North Melbourne forward Ben Brown talks SuperCoach with Kangaroos defender Michael Firrito

NORTH Melbourne veteran Michael Firrito is facing a time-consuming, make-or-break task this pre-season.

Ben Brown at the Kangaroos Recovery session at Kerferd Road beach after beating Geelong at the MCG last night. Pic: Michael Klein

VETERAN North Melbourne defender Michael Firrito is facing a difficult, time-consuming, make-or-break task this pre-season.

He, like many players in the AFL system, will unashamedly devote large chunks of his spare time towards building the perfect SuperCoach team in preparation for the 2015 season.

After winning $1000 for having the top-scoring team in a round last year, Firrito became a talking point around the club.

Michael Firrito taking a breather in the gym with skipper Andrew Swallow. Picture: Hamish Blair

Luckily, the proven SuperCoach champion has one key piece of advice to pass on to budding coaches: Don’t pick Michael Firrito.

“I’m a smart enough coach to not go near myself,” Firrito said.

“I’m a terrible points-getter in SuperCoach.

“None of the boys normally pick themselves; the only one who used to was (former Kangaroo) Leigh Harding.

“He had a bit of a big head ... so he used to put himself in his own team,” he laughed.

Firrito is just one of many past and present Kangaroos who compete fiercely in an ‘Arden Street’ SuperCoach league each year.

Aaron Black, Leigh Adams, Nathan Grima and Aaron Mullett are among the most avid coaches, while past players Hamish McIntosh and David Hale still compete.

“It gets pretty competitive,” Firrito said.

“There’s always a couple of texts that get thrown around and a little bit of banter.

“It can be a good talking point in the gym, about your trades and what you’re going to do that week.”

As any good SuperCoach knows, making the right decisions early is crucial to success late in the season.

A recruiting blunder, error of judgment or drafting a rookie who is confined to the VFL can cost you points and take a number of precious trades to undo.

Firrito, yet to put his team together for this season, said most of his strategies from last year would remain.

“You try to get a good mix to start, and then try to trade off your young kids for guns as you go,” he said.

“But there are a couple of no-brainers for mine; Gary Ablett and Scott Pendlebury.

“They are the first picked and then I work around them, because they’re absolute stars.

Firrito has already been sniffing for bargains.

“Mitch Clark I think will be reasonably cheap and will come in and have a big impact,” he said.

“And Nathan Krakouer, at Port Adelaide, I think will go pretty well.

“Some of it is strategy and the other one is a bit of gut feel; that’s what I go with.”

Ben Brown is a North Melbourne forward currently studying journalism at Deakin University and doing an internship with NMFC media department

Originally published as North Melbourne forward Ben Brown talks SuperCoach with Kangaroos defender Michael Firrito