SuperCoaches need to rein in their spending and watch deficit as cost of early trades can bite

R10 FORMGUIDE: It’s the SuperCoach budget we had to have. This is the last week we can use three trades but be careful.

15/5/14 - AFL Round 9 - Adelaide v Collingwood at Adelaide Oval - Dayne Beams celebrates a goal Pic Simon Cross

BEFORE you make any trades this week look to Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s Federal Budget for inspiration.

While battling Aussie students, pensioners and low-income earners advocate against tough austerity measures, Mr Abbott’s economic plan makes perfect sense in the fantasy world of SuperCoach.

The third and final round of byes is NOT an excuse to make changes, throwing caution to the wind, in the name of short-term gain.

SUPERCOACH MARKET WATCH: COOKING WITH GAZ

This is a time to consolidate, as to fritter away trades, like we did buying flat-screen televisions with Kevin Rudd’s $950 economic stimulus package bonus in 2008, is a recipe for SuperCoach ruin.

The harsh reality is we must pull our socks up and tighten our collective belts.

Latest polling shows the SuperCoach average for the number of trades left at this time of year is 13-16.

It’s enough, but only just and offers little resistance to untimely injuries, suspensions and form slumps.

Sideways trades, like the Family Tax Benefit, can no longer be sustained.

If you’re going to punt a blue-collar midfielder — with a heavy heart, think Dom Tyson — then a bona fide A-grade replacement is your only option.

A second mid-season danger is buying into the hype of rookies too soon, it’s akin to the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) and the Australian Government [taxpayers] forking out for student loans with no guaranteed returns.

How many times have you hovered over Adelaide forward Charlie Cameron’s name since his swashbuckling 90-point debut?

Is it sustainable, or will he fall back in line when rivals pick his game apart? Refer Sam Lloyd — scored 131 on debut but averaged 56 ever since.

Like the Abbott Government is trying to make the States more accountable for delivering health and education funding, it’s important you back your battling premiums [Enright, Roughead, Martin, Deledio, Swan] to stand up and answer the call.

At the end of the day, any savings you make now will put you back on track, with trade surpluses projected for a brighter SuperCoach future.

CAPTAIN’S CORNER

Gary Ablett (Gold Coast) - $754,400 mid

The man has been in scintillating form during the past few weeks. After scoring 184 against St Kilda, he’s averaging 156 in the last three weeks and 151 over the season. Ablett has a lowest score of 121 ... a lowest score! Unbelievable! This week the Suns host the Western Bulldogs, a team Gaz averages 131 against.

Dayne Beams (Collingwood) - $583,900 mid

If Beams isn’t the recruit of the year, then we’ll eat our collective hats. Starting off at about $490k, Beams has scored a hundred every week. The Magpies star plays his 100th match this weekend against West Coast, a team he averages 135 against.

Patrick Dangerfield (Adelaide) - $626,300 fwd/mid

The Crows superstar has really hit his straps over the past month. Dangerfield is coming off a 152 against Collingwood and averages 132 over the past five weeks. Adelaide take on Carlton this week and we don’t see anyone stopping Danger. He averages 123 against the Blues.

Charlie Cameron looked the goods in his AFL debut. Picture: Simon Cross

JUMP ON

Charlie Cameron (Adelaide) - $122,400 fwd

Possibly the most popular downgrade target this week as we look to cull our cash cows. A debut 89 against Collingwood will have plenty of SuperCoaches jumping on board this week. While downgrade targets are few and far between in the forward line, Cameron is still a very real substitute concern.

Lance Franklin (Sydney) - $405,000 fwd

OK, Buddy has featured regularly in the Jump Off section of this formguide this season. However! After two hundreds in two weeks, we reckon Buddy is back. The forward line partnership with Kurt Tippett is clearly paying dividends and the Swans have a pretty nice draw to boot.

Jed Bews (left) showed some promise for the Cats in his first game at the top level last week.

Jed Bews (Geelong) - $123,900 def

We said rookies were hard to come by in the forwardline, well they are even harder to find in defence. If Bews can follow up his impressive debut — in which he scored 60 points — he will be a handy bench option and an excellent downgrade target for the likes of Luke McDonald, Jimmy Webster and James Ashby.

JUMP OFF

Blake Acres (St Kilda) - $162,100 mid

SuperCoaches across Australia were left devastated on Sunday ... when Acres was made the sub. Injury was literally added to insult when Acres hurt his ankle just three minutes and four points after being activated. The Saints say he is out for six weeks. If you chose to trade, you’ll be cashing in $34,800.

St. Kilda's Blake Acres is set for an extended stint on the sidelines. Picture: Colleen Petch

Jay Kennedy-Harris (Melbourne) - $300,600 fwd

The Demons’ excitement machine has reached his peak. Cruelly handed the subs vest last week, JKH now has a break even of 89. The Demons have the bye this week so it is the perfect time to say thank you, Jay, and collect $183,300. At least he has a child acting career to fall back on.

Jeremy Laidler (Sydney) - $269,400 def

The Swans defender has been a saviour of many teams this year. Yet, we think it might be time to part ways. Laidler has a break even of 69 and an average of 62 (that plummets to 48 over the last three weeks). He’s made $107,600 and Jed Bews looks a likely target.

Jay Kennedy-Harris celebrates a goal against the Western Bulldogs. Picture: Michael Klein

CHAMPION DATA FORMGUIDE

Each week the stats gurus at Champion Data crunch all the key numbers to find the best buys in the SuperCoach universe. CLICK HERE TO CHECK IT OUT

SUPERCOACH TWEETS

Buddy and Roo = cheap! You should jump on them NOW and move a FWD/MID into the mids. The lack of fwd options is more pressing! #SuperCoach

— Michael McCormick (@mmccormick89) May 22, 2014

Sub-type: comment CAPTION: Buddy and Roo = cheap! You should jump on them NOW and move a FWD/MID into the mids. The lack of fwd options is more pressing! #SuperCoach— Michael McCormick (@mmccormick89) May 22, 2014

Someone find a magic elixer for Blake acres #supercoach

— John Harris (@Harris0911) May 21, 2014

Sub-type: comment CAPTION: Someone find a magic elixir for Blake acres #supercoach— John Harris (@Harris0911) May 21, 2014

NISSAN SUPERCOACH SUPERROUND

At the completion of the AFL season the participant whose Nissan SuperCoach team has earned the highest number of points for a single round during the entire season will be declared the SuperRound winner and receive a Nissan Altima ST-L.

Sunk Loto coach Jason Lienert (SA) retains the keys with his season-high 2642 score in Round 7. Better clean out the garage just in case you need room for the Nissan Altima ST-L!

Originally published as SuperCoaches need to rein in their spending and watch deficit as cost of early trades can bite