in SuperCoach — but they don’t have to be that scary.

A little bit of planning can see you pull off some league victories and achieve a jump in the overall rankings.

Many experienced SuperCoach players actually look forward to this time of year as they can use it to get a big jump on the rest of the competition who aren’t prepared for it.

BYE ROUND STRUCTURE

Much of the planning for SuperCoach players has been thrown into chaos in the last week with the news that the Port Adelaide v St Kilda game in China is not going ahead and has been moved from Round 11 to Round 12.

What this means is Power and Saints players will now have their week off in Round 11, not originally one of the bye rounds.

So the bye rounds now look like this:

Round 11: Port Adelaide, St Kilda

Round 12: Brisbane Lions, Geelong, Essendon, West Coast

Round 13: Carlton, Collingwood, Fremantle, Melbourne, Richmond, Sydney

Round 14: Adelaide, Gold Coast, GWS Giants, Hawthorn, North Melbourne, Western Bulldogs

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Patrick Dangerfield is one of the first premiums to have the bye in 2020. Picture: Peter Ristevski

SCORING IN THE BYE ROUNDS

In Round 11 nothing changes from any other week apart from your Port Adelaide and St Kilda players won’t be playing and won’t be scoring. You still need 22 players on the field that will count towards your final score for the week.

For Rounds 12-14 only the best 18 of your 22 on-field players will count towards your final score. This means you can have four non-playing players on field during this week and it won’t hurt you. Obviously, the more players you have on field the better your score will be. If you have all 22 then the four worst scores won’t count.

As with other rounds, bench players will only count if they have the emergency on them and are replacing a non-playing player on field. While if your captain has a shocker and their doubled score isn’t in your best 18, then your vice-captain will not be doubled.

If your captain plays, then they are your captain for the week regardless.

PLANNING FOR THE BYES

You will often hear the phrase “trading around the byes”.

What this means is coaches are using their trades to trade out guys that haven’t had their bye yet and bring in players that have had theirs.

During the bye weeks you can use three of your 30 trades to make it a bit easier, but be careful, some coaches will blow 9 trades in this time just getting players on the field. Use this time to make strategic trades that you have planned out.

The idea is to trade out your fattened-up rookies from the Round 13 and Round 14 bye weeks and replace them with players that have had their byes in Rounds 11 and 12.

What helps us this year is Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson have the Round 14 bye, so we can hold them right through until the end of Round 13, giving us 12 other teams from which we can pick a premium to trade them to.

SuperCoach Stats subscribers can use the ‘Show Byes’ buttons to help see who is on a bye each week and then plan around this.

It is often best to map out your planned trades over those three weeks and make sure you aren’t side-trading premiums, but you are making the most of those trades and improving your side.

Most experienced players look to come out of the bye weeks with a near complete side and eight or more trades in hand to get them through the remainder of the season.

Marcus Bontempelli has the bye in Round 14. Picture: Getty

WHY NOT SIDEWAYS TRADE PREMIUMS?

With three trades a week throughout this period and limited players it is very tempting to use trades to just side swap and get 18 players on the park. But doing this will see you blow through trades very quickly and you won’t have enough left to complete your side or you will find yourself going in to the SuperCcoach finals with no trades left and praying your guys don’t get an injury or rested.

WHEN DO I WORRY ABOUT MY STRUCTURE?

There is no rule on this one but just remember, even if you have a perfect bye structure at Round 1, this can all be thrown out the window if we see an injury, a breakout we didn’t expect or a fallen premium too good to pass up.

If you have it in the back of your mind early in the season and then consider it more and more with each passing week to the point where your trades after Round 6 all have the byes in mind, you’ll find yourself well placed when Rounds 11-14 arrive.

You don’t have to plan for the byes and many coaches don’t. Many coaches use the bye round of a player as a tie breaker if they can’t split two players that they want in their side. A little bit of planning can more than help you get important wins against your mates or give you a real boost up the overall rankings.

Good luck and let’s hope the bye round SuperCoach gods are kind to us.

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Originally published as How to navigate expanded 2020 bye rounds in KFC SuperCoach