Doctor’s Orders: Five tips before you pick a SuperCoach team
SuperCoach is open for another season, so let’s dive in and start picking players, right? Not so fast. Read these rules from the experts at Doctor SuperCoach first to set up a season of success.
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Finally KFC SuperCoach is back for 2020 and another rollercoaster year awaits!
While it’s exciting for coaches to begin planning their teams, there are several factors that they should consider before making those crucial selection calls.
On the first instalment of Doctor’s Orders in 2020, let’s run through five tips the Doctor SuperCoach team has learned over years of playing SuperCoach.
1. DO YOUR RESEARCH
Players’ past performance is not always a true reflection of future performance.
There is no doubt that looking at previous SuperCoach scores is a huge factor when choosing a starting team, but good coaches will drill deeper than that. There are countless reasons that could affect player outputs, so make sure to research as much as possible to give yourself the best chance of a successful pick.
Examples of questions worth asking yourself include:
WILL this player’s role remain the same as last season?
WILL new recruits affect this player at all?
IS THERE competition for this player’s spot in the team?
HAS the coach flagged any team or role changes to other players in the pre-season?
DID this player train a full pre-season without compromise?
DOES their price reflect your perceived output for them in 2020?
An example of a player who could have been avoided in 2019 by asking these questions is Joel Selwood, whose average dropped by 20 points per game in just one season.
Looking back last year, the signs of a decline were obvious. Chris Scott flagged a role change pre-season with a plan to play Tim Kelly as a permanent inside midfielder. The Cats also expressed their desire to move Selwood away from his demanding inside role to extend his career longevity. By doing thorough research, his sudden drop in average could have been foreseen.
2. LEARN TO FORGIVE AND FORGET
It can be hard not to get emotionally attached to your team. It’s great to be passionate about your players, but it’s crucial that coaches don’t let emotion get the best of them. Although it may be difficult, coaches need to treat every year as a new cycle and open their eyes to the new pros and cons for the year ahead.
The career of Shaun Higgins represents one of those huge rollercoasters. He evolved from a perennial “burn man”, who underperformed and was always injured, into one of the better SuperCoach options in 2015 and 2018. If he was on a “never again” list, an opportunity would have been missed.
In more recent times, Bachar Houli was written off as a 31-year-old past his prime after his terrible 2018 campaign. He then responded by having a career-best season in which he finished as a top-two averaging defender in the league.
Make sure to look at all the facts and figures before hastily making decisions out of pure emotion.
3. STICK TO YOUR GUNS*
(*BUT DON’T BE AFRAID TO TAKE ON CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM)
It is hard to stress this enough. Your KFC SuperCoach team is YOUR team — you need to stay true to yourself! At the end of the day, you are in control and must start the players that you believe will perform.
However, it is also wise to balance your opinions with those of other peoples (…particularly Doctor SuperCoach!). Discussing and debating your ideas with others is a great way of gain more knowledge to make the most informed decision that you’re able to do.
4. DON’T BE SCARED TO SPEND BIG ON THE BEST
Every year it is tempting to start cheaper options, but never be afraid to pay up for the big names.
We begin the year with 30 trades, but they all disappear far too quickly. It is crucial to select premium players with the intent of keeping them the whole year.
Selecting too many mid-priced players often leaves coaches without enough premium players in their starting line-ups. This causes coaches to unnecessarily struggle to achieve a full team of premium players by season’s end.
There’s no harm in taking a few risks, but ensure you combine them with the obvious, safe premium options. It is recommended to start the season with 10-14 premium players.
5. DON’T FORGET THE BYES
By applying a simple strategy around the bye rounds, coaches are able to elevate their SuperCoach game to another level. Year after year, coaches are left scraping the bottom of the barrel to field 18 players each week.
Everyone approaches these three rounds differently, but the most simple, effective strategy is to try have an even number of premium players playing each bye round, with a small leaning towards Round 14 bye players.
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Coaches will find by doing so, their scoring will remain more consistent each week of the byes, which gives them a great chance of defeating league opponents and gaining massive ground in the overall rankings.
If you’re struggling to choose between two different players, choosing the one who is better for your bye structure is a great way to break the deadlock. With that being said, coaches have 11 rounds to rectify their bye plan, but it’s wise to get a head start from day one.
2020 BYE ROUNDS
Round 12: Brisbane Lions, Essendon, Geelong Cats, Port Adelaide, St Kilda, West Coast Eagles.
Round 13: Carlton, Collingwood, Fremantle, Melbourne, Richmond, Sydney Swans.
Round 14: Adelaide, Gold Coast, GWS Giants, Hawthorn, North Melbourne, Western Bulldogs.
Listen to the latest Doctor SuperCoach podcast below and click here to read more KFC SuperCoach tips