Tips for winning your SuperCoach league

Beating your mates in a private league is where the real SuperCoach action is at. See our tips on strategy, trade advice and some simple tricks to help you attain league glory.

Tom Hawkins at Cats training. Picture: Alison Wynd

While we all want to win the $50,000 overall SuperCoach prize, we also have pride on the line as we battle against our mates in our leagues.

There is nothing better than being the one that has bragging rights over the off-season with your mates as the SuperCoach champion. You might even win an amazing trophy like this.

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But how do you go about winning your league, and what can you do to maximise your chances of a league premiership? Here are a few tips that can help get you over the line.

ARE YOU PLAYING FOR RANK OR A FLAG?

If you are just in the game to win your league and you aren’t focusing on your overall ranking then your strategy is a little different to those that are looking to finish as high up the ladder as they can.

When you are selecting your starting squad you don’t need to do anything different, remember the aim of the game is to maximise your weekly score.

However, when it comes to trading and bye structures this is where you can make a few tweaks to your strategy.

STUDY THE FIXTURE

Once your league is locked in after Round 1 do a bit of planning and see who you play and when. This is particularly crucial in the bye rounds. Work out which of the other players you think you can beat and who you think is your key competition for the title.

As the season progresses and you realise you are playing one of the weaker players in your league during the bye rounds this could affect your trades — you can potentially afford to bring in extra players that you might otherwise avoid due to their bye. On the flip side, if you are playing one of the stronger teams, you may be better off focusing on the other two weeks and having super strong teams in those weeks to guarantee two wins from the three bye round.

Taking on your friends in a head-to-head match-up is one of the best features of SuperCoach.

SAVE TRADES FOR FINALS

We all want to have a complete team (made up entirely of premiums) as soon as possible, but we don’t want to blow all of our trades too early. Experienced league-focused players will try to hold back five or six trades for the SuperCoach finals (Rounds 19-23 of the home-and-away season) if they can.

The idea is to have your team as strong as it can be and then ride your luck to finals. If you go into a final with trades and your opponent has none it can be a huge advantage as we all cope with late outs and season-ending injuries.

USING THE ROLLING LOCKOUT TO YOUR ADVANTAGE

The rolling lockout gives you a few chances to maximise your score against your league opponents.

Except for Round 1 (when there are no league games) you can see who your opponent has in their side and also importantly who they have selected as captain. You can use all of this information to your advantage. Have a look at their team prior to the first game so that when the weekend’s games get underway you will be able to tell whether or not they have made any trades.

Hold your trades until you need to make them. If one of your rival’s key players fails and you will easily get the win, you may be better served holding your trade for another week. Saving those trades for a later week when you really need them can be the difference between making the top four or top eight or missing out.

Trading in Tom Hawkins before he plays Carlton at GMHBA in the final round could be the move that wins you a SuperCoach premiership. Picture: Alison Wynd

Conversely, you may need to pull the trigger on a big trade to get yourself the win if your opponent has a player early in the weekend who produces a massive score and you are looking down the barrel of a loss.

Always hold on to your trades as long as you can over the weekend just in case disaster strikes in the form of a late out. If you spot it and make the change and your opponent doesn’t, it can be a huge boost to your chances of victory.

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CAPTAIN STRATEGY

You can also use the rolling lockout to manipulate your captain choice. If you have the structure to do so, and if your opponent has selected a captain from one of the first couple of games of the round, you may want to match them by using the captain double chance and putting your VC on that player if you have them as well. That way you are covering off a big score but also giving yourself a second chance if that player fails.

Anyone can master the vice-captain loophole.

FINALS TRADING

Once you get to the finals, or even just before August if you have a crucial game, you can use the trades you have left to either cover off a difference you have with your opponent by trading in a player they have as a point of difference.

For example, if your opponent has Lance Franklin and you’re worried he could kick a big bag of goals and sink you in a final, you can trade him in that week to nullify the advantage.

Alternatively, if you both have a similar player and you think that player is due for a down week, you may want to trade them out and replace them with someone with better scoring potential (for example, a Giants player facing Gold Coast in Round 23) to give you the advantage.

Of course, there is a level of risk with all of these different strategies but if you can get them to pay off then you are a few steps closer to SuperCoach glory at the end of the season.

Originally published as Tips for winning your SuperCoach league