KFC SuperCoach expert Al Paton reveals how he will use his five trades for Round 2

After two months without footy and two weeks of intense research and calculations, SuperCoach expert Al Paton has decided how to use his five Round 2 trades — and hoping AFL selectors don’t blow it all up.

Al Paton

@al_superfooty

3 min read

June 9, 2020 - 11:04AM

Marcus Bontempelli of the Bulldogs.

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My wife says it looks like the scribblings of a madman.

It’s a notebook I’ve carried around for the past two weeks filled with notes and calculations of possible KFC SuperCoach moves for Round 2.

A maths expert could tell me exactly how many possible combinations there are when you have five trades at your disposal, but take it from me — it’s a lot.

I admit some of the notes look a little crazy (my tiny handwriting doesn’t help) but having a range of options could be invaluable on Thursday night.

We can make all the plans we like but the final calls can’t be made until the longest ever wait for Round 2 teams to be named is over.

The names I’ll be looking for first are Brandon Zerk-Thatcher and Isaac Cumming, who are both currently occupy on-field spots in my KFC SuperCoach side. Another Giant, Tom Green, is another major worry, while forward rookies Ben Cavarra and Toby Bedford appear to be on borrowed time. One of them is set to become Sam Sturt — but is he 100 per cent fit?

We’ll know the answers to all those questions soon enough. I’m hoping they allow me to make the five moves below, which will fix some mistakes in my starting line-up and give my team a significant scoring boost. If not, don’t worry, I have a notebook full of alternatives.

TRADE 1

Ben Cavarra $123,900 FWD to Sam Sturt $123,900 FWD

Swap a poor-scoring rookie for a high-scoring rookie who is about to shoot up in price. That’s SuperCoach 101.

TRADE 2

Luke Ryan $520,400 DEF to Jeremy Howe $431,900 DEF

Free up a bit of cash by dumping Round 1 flop Ryan — who might find his intercepting role a bit harder at Metricon Stadium — for hot starter Howe.

If you want Jeremy Howe, make sure you get him before Thursday night.

TRADE 3

Marcus Bontempelli $623,000 MID to Jack Viney $439,300 MID

The Bont had a slow start, has a high break even and faces a tough few weeks, including encounters with stoppers Jack Steele and Matt de Boer. I have flip-flopped on Viney a lot over the past few weeks but his Marsh Series scores (120-plus in both games) give me some confidence his Round 1 blinder wasn’t a fluke. In a season when making money quickly is going to be harder than ever, I think we need to back a guy who will shoot up $100k in a couple of weeks.

The fixture wasn’t kind to Marcus Bontempelli.

TRADE 4

Nat Fyfe $651,600 MID to Patrick Dangerfield $625,500 MID

This is a controversial move I only landed on in the past couple of days. Fyfe is an absolute champion and has been a staple of my KFC SuperCoach team for years. But his durability is always a worry and moving to a hub isn’t ideal considering he scores so well in Perth. This trade could definitely blow up in my face but Dangerfield’s dream run at GMHBA Stadium — and an entire season without facing Matt de Boer again — is just too tempting. It also generates $26k that is crucial to pulling off trade No.5.

Patrick Dangerfield recent #SuperCoach against Geelong's next 4 opponents.

Danger v Blues 156
133
108
127

Suns 187
110
132

Hawks 127
106
160
130
141

Dees
154
126
138
155

No.1 ranked player at GMHBA too.
— Tim Michell (@tim_michell) May 25, 2020

TRADE 5

Brandon Zerk-Thatcher $189,000 DEF to Nick Haynes $474,700 DEF

I’ve just about given up hope of BZT keeping his spot and it’s almost guaranteed either he or Isaac Cumming will get the chop (if they both do it’s back to the drawing board). The extra bit of pocket money from the Fyfe to Danger move will get me from either to Giants interceptor Haynes, who I really like as an underpriced premium. His past four games — last year’s preliminary final, Grand Final, one Marsh Series game and Round 1 — have returned scores of 118, 118, 108 and 114. I just wish I had thought of him before Round 1.

OTHER CALLS

Despite obvious value in the ruck I’m not trading Max Gawn. Hopefully he repays the faith with some huge scores in the next month. I’m also holding Tom Green, happy to sit him on the bench for a week — while a Justin McInerney or Tyler Brown takes his M9 spot — in the hope of future games and decent scores.