The eight tips and tricks which can make or break your KFC SuperCoach season

From picking your starting side to the biggest bargains, top cheapies and the vice-captain loophole, here’s everything you need to know to succeed in SuperCoach, whether you’re a first-time player or seasoned expert.

KFC SuperCoach is a game that involves myriad tactics and strategies if you want to succeed.

These are a few of the hints Paul Dunn has picked up in recent years which can help you prosper in 2020, whether it is your first season or you’re a veteran coach in Australia’s favourite fantasy sports game.

1. SELECTING YOUR TEAM

While it is very tempting to pick the guys that were the best players and highest scorers in each position last season, it isn’t always the best strategy.

What seasoned KFC SuperCoach players will do is look for value in the premiums.

This means that we want to find the best scorers who aren’t quite at their peak price.

A great example of this would be a player at a discount due to a previous injury like Sam Docherty ($436,100, DEF) or Tom Mitchell ($630,900, MID)

The other type of player would be someone that had one or more poor scores during the previous season like Stephen Coniglio ($549,500, MID), who had a game where he scored 0 which affected his overall average by eight points.

But this doesn’t mean you should ignore the top guns.

Trust me, Brodie Grundy is already locked into my team.

Josh Kelly and Stephen Coniglio are both SuperCoach guns, but Coniglio is almost $100,000 cheaper after an injury-interrupted 2019 season. Picture: Phil Hillyard

2. WHAT ABOUT THE CHEAPER PLAYERS?

To maximise the premiums we can select we need to select some cheaper guys, but this also requires some strategy.

When I select my initial squad I pick a few more of the expensive rookies, such as Matthew Rowell ($207,300, MID).

GWS Giants’ No. 10 draftee Tom Green ($166,800, MID) is another who has lifted in popularity after scoring 100 in the Marsh Series against Sydney.

What this does is that it gives me more flexibility when it gets to Round 1.

When we get to team selections for the opening round and one of the expensive rookies doesn’t get selected, it is much easier to downgrade to a cheaper player who is going to get a game than to find the cash to upgrade to a more expensive rookie.

Doing this ensures you won’t have to completely restructure your side in the frantic last few hours before the first lockout.

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3. ROLLING LOCKOUTS

The rolling lockout is a key strategy tool.

It allows us to make changes to our teams right up until the moment every game starts.

When used correctly this can make you a lot of points.

A key advantage is that it gives you a chance to see if there are any late withdrawals and if you have a star that is questionable all week but is named, you can wait until the last moment before making other trades just in case they miss out.

This is always advisable because you never know what might happen.

But just be careful leaving it late, sometimes you can paint yourself into a corner and limit the options you have as more and more players are locked out as their games start and the weekend progresses.

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Brodie Grundy is the most expensive player in KFC SuperCoach for a good reason.

4. CAPTAIN DOUBLE CHANCE

Each week you need to select a captain who will score double points.

There are ways that you can exploit the system to give yourself a second chance at the maximum captaincy score.

The way to achieve this is by using the rolling lockout to your advantage.

To get a second chance at the captain’s score, you first need to study the fixture and have a non-playing player in your squad (this is usually your bench ruck spot, or R3).

Then select a vice-captain who plays early in the round, someone that you want to take a chance on as your captain (eg. Brodie Grundy).

HOW DOES IT WORK? CAPTAIN’S LOOPHOLE EXPLAINED

This will generally be someone that can go big and has an attractive matchup.

Once you have selected your VC (vice-captain), make sure you have a safe/alternate captain that plays later in the weekend and that non-playing player must also play after your VC.

After your VC has played, if they haven’t had a score worthy of captaincy, select your captain as you normally would with no harm done.

If your VC has a great score (generally 120+) then you will want to use that as your score to be doubled.

What you then need to do is field your non-playing player and make them your captain.

The player you have put on the bench must have the emergency on them so their score counts when your captain doesn’t play.

This can take some practice to get right and you need to be on the ball to do this and have a solid plan in place.

Sydney draftee Will Gould is one of the top cheapie picks this year. Picture: Phil Hillyard

5. HAVING A DOUBLE GO AT ROOKIES

As well as exploiting the rolling lockout to boost your captain’s score, you can do the same with your emergency (in a different line to your captain emergency of course).

If you can’t select between two rookies, you may want to hedge your bets.

So, to do this you need to have a non-playing player in the line (or position) that you are looking to use the loophole and they have to play after the first player finishes.

Put the first of your two rookies on the bench and ensure you select them as emergency.

If they fail then just leave them there and put your alternate player on the field.

If your first choice has a great game, then put the non-scoring player on the field and you will receive the first rookie via their emergency score.

6. FLOATING DONUTS

This is the term used to describe players used in the two loophole scenarios listed above.

If you can use a dual-position player for this it will give you more flexibility to execute the move.

Look for the team that has the most Sunday afternoon games and try to select a player from that team.

This isn’t to say that you should pick a player in your starting squad that won’t play, because cash generation is important.

Often, more experienced players will select a non-playing backup ruckman (the cheaper the better) for the captaincy double chance.

They will select someone that has DPP in the forward line (think Darcy Cameron or Charlie Comben) and then have a DPP forward/ruck on your forward bench so they can swing into the ruck if they need to in the event of suspension or an injury to big guns Max Gawn and Brodie Grundy.

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Darcy Cameron could be a smart selection as your third ruckman, even if he doesn’t get a game.

7. REVERSE TRADES BUTTON

During the week coaches can tinker with their teams as much as they like.

However, once the first game of the round starts, all trades from that point cannot be reversed. Make sure you’re aware of this and don’t make a trade you regret after the start of a round.

MORE SUPERCOACH:

KFC SuperCoach Rookie Bible: Every potential cash cow for season 2020

Fox Footy experts name their KFC SuperCoach Specials for 2020, with some surprising results

KFC SuperCoach: Could this team of Bulldogs and Giants win your SuperCoach league?

The top bargain KFC SuperCoach defenders to consider for your team

KFC SuperCoach jury answer the key questions about how to build a winning team

The most popular KFC SuperCoach picks at every club

8. FINAL WORD

These moves aren’t to be taken lightly.

If you are worried about mucking them up, don’t try them.

They are moves that can make your weekend, but they can also break it too.

Ensure you have everything mapped out (it often helps to write it down) and that you have options available to you if anything unexpected pops up as the weekend progresses.

Originally published as The eight tips and tricks which can make or break your KFC SuperCoach season