How to pick a winning SuperCoach team

Round 1 is closing fast but it's not too late to join the action. Here's SuperCoach expert Al Paton’s step-by-step guide to selecting a team to dominate your mates.

You’ve signed up for SuperCoach, have a killer team name and uniform and you’re ready to start your charge to league domination, and maybe the $50,000 grand prize. Now what?

Staring at the team screen with 30 blank boxes — and more than 700 players to choose from — can be daunting.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to picking a winning team.

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Just like an AFL list manager, you only have limited funds to work with when selecting your squad. A $10 million salary cap sounds a lot but it will disappear fast, so look for players who provide value for money as well as scoring potential. Players returning from injury are often attractively priced but come with some risk.

You need a balance of superstars, mid-range players and kids who are ready to emerge.

Note: You can make as many trades as you like before Round 1, so decisions made now aren’t final. Expect to make some changes as we get hints on form, injuries and likely Round 1 selections over the pre-season. It’s possible to save a partially-finished team, but make sure you have a full squad of 30 players saved before Round 1 lockout to be part of the fun.

Max Gawn can score like few other players in SuperCoach.

1. START IN THE RUCK

The ruck is the third of the four positions on the SuperCoach player menu, but this year this is the place to start because these decisions will impact every other position.

The easiest — and potentially smartest — call is to pick last year’s two top-scoring big men — Magpie Brodie Grundy and Demon Max Gawn. Grundy scored more SuperCoach points than any other player in 2018 at an average of 130 a game, and Gawn wasn’t far behind (128, ranked third).

The sticking point in selecting both is that it will use up more than $1.4 million — 14 per cent — of your salary cap on two players.

The alternatives are to pick one of the next batch of rucks who should score about 100 points per game but are unlikely to match Grundy and Gawn’s heights, such as Stefan Martin or Todd Goldstein. Or if you’re really bold you can punt on a bargain ruck like Sydney’s Sam Naismith.

Whichever path you take, don’t spend more than $150,000 on your bench ruckman as they are unlikely to be called on. Essendon recruit Zac Clarke is some chance to get games.

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2. FILL YOUR BENCH

The next step is to pick your bargain basement players — aim for under $130,000 — in defence (two), the midfield (three) and forward line (two). These are your bench players who will rise in value during the season and can fill in if one of your first-choice 22 is injured.

The most important goal when picking a SuperCoach team is to find bench players who will get game time. Many teams have unravelled because there are too many cheapies who aren’t even playing.

Check out our cheapie bible for a guide to the bottom-priced players expected to push for senior selection. Historically, first-round draft picks are safe bets, especially midfielders. Mature-age recruits are also good options because they are often signed to fill a specific role in the team — think of Bayley Fritsch at Melbourne last year. Nick Hind at St Kilda and Ben Cavarra at the Bulldogs could follow a similar path this year.

Carlton’s No.1 draft pick Sam Walsh is aiming for a Round 1 debut.

3. SOME MORE CHEAPIES

To fit your team under the salary cap you’ll need to start some of these cheap players on the field — so it’s even more important they are getting games!

Pick two more in the midfield and one more in the defence and forward line. You can up your budget here a little bit to include players like Gold Coast’s Sam Collins, who could be one of the best cheap buys of the year at $188,900. Carlton’s Will Setterfield ($144,900) is likely to be part of Carlton’s starting midfield and will be another popular choice.

4. GET SOME BIG GUNS

Now for the fun bit. It’s time to splash some cash on the biggest — and most expensive — players in the game.

Due to their high price, you can only have a handful in each position — 2-3 in the backline and forward line and 4-5 in the midfield.

You need to spend wisely. Look for proven performers over multiple seasons — a breakout year could be a sign of things to come or it might be a flash in the pan. Players such as Patrick Dangerfield, Nat Fyfe and Rory Laird have been high scorers for several years, so you can bet they will be again in 2019.

Younger stars such as Patrick Cripps, Clayton Oliver and Josh Kelly have followed a steady path to the top and seem set to stay there.

Reliability is a key factor. Players who appear every week save you trades and headaches throughout the season. You can’t go past Port Adelaide’s Justin Westhoff — he has missed only three games since 2010 and none in the past five seasons.

Adelaide defender Rory Laird is a safe bet.

5. TAKE A MID-PRICE PUNT

There should now be a couple of spots left to fill in each position (apart from the ruck) and a bit of money left to spend (your ruck choice will have a large bearing on how much).

These positions are where you can take a punt on a mid-pricer — players who are massively underpriced based on their scoring potential, but who usually come with a large element of risk as well.

They might be coming back from a serious injury, like Tom Liberatore. Or looking for a fresh start after falling from past heights, like Dan Hannebery. Or a potential top-scorer who has been starved of opportunity, like Anthony Miles. Or a young player poised for a breakout season, like Christian Petracca.

Their prices can range anywhere from Grant Birchall’s $205,200 to Josh Dunkley’s $516,300. What they all have in common is the ability to score way above their starting price.

These guys can make your SuperCoach season, or break it. So you don’t want too many.

Can Dan Hannebery bounce back to his best as a Saint in 2019? Picture: Ian Currie

6. A NOTE ON DUAL-POSITION PLAYERS

Some players in SuperCoach can be picked in more than one position — they are known as dual-position players or DPPs. Their real value in your team is they can switch between those positions during the year, potentially allowing you to cover for an injury without using a trade. But they can only swap with another DPP.

As a general rule if high-scoring players are available in the midfield and defence or forward line, pick them on the latter position - so put the likes of Patrick Dangerfield, Devon Smith and Robbie Gray (all forward-mids) in your forward line, where dependable high scorers are harder to find. There are plenty of midfielders who score well. Open up a potential switch by picking a cheap DPP on your midfield bench.

7. TRADES

After Round 1 you’ll have 30 trades throughout the season — a maximum of two per week, or three during the bye rounds — to fix and improve your squad.

If you take a gamble and it doesn’t pay off, it’s not the end of the world. But a strong starting squad will set up your entire season.

8. GOOD LUCK!

Keep an eye on pre-season games to refine your team before Round 1, and we’ll have plenty of expert advice to help you make the best selection calls.

The next step is to convince your mates to join your private league so the real battle can begin.

Good luck!