SuperCoach 2017: Pick a team in five minutes with this last-minute cheat sheet

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SUPERCOACH: SEE THE HERALD SUN REPORTERS’ TEAMS

You’ve come to the right place.

Follow the easy step-by-step guide below and you’ll have a team in minutes ready to vie for your league premiership.

If you’re totally new to the game the idea is to pick your own 30-man squad of AFL players who score points based on their performances in real games. The SuperCoach player with the most points at the end of the year wins $50,000. Awesome, right?

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Remember you have a $10 million salary cap so you want to get maximum bang (in the form of SuperCoach points) from your buck for every pick. The names below are based on pre-season form, players who have performed well in SuperCoach in the past, an educated guess at who will improve this season and, in the case of rookie-priced players, who will get games.

Heath Shaw is a popular choice on the backline. Picture: AAP Images

Look for players who can improve on their starting price. A key to a successful SuperCoach team is getting your cheap players right — if they never get an AFL game they can drag your team down all year.

It doesn’t hurt to pick someone not on this list — the gut-feel left-field choices are what make the game fun. A whole team of them might get you in trouble, though.

Note that you might have to do some shuffling to get the numbers to add up and fit everyone under the $10 million salary cap.

DEFENCE

PICK THREE SOLID SUPERSTARS

Sam Docherty (Carl) $591,600, 2016 av 109

Kade Simpson (Carl) $578,700, 106

Heath Shaw (GWS) $576,500, 106

Alex Rance (Rich) $535,600, 98

Taylor Adams (Coll) $527,800, 97

Rory Laird (Adel) $526,800, 97

Jason Johannisen $513,500, 94

PICK ONE BIG IMPROVER

Jake Lloyd (Syd) $460,200, 85

Zach Tuohy (Geel) $443,200, 82

Hamish Hartlett (PA) $473,200, 78

Callum Mills (Syd) $420,000, 77

Bob Murphy (WB) $392,300, 103

PICK THIS GUY

Curtly Hampton (Adel) $160,000

Every SuperCoach team should have Curtly Hampton. Picture: Sarah Reed

PICK THREE MORE ROOKIES

Jackson Thurlow (Geel) $267,600

Caleb Marchbank (Carl) $236,100

Andrew McGrath (Ess) $211,800 def/mid

Mitchell Hibberd (NM) $123,900 def/mid

Andy Otten (Adel) $123,900

Ed Vickers-Willis (NM) $123,900

Tom Stewart (Geel) $117,300

Zach Guthrie* (Geel) $102,400

MIDFIELD

PICK THIS GUY

Nat Fyfe (Frem) $573,500, 105

PICK THREE MORE ROLLED GOLD PREMIUMS

Patrick Dangerfield (Geel) $716,900, 132

Scott Pendlebury (Coll) $645,700, 119

Gary Ablett (GC) $620,600, 114

Josh P Kennedy (Syd) $617,100, 113

Dan Hannebery (Syd) $616,800, 113

Joel Selwood (Geel) $606,100, 111

Adam Treloar (Coll) $605,400, 111

Dayne Zorko (BL) $593,000, 109

Rory Sloane (Adel) $591,000, 109

Marcus Bontempelli (WB) $586,100, 108

PICK TWO MID-PRICE RISKS

Jobe Watson (Ess) $453,500

Dayne Beams (BL) $432,500

Marc Murphy (Carl) $432,500

Darcy Parish (Ess) $392,600

Clayton Oliver (Melb) $382,500

Jaeger O’Meara (Haw) $318,900

How many Magpies will be in your forward line? Picture: Michael Klein

PICK FIVE ROOKIES

David Swallow (GC) $280,200

Dom Sheed (WC) $267,400

Tim Taranto (GWS) $207,300

Oliver Florent (Syd) $166,800

Sam Powell-Pepper (PA) $135,300

Jake Barrett* (BL) $127,900

Teia Miles (Haw) $123,900 mid/fwd

Jarrod Pickett (Carl) $123,900 mid/fwd

Harrison Wigg (Adel) $123,900

Joe Atley (PA) $117,300

Brandan Parfitt (Geel) $117,300 mid/fwd

RUCKS

PICK TWO PROVEN (BUT EXPENSIVE) HIGH-SCORERS

Max Gawn (Melb) $645,000, 118

Todd Goldstein (NM) $588,400, 108

Brodie Grundy (Coll) $520,500, 96

OR

PICK ONE OF THOSE GUYS AND ONE OF THESE GUYS

Toby Nankervis (Rich) $366,400 ruck/fwd

Aaron Sandilands (Frem) $308,200

Jarrod Witts (GC) $217,600

THEN PICK A BENCH PLAYER YOU PROBABLY WON’T NEED

Tim English (WB) $130,800

Braydon Preuss (NM) $123,900

Darcy Cameron (Syd) $117,300 ruck/fwd

Luke Strnadica (Frem) $102,400 ruck/fwd

Is Max Gawn the man for your team? Picture: Michael Klein

FORWARDS

PICK TWO STARS

Nick Riewoldt (StK) $549,500, 101

Josh J Kennedy (WC) $532,200, 98

Luke Dahlhaus (WB) $520,700, 96

Lance Franklin (Syd) $514,600, 95

Jack Macrae (WB) 511,700, 95

Tom Lynch (GC) $502,700, 93

PICK TWO SPECULATIVE MID-PRICERS

Touk Miller (GC) $428,900 fwd/mid

Patrick Ryder (PA) $418,900 fwd/ruck

Jack Billings (StK) $407,700 fwd/mid

Christian Petracca (Melb) $395,600

Jarryd Roughead (Haw) $367,100

Jack Steele (StK) $347,100 fwd/mid

(Toby Nankervis is also an option here)

FINISH WITH FOUR MORE ROOKIES

Will Hoskin-Elliott (Coll) $213,300

Cam McCarthy (Frem) $203,600

Kayne Turner (NM) $171,400

Aaron Black (Geel) $137,100

Dan Butler (Rich) $123,900

Dan Houston (PA) $117,300

Brett Eddy (PA) $102,400

(Dual-position midfield rookies Miles, Pickett, Parfitt can be picked here instead)

* currently on rookie list, will need to be upgraded to get a game. Watch SuperFooty for updates!

Note: Players listed with two positions can be picked in either spot. They provide extra flexibility during the season so it’s a good idea to have a few in your squad.

PICK A CAPTAIN

Every week you nominate one player as captain who scores double points. Look for players with a good record against their opponent that week.

The choice is yours. Good luck!