KFC SuperCoach 2022: Expert trades, op trade targets for round 12
Many are playing it safe this week, but The Phantom - currently ranked inside the top 150 in KFC SuperCoach — isn't holding back.
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There’s a lot going on in KFC SuperCoach this week.
A new round of dual-position players was activated after last Sunday’s lockout, suddenly making stars like Marcus Bontempelli available as forwards and opening up new swings within our teams thanks to new DPP rookies like Robbie McComb and Ben Hobbs.
Then on Thursday 17 new rookies were added to the game following the previous night’s id-season draft, with some set to provide instant KFC SuperCoach temptation.
And this all comes as we head into the first week of the byes, with six teams – Carlton, St Kilda, Richmond, Port Adelaide, GWS Giants and Essendon – having a week off.
That means popular KFC SuperCoach picks like George Hewett and Stephen Coniglio are not available for selection. Thankfully, only the best 18 scoring players in your squad will count to your team’s total this week.
How do you make sense of all that when making trades for round 12? Here’s what our experts are doing this week.
AL PATON
Out: Sam Hayes
In: Brynn Teackle
I’ll be honest, I had never heard of Brynn Teackle about 48 hours ago, now he’s a valued member of Don’t Argue. How good is the mid-season draft? This trade is all about freeing up cash to make some big moves next week when a host of guns will be coming off their round 12 bye. Hayes has been a solid servant, making over $184,000, but was only ever bench back-up and he’s not playing this week anyway. The gamble is banking on Braydon Preuss returning next week to give me a playing ruckman for the rest of the byes (and, ideally, the season). Do the right thing, Spike.
I considered using the Hayes cash to get Tim English this week but I’ve got too many Bulldogs already and it would blow up my team in round 13. Hopefully Mark Blicavs can keep him honest around the ground.
THE PHANTOM
OUT: Sam Hayes, Stephen Coniglio, Ben Hobbs
IN: Brynn Teakle, Tim English, Mitch Owens
There’s no sitting around in The Lair, I’m improving my team this week and for the long term. English is close to a must-have for the run home and, despite the return of Coniglio’s onball role, he’ll have the Giant covered from here. Given that, it’s an easy move - forget about the players you trade out. English will also act as ruck swing cover, with the addition of everyone’s new favourite ruck-fwd Teakle, and could even replace Braydon Preuss at R2, depending on what Spike McVeigh does next week. We’ll worry about then. I did plan to keep Hobbs as cover, but the English inclusion will push Zak Butters to F7/M9, so I’m going to cash in the young Bomber in preparation for a final midfield premium next round, after Marcus Bontempelli’s move forward. This week, I’ll have 18 playing, but 15 of them premiums. Parnell over Owens would give me 19 but I’m not sure it’s worth it - yet. English coming in also wipes out my forward line for R13 but with that extra midfield gun - likely to be Zach Merrett - my premium count will again be 15. And that’s the number I’ve been focusing on.
TIM MICHELL
OUT: Josh Gibcus
IN: Mitch Owens
Leaning towards this move, which allows me to send Sam De Koning to defence for what is likely his last week in my side before the Cats’ round 13 bye. It also means I can use Robbie McComb as a FWD – he would otherwise have been stuck at M9 – and leaves me with a bank of $221k for an upgrade next round. Owens has surely brought himself at least a couple of weeks in the St Kilda side on the back of his impressive showing against North Melbourne. Even if he only features in rounds 13 and 14 to help me get 18-20 players, I’ll count that as a win. Owens has a break even of -22 and is projected to make about $70k in his next two games. This will leave me with 19 or 20 players this round, leaving wiggle room to drop at least one bad score. I can understand the rush to get Tim English, Bailey Smith and/or Marcus Bontempelli in, but I would wait until after the Dogs’ bye. In saying that, I have English and Bontempelli already, so maybe I’m in a more luxurious position than others on the DPP front.
DAN BATTEN
OUT: Josh Rachele
IN: Mitch Owens
Nice and easy for me this week. I will be mostly sitting on my hands and resisting the allure of Tim English with a nightmare round 13 ahead. I am looking at having only 16 or 17 playing available that week before trades next round, and the Owens downgrade will give me a war chest to upgrade to two premiums coming off the round 12 bye.
Champion Data formguide: Freako’s captain formula
– Fantasy Freako
At the halfway point of the season the time has come to take stock of the best performers in KFC SuperCoach.
From a raw numbers point of view, Lachie Neale has led the charge with an average of 135 points – reaching 100 points in every game, including racking up 120-plus on six occasions. In wins alone, that average increases to 140 points per game, which ranks second in the competition behind Tim English.
Clayton Oliver ranks second overall, averaging 125 points from a career-high 34 disposals, eight clearances, two score assists and eight score involvements per game. Oliver has been a staple for the captains armband most weeks, dropping below 100 points just twice, one of which was 99 points against the Eagles a few weeks ago. He has tallied 120-points points five times and has a high of 178.
Rounding out the top three is Callum Mills. He has taken his game to another level in his second season as a permanent midfielder, averaging a career-high 123 points. His ceiling has also been huge, racking up 147, 167 and a whopping 214 as his three biggest scores. One thing that separates Mills to other midfielders is ball use, recording a kicking efficiency of 70.7 per cent, the third-best percentage among the top-25 ranked midfielders in the competition behind only Jack Macrae (71.3 per cent) and Jordan Dawson (74.9 per cent).
MORE: THE 23 NEW KFC SUPERCOACH DPPs REVEALED
Consistency is vital in KFC SuperCoach, and if we rank the top 50 scorers in the league by the number of times they have finished in the top-three ranked players for their team, then there are three standouts.
Jarrod Witts, James Sicily and Darcy Parish have all finished in the top-three ranked players for their team nine times – the equal-most in the comp. It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, as Witts and Sicily are the top-ranked players in their position, while Parish ranks fifth among midfielders.
Other names to feature high in this measure include Sam Walsh, Jack Crisp, Rory Laird and Jack Sinclair.
With most SuperCoaches looking to finish off their team in the coming weeks, targeting the players from the table below could be extremely rewarding, as they are proven scorers and have the all-important attribute of consistency.
As I highlighted above with Mills, targeting players with a high ceiling is paramount
when picking the VC/C weekly and if we use the benchmark of 120, then there are
three players that have exceeded that mark six times – Neale, Witts and the surprise
packet, Walsh.
Walsh has upstaged Patrick Cripps this season, posting one more score of at least 120
than his skipper, while the likes of Oliver, Mills and Sicily are a host of others to hit
that mark five times.
ROOKIE WATCH
KFC SuperCoach rookies can make a name for themselves during the bye rounds, and they need to chip in and contribute to our scoring. In an ideal world, you’ll have more than 18 playing in each round and the poor scores can drop off, but that won’t be the case for everyone.
As we look ahead to the first of the bye rounds, timing is important when it comes to offloading rookies as you don’t want to hang on to them too long or you’ll lose the value that player has gained. On the other side of that equation, you don’t want to jump off too early as you’ll miss out on future gains. So, timing is everything.
If we asses the rookies ahead of round 12, we can safely hold Paddy McCartin and Sam De Koning for one more round. They both play this week but have the bye in round 13, which is perfect timing for KFC SuperCoach. One down to a rookie and one up to a premium next week will be a popular play for round 13.
Nick Daicos’s run is also nearing the end but, unlike McCartin and De Koning, he plays in rounds 12 and 13 and has the bye in Round 14. He suffered another price fall last round after scoring 59 against Carlton, but that fall would have been far worse had he not recovered in the second half – scoring 42 points after going into halftime with just 17 points to his name. Personally, I’m holding Daicos and then turning him into a premium next week for a player coming off the bye.
Unfortunately, it’s slim pickings among rookies on the bubble this week that are actually playing. The only player worth considering would be Luke Cleary, but he was dropped by Luke Beveridge last round and was handed the subs vest, so he’sunlikely to come into the team.
So that leads us to GWS Giants’ Jacob Wehr. He has the bye this round and plays in round 13, but will he be assured of a start after the Giants lost in round 11? Owners of Cooper Hamilton have already seen how fickle the Giants’ selection can be with rookies.
The one player I’ll be swooping on next week is Mitch Owens. After a nine-week spell in the VFL, he returned to the Saints side in round 11 and starred as a centre bounce midfielder – attending 10 centre bounces. He won 14 disposals and kicked two goals, but it was his defensive effort that stood out the most, applying an equal team-high 10 tackles from 12 tackle attempts. He scored 89 points and looks to be a steal if he can keep that role.
As always, best of luck for the round ahead and trade wisely!
Trade guide: The Daicos move that can flip SuperCoach script
– Al Paton
Many KFC SuperCoaches will try to avoid trading this week for the simple reason that any player you bring in is guaranteed to miss one of the next three rounds.
But there are some good reasons to pull the trade trigger, especially if you need to make up ground on the leaders in your league or overall rankings.
There are several candidates to trade out – scroll down for our full list – and some bargains available right now and in coming weeks.
Coaches also have a decision to make on whether to grab Tim English before he shoots up in price or wait until after the Bulldogs’ bye – Tim Michell has answered that curly one here.
And one big move on one of the most popular rookies in the game that could deliver an immediate payoff.
But first, a quick word on the byes. Six teams will have a week off in each of the next three rounds, starting with Carlton, St Kilda, Port Adelaide, Richmond, Essendon and the GWS Giants next weekend.
That means some of the most popular players in the game will be unavailable for selection.
The good news is the byes bring some special rules to help us survive, with only the top 18 scores from your squad counting towards your total for the round. And we also have an extra trade for each of the next three rounds, so you can use three trades per round – or four if you activate a Trade Boost – to help get at least 18 scoring players on field.
One tactic that could deliver huge rewards this week was detailed by Aussie cricket star and KFC SuperCoach gun (in all formats) Trent Copeland on this week’s official KFC SuperCoach Podcast.
Copeland, who is ranked in the top 5000 coaches entering round 12, is contemplating getting a jump on the pack by trading Nick Daicos two weeks before most coaches will offload him at Collingwood’s round 14 bye.
Daicos is dropping in price and has a three-round average of 64.3 – so replacing him this week with a cut-price premium with the same bye could deliver an extra 150 points over the next two rounds without wrecking your bye structure.
And Copeland has one man in mind.
“I looked at this as soon as SuperCoach opened – if you’re structure is set up for round 14 and Nick Daicos was part of that plan, Luke Ryan is a guy to me who’s started to hit his straps again,” he said.
“He scored 141 against Melbourne on the weekend and looked back to his best. We know he’s got that elite ceiling, he’s also got close to a negavite Break Even (23) ... he’s a guy who will cost you $85,000 (from Daicos) and he could give you two massive hundreds.”
Copeland plans to reassess the move when Ryan’s bye arrives in round 14. By then he is projected to add roughly $50,000 to his price tag, which can fund a swap to a top-line defender like Jack Sinclair. Or, if Ryan fires, “you’ve got yourself a guy with that elite ceiling as a defender for the back end of the season.”
Ryan has dropped almost $90,000 from his starting price and can be purchased for just $450,900, while Jordan De Goey could perform the same function in the forward line or midfield at a bargain $426,200.
If you’re prepared to play the waiting game, there will be some big names available for big discounts in coming weeks based on some lower than expected recent scores.
Put these names in your diary:
Max Gawn – Projected price $535k (after round 16)
Has a Break Even of 119 against the Swans this week after scoring 118 in a return to form in round 11. Will Tom Hickey return from a toe injury?
Sam Docherty – $529k (after round 13)
Just about at his bottom price right now – ideal timing if you want to trade up to a premium defender after Carlton’s bye. Has eight tons from 11 games with a worst score of 78.
Patrick Cripps – $542k (after round 13)
Another bounce-back game, scoring his first ton in three weeks against Collingwood. Non-owners could grab him after Carlton’s bye or wait for him to drop another $13k.
Jack Macrae – $570k (after round 15)
Was $684k after round 6 but now just has his eyeballs above the $600k mark and has a BE this week of 149, a score he hasn’t hit since round 5.
Isaac Heeney – $410k (after round 14)
Dropped more than $20k after a season-low 53 against Richmond. His spot in the top 6-8 forwards is under threat but he would be a great bench back-up after picking up DPP if you have the cash and trades to pull it off.
Touk Miller – $553k (after round 14)
Miller is averaging 113.1 for the season and has a BE of 178 this week. Will bottom out as the Suns come off their bye.
Zach Merrett – $520k (after round 12)
Won’t get as cheap as we thought after pumping out 130 against the Power but the timing is perfect to finish off your midfield after Essendon’s bye.
Andrew Brayshaw – $509k (after round 16)
We keep saying he’s too cheap to ignore, and he keeps getting cheaper. Remember he scored 189 in round 2. Overdue for a big one.
Travis Boak – $470k (after round 16)
Projected to shed even more cash but is a great price right now at $489,800 with a BE of 102 coming off Port’s bye. If you’re short on money and willing to take a punt, he’s in just 8 per cent of teams despite averaging 110.9.
Scott Pendlebury – $449k (after round 14)
Dented his stellar record with scores of 73 and 62 in his past two games and will be seriously cheap coming off Collingwood’s bye.
Aaron Hall – $470k (after round 13)
Contingent on the Kangaroos star returning from a second hamstring injury this year – David Noble says he’s not far away. High risk but high upside.
WHO TO TRADE OUT THIS WEEK
If you’re trading this week the obvious players to move on are those who aren’t available to score for your team anyway – while hanging onto players you want to keep for the rest of the season (and to help boost your score in rounds 13 and 14 when others are off with the bye).
With the proviso that any player you bring in will also miss a game over the next three rounds (check how many you have for the following bye rounds before picking your target), here are the players ready to be cashed in at the KFC SuperCoach Trade Centre.
Sam Hayes $308,200 RUC/Braydon Preuss $457,100 RUC
KFC SuperCoaches were thrown into a panic last Thursday night when Braydon Preuss was left out of the Giants’ team and Sam Hayes was named on an extended interchange bench for Port Adelaide.
Fortunately, he made the final team and helped thousands of coaches avoid a zero in round 11, but they will be now be weighing up whether to carry both big men through their round 12 bye.
Hayes has made $184,300 and won’t make a lot more based on his 72.6 average, making now a great time to cash him in. Preuss, in contrast, has averaged 110 points a game and presents as a viable starting option going forward, but his durability has always been a concern – something last week’s team announcements reminded us of. He has made more than $250,000 profit, and despite the fact he has more money to make (Break Even 46), trading him now will give you a big bank balance to spend this week or next round when a host of high-priced stars will be coming off their bye.
The question is if you trade one (or both), who do you move them to?
Option A is to downgrade to a dirt cheap bench ruckman. With no cheap rucks currently playing, aim for someone with DPP status – a RUC/FWD like Port Adelaide’s Dante Visentini ($117k) who can swap with a Tim English or Darcy Cameron in the event of a ruck emergency in the run home, or a RUC/DEF like Carlton’s Domanic Akuei ($102k) who could swap with new DPP Mark Blicavs, who has scored at least 100 points in seven of his past eight games (the other score was 93).
Option B, which you’ll need to deploy if you have been relying on Preuss or Hayes for on-field scoring, is to upgrade them to a top-line ruckman.
That’s a bit trickier, with the obvious candidate Max Gawn set to lose a big chunk of cash over the next two rounds, making round 15 the ideal time to snap him up after Melbourne’s bye.
Other options in the ruck are No.1 scorer Jarrod Witts (round 13 bye), Sean Darcy (three-round average 121, round 14 bye) or English (round 13 bye), who scored 160 against West Coast after five weeks on the sidelines.
Nic Martin $368,700 MID/FWD
Almost 40,000 coaches pulled the pin on Martin last round, but if you still have him, it’s really time to thank one of the best KFC SuperCoach picks of the year for his efforts and make the most of his $250,000-plus price rise.
Martin returned to form after a couple of down weeks with 25 disposals, 12 marks and 92 KFC SuperCoach points against Port Adelaide, but he still lost $10,600. With a Break Even of 76 his price has stabilised and he could be a handy back-up for the run home, but most coaches will need to unlock that cash to fund bye upgrades and spots in the forward line are suddenly at a premium.
There are no obvious bubble boys this week to downgrade to but you could go early on Mitch Owens ($117,300 MID) or Jacob Wehr ($123,900 DEF) using dual-position swings. Both have played two games and are set to rise in value after round 13 if they can stay in the St Kilda and GWS teams respectively after their round 12 byes.
Owens is a surprise gift after scoring 89 points in his second game on Sunday – 10 weeks after scoring just 2 points on debut in round 1.
Or you could trade up to one of the top-scoring forwards – see the long list of Bulldogs now available in the forward line – assuming it doesn’t blow up your team for round 13.
Corey Durdin $287,200 FWD
The Blues small forward has also delivered a handy profit to his 16,000 owners, a great result considering he scored 24 points in round 2 and just 14 in round 6.
He signed off with 48 points against Collingwood on Sunday and a $17,300 price rise. Downgrade him to Owens or Wehr via DPP or you could still get Hawk Sam Butler, who has had one price rise already but is still available for $136,800, has MID/FWD status, a negative Break Even (-14) and a friendly bye in round 14.
Josh Gibcus $325,900 DEF
Gibcus showed his enormous potential by keeping Lance Franklin quiet for two quarters on Friday night then moving forward to kick a clutch goal in the dying minutes.
But, like Martin, he has served his purpose in KFC SuperCoach, rising more than $150,000 from his elevated starting price.
He dropped $6700 in value after scoring 55 points in round 11 and is likely to drop further after his next game – cash him in now for Wehr or Luke Cleary if he gets named for the Dogs this week and use the cash next week to turn Sam De Koning or Paddy McCartin into a premium defender.
Nick Daicos $363,600 DEF/MID
Many coaches would have been hoping to hang on to Daicos through the first two bye rounds then trade him out when Collingwood has the week off in round 14, but recent form might force their hand early.
Some key touches in the dying minutes helped Daicos to 59 points against Carlton on Sunday, and has now posted three in a row under 70 (he has scored above 71 once since round 4).
Daicos took a $13,000 price hit after lockout and is set to fall further with a Break Even of 90 next round – if he keeps his spot in the Magpies’ team.
If you are low on trades or cash, or aren’t brave enough to try Trent Copeland’s Luke Ryan strategy, Daicos owners might just have to suck it up – and adjust who you can upgrade him to.
Lachie Whitfield $423,800 DEF/MID
What do we do with Whitfield? More than 24,000 coaches are still holding the Giants playmaker after a torrid first 11 rounds that feature an average of just 77.9 points per game, a $78,000 price drop and an ankle injury that has kept him out of the past two rounds.
We still haven’t seen him play under caretaker coach Mark McVeigh and given the locked in loss, it could be worth hanging in for one more week to see if he can find some sort of form in the second half of the season.
But if you are battling to get 18 players on field next week and trading him can help facilitate your trade moves – ideally turning him into one of the top-scoring backmen – then don’t hesitate.
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