SuperCoach Plus: 11 things you need to know for round 22
How many coaches have trades left? See the exclusive numbers plus key tagger stats you need to know and more nuggets to boost your SuperCoach score this week.
SuperCoach
Don't miss out on the headlines from SuperCoach. Followed categories will be added to My News.
You can’t take your eye off the ball for a second in KFC SuperCoach.
Just when coaches had lock in what looked like a winning line-up for the final rounds, the biggest curve ball of the season hit us square in the face.
How coaches react to Nick Daicos’s injury will define the final three rounds. And Saturday’s match against Hawthorn presented another huge red alert for coaches in the form of gun tagger Finn Maginness, who has three more rounds to wreak havoc in fantasy – starting this week against the Bulldogs.
Trades and tactics at this time of year are crucial – and SuperCoach Plus is here to help.
SuperCoach Plus subscribers can see score and price projections, Break Evens and live trade data every week. Plus exclusive weekly analysis articles just like this one!
Here are 11 nuggets to lift the lid on the KFC SuperCoach scoring system and help you make the best trade and captaincy calls for round 22.
SIGN UP TO SUPERCOACH PLUS FOR 12-MONTH ACCESS HERE!
1. GREAT TRADE DROUGHT
Out of trades or running low? You aren’t alone. Almost half the coaches ranked in the top 10 per cent of overall rankings (roughly top 19,000) have no trades left, and of the rest, most have just one in the bank. If you have any you’re in good shape, more that one and you are in a great position to make a charge to the finish line. Here are the full trade stats.
2. DAICOS DOWN
The KFC SuperCoach season-ending injury to Nick Daicos is the talk of the fantasy and football world this week. The Brownlow favourite was already on target for the lowest score of his career before he was hurt, thanks to the extreme attention of Finn Maginness, who restricted Daicos to just five disposals in the 67 minutes they were matched up. In previous weeks, Maginness has kept Mason Wood to nine disposals in 49 minutes, Daniel Rioli to 13 disposals in 49 minutes, and Josh Kelly to just one disposal in 54 minutes. So, which Dog does het get in round 22?
3. MATCH-UP WATCH
Maginness didn’t play when the Hawks and Dogs met in round 7, and Tom Liberatore also missed that game through injury. Conor Nash played a close checking role on Marcus Bontempelli, who finished with 13 kicks, six handballs and 122 KFC SuperCoach points. Bailey Dale went head-to-head with Dylan Moore while Caleb Daniel played in attack. The topscoring player in that game was James Sicily with 128 points from 22 effective disposals and eight intercept possessions. With no James Blanck in the team, he spent time on Aaron Naughton and Rory Lobb. Sicily’s scoring his spiked when Blanck takes the best opposition forward, resulting in a three-round average of 146.3 – the best in the competition.
4. TRADE TRACKER
The most popular trade of the week is Daicos to Sicily, with more than 3000 coaches making the move. But that requires $90,000 in the bank, or another trade to make a downgrade. Coaches without those cash or trade reserves are turning to Nic Newman, who is the second most popular Daicos replacement after scoring 137 and 144 in his past two games for a five-round average of 118.6, ranked third in defence behind Sicily and Tom Stewart. Newman’s teammate Sam Docherty and Saint Jack Sinclair are also popular picks, along with Zak Butters via DPP. Some more creative coaches are opting for Luke Jackson (477 trades), Caleb Serong (578) and Tom Liberatore (444).
5. NEALE SHADOW
Daicos isn’t the only player to cop close attention late in the season, with Lachie Neale shadowed for the second time in two weeks. After Touk Miller drove him to distraction in round 20, Hayden Young lined up next to him on Sunday in a surprise role shift for the Dockers’ defender. Neale collected 21 disposals in the 92 minutes they were matched up, after being held to 13 in 85 minutes by Miller. Connor Nash and Harry Perryman have also done effective jobs on the Lions star this season. Neale is likely to run into Ben Keays this weekend but he good news is his final two games are against Collingwood and St Kilda, teams without recognised taggers. If Young plays more negative roles he will have targets from West Coast, Port Adelaide (Connor Rozee?) and Hawthorn in his sights over the final three rounds.
6. SLOW STARTERS
SuperCoach Plus subscribers can follow live scores during every game – a great resource for tracking your players, and your opponents, in head-to-head finals. But sometimes it pays not to get too caught up in early scoring fluctuations. Eddie Ford was one of the topscorers on the ground in Hobart last Sunday after booting three first-quarter goals, but he managed just five more handballs for the game and finished with 66 points. On the other side of the coin, Christian Petracca had just 16 points to his name at quarter-time. But he dominated in the third term, recording 63 points from nine disposals and two goals, and went on to score 125 for the match. Tom Stewart had an even worse start, going to quarter-time on -1 against the Power. But over the final three terms he was the top-ranked player on the ground. After four negative acts in the first quarter, Stewart had only two more for the rest of the game. His kicking was again a weapon – scoring 75 points from kicks alone.
7. SLOW FINISHER
Tim Taranto is the second-highest scoring forward and No.12 overall in KFC SuperCoach this year. But the Tigers’ bye came at the worst possible time for the former Giant. He ranked third in the AFL for points scored behind English and Bontempelli in Rounds 1-14 with an average of 120, but from round 16 he has fallen to 76th with a return of 87 per game. After hitting $640k in round 14, Taranto’s price has tumbled to $508,100, just $5000 above his round 1 price. With a Break Even of 134 against St Kilda, Taranto is projected to drop below $500k for the first time this year on Sunday night.
8. RUCK RIVALS
Coaches fielding Kieren Briggs over Tim English had a rare win on the weekend when the GWS ruckman outscored his Bulldogs rival for just the second time. And there might be more good news ahead. Briggs tallied 20 disposals and five tackles against the Swans while English managed 19 disposals, seven tackles and a goal against the Tigers. Both rucks had eight hitouts to advantage. The big difference was most of English’s points came after the game was decided in the first quarter. Briggs has another favourable match-up this week in Port Adelaide three-gamer Dane Visentini, while English faces Ned Reeves, who has done a good job of restricting his ruck opponents this year. But Briggs still has a lot of catching up to do, trailing English by 278 points in a head-to-head match up since round 10.
9. ACTION JACKSON
Luke Jackson made the most of an ankle injury to Oscar McInerney to dominate back-up Darcy Fort in the final game of round 21 in Perth. Jackson posted 173 KFC SuperCoach points – the highest score of the round – off the back of 24 disposals, six tackles, one goal and 13 hitouts to advantage. Another big score could be on offer on Saturday night against West Coast, and he faces Port Adelaide and Visentini the following week. Jackson’s price jumped by more than $37,000 at lockout and he is now priced at $506,200 with a Break Even of 32.
10. JACK’S BACK
Alastair Clarkson returned to the North Melbourne coach’s box on Sunday and made an instant impact on the role of veteran Jack Ziebell. After being used as the substitute and with stints in the forward line under Brett Ratten, Ziebell played 104 of a possible 128 minutes against Melbourne and won 24 of his 32 disposals in the defensive 50 – a round high and the third-highest tally by any player this year. The result was 127 KFC SuperCoach points, his best return since round 8. Ziebell also took six kick-ins (playing on from five), his highest tally since round 9. That had a direct impact on Harry Sheezel, who took three kick-ins after having 19 in the previous three matches. Sheezel spent some time up forward and had a brief stint in the midfield, finishing with 15 disposals – his equal-third lowest tally of the year – and 56 KFC SuperCoach points.
11. CAPTAINS CORNER
See notes above on taggers before locking in vice-captain and captain choices this week. Bypassing the tricky Dogs v Hawks match-up, Zach Merrett is the standout this round. He scored 137 and 140 in his past two matches against this week’s opponent North Melbourne – although he did get attention from Liam Shiels after a red-hot start against the Roos in round 12. Tom Stewart is another strong option on Friday night, boasting a five-round average of 123 and facing a Collingwood team that just gave up 166 points to James Sicily, who plays a similar role. Looking elsewhere, Rory Laird averages 128.6 in his past three against Brisbane, Christian Petracca scored 159 against Carlton in round 12, Errol Gulden is averaging 116 at the SCG this season while Andrew Brayshaw and Caleb Serong should score well against the Eagles, who have found some late-season form but still gave up plenty of points to Essendon midfielders.
More Coverage
Originally published as SuperCoach Plus: 11 things you need to know for round 22
Five moves that won me $50,000 in SuperCoach
The 20-year-old winner of SuperCoach AFL 2024 reveals the tactics that led him to the game’s top prize, beating out more than 180,000 players across the country.
SuperCoach wrap: Norm-worthy stars and grand final flops
Who stood up on the biggest SuperCoach stage and who disappointed when it counted most? Check out round 24’s heroes and villains – and some hot tips for 2025.