The 10 golden rules for SuperCoach success in 2019

Whether you’re a first-time SuperCoach player or a veteran of the game, the following 10 commandments will help to maximise your potential for the 2019 season.

Whether you’re a first-time SuperCoach player or a veteran of the game, the following 10 commandments will help to maximise your potential for the 2019 season.

This is the second draft of the 10 SuperCoach commandments for 2019, apparently my first draft, which was simply a photo of my tattoo that says “Pick Patrick Cripps”, didn’t provide enough information.

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1. SET CLEAR GOALS

This is a new commandment for 2019 and it stems from the conversations I see on social media and in advice threads.

All coaches need to understand what they want to achieve in the 2019 season. Are you trying to beat Jim from finance or are you going for the $50k? League or rank?

Patrick Cripps is one of the most popular picks this season. Picture: Sarah Matray

Knowing the answer to this will impact your SuperCoach season.

If you’re going for the overall prize you’ll need to be conservative with trades, stick to all the big names and play it safe with your captaincy options.

If your goal is to win the office league and wipe that smug smile off Jim’s face then you can trade in players based on your opponent’s team.

You can match their captaincy choices or even start giving them false information about players to gain an advantage in your weekly match-up.

2. SELECT PATRICK DANGERFIELD

Normally SuperCoach commandments aren’t so specific but in 2019 the fantasy gods (Champion Data) have gifted us Patrick Dangerfield as a forward option.

He averaged 121.7 last year, which is 20 points more than the next best available forward in 2019 and he scored 100-plus in 19 of his 21 games.

Not only is he a lock for your SuperCoach side but he’s also a fantastic captaincy option, which takes us to the next commandment.

Patrick Dangerfield is available as a forward this year. Picture: Tim Carrafa

3. SELECT MULTIPLE CAPTAINCY OPTIONS

Picking a SuperCoach captain each week can be stressful, but it doesn’t have to be.

If your team has a couple of “perma-captains” - players capable of scoring captain-worthy scores every week - you never need to stress again. But who do we pick?

Having a player like Dangerfield in your side just about guarantees you 260 points every week when you whack the “C” on him, but you’ll still need other options.

Take Collingwood’s Brodie Grundy, for instance. He averaged 130 in 2018 with just three scores below 100 and with 12 scores above 130.

The Pies also have a great run for the vice-captain loophole (putting the VC on a player who plays before your C, if they score well you slap the C on a non-playing player but make sure your initial C option is an emergency on the bench) with seven Wednesday/Thursday/Friday games in the first 11 rounds and 10 in total for the year.

Carlton’s Patrick Cripps, Giant Josh Kelly and Fremantle’s Nat Fyfe are all great captaincy options too.

James Sicily has had issues with injury and suspension in the past. Picture: Jay Town

4. DURABILITY IS KEY

You can’t score points if your players aren’t on the field.

A key question to ask yourself when picking your SuperCoach team is: Can I trust this guy to play most of the season? If the answer is no, you should look elsewhere.

Popular selections Toby Greene ($354,600) and James Sicily ($570,400) are currently in 17 per cent of teams each but alarm bells should be ringing for coaches looking to rely on them.

They both have high ceilings and the potential to be consistent scorers when they’re playing. The issue is that in recent years they have both missed a considerably high amount of games - 32 matches between them - due to both injury and suspension.

You don’t want to lose a final because Greene has been practising his fly-kicking again.

For a similar cost you could select Shannon Hurn ($523,400) who has missed just one game in four years, and breakout contender Charlie Curnow, who has missed three games in the last two years.

5. BE FLEXIBLE

Nothing will help you more in the 2019 season than having some duel-position player (DPP) flexibility.

Being able to swing a player from the forward line into the midfield to cover a late out is invaluable.

It feels like there is a dearth of DPP options in 2019, but there are still some gems that could save your season!

Devon Smith, Isaac Heeney and Josh Dunkley are all Mid-Fwd eligible and should all be considered as swingman options.

Port Adelaide’s Justin Westhoff is a Ruck-Fwd player in 2019 and could be used to cover a risky Zac Clarke or Darcy Fort selection.

Isaac Heeney is available as a Mid-Fwd.

Justin Westhoff is available as a Ruck-Fwd.

6. DON’T PICK KEY-POSITION PLAYERS

I decided to keep this commandment from last year because it seems to be more relevant than ever before.

The new 6-6-6 rule looks like it’s going to favour midfielders and ruckmen most.

Sure, Jack Riewoldt might get on the end of a fast inside 50m from the centre clearance on occasions, but for the most part it looks like the guys at the coalface will see the biggest boost from a SuperCoach perspective.

In each SuperCoach line we have a myriad of pure midfielders to choose from.

Lachie Whitfield (Def), Sam Menegola (Fwd) and Tim Kelly (Mid-Fwd) are all players who will see huge midfield minutes and will provide much more consistency than a Tom McDonald (Fwd) or Michael Hurley (Def).

7. STRUCTURE FOR THE BYES

Pretty self-explanatory, isn’t it?

Make sure that you select a decent spread of premium selections with different bye rounds in your initial starting squad.

If you have a look at your current team and all of your midfielders are sharing the same bye round, hit that “clear my team” button and start again.

While the byes are a long way off, we still need to be aware of them because nothing will ruin your year like scoring 600 points in Round 13.

Sam Walsh is looking a lock to debut in Round 1.

8. PICK ROOKIES WHO ARE PLAYING ROUND 1

This might be a simplistic view, but if a rookie isn’t playing in Round 1 I’m not selecting him.

As coaches we need to maximise points and cash generation as quickly as possible, and given rookies only start increasing in price after their third game they’ve just got to be playing from the get-go.

Every year we have a few rookies who look good in the pre-season but surprise us by missing out on an opening round selection.

Instead of selecting them and waiting for them to debut in a couple of weeks, skip them and pick them up later for that sweet, sweet downgrade.

9. MAXIMISE PROFIT

When rookies begin to average around their breakeven, more often than not they have reached peak value.

For starting rookies this usually happens about a third of the way into the season, when the score they need to maintain their value is higher than their average to that point.

This is the perfect time to downgrade them to a rookie on the bubble (a rookie who has played two games and is about to jump in value) or to upgrade them to a premium player (preferably one who is cheaper than their starting price).

Sam Collins looms as a must-have cash cow in defence.

10. AVOID TRADING PREMIUM SELECTIONS

There are only two situations in which you should consider trading a premium selection; the player is injured or the player has had a permanent role change.

Not all injuries will require a trade, but if a player is going to miss more than two weeks with injury then it might be worth considering a trade.

A role change is much harder to identify than an injury, but if it becomes apparent that a player you selected has had a role change for the worse, you should move him along.

For example, if you pick someone to run off half-back but he is turned into a tagger and his scoring dries up, you can trade him out.

There are examples every year of coaches trading out players they spent top dollar on before Round 1 only to be burnt by the move.

Coaches abandoned Zach Merrett in droves after scores of 17, 95 and 53 in the first three rounds last season, only to see him score three hundreds in a row and become one of the top-scoring midfielders in the run home.

You pick these guys at the start for a reason (hopefully). Back yourself.

Well, that’s it, with these 10 tips you should be set up for a successful SuperCoach season in 2019.

Now, luckily for me, not many people blamed me for their poor seasons last year. I can only assume that this means the commandments work.

If you do want to blame me for something though, you can do it on Twitter @LekDogSC and in the comments at jockreynolds.com.au.