Quick guide to picking a winning KFC SuperCoach AFL team
Thirty players to pick, $10 million to spend. Where do you start? Follow SuperCoach expert Al Paton’s step-by-step guide and you’ll have a team ready to dominate your mates.
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You’ve signed up for KFC SuperCoach, have a killer team name and uniform and you’re ready to start your charge to league domination, and maybe even the $50,000 grand prize. Now what?
Staring at the team screen with 30 blank boxes — and more than 700 players to choose from — can be daunting.
Here’s a simple step-by-step guide to picking a winning team.
Just like an AFL list manager, you only have limited funds to work with when selecting your squad. A $10 million salary cap sounds a lot but it will disappear fast, so look for players who provide value for money as well as scoring potential. Players returning from injury are often attractively priced, but come with some risk, so you don’t want too many.
You need a balance of superstars, mid-range players and kids who are ready to emerge.
Note: You can make as many trades as you like before Round 1, so decisions made now aren’t final. Expect to make some changes as we get hints on form, injuries and likely Round 1 selections over the pre-season. It’s possible to save a partially-finished team, but make sure you have a full squad of 30 players saved before Round 1 lockout to be part of the action.
1. START IN THE RUCK
The ruck is the third of the four positions on the SuperCoach player menu, but this year this is the place to start because these decisions will impact every other position.
The easiest — and potentially smartest — call is to pick Magpie Brodie Grundy and Demon Max Gawn. Grundy has scored more SuperCoach points than any other player over in 2018 and 2019 and last year Gawn comes in at No.3.
The sticking point in selecting both is that it will use up more than $1.4 million — 14 per cent — of your salary cap on two players.
The alternatives are to pick Kangaroo Todd Goldstein, who was clearly the third-best ruckman last season — his average of 112, while outstanding, was still well short of Grundy 130 and Gawn (128) — or take a gamble on a cheaper option like Nic Naitanui ($457,800) or Sam Jacobs ($348,400) and hope they spike in form — and value. That’s a big risk but it does leave you with up to $350,000 to spend elsewhere.
Whichever path you take, don’t spend more than $150,000 on your bench ruckman as they are unlikely to be called on. Collingwood’s Darcy Cameron is some chance to get games.
2. FILL YOUR BENCH
The next step is to pick your bargain basement players — aim for under $130,000 — in defence (two), the midfield (three) and forward line (two). These are your bench players who will rise in value during the season and can fill in if one of your first-choice 22 is injured.
The most important goal when picking a SuperCoach team is to find bench players who will get game time. Many teams have unravelled because there are too many cheapies who aren’t even playing.
Check out our rookie bible for a guide to the bottom-priced players expected to push for senior selection. Historically, first-round draft picks are safe bets, especially midfielders. Mature-age recruits are also good options because they are often signed to fill a specific role in the team — think of Marty Hore at Melbourne last year. Mitch Hibberd at Essendon could follow a similar path this year.
3. SOME MORE CHEAPIES
To fit your team under the salary cap you’ll need to start some of these cheap players on the field — so it’s even more important they are getting games!
Pick two more in the midfield and one more in the defence and forward line. You can up your budget here a little bit to include players like Fremantle’s Stephen Hill, who could be one of the best cheap buys of the year at $190,600. Geelong’s Nakia Cockatoo ($148,200) will be another popular choice if he’s fit for Round 1. The key is to find players with good job security — they aren’t much use to us if they’re dropped after one quiet game.
4. GET SOME BIG GUNS
Now for the fun bit. It’s time to splash some cash on the biggest — and most expensive — players in the game.
Due to their high price, you can only have a handful in each position — 2-3 in the backline and forward line and 4-5 in the midfield.
You need to spend wisely. Look for proven performers over multiple seasons — a breakout year could be a sign of things to come or it might be a flash in the pan. Players such as Patrick Dangerfield, Nat Fyfe and Jack Macrae have been high scorers for several years, so you can bet they will be again in 2020.
Reliability is a key factor. Players who appear every week save you trades and headaches throughout the season. You can’t go past Brisbane’s Lachie Neale — he has missed just two games in the past six seasons.
5. TAKE A MID-PRICE PUNT
There should be a couple of spots to fill in each position (apart from the ruck) and a bit of money left to spend (your ruck choice will have a large bearing on how much).
These positions are where you can take a punt on a mid-pricer — players who are massively underpriced based on their scoring potential, but who usually come with a large element of risk as well.
They might be coming back from a serious injury, like Dylan Roberton. Or looking for a fresh start after falling from past heights, like Jack Stephen. Or a potential top-scorer who has been starved of opportunity, like Hugh Greenwood. Or a young player poised for a breakout season, like Andy McGrath.
Their prices can range anywhere from Roberton’s $260,500 to Hugh McCluggage’s $510,700. What they all have in common is the potential to score way above their starting price — if everything goes their way.
These guys can make your SuperCoach season, or break it. So you don’t want too many.
6. A NOTE ON DUAL-POSITION PLAYERS
Some players in SuperCoach can be picked in more than one position — they are known as dual-position players or DPPs. Their real value in your team is they can switch between those positions during the year, potentially allowing you to cover for an injury without using a trade.
They also allow us to pack our sides with extra high-scoring midfielders by picking them in defence or the forward line.
As a general rule if high-scoring players are available as MID/FWD or MID/DEF DPPs, pick them on the latter position - so put the likes of Lachie Whitfield, Dustin Martin and Michael Walters (all forward-mids) in your forward line, where dependable high scorers are harder to find. That also leaves spots in your midfield for pure mids like Fyfe, Josh Kelly and Patrick Cripps.
If you pick a DEF/MID player like Stephen Hill, try to pair him with another DPP at the other end. And if you can find cheap DPPs who are likely to play, stick them on your midfield bench. They can be hugely valuable as the season plays out.
MORE SUPERCOACH TIPS:
The best bargain buys of KFC SuperCoach 2020
Jonathan Brown learns from rookie mistakes when picking 2020 SuperCoach AFL team
The Phantom’s SuperCoach 2020 Pre-Season: Premium midfielder anaylsis
Herald Sun experts reveal their starting 2020 KFC SuperCoach squads
SuperCoach 2020: The mid-price ruckmen that can make an impact
SuperCoach Draft has been revamped in 2020 and the changes are bigger than Mason Cox
7. ANOTHER NOTE ON TRADES
After Round 1 you’ll have 30 trades throughout the season — a maximum of two per week, or three during the bye rounds — to fix and improve your squad.
If you take a gamble and it doesn’t pay off, it’s not the end of the world. But a strong starting squad will set up your entire season.
8. GOOD LUCK!
Keep an eye on pre-season games to refine your team before Round 1, and we’ll have plenty of expert advice to help you make the best selection calls.
The next step is to convince your mates to join your private league so the real battle can begin.
Good luck!
Originally published as Quick guide to picking a winning KFC SuperCoach AFL team