SuperCoach AFL 2025: Round 2 trade guide

Making trades after one game can be fraught with danger – but they can also set up your entire SuperCoach season. Here are the players to grab, who to cut loose and who’s on notice.

Take a deep breath.

SuperCoach history is littered with tragic tales of kneejerk trades after round 1 that backfired. So, to the 2700 coaches who have traded out Lachie Neale, please reconsider.

SuperCoach price changes are based on a three-round rolling averages, which in most cases gives us another week to assess form and roles before prices start to move. But, thanks to opening round, that doesn’t apply to everyone.

Collingwood, Sydney and Hawthorn players have all played twice, and are all on the bubble – their first price movement will be after this week’s lockout, so if you want Ned Long for $200k, you have to jump on now.

Complicating that is the fact the Pies and Swans have a bye the following week. And the Giants, who have also played twice, have a bye this week, along with Gold Coast.

But that brings a silver lining, and not just the fact that for the next three rounds your total score from the round is comprised of only your 18 highest-scoring players.

Here’s a run-down of the players to move on this week, and who to watch with an eye to a potential correction trade next week.

ACT NOW

Corey Warner kicked two goals against the Lions.

Fifteen disposals, six marks and two goals is a great return for a small forward, giving the younger Warner brother scores of 50 and 72 to start the year and the lowest Break Even in the competition heading into round 2. SuperCoach Plus projects a $37k price bump after lockout this week. Probably a bench option most weeks but job security looks very solid.

Corey Warner had a big pre-season. Picture: Phil Hillyard

Ned Long is in his fourth AFL season.

A tricky call on someone who produced clearly the best round 1 score of any rookie-priced player (even if he only just sneaks into that category). Long, 22, was the Magpies’ starting sub only a week ago, but Craig Macrae saw enough in his 30-point cameo against GWS to start him against Port Adelaide, and he was rewarded with 24 disposals and seven tackles, numbers that should keep the sub vest at bay for a while, at least. Even more promising – Long attended 22 centre bounces, the most of any Pie behind ruckman Darcy Cameron. He could make $80k in his next two games, but who do you trade out to get him?

Playing SuperCoach without Baz is no fun.

Passing on Smith to start the season was a tactic employed by some coaches, and not without reason – he played about a half of footy over the pre-season, so his fitness and role remained uncertain. But based on his round 1 performance, forget all that and jump on the Bazlenka train. His price won’t change for another week, but with more than 105,000 coaches already on board, you don’t want to be left at the station.

It will be hard for Chris Fagan to leave out Levi now.

All pre-season we talked about Ashcroft as one of the best rookies of this year’s draft crop, but some coaches got cold feet when Chris Fagan revealed Levi would start is first game as the sub. That plan was thrown out the window when Charlie Cameron was a late withdrawal, and Ashcroft when on to do exactly as we all expected. It’s hard to see him falling out of the best 22 now, and his scoring power is so good it might not matter much if he is managed at stages. Looks like a must-have rookie from round 3, so you could move now to free up trades for other moves next week.

Levi Ashcroft had a big impact in his first AFL game. Picture Lachie Millard

Xavier Lindsay gave Melbourne fans plenty to smile about against the Giants.

In the same boat as Ashcroft, except his spot in the best 22 looks a lot more secure as the standout of Melbourne’s six first-gamers in round 1. Lindsay appears to have a great scoring role running up and down a wing, exactly as Caleb Windsor did last year. Ideally, we wait to see if he can back it up this week, but getting him before the Dees face North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium could deliver an early mover advantage.

Nathan O’Driscoll played only two matches in 2024 due to injury.

Another cash cow we won’t want to miss out on, and you could put Geelong’s Mitch Knevitt in the same category after scoring 82 in the same game that O’Driscoll gathered 25 disposals – and attended 23 centre bounces – for Fremantle. The only question is do you trade them in this week or next?

Connor Rozee led Port Adelaide from the front.

Many of the top-priced midfielders failed to fire in round 1, but Rozee was a major exception – at a discounted price – even in the face of a Collingwood drubbing. The Power captain is sure to come out firing this week, and his role is only enhanced while Zak Butters is out of the team. No rush to move this week ... except the Power faces Richmond on Saturday afternoon.

Sam Powell-Pepper is the most traded out player this week.

Surely Port Adelaide and Powell-Pepper will be better against the Tigers, but an eight-disposal game will make it very hard for Powell-Pepper to make money, especially at an elevated rookie price. Feel free to offload now.

Round 1 did not go as planned for Sam Powell-Pepper. Picture: Kelly Barnes

James Leake didn’t grab his opportunity.

Leake survived in the Giants team despite Tom Green’s return from injury, and was spared the sub vest – but he managed only three disposals in 60 per cent game time. With a negative Break Even he is set for a very small price bump – if he stays in the team. But do you want to wait until after the Giants’ bye to make $15k?

WATCH AND ACT

Sam De Koning shared the ruck with Shannon Neale and Mark Blicavs.

Can we trust Chris Scott, especially when it comes to the ruck position? It’s a huge question mark, but coaches will be tempted to run the gauntlet given De Koning’s value and some poor scores from other options in defence to start the season. De Koning left a poor pre-season game in the past to pick up 25 disposals against Fremantle, tonning up despite Geelong losing the hitouts 57-35 to a combination of Luke Jackson and Liam Reidy. One benefit of moving early – he could be rucking against second-gamer Harry Boyd this week.

Sam De Koning could solve problems in defence. Picture: Michael Klein

Finn Callaghan has a bye this round.

Backed up his massive opening round score with another SuperCoach ton, laced with moments of brilliance, against Melbourne. He is set for a big price spike after his next game, but that’s not this week thanks to the Giants’ early bye. If you can find a spot in your midfield, make plans to bring him in before round 3.

Ethan Read had a big game against the Eagles.

Every year we do months of rookie research, and every year there is one we didn’t see coming. Read scored 100 SuperCoach points from two goals against a hapless West Coast, also adding nine hitouts to his stat line. The 202cm key forward also misses this week with a bye, so his first price change won’t come until round 4. Put him on the watch list.

Riley Bice was a round 1 bolter.

Unusual to see a player here after a score of 52 but that came in just 30 per cent of game time after the mature-age recruit started as the sub on Saturday. That is unlikely to happen again any time soon especially after the Swans accepted Justin McInerney’s three-match suspension. The former Werribee VFL star missed opening round, so he will be on the bubble after Sydney’s round 3 bye – the perfect time to cash in another defensive rookie.

Riley Bice looked at home at AFL level. Picture: Phil Hillyard

Izak Rankine is a fun player to own in SuperCoach.

Didn’t quite get the massive bump in midfield time that was the talk of Adelaide over summer, but it didn’t matter. Looks an absolute lock to be one of the top scorers in the forward line this year, if not No.1, so if you didn’t pick him start thinking about how to bring him in. This is likely to be the cheapest he’ll be all year.

Joel Freijah can play anywhere.

We should have listened to Marcus Bontempelli when he said Freijah was the breakout player to watch at the Dogs this season. After dominating a pre-season game across half-back, Freijah lost that role to Baley Dale in round 1, but made up for it with stints in the midfield – even taking some centre bounces as a back-up ruckman when Tim English had a rest. A stat line of 28 disposals and 12 centre bounces will lead to a big price surge from round 3 if the role holds, and there’s no reason to think it won’t – even with Bevo in charge.

ON NOTICE

Don’t give up on these guys yet – thousands of coaches jumped off players like Hayden Young and Nic Martin after a poor round 1 score last year, and both turned out to be great picks. But a second disappointing performance could have them heading for the exit before round 3.

Elijah Tsatas still has a good midfield role at the Bombers.

Trying to judge a rookie off one game is just about the most difficult call in SuperCoach. We know Tsatas had a fantastic pre-season, and the good news is his role didn’t change against the Hawks – attending 20 centre bounces, two more than Zach Merrett. The problem was he only managed five disposals in the first half (18 for the game), and he struggled to hit a target, especially early. My advice is to give him one more week to show he can be the player we picked him as, but I wouldn’t blame coaches for jumping off.

Elijah Tsatas didn’t carry his pre-season form into round 1. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Finn O’Sullivan made his debut in round 1.

Another high-priced draft pick who scored one more point than Tsatas, and presents the same dilemma. In O’Sullivan’s case, he looked impressive when he got the footy, but 16 touches just isn’t enough to produce a big SuperCoach score when you’re playing an outside role. Likely to be a slow burn money maker so he isn’t a must-trade, but are there better cash cows available when you have $199k to spend?

Ryley Sanders has a great opportunity in a depleted Bulldogs midfield.

Speaking of Bevo, we can’t blame him for Sanders’ disappointing first-up return as the exciting young Dog attended 14 centre bounces on Saturday night. But he struggled to get his hands on the footy, finishing with 15 touches and two second-half goals that saved his score. At that price we don’t need tons every week, but 85-plus is the pass mark – if he can’t hit that against Collingwood, it’s time to reassess.

Harry Perryman couldn’t reproduce his good pre-season numbers.

One Magpie who totally missed the party against Port, Perryman fell down the midfield pecking order and had just five disposals in the first half when the game was decided. We can forgive one bad game after a strong pre-season, but if is repeated this week alarm bells will be ringing.

Give Harry Perryman one more week. Picture: Morgan Hancock/Getty Images

Hugo Garcia has more competition in the Saints midfield.

A dirty day all round for the Saints, summed up when Rowan Marshall dished off a hospital handpass in the first term to Garcia who was promptly mown down, to the delight of a packed Adelaide Oval crowd. He had some exposure in the middle, with 13 centre bounces, but Ross Lyon ran 10 players through the centre square, including Hunter Clark (nine CBAs), Jack Sinclair (eight), Zak Jones (seven) and Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera (one). Priced at $245k, Garcia needs to score more than other rookies to make money – can he and the Saints rebound against Geelong this weekend? At least they are playing under the roof.

HOLD FIRE

Lachie Neale had his lowest SuperCoach score for a long time.

Neale had James Jordan in his back pocket all day, and the Lions showed why they are a champion team by winning without their superstar co-captain having any influence at all. That clearly isn’t what Neale owners paid for, but things are likely to improve dramatically from here as he comes up against West Coast at the Gabba on Sunday, then Richmond a couple of weeks later.

Nick Daicos is about to fall in price.

Daicos looked like he was headed for the SuperCoach bargain bin as Willem Drew clamped him early, but a late rally almost cracked the ton for the first time in 2025. The simple equation with Daicos is if you have him, you’ve got him for the season – just ride out the early bumpy patch that also includes a bye in round 3. The rest of the comp will be making plans to bring him in after that at a heavily discounted price.

Coaches who trade out Lachie Neale could regret it very quickly. Picture Lachie Millard

Will Day had a rare quiet game.

The same logic applies to Day, who couldn’t back up his opening round heroics. It’s a long season and I would be shocked if he doesn’t average at least 105 for the year, a great return at his price.

Tim Membrey scored 121 points in round 1.

This applies to any out-of-the-box round 1 scores (and there were plenty). We want reliable performers in our SuperCoach teams – remember, you don’t get last week’s points!

Originally published as SuperCoach AFL 2025: Round 2 trade guide