AFL SuperCoach 2018: Everything you need to know before Round 1

AUSTRALIA’S biggest fantasy game kicks off tonight. From the rolling lockout to picking a team from scratch, here’s everything you need to know. PLUS TOP CAPTAIN PICKS

TENS of thousands of fans are already signed up to Australia’s biggest and best fantasy game, and if you don’t join them by today you’re not just missing out on the hottest topic of footy talk after every round, you’re passing up the chance to win big cash prizes.

Don’t panic, here’s everything you need to know before Round 1.

FIRST LOCKOUT

All SuperCoach players have unlimited trades until the end of Round 1 — then we start eating into our allocation of 30 for the rest of the season.

When the ball is bounced for Richmond v Carlton at 7.25pm tonight (AEDT), all Richmond and Carlton players will be locked. If you didn’t pick Dustin Martin or Patrick Cripps, it’s too late. And if you have a Tiger or Blue in your squad that you don’t want, you can’t get rid of them (at least until the end of the round).

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Carlton and Richmond players will also be locked in their positions, so if you are picking Jarrod Garlett in the forward line you’ll need to make a call on whether you want to start him on the field or the bench — and hit the emergency button if required.

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All other players will be locked in (or out) as their respective matches start across the weekend, with the final lockout for the round at 6.20pm AEDT on Sunday. Until then you still have unlimited trades for West Coast and Sydney players — so you could swap Jeremy McGovern for Callum Mills at the last minute without using any of your 30 trades for the year.

After that every move will cost you, so trade wisely.

The most important thing is to get your Richmond and Carlton players right before tonight. Then we have until 7.50pm AEDT on Friday to refine the rest of our squads.

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LEAGUES

Head-to-head matches start in Round 3, giving us a couple of weeks to assess player form and size up your opponents before the real action begins.

But leagues close on Sunday night, so if you want to play against your mates, don’t delay — and if you have a friend who is dragging their heels, give them a rocket!

Teams must be saved with a full 30-player roster to enter a league.

On Sunday night any vacancies in leagues will be filled by the SuperCoach brains trust, but it’s much more fun to play against your mates.

If you can’t fill every spot you can add the Herald Sun footy and SuperCoach experts to your own league.

BIG PRIZES

On top of the $50,000 cheque to the 2018 SuperCoach champion (plus $5000 for second place and $1000 for third), there are a bunch of other great prizes on offer this year.

The top-scoring team each week wins $1000 with cash prizes for second and third place.

If you miss Round 1 you can still join the game but you’ll be starting from the back of the grid in the race for the overall prize.

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SUPERCOACH STATS FREE TRIAL

Everyone who signs up to SuperCoach receives free full access to SuperCoach Stats (formerly known as SuperCoach Gold) — a treasure trove of extra intel to help pick your team and track your progress throughout the season.

How useful is it? Well, exclusive SuperCoach data mined from the 2017 season revealed 66 of the top 100 overall scorers were SuperCoach Stats subscribers, including six of the top 10 and 37 of the top 50.

Look up past stats on every player, see who other players are picking and trading and get projected scores for every player (Tom Mitchell is projected to score 132 against the Magpies — jump on!) and for your team and all your league rivals.

The free trial runs until the end of Round 2 so sign up now to make the most of this great offer.

PRE-SEASON: FREE SUPERCOACH STUDY GUIDE

MORE GAMES, MORE WAYS TO WIN

SuperCoach isn’t the only way to prove your footy knowledge.

Take the hassle out of running a tipping comp by setting up a private league inSuperTipping— the top tipster for the season wins $20,000.

Perfect 9 is the fast, fun version of SuperCoach. Simply pick the top SuperCoach scorer in all nine games of the round and pocket the cash jackpot. The prize has carried over from last year which means the Round 1 kitty is already a massive $225,000 cash, which will rise by $5000 each week until someone claims the booty.

Plus new for 2018 there if no one claims the jackpot in a round the entrant with the most perfect picks for the round wins $1000 cash.

You can play all three games — and SuperCoach Draft — on one easy login and jump between them with the click of your mouse.

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CAPTAIN MY CAPTAIN

You’ve spent two months — or, for some, two days — agonising over every pick and now you’ve got your 30-man SuperCoach squad locked and ready for season 2018.

To get off to a flyer you want a big score in Round 1 and that means getting your captain choice right — a decision that can seem like an afterthought in the scramble to the start line.

We’re here to help — see the leading candidates this year to reward you with a huge double score.

Dustin Martin v Carlton

Start your season right by whacking the “C” on Dusty in the opening game (or the “VC” if you’re trying the vice-captain loophole). He scored 159 against the Blues in Round 1 last year and backed it up with 121 when the two teams met again in Round 14. Expect him to go big again.

Dustin Martin is ready to hit the ground running in 2018.

Tom Mitchell v Collingwood

In terms of pure numbers, Mitchell is the man. He averages a remarkable 138 in his past three games against Collingwood, including a massive 158 last year. Nathan Buckley has questioned how much impact Mitchell has which is good news for us because it means a hard tag is unlikely.

Patrick Dangerfield v Melbourne

We have to include him because Danger was for many players a “perma-captain” last year — a set-and-forget captain every single week. His numbers against the Demons are awesome — 138 and 155 in his past two against the Dees — but given his injury cloud we’ll be looking elsewhere this week even if he does get up.

Joel Selwood v Melbourne

You could do a lot worse than Dangerfield’s teammate who has been overlooked in the Danger and Ablett hype this pre-season. Selwood averages 116 over his career against the Demons, including 121 and 124 in his past two games.

Nat Fyfe v Port Adelaide

One of this year’s most popular selections and widely tipped to return to his dominant 2015 form, when he averaged 124 points a game. Injuries have held him back since then but he still managed to score 115 and 117 against the Power.

Max Gawn v Geelong

After a down 2017 season Gawn was in red-hot form over the pre-season and faces one of the weaker ruck divisions in the comp, led by Zac Smith. Anyone who played SuperCoach in 2016 knows Max is capable of producing captaincy-worthy scores (he scored over 150 five times). One concern: His past two games against the Cats have produced scores of 63 and 27.

Max Gawn is the most popular player in SuperCoach this year. Picture: Ian Currie

Marcus Bontempelli v GWS Giants

If you’re one of the 13 per cent of players starting with the Bont, you could gain an edge in Round 1 because he loves playing the Giants, averaging 120 in his past three games against them.

Adam Treloar v Hawthorn

In fewer teams (5 per cent) but has a great record against the Hawks, scoring 103, 125 and 150 in his past three.

Rory Sloane v Essendon

No taggers at the Bombers. If they try to go head-to-head with the Crows gun it could end in disaster. Sloane averages 119 in his past three against Essendon and loves playing at Adelaide Oval.

Lance Franklin v West Coast

If you want a throw at the stumps in the final game of the round, Buddy can pay off in a big way — just ask anyone who had him in last year’s SuperCoach grand final when he scored 183. He looks in great shape but his formline is hard to gauge given he’s never played at the new Perth Stadium and he faced the Eagles only once last year, scoring 77.