Doctor’s Orders: How to make the most of Round 15 KFC SuperCoach nightmare
Smart KFC SuperCoach players can use the worst bye round of the season to boost their score and improve their team — but it will take some guts. The experts at Doctor SuperCoach explain how it works.
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It’s the stuff of KFC SuperCoach nightmares.
The Round 15 bye creates more blue dots than we care to ever see on our field, but that’s the hand we’ve been dealt, and one we’ve hopefully tried to do our best to plan for.
Six teams have the bye — Geelong, Western Bulldogs, St Kilda, North Melbourne, Gold Coast and Port Adelaide — meaning we better plug these holes or else this ship will sink fast. The pass mark for this week is plain and simple — find 18 playing players for your field, in whatever manner you can, and the more premiums the better.
But how do we maximise the points on field while simultaneously strengthening our sides?
The key is to only trade out premiums that are currently priced well above their expected averages for the rest of the season, while bringing in premiums that are severely undervalued.
Trading out a high-priced player may be counter-intuitive, but the game is about points and not money.
A player like Bailey Smith ($483,600) who has peaked in price after his 150 score in Round 12, is a more worthwhile trade-out option than someone like Jy Simpkin ($438,000), as long as the money can be put to good use. In a more extreme example, Marcus Bontempelli sits at $670,000, peaking after his 199 three rounds ago. Bontempelli is priced way above his season average of 114.3, so selling him may make enough money to reinvest elsewhere for an overall points increase.
With just a little money in the bank, Bontempelli and James Bell or Brad Close could be swapped to Josh P Kennedy and Andrew Brayshaw, potentially finishing off your side and increasing the team’s overall scoring potential – with an added bonus of likely a saved trade or two.
This strategy is certainly not for the faint-hearted and is very team dependent, but if you’re playing for overall rankings here are some options at affordable prices which might give coaches something to think about in a bid to keep their KFC SuperCoach sides afloat.
Josh Kennedy $417,600 MID, 90.3 average, 1% ownership
Kennedy is beautifully priced for anyone wishing to bring in a reliable premium scorer in this time of need.
JPK is 32, so it’s fair to say he’s no longer the super premium he once was, but following an injury-affected score of 18 in Round 6, he has dropped $162,000 from his starting price.
Since returning, Kennedy has delivered scores of 84 (from 65 per cent time on ground) and 96 (from 86 per cent time on ground).
The increase in time on ground relieves any concern that he will be eased through the rest of the season and 28 disposals in Round 14 shows he hasn’t lost his touch. Any concern Kennedy is going to drift out of the Swans centre square as he moves into the twilight of his career seems unnecessary, with he and Luke Parker still prime candidates in the guts – attending a team-high 16 centre bounce attendances against Port Adelaide.
Outside of his injury-affected game, Kennedy has had a season low of 84 points while still scoring above 125 twice. With just four matches until the end of the season, Kennedy is a relatively safe scoring option with high upside at an affordable price.
Toby Greene $444,100 FWD, 88.6 average, 6% ownership
With an injury interrupted season and coming off two scores in the 70s, Greene may seem like a strange choice. However, he is a proven scorer when given the opportunity and, like Kennedy, could provide a cheaper alternative to those who simply can’t acquire the cash to trade up to players such as Christian Petracca.
Last year we saw Greene storm home after being injected into the Giants’ midfield, hitting three figures in each of his final six games with an average of 121.3.
It’s hard to know if Greene get an opportunity to replicate that form, but Josh Kelly’s absence will give him a chance to remind everyone what he can do in there. Kelly took no further part in the game against Fremantle after copping a Shane Mumford knee to the head just before halftime and it’s worth noting that Greene attended 11 centre bounces, up from five the week prior, with eight in the second half after Kelly went down. He also had a season-high three clearances.
This selection may be based on a slight hunch that Greene will remain in the midfield, or at least spend more time in there, as the Giants search for their best football, but given the Giants fixture run — playing Carlton, Adelaide, Melbourne and St Kilda — even in the worst-case scenario, Toby is still capable of a solid average when playing forward. At $444,100, with minimal cash cows lighting up the scene, he could prove a savvy selection.
MORE EXPERT SUPERCOACH TIPS:
KFC SuperCoach Round 15 trade guide: Top targets to survive worst of 2020 bye rounds
KFC SuperCoach Round 14 burning questions: Lachie Neale trade advice, value options, tagger concerns
KFC SuperCoach experts reveal their tips for the run home
KFC SuperCoach 2020: All the Round 16 late mail and last-minute advice
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Andrew Gaff $500,300 MID, 104.1 average, 8% ownership
Gaff is as reliable as they come, once again averaging over 100 in 2020. The ball magnet is a touch off his previous two seasons, but continues to be a quality option in KFC SuperCoach. Gaff is priced at $500,300, so he certainly won’t break the bank like some, and is averaging 108 across the past month.
What is most heartening by the prospect of Gaff is, unlike many of his teammates, he has thrived in the hub. While he did end the Eagles’ hub life with a poor showing of 67 in a lacklustre clash with the Crows, Gaff otherwise scored 119, 137, 117, 112 and 83.
The query remains on whether the Eagles will cope better with going into the Queensland hub a second time around, but you can select Gaff safe in the knowledge that he was an Eagle that held up his end of the bargain earlier in the season.
Jarryd Lyons $589,900 MID, 112.8 average, 3% ownership
If you’re looking for consistency, here is another man that will answer that call. Lyons had his quietest match of the season last round, scoring just 57 points against the Saints. Nonetheless, he is a quality option – who now comes at a cheaper price.
Lyons is the most expensive of the options listed here at $589,900, but that’s bound to be the case when you average 112 with only one score under 88 and three scores below 114 all season.
Lyons has flourished this season and there are doubts any taggers would even recognise him given all the attention flows to Hugh McCluggage and Lachie Neale.
While he has a high break-even of 173, these trades are all about saving our sides in this week of carnage. He will inevitably drop in price, but some may not have the luxury of waiting for that to happen and will strike now in order to gain a reliable top end premium in bye-infused madness.
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