SuperCoach 2016: Everything you need to know before Round 1

THINK you’ve got plenty of time to join the SuperCoach army? Think again. But don’t panic, here’s everything you need to know to get your team up and running before Round 1.

Gary Ablett

THINK you’ve got plenty of time to join the SuperCoach army? Think again.

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 Thursday 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

When the ball is bounced for Richmond v Carlton at 7.20pm AEDT Thursday, all Richmond and Carlton players will be locked in SuperCoach. If you didn’t pick Dustin Martin or Sam Kerridge, it’s too late. 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).

WIN $50,000! START PICKING YOUR TEAM NOW

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 3.20pm AEDT on Monday. Until then you still have unlimited trades for Geelong and Hawthorn players — so you could swap Patrick Dangerfield for Luke Hodge 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 Thursday night. Then we have until 1.40pm AEDT on Saturday — with Friday conveniently a public holiday — to refine the rest of our squads.

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 will be closed on Easter Monday, 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.

At the end of Round 1 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

This year there is a new $18,000 prize for the highest scoring league in Round 1.

That’s $1000 for every player. You don’t need any other incentive to get in now!

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 $50,000 overall prize.

If you haven’t played SuperCoach before, the first rule is: pick Gary Ablett.

SUPERCOACH GOLD FREE TRIAL

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

Look up past stats on every player, see who other players are picking and trading and get projected scores for every player (Gary Ablett is projected to score 126 against Essendon — jump on!) and for your team and all your league rivals.

To access SuperCoach Gold look for the gold tabs on the menu to the left of the field on the team screen (clicking on ‘players’ is a good place to start).

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

MORE GAMES, MORE PRIZES

Sign up for SuperCoach and it’s easy to jump to tipping and Perfect 9, all in one place.

Take the hassle out of running a tipping comp by setting up a private league in SuperTipping — 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 $25,000 cash. If no one picks the Perfect 9 in a round the prize jackpots by $5000 each week until someone claims the booty.

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

Have you picked a Perfect 9 for Round 1? $25k prize jackpots every week this yearhttps://t.co/y3cHUQejWd pic.twitter.com/rt3ThAyqhY

— Al Paton (@al_superfooty) March 22, 2016

NEW APPS

The all-new SuperCoach app is available now for free download in the iTunes App Store and Google Play for Android. It’s now easier than ever to use with great new tools to get your team humming.

And you can get the latest SuperCoach news and follow your team live in the brand new Super Fan app — available now in the App Store.