SuperCoach trade review: Our experts dissect their big moves and reveal plans to nail the second half of season

If you want to succeed in SuperCoach, you’ve got to nail your trades. But even the experts get it wrong sometimes. We reveal the best and worst moves we’ve made and our trade tactics for the rest of the year.

Josh Kelly is a unique pick one of our coaches is targeting after his return from injury. Picture: Phil Hillyard.

Trades are the lifeblood of every SuperCoach team.

Our 30 assigned trades for the season are how we cover missing stars and improve our squad — or, in some cases, manage to make it worse (Lachie Whitfield, we’re looking at you).

How have the experts managed their trades so far, how many do they have left and what are their plans from here?

HERE’S HOW EACH EXPERT RATES THEIR EFFORTS SO FAR

AL PATON

How many trades have you got left? 24 but a good chance to be 22 by this weekend.

Players I’ve traded out so far … Dustin Martin, David Mundy, Chris Burgess, Bailey Scott, Jack Scrimshaw, Charlie Constable.

Players I’ve traded in so far … Charlie Constable, Tim Kelly, Lachie Whitfield, Jack Ross, Will Hayes, Travis Boak.

Best move I’ve made: Swinging Darcy Moore to defence allowed me to trade Jack Scrimshaw to Travis Boak last week. Pretty happy with that move. And as much as it pains me to say it punting Dusty was the right call.

Trade I might regret: After scores of 73 and 35 in the first two rounds it seemed my unique forward pick David Mundy was a big fail. But after trading them that week he has averaged 119 so not only am I missing out on those points, the unplanned move put me a week behind the pack on trades to improve my side.

What is your trade plan from here? I’m not too worried about using trades at this point, but how to use them in the conundrum. The slow and steady approach is to trade out rookies as they reach their peak but I confess I’m tempted to pull something bolder in a bid to leapfrog my way up the rankings.

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GILBERT GARDINER

How many trades have you got left? 24* but can’t rule out reversing this week’s double downgrade to build a free agency war chest.

Players I’ve traded out so far … Balta, Simpson, Burgess, Liberatore, Collins* and Crouch*.

Players I’ve traded in so far … Constable, Lloyd, Lockhart, Fyfe, Bontempelli*, Answerth*

Best move I’ve made: Pretty happy with Libba to Fyfe last week but hard to go past the corrective Simpson to Lloyd trade for Round 3.

Trade I might regret: No regrets. No really, like genuinely haven’t made a wrong move at the trade table yet.

What is your trade plan from here? Slow and steady. Back the boys in, downgrade the ones you have to and then go BANGGGGGGG!

Sydney’s Jake Lloyd has been a top trade target for those who started without him. Picture: Mark Evans/Getty Images.

MARK ROBINSON

How many trades have you got left? 23

Players I’ve traded out so far … Toby Greene, Jaeger O’Meara and rookies

Players I’ve traded in so far … Bont, Billings, Heath Shaw

Best move I’ve made: Picking Shannon Hurn

Trade I might regret: O’Meara

What is your trade plan from here? Get Fyfe, get Kelly and soldier on.

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TIM MICHELL

How many trades have you got left? 22 (likely 20 heading into Round 8). Made some blunders that required fixing before Round 3 so I’ve used a few more than initially planned. I might have to play it safer through the byes than most others and play with the minimum 18.

Players I’ve traded out so far … Sam Collins, Marty Hore, Dustin Martin, Dayne Beams, Will Setterfield, James Cousins, Charlie Constable, Jack Scrimshaw. Trading Hore after two rounds is the move I regret, although it did get me to Jake Lloyd. I would have held Charlie Constable had I not been able to upgrade to Nat Fyfe.

Players I’ve traded in so far … Callum Wilkie, Charlie Constable, Jake Lloyd, Tom Liberatore, Reilly O’Brien, Tim Kelly, Nat Fyfe, Lachlan Young. I should have started Constable and Liberatore and have burned two trades on the young Cat already, which is far from ideal. Bringing in Kelly, Fyfe and Lloyd has lifted my weekly average.

Best move I’ve made: Will Setterfield to Reilly O’Brien in Round 5. Setterfield was suspended for two weeks so I took the $55,000 profit and brought in O’Brien via a swing with Patrick Bines. He’s already made $200,000 and will get me back to a forward premium in one trade at this rate.

Trade I might regret: Make that do regret. I should’ve found another way to bring in Jake Lloyd than trading Marty Hore. I doubted his job security when he was dropped after one game. Hore is averaging 83 and will likely be the defensive rookie of the year. If only I’d held Sam Collins an extra week to trade!

What is your trade plan? Likely double downgrade this week, then use the profit to bolster midfield and forward line. With five premium forwards and Willem Drew I should get by until Round 12 when the Power has a bye. That’ll leave me with 16-18 trades heading into the byes and with some fortune I can hopefully climb the rankings in the second half of 2019.

Tim Michell made the mistake of trading Melbourne defender Marty Hore after two rounds. Picture: David Crosling.

DANIEL BEGALA

How many trades have you got left? I’m on track at the moment with 24 trades. It’s no birdie, but I’ll settle for par.

Players I’ve traded out so far … Dustin Martin (R3), Will Setterfield (R4), Brodie Smith (R5), Butters (R6), Constable (R7) and Atkins (R7).

Players I’ve traded in so far … Tom Rockliff (R3), Reilly O’Brien (R5), Lachie Whitfield (R5), Jack Ross (R6), Nat Fyfe (R7) and Will Hayes (R7).

Best move I’ve made: Leveraging Patrick Bines’ dual-position eligibility, I was able to acquire the ultimate cash cow — Reilly O’Brien — without burning an unnecessary trade and sacrificing the structure of my side. O’Brien — with the help of Bines — will serve as the perfect stepping stone to a Top six forward in the coming weeks. He’s even a POD at 13 per cent ownership.

Trade I might regret: This trade — given Round 8 team news — will go down in The Begala Brigade folklore as the worst of all time. Yes, there’s plenty of water to flow under the bridge, but trading Brodie Smith to a red-hot Lachie Whitfield in Round 5 has been nothing short of a disaster. I was caught up in the Whitfield hoopla, punch-drunk on SuperCoach numbers and pulled the trigger prematurely on Smith. I think “regret” is a gross understatement at this point in time.

What is your trade plan from here? I think I’m sitting pretty with 24 trades, but the focus from now until the siren sounds on Round 14 is to reinforce my side with trades that are accretive to my position throughout the byes (R12 — 14). I, like most coaches, will be undermanned in Round 13 when Collingwood, Geelong, Melboure, Brisbane, West Coast and Sydney face the bye. As such, I am placing the upmost emphasis on filling my side with premiums — and to a lesser extent, rookies — that aide my cause in Round 13. Overall, I am racing the clock to trade my way towards a star-studded line-up replete with 22 premiums.

ANDREW WEAVER (FOX SPORTS)

How many trades have you got left? 24 before making any this week, but will make two this week … so 22 by start of Round 8.

Players I’ve traded out so far … Toby Greene, Sam Collins, Clayton Oliver, Tom Atkins, Will Setterfield.

Players I’ve traded in so far … Xavier Duursma, Tom Rockliff, Travis Boak, Lachie Neale, Kieren Jack, Sydney Stack.

Best move I’ve made: Neale in for Oliver (much to my Demon upset).

Trade I might regret: Heeney out for Boak.

What is your trade plan from here? Try and go with minimal trades up til the bye round, then strategic training based upon injury and form.

Andrew Weaver was quick to add big-scoring Lion Lachie Neale. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images.

BEN HIGGINS

How many trades have you got left? Before this week 23. That will become 21 with a likely double downgrade ahead of Round 8.

Players I’ve traded out so far … David Mundy, Dustin Martin, Nat Fyfe, Anthony Miles, Chris Burgess, Charlie Constable, Tom Atkins.

Players I’ve traded in so far … Jake Lloyd, Tim Kelly, Tom Liberatore, Tom Rockliff, Liam Baker, Nat Fyfe, Will Hayes.

Best move I’ve made: Liam Baker as a higher-priced rookie has been excellent.

Trade I might regret: Too late, David Mundy’s making me look a complete fool.

What is your trade plan from here? Given my disgraceful ranking, I’m just going to have to trade hard and hope for the best at the end of the year.

CHEEZO (DOCTOR SUPERCOACH)

How many trades have you got left? 23

Players I’ve traded out so far: Tom Liberatore, Tom Atkins, Connor Rozee and Sam Collins.

Players I’ve traded in so far: Tim Kelly, Lachie Neale, Reilly O’Brien and Liam Baker.

Best move I’ve made: Holding trades in the first four rounds while many were panic trading. This should hold me in good stead for the remainder of the season now I sit inside the top 600 ranks with trades in hand.

Trade I might regret: Bringing in Josh Kelly as a unique this week. My first risk of the season.

What is your trade plan from here? Manage my bye structure and trying not to trade out my rookies too early before they max out in price.

Originally published as SuperCoach trade review: Our experts dissect their big moves and reveal plans to nail the second half of season