Tim Michell, Dan Batten and Al Paton relive their greatest KFC SuperCoach trade blunders
KFC SuperCoaches are busy planning their trades ahead of football’s return on June 11. Hopefully they don’t end up regretting their moves as much as our experts do these disasters from past seasons.
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No KFC SuperCoach is perfect.
Even the most seasoned coaches make mistakes which are often season-defining.
From punting a rookie too early to missing out on a top cash cow altogether, our experts have not been immune from the odd SuperCoach blunder.
We’re all prone to making an error based on break evens, scoring projections or team structure, especially through the bye rounds.
How you overcome that blow is often the difference between the top SuperCoaches and the rest.
As we await the return of KFC SuperCoach for season 2020 — details coming soon — it’s time to take stock and revisit the moves that still give three of our experts nightmares.
What is your biggest SuperCoach trade regret? Share the pain in the comments section!
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TIM MICHELL
Round 3, 2019
Out: Marty Hore ($117,300), Dustin Martin ($563,800)
In: Jake Lloyd ($608,200), Charlie Constable ($123,900)
What a disaster. After scores of 124 and 131 to open the campaign, Jake Lloyd was destined to be the No. 1 defender of 2019. The easiest way to get there was sacrificing Dustin Martin, who lost $43,400 after three games in which he averaged 78.3 points. To facilitate this move, I traded Melbourne defender Marty Hore to Cats rookie Charlie Constable, who I overlooked at the start of the season due to his questionable job security. Sure enough, Constable was out of the Geelong team by Round 9 and spent the rest of the year in the VFL. Hore, meanwhile, returned to the Demons’ side in Round 4 after missing two games and averaged 91.3 in his next eight matches. I missed out on more than $300,000 by punting him in Round 3 and ended up trading Constable in Round 7.
Round 10, 2019
Out: Reilly O’Brien ($398,400)
In: Robbie Young ($117,300)
Patience is certainly a KFC SuperCoach virtue. I never fielded O’Brien, using Patrick Bines’ RUC-FWD swing to benefit from his price rise when he overtook Sam Jacobs as Adelaide’s No. 1 ruckman. The byes seemed a logical time to jump off and I looked like a genius when O’Brien posted a season-low 52 in Round 11. But two weeks later he monstered Richmond with 181 in the last week of the byes, when many coaches used the VC loophole to benefit from him playing on Thursday against Mabior Chol and Noah Balta. O’Brien peaked at $531,400 in Round 21. His replacement, St Kilda small forward Robbie Young, scored 17 in his second match and 33 in game three before being dropped.
Round 5, 2018
Out: Bayley Fritsch ($199,600)
In: Matt Guelfi ($117,300)
I never planned to use two trades in Round 5, 2018, which ran over six days and culminated in the Anzac Day eve and Anzac Day matches. Then on April 23, Melbourne announced its team to play Richmond with a notable SuperCoach omission — Bayley Fritsch. The new Demon had four scores of 56-60 and Matt Guelfi had just impressed with a score of 72 in debut. The trade netted $82,300, but was hardly a win. Fritsch returned to the Demons’ team in Round 6 with a score of 90 and was worth $425,100 by Round 15. That’s $225,500 more than I punted him at. He also averaged 89 from rounds 6-12. The stuff of SuperCoach nightmares.
Round 14, 2016
Out: Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti ($384,200)
In: Brett Deledio ($525,300)
McDonald-Tipungwuti was one of the bargains of 2016, starting the season at $102,400 and playing 21 games for Essendon. His price had peaked by Round 14 and Deledio loomed as a potential bargain after dropping from $608,800 to $525,300 with 10 games to play. The idea was simple enough — get a potential top-six scorer in to launch toward KFC SuperCoach glory. Most Richmond fans will remember what happened next in what proved to be Deledio’s last year at Punt Rd. His first three games in my team resulted in scores of 110, 99 and 91. In Round 17, Deledio sustained a calf injury which would eventually rule him out for the rest of 2016. He was flying in that game too, with 67 points just after halftime. I held out hope Deledio would return and when he was officially ruled out for the season a month later I’d run out of trades. The cost of the trade? $141,400 and a valuable trade. The result? 367 points. Even McDonald-Tipungwuti twice scored more than 80 in SuperCoach finals.
AND A POSITIVE …
Round 16, 2019
In: Marc Murphy ($379,100)
Out: Xavier Duursma ($366,400)
Rarely does a sideway KFC SuperCoach trade pay off and this was certainly the exception to the rule. With trades running low, I turned Port Adelaide rookie Xavier Duursma into a bargain-priced Marc Murphy in one move for only $12,700. Duursma was a great cash cow but had just lost $19,000 when I decided it was time to jump off. Conversely, Murphy pumped out a score of 125 in Round 15 and was on the way up. The veteran Blue came into my midfield at M8 and posted five tons and six scores of 99 or more in his last eight games — including 122 and 128 to round out the season. He didn’t quite average premium midfield numbers, but you can’t scoff at an average of 104 for a price of less than $400,000.
AL PATON
Round 3, 2016
Out: Tom Rockliff ($550,100)
In: Robbie Gray ($595,900)
Rockliff features in some of my best and worst SuperCoach trades over the years, but this is a doozy. After two poor scores and an early-season injury I dumped him for Robbie Gray, who scored 120-plus in his first three games then dropped a 74 and a 53 then got injured. So I traded him out in Round 7 then back in again in Round 11. Rockliff, meanwhile, returned to my team in Round 12. He averaged 119 for the rest of the year so that’s a win of sorts but the whole thing used four trades and in all that I somehow missed his best score for the year – 204 against Carlton in Round 11.
Round 4, 2017
In: Jarrod Witts ($292,800)
Out: Max Gawn ($595,900)
Despite a pre-season injury scare I committed to starting the season with Max Gawn, only to realise that the winning move was to pick a cheap second ruckman. Sound familiar? In this case my hand was forced when Gawn went down early in the year and getting Witts was definitely the right move, but I was four weeks behind the pack and never caught up. After Gawn’s Round 1 disappointment and the success of a host of cheaper options, it feels like deja vu all over again.
Round 3, 2018
In: Lachie Murphy ($102,400)
Out: Aaron Naughton ($166,800)
This wasn’t the worst move in SuperCoach history but I still look back on it as a total waste of a trade. It was actually the product of reaching the first prize movement in too good a shape – I always use two trades that round but in this season didn’t have anyone obvious to move on. So Naughton (25, 48 in his first two games) made way for a cheaper rookie who I hoped would make cash quicker. But Murphy never matched his Round 2 score of 80 for the rest of the year and battled to make it past $200k. Naughton, meanwhile, played every game and eventually cracked $300k. The lesson – don’t trade if you don’t have to!
Round 12, 2017
In: Tom Lynch ($433,500)
Out: Aaron Sandilands ($464,700)
What’s that saying about never picking key forwards? Lynch looked too good to resist after his price plummeted and it looked like a genius move after he scored 103 the next week. But that was followed by a 37 and a 39 as he stumbled to the finish line with just two more tons in the last eight rounds.
Round 11, 2018
In: Tom Rockliff ($374,900)
Out: Tim Kelly ($401,700)
Rockliff is my SuperCoach version of Homer Simpson’s mouldy sandwich. I just can’t stay mad at him, even rescuing him from my own fantasy bin on multiple occasions. On this occasion I had visions of a mid-season bargain after a slow start at his second club, but it just never happened for him. He scored three tons in the final 13 games and by Round 23 was actually worth $3k less than what I paid for him. Kelly’s scores dropped off a bit after his phenomenal start but he did manage a 155 in SuperCoach prelim final week.
Bonus Rocky blunder: Hard to find records going back this far but I won’t forget trading out pre-season POD Jack Redden for Rockliff after five rounds in 2012. To that point Rocky had averaged 123 and his Lions teammate 86, but from the week I made the move their scores completely reversed after Michael Voss decided to play Rockliff at full-forward. The move cost me $140k, 305 points, plus a trade. Epic fail. But hang on, I just noticed Rocky is just $495k going into Round 2. Hmm …
AND A POSITIVE …
Round 7, 2017
In: Jack Macrae ($596,100)
Out: Riley Bonner ($314,500)
Changing plans at the last minute is usually a recipe for disaster but this one worked out better than I could have hoped. I had a long-term plan to acquire Patrick Dangerfield that year which came together nicely but as I was poised to hit the trade button I remember looking at his slightly underwhelming numbers during a hiking trip in Tasmania. The clear air must have helped me turn to Bulldog Jack Macrae, who had started strongly and was shaping as a massive POD. Changing tack was a gamble but Macrae proceeded to score 189, 156 and 177 in his next three games. I ended up bringing in Dangerfield in Round 16. Another personal highlight was trading in Matt Priddis the week he scored 196 against Gold Coast in 2015. Timing is everything!
DAN BATTEN
Round 3, 2019
Out: Marty Hore ($117,300)
In: James Worpel ($395,700)
Do I trade out forward Noah Balta who remains in the Richmond side (averaging 18) or offload Marty Hore who had been dropped from the Demons line-up? Thinking Balta had greater job security with Dee Jordan Lewis set to return, I went with the latter and paid a significant price. To my dismay, Hore was jettisoned in at the last minute against Sydney in Round 4 and the rest is history. The mature-age defender scored above 85 points in his next five games, generating $300,000 by the byes. While Worpel had an exceptional back-end of the year, he posted just one more ton in that same time frame.
Round 4, 2019
Out: Michael Gibbons ($123,900), Josh Dunkley ($494,400)
In: Tom Liberatore ($379,600), Corey Wagner ($123,900)
We have all been guilty of rash trades early in the season, and this double move was an absolute abomination. In a desperate attempt to turn my season around after a dismal start, I opted to jump on the ‘Libba’ bandwagon and give then-underperforming cash cow Michael Gibbons the flick. Named on an extended bench, I assumed the Blue would be dropped after a rank score of 17, so I traded him to bubble boy Corey Wagner (playing on the Thursday night). I also assumed Josh Dunkley would remain as a forward while Liberatore soaked up midfield minutes. I was horribly wrong on both counts: Dunkley finished as the fifth ranked player for total points and Gibbons kept his spot in the side and made almost $200,000.
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Round 11, 2019
Out: Reilly O’Brien ($402,00)
In: Ryan Gardner ($102,400)
Trading in a player before he has played a game is a SuperCoach sin. Mid-season draftee Ryan Gardner was called up days after he was picked, and with rookies few and far between, I moved on Reilly O’Brien for him. ROB would go on to post three tons in his next four games, including a monster 184-point total against Richmond, while Gardner was stranded on two games with a paltry average of 31.5.
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Round 5, 2016
Out: Jason Johannisen ($462,900)
In: Daniel Rich ($435,800)
You know when you look back on a trade and think, ‘why on Earth did I do that?’ This is one of these. In isolation, trading in Daniel Rich for an injured Jason Johannisen isn’t so bad. But just a fortnight earlier I had performed the exact opposite trade. Copping his share of forward taggers at this stage, a score of 38 in Round 2 spooked me into trading Rich for the running Johannisen before his price dropped. Johannisen lasted two weeks before succumbing to injury. A couple of promising displays from Rich left me thinking I’d jumped the gun, so I brought Rich back into my team. The Lion went on to average a sub-par 85 points for the season with opposition sides giving him plenty of attention.
Round 7, 2017
Out: Nic Newman ($261,400)
In: Ed Vickers-Willis ($123,900)
Like Hore, this is another case of a late inclusion causing considerable pain. I probably wasn’t alone in making this move, given Swans cash cow Nic Newman had been dropped for the second time in three weeks. He still had money-making potential, but I opted to trade him for rookie Ed Vickers-Willis, who scored 35 SuperCoach points that round. My heart sank further when Newman – named as emergency the following week – was a late in and played the game of his life. Newman amassed 35 disposals, 11 marks and a monumental 151 points, sending his price skyrocketing upwards as I was left hurting. He went on to average 95.9 points in the eight matches and earn $170,000 after I moved him on.
AND A POSITIVE …
Round 3, 2018
Out: Michael Hibberd ($545,200)
In: Kade Simpson ($516,300)
I recall having sleepless nights over this trade. Noticing a change in Michael Hibberd’s role, I decided to jump off the Demons rebounder for veteran halfback Kade Simpson. His form carried on for the rest of the season, failing to eclipse 100 points and averaging just 73.4 points per game. Simpson had a stellar year, finishing as one of the top defenders of 2018 with an average of 105.