KFC SuperCoach 2022: Quick guide to player positions and dual-position players

Ever wondered what a D1 is or how dual-position players are decided? Find all you need to know, plus how you can use them to improve your KFC SuperCoach team.

A KFC SuperCoach team is just like a real AFL team with midfielders, defenders, forwards and ruckmen, and players on the bench.

Every player in the game is assigned a position by Champion Data – and some players are assigned more than one.

A players’ position dictates where you can pick them in your squad, and also who you can trade them to.

Each position is often referred to by its abbreviation – defender are DEF, midfielders are MIDs, rucks are RUCs (OK, that one is obvious), and forward are FWDs. So you will often see a player like Jake Lloyd listed to as a $586,600 DEF – meaning he can only be picked in defence in your team.

Your starting squad features eight defenders (six on field and two on the bench), 11 midfielders (eight and three), three ruckmen (two and one) and eight forwards (six and two).

Serious KFC SuperCoaches refer to positions on the field using a number system – D1 is your most expensive defender, D2 is your second-best defender and so on, through to D7 and D8 on the bench. Likewise, M1 through to M11 in the midfield, R1, R2 and R3 in the ruck and F1 to F8 up forward.

If you’ve got the top-scoring defender at D1, the top-scoring midfielder at M1, the best ruckman at R1 and the top forward at F1, you’re going to have a great season!

The positions are assigned by Champion Data based on heat maps and analysis that show where players line up during AFL matches, so positions can change from year to year. Adelaide’s Rory Laird has been a defender for most of his KFC SuperCoach career, but he’s a midfielder in 2022 – you will sometimes hear these players referred to as MID ONLY.

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Rory Laird’s shift to a permanent midfield role at the Crows is reflected in his KFC SuperCoach position. Picture AFC

Not every player is assigned only one position. A player who spends more than 35 per cent of game time in two positions is classified as a Dual-Position Player, or DPP. These can be anywhere on the field – in KFC SuperCoach we have MID-FWDs, MID-DEFs, RUC-FWDs, DEF-FWDs and even a few RUC-DEFs. These players can be selected in either of their listed positions.

It’s a good idea to pick some DPPs in your starting squad – they deliver a whole list of advantages.

For starters, selecting MID-FWD premiums in your forward line and MID-DEF premiums in your backline effectively adds extra midfielders to your team, and these players generally score the most points.

Not only that, you can move them between their two positions over the course of the season, adding valuable flexibility to your squad.

If you’re selecting a DPP, try to match them with another one so you can swap those two players between positions.

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Dustin Martin’s classification as a MID-FWD reflects his damaging role at the Tigers. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

Most experienced KFC SuperCoaches will start with a MID-FWD rookie on the midfield bench, allowing them to swing a MID-FWD premium into the midfield if needed to cover an injury.

Pick another MID-FWD on your forward bench and you can do even more switches, which can maximise your team’s scoring potential and potentially avoid using a valuable trade.

Another popular play is to pick a dirt cheap RUC-FWD on your ruck bench and a RUC-FWD premium in your forward line. That way if one of your starting rucks misses a week you can swing your RUC-FWD premo into the ruck line for one week of cover.

Even if you can’t find a partner for a DPP, you can still make some clever moves when it comes to trading.

Tim English is a RUC-FWD, making him a more valuable commodity in KFC SuperCoach. Picture: Michael Klein

Say you have a DEF-MID in your midfield. When you trade out one of your defenders you have the option of replacing them with another defender, or moving your DPP into that vacancy in the backline, creating one in the midfield – so you can effectively trade a defender for a midfielder.

This gives you extra ways to grab the best trade options when they become available.

But try not to trade all your DPPs out too early, they are even more valuable in the run home when trades are running low.

In a new feature for 2022, every six weeks Champion Data will review player positions and release a fresh round of DPPs. So if Jack Ziebell is listed as a forward but plays at full-back every week, he’ll get dual-position status and become a DEF-FWD. It’s all based on that magic 35 per cent formula.

Stay tuned to find out who you can add to your team and start making those big DPP moves.

Originally published as KFC SuperCoach 2022: Quick guide to player positions and dual-position players