KFC SuperCoach 2022: Ultimate bye planner and consensus trade rankings

The byes rounds can derail 11 weeks of KFC SuperCoach or rocket your team up the rankings – if you have a plan. Experts reveal how to get it right.

Dustin Martin is a trade target in KFC SuperCoach after Richmond’s bye. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

The byes are here.

The three AFL bye rounds run from rounds 12-14, with six teams missing each round.

This is a crucial time in the KFC SuperCoach season, known for big jumps (and falls) in overall rankings before the sprint to the finish over the final nine rounds.

How is your team placed for the byes?

Usually, this is the perfect time to upgrade those final spots while providing the best possible coverage over the three bye rounds. The classic play is to trade out a player about to have their bye (for example, a rookie or mid-pricer missing in round 13 like Matt Rowell) for a gun who has already had their bye (Sam Walsh), improving your team and avoiding a non-playing player across the byes in one hit.

SCROLL DOWN FOR EXPERT RANKINGS ON THE TOP BYE TRADE TARGETS

This year, teams that have traded hard over the first part of the season could find themselves in the unusual situation of having a “finished” team of 22 premiums, or close to it – without obvious players to upgrade – before the byes even begin.

This presents another degree of difficulty and strategy for 2022.

But most coaches will still have their eye on players they want to add to their defence, midfield, ruck and forward lines, and the timing of those moves will be more important than ever.

Stream every match of every round of the 2022 Toyota AFL Premiership Season Live & Ad-Break Free In-Play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >

In some cases, players considered “keepers” could be traded out, and some tough calls will have to be made on bargain starting selections like Nic Martin and Stephen Coniglio.

This guide will give you the tools you need to plan a strategy for your squad that will steer you through the bye minefield and emerge on the other side with a better rank and a bulletproof team for the run home (and hopefully a few trades).

The first step is to take note of how many players you have available in each bye round – easy using the “show byes” feature in SuperCoach Plus.

Round 12 could provide an immediate shock if you haven’t paid attention until now, with some SuperCoach defences set to be missing all of George Hewett, Jayden Short, Lachie Whitfield, Sam Docherty, Jordan Ridley and Jack Sinclair. And that’s just a taste of what the byes have in store!

BYE RULES

BEST 18: Over each of the three bye rounds only your top 18 scoring players count towards your weekly total. These players must be selected on field in your squad for that round or nominated as an emergency, but you can only have a maximum of six scoring players in defence, eight in the midfield, two in the ruck and six up forward (so having seven forwards available in round 12 won’t help cover those holes in defence. Use those DPP swings!).

CAPTAINS: Captains and vice-captains operate as normal, and all players from bye teams remain unlocked until the final game of the round. So, this is the ideal time to deploy the vice-captain loophole to get two shots at a top captain score. And if you do have a seventh defender or forward or ninth midfielder available, you can loophole there too to get the best scores on field.

EXTRA TRADES: A maximum of three trades are available across each of the bye rounds, up from the usual two. Activating a Trade Boost (if you have any left) increases this to four trades for the round. This is worth factoring into your bye planning – if you are low on numbers in round 13, for example, you might want to hold onto a boost to use every trade possible to improve your team for that round.

TOP BYE TRADE TARGETS

Unless you have a large cash reserve already, you’ll need to trade rookies in across the byes to generate cash for upgrades. This will obviously depend on which cheapies are selected in coming weeks, but ideally you want to recruit players who will help give you extra scoring players in the bye rounds – getting to 18 each week is the first aim, but you’re in a much better position if you have 19, 20 or even more available, with the lowest scores to drop out of your total (allowing you dodge a Maurice Rioli 7, for example).

Two players stand out as downgrade targets – Giant Jacob Wehr and Saint Mitch Owens. Both will play their third match – if selected – in round 13.

If they are named you can downgrade a round 13 bye rookie like Sam De Koning or Robbie McComb to Wehr or Owens, giving yourself an extra player for that round and the cash to fund the Rowell to Walsh move. Boom!

The other move that comes into play if you have enough trades in the bank is side-swapping guns through the byes – for example, trading out Andrew Brayshaw before the Dockers have a week off in round 14 and bring in a gun midfielder who has already had his bye.

These are the upgrade targets you should be eyeing off over the byes – in the eyes of experts Al Paton, The Phantom, Dan Batten and Tim Michell.

See the top 10 expert picks for rounds 12, 13 and 14 below.