Opinion 2024 AFL SuperCoach Planning Thread

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Essentially correct in a nutshell although the ~5+ pts calculation could be a little off. It really comes down to how well the 19th player scores when the rnd 0 player (premo) has his early bye and whether there's more than 1 premo missing the same bye where the 20th score will count and so on. My guess is around 20-60pts lost/premo missing.
Ah yes, I didn't account for the score your 19th player gets.
If we assume they score about 60pts, then it's only ~3pts difference in average between the 22 gamer and the 23 gamer.
 
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A lot of the times the case not to start these guys makes more sense (and is stronger) but two factors I also include are:
1. Can I get them into my team at a reasonable point to still gain the benefits?
2. Am I comfortable if circumstances fall a certain way and it means I can’t get them in?

Best laid plans often go awry and finding yourself without Daicos post round 5 could be pain if he goes on a tear. Any early advantage could disappear, and value upgrades could be missed to prioritise Daicos over anyone else.

Not to say it’s a lock to start him (he is in my side however), but getting him round 6ish is no guarantee and then it becomes a case of do you wait till after his bye.. etc. Can get messy.
I would have thought that other sides would look to lock him down more this season? Been proved that it can limit his output and Collingwood don't look quite as good when he is quiet.
 
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Ah yes, I didn't account for the score your 19th player gets.
If we assume they score about 60pts, then it's only ~3pts difference in average between the 22 gamer and the 23 gamer.
The other thing that I wonder about and I might be barking up the wrong tree, is that those pts lost early in the season are difficult to make up once teams are getting close to completed, so does the ~3pts difference in average become applicable over the whole season? Or should there be more weighting as to when those loss of pts have the most effect?
 
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I would have thought that other sides would look to lock him down more this season? Been proved that it can limit his output and Collingwood don't look quite as good when he is quiet.
I thought that he was susceptible to being tagged last season and didn't start him because of that assumption. Took a long time for any coach to realise that tagging him and nullifying his output was an effective tool. Cost me a lot in early pts leakage to those that did start him.

Of course I'll start him this year and he'll be tagged to within an inch of his life.
 
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I'm not sure about my logic with the following picks, but hear me out and then shoot me down in flames if you want.

I'm wanting to start Guthrie and Crouch and swap them out before their byes to premos who are coming off their byes, so players like Gulden and Petracca, or any other premo that I think has low ownership (and high scoring potential) because of them having an early bye.

I'm fairly satisfied that providing their roles stack up then they'll warrant holding and deliver an average that'll be very close to a premo that has 2 byes, ie; around 10PPG less. Crouch went at 108 and Petracca 119, Guthrie should pull a 105 and I'd expect Gulden to go around 115 (111 ave. last season) The biggest advantage for me however is that I'm saving $480k on those 2 positions which allow me to turn a rookie into Amon (yes, I know that's another risk) who I think will be a Def. keeper as well run with Williams, Chapman and/or Billings instead of rookies. I'm not sure if I have my numbers right but I'm assuming that those last 3 should average 10PPG over a rookie and Amon maybe 40-50PPG better than a rookie.

Running with the 2 cheaper MP's and Amon (the $480k saving) should give me (theoretically) an extra 60-70PPG better scoring ability than starting with premos that have an early bye, if I start with non rnd0 premos then that better scoring is reduced to around 50-60PPG.

Upgrading Guthrie and Crouch to $600k+ players should cost about 2 trades each, starting Amon over a rookie should save 2 trades and having say Williams and Billings should save another trade each upgrading them. So starting the aforementioned players would work out to be cost neutral in terms of trades but over 14 rounds there's the possibility of being, at a minimum 700pts, or maximum 980pts better off. Oh, and my M5 and M6 wouldn't have a bye at all.

I must be doing something wrong because those numbers seem outrageous.
 
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I think you would be saving 380k not 480k. If I was confident Guthrie or crouch scored that high, I would start them.
You're right, doing math in my head and stuffed it up a bit, nonetheless the pts generation from the savings is still substantial, back to a minimum of 560 and maximum of 840.

Crouch scored at an average of 108 over the last 6 games and has a proven history of going 110, Guthrie has history of scoring 105. Of course their output is related to where they play, but I don't think that those projections are too far out given the reports of where they'll be lining up. It's definitely risky and goes against the recognised way of thinking for SC but I think I'll give it a shot given the complexities that have been dealt this season.
 
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Feel generous
As much as I use to benefit from players exhausting trades early, injury hits in last two years has saved me by increase trades.
Those who take risk will amp up risk due to more trades - I probably did with mid price madness last year seeing my place +70k after 4 rounds.
Think we both will end up starting with the same trades but you will take advantage of it more than me
I will need all my SC strategy tactics to catch you back

Just don't go online saying something, you will get told you don't need to play the game!
I am not a fan of all these extra trades. I was getting rolled by players in my leagues who never got near me in the past. Back in the days when you needed a bit of skill and planning, including using your trades strategically. They may as well let everyone pick a team full of premiums now, as every man and his dog will get to premo stage eventually.
 
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I am not a fan of all these extra trades. I was getting rolled by players in my leagues who never got near me in the past. Back in the days when you needed a bit of skill and planning, including using your trades strategically. They may as well let everyone pick a team full of premiums now, as every man and his dog will get to premo stage eventually.
Agree that it is easier to complete a team, although, some people will react to having trades by sideways in byes or a short injury.

How has your ranking gone over the years. Not sure I have noticed a difference, maybe the team that use to run out of trades has a bit more sustainability, however, those they are wise should in theory end up with a better completed team.

Structure, premiums and rookies in starting squad has always defined my performance.
 
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Agree that it is easier to complete a team, although, some people will react to having trades by sideways in byes or a short injury.

How has your ranking gone over the years. Not sure I have noticed a difference, maybe the team that use to run out of trades has a bit more sustainability, however, those they are wise should in theory end up with a better completed team.

Structure, premiums and rookies in starting squad has always defined my performance.
Was my first post! Thx for reply. Usually finished in top 10pc over the years. I think you are right. Good players should still go ok. I think if you focus on leagues its much easier to get rolled by a reasonable player e.g. I hang on to my boosts and opponent uses theirs in a given round.
 

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I am not a fan of all these extra trades. I was getting rolled by players in my leagues who never got near me in the past. Back in the days when you needed a bit of skill and planning, including using your trades strategically. They may as well let everyone pick a team full of premiums now, as every man and his dog will get to premo stage eventually.
Welcome aboard and good luck for the season.

Could have this been attributed to not adjusting and adapting your strategies to the changes, if a trend has been established over the past seasons in line with the increase in trades? Do you play for league (eg cash leagues) or pay no interest to leagues and play for overall?

Finding it hard to comprehend how extra trades equates to less skill and an easier game given I don’t seem to see the same crowd active in AFL Fantasy and comfortably coming away with hats or major prizes each season given there are no cash barriers to entry. Also seems that players bemoan that sides look so similar season after season and I would have thought that more trades might lead to more variation especially with how coaches decide to handle the byes. Add to that less trades (30 or 22,etc) places more pressure on nailing those picks which can compound in case a few untimely injuries to premiums, slow cash gen, etc occur and with how emotional coaches are with their decision making (never again lists, etc) or beating themselves up about those 50-50 picks, impatience, etc I don’t think those clamouring for greatly reduced trades would enjoy less if things don’t start to go their way.

I may be a tad biased given this is the format I tend to struggle with and the large entry pool comparative to the rest. :ROFLMAO:

There was an interesting discussion in the NBL thread earlier this season (quotes below) about how members have used boosts over the past season/since introduction across all fantasy formats that use them. Personally I have enjoyed the introduction in all formats of the boosts as I get to burn through them as quickly as possible until the next format starts up and continue the vicious cycle but it has been extremely beneficial for early restructures (premiums/rookies, etc) and to maximise cash gen to compensate for lack of knowledge/confidence/etc in the format and to exploit those playing too conservatively. The longer the season goes the less confident I am in making astute picks to chase the pack and thus I would rather try to establish a buffer early.
Since SuperCoach introduced the trade boosts I’ve either used them too quickly or not used them quickly enough.

I see a number of teams using their last boost already (and for very useful trades in my opinion).

I see danger in rounds 13/14 and 18/19, but the boosts are useful in growing team value now and also keeping competitive scores on a weekly basis.

Is anyone else struggling with challenge of saving boosts for potential danger or have you found risking it and going hard early more beneficial?
A bit of both. Seem to use them very quickly to get off to a fast start or fix holes. Rather than chasing POD selections my POD is using the boosts and trades as much and as quickly as possible to hopefully keep the bank and points ticking over as I am not confident of using them astutely further down the track nor am I confident in chasing the pack.

Brilliant question and have had a look into when I have used the boosts amongst the competitions (Supercoach and Sportsdeck) that offer them in 2023.

AFL SC: Five boosts used by RD8 from a season length of 24 rounds. Overall rank of 19,951 from 190,972. Did help come back from a starting rank of 80k odd to hold rank around the 10k in the middle periods but was only delaying the inevitable later down the track.

BBL SC:
BBL13: Used the only two boosts in the first two rounds (9 round season) to finish 230th from 52,003
BBL12: Used two of three boosts in the final five rounds (14 round season) to finish 334th from ? (50k odd entrants).

NRL SC:
2023:5 boosts used by end of RD8 (earliest possible was RD6)- Season length is 27 rounds. Finished 1,768 from 157,496. Was about to be a personal best as I spent Rd15-RD26 between 400 to 800 but bulk rest, injuries ,etc In final round put a stop to that. Boost would not have helped.
2022: Personal best was 1,618 in 2022 which was my first season inside the top 10,000 and the first season in which boosts were available. Looks like I spent those by end of RD9 with four of five coming between RD6-RD9.

NFL Sportsdeck: 4 boosts used by RD6 (earliest possible is RD5)- Season length is 17 rounds, managed to sneak into the top 10 for three rounds (RD10 to RD12) to then finish 64th from 2,876.

EPL Sportsdeck: 6 boosts used by RD8 (earliest possible is RD7)- Season length is 38 rounds, hit a height of 23rd in Rd11 and currently 40th from 3,046 after 21 rounds.

NBL SC: 4 boost used by RD5 (earliest possible is RD5)- Season length is 20 rounds and my current rank at the end of RD17 is 30 from 24,672.

NBA Sportsdeck: 2023-2024: Five boosts used by RD10 with a season length of 23 rounds. Ranked 158th from 13 rounds so far.
2022-2023: Five boosts used by end of RD8 (earliest possible was RD6). Season length is 24 rounds and overall rank was 53 from 3,457. Treaded water around the 40-60 rank most of the season and may have been better served later on to try to make inroads. Was defending 4th spot from the season prior (no boosts).
 

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