Opinion 2024 AFL SuperCoach Planning Thread

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Worry about it all when they open up the game and let us know what is happening , don't mind the idea of Best 18 for Opening Round though provided we get enough trades in between to reset our teams for Round 1.

Seem to recall years ago , probably when the Suns entered the comp teams having early Bye Rounds , from memory I (wasted) a trade on Petrie in Round 2 or 3 trading him out then back in the following Round.

Makes it a bit more strategic thinking about players if they are on a Bye in Round 2 , 3 , 5 or 6 (keep if Opening Round is included or trade out if we can reset our team)

I guess if they gave us unlimited trades each and every round people would still find reason to complain.

Easiest thing to do if people are not happy when they decide what to do , then simply don't play.

Whatever they decide they certainly won't please everyone.
 
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Can anyone make sense of this.? RD 1 and 10 teams do not play
I thought one of the reasons for it was that the NRL double header in Vegas is March 2nd , and they were going to take advantage of the Brisbane & Sydney markets by playing AFL games their , but they might actually be a week late

So the NRL are starting with a split Round 1 opening (2 games in the States then 6 games the following weekend which is the AFL's opening Round)

Maybe 2025 we have :-

pre Opening Round (10 teams)
Opening Round (8 teams)
Round 1 (18 teams)
 
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Good to see they are taking the reigning premiers on a road trip early in the season for the adoring fans 😀

0 Giants Stadium
3 Gabba (love this Easter Thursday fixture)
4 Adelaide Oval (hehe it's Gather Round)

3 games at Marvel again , why do we get fixtures their ? , let the people come to the G
 
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My disillusionment with the AFL's decision making becomes greater with each passing year it seems, just making things far too complicated/ so many bye rounds. There is a lot to be said for the old KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) method ... maybe I am just too old school/ set in my ways :confused:

But my enthusiasm for the game is slipping unfortunately, hopefully that will change as the season gets closer but this fixture release didn't impress at all tbh
I was having this discussion with a few mates last night and we all feel the same way. We are all longtime Footy fans as well.

The AFL is really turning fans off with a lot of their decision making.

It's the heavily compromised draft that really gets to me. It always seems to benefit the same teams over and over again, and the AFL's refusal to admit that it's completely compromised... and refusal to try and fix it and make it fair for all teams is really off-putting.
 
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After looking at the draw (taking into account the bye rounds) I have come up with the following keepers (hopefully) to base my side around (minimum gun players missing early byes between 2 - 6) -

Backs - Stewart/H Young/Sheezel
Mids - Bont (C)/Laird (VC)/Merrett/Butters/M Crouch & C Guthrie (to trade to N Daicos & rookie at best time, no earlier than after round 5)
Rucks - Gawn/Grundy
Fwds - who knows ???

Gawn/Grundy are the only 2 guns I'm looking at starting with the early byes but I think both are underpriced and too good to leave out for what they can produce but I do worry about not having English.

A work in progress with over 3 months to go until the start of the season.Good luck to everyone.
 
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Dirty dogs just want to capitalise on the “round 1” hype for TV views the only argument that makes any sense. More weeks of footy is a good thing for fans though.
 
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Round 0 is one of the more ridiculous concepts the AFL have come up with but it is what it is, and an excuse to organise a work trip and watch the Dees in Sydney.

Perhaps they could just replicate BBL fantasy and give double points to players that have games in round 0 and round 1. Would make it interesting as the advantage in chasing double game players is somewhat negated by the fact they have an early bye. Seems like a simple solution that doesn't completely change the game, and double game players are fun.
 

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Round 0 is one of the more ridiculous concepts the AFL have come up with but it is what it is, and an excuse to organise a work trip and watch the Dees in Sydney.

Perhaps they could just replicate BBL fantasy and give double points to players that have games in round 0 and round 1. Would make it interesting as the advantage in chasing double game players is somewhat negated by the fact they have an early bye. Seems like a simple solution that doesn't completely change the game, and double game players are fun.
I don’t think I’ve seen many (any?) mention of AFL SC moving to include double game rounds (DGR), despite the very different fixture this year.

It would probably seem like quite a fundamental change to anyone who has played AFL SC for a long time, but never another code that includes DGRs. I initially thought it was a very strange feature of BBL SC, but it’s actually one of the most interesting aspects of it.

I’m not 100% sure if I would want AFL SC to go that way, but it would certainly make things interesting.
 
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I don’t think I’ve seen many (any?) mention of AFL SC moving to include double game rounds (DGR), despite the very different fixture this year.

It would probably seem like quite a fundamental change to anyone who has played AFL SC for a long time, but never another code that includes DGRs. I initially thought it was a very strange feature of BBL SC, but it’s actually one of the most interesting aspects of it.

I’m not 100% sure if I would want AFL SC to go that way, but it would certainly make things interesting.
Definitely but it would only be for the first 2 rounds (well round 0 and round 1), after that we can return to regular Supercoach.
 
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I honestly think it would be best if round 0 counts, maybe best 10 or 12. No full reset for round 1, maybe just give us a double boost or something. Means it's necessary to have a bunch of round 0 players so there aren't 8 teams that are basically irrelevant until after round 6. Best 18 or 20 or whatever for the early bye rounds. If they either ignore round 0 or allow unlimited trades before round 1 I feel like there'll be very little variation between teams early on
 

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Definitely but it would only be for the first 2 rounds (well round 0 and round 1), after that we can return to regular Supercoach.
Without looking at the fixture again, I was wondering if they could combine subsequent rounds, to add more doubles. It may not be necessary, but having one double for the season seems a bit strange (I think they would be more likely to just ignore the opening round). If they combined some of the smaller rounds with those jus before/after to create a double, it could potentially pivot to more of a BBL-style setup, which I have warmed to for that competition.

As I say, I’m still unsure about it. Combining two short rounds may mean that a round spans 10+ days, which could be seen as undesirable.
 
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I am still trying to work out what all the fuss is about with having to change rules / trades etc due to the split R 1.
Why complicate things. Just leave everything the same as last year except for taking the top 18 scores during
R 2, 3, 5, 6.
When selecting your team for R1, each coach would have to decide before R 1 if they wanted to include any of the Open Round (OR) players in their team or not. If they decide to not pick any then they just pick their side with the same rules as last year.
Coaches need to weigh up any advantages or disadvantages by picking any OR players in your team. It would be the same for all teams.
Then it becomes a stategic decision.
The advantage of picking a player who plays in the OR is that you do not have to use a trade later on to get them & you get to use that player when they play in the other opening rounds when they play.The loss of any players who play in the OR round is countered by only taking the top 18 scores for that round.

Am I missing something in this analysis???
 
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I thought one of the reasons for it was that the NRL double header in Vegas is March 2nd , and they were going to take advantage of the Brisbane & Sydney markets by playing AFL games their , but they might actually be a week late

So the NRL are starting with a split Round 1 opening (2 games in the States then 6 games the following weekend which is the AFL's opening Round)

Maybe 2025 we have :-

pre Opening Round (10 teams)
Opening Round (8 teams)
Round 1 (18 teams)
I thought the reason for the OR is the NSW grounds were available a week earlier and they thought in their wisdom lets hold games in Sydney, bit like a mini Adelaide weekend without the hype.

I am still trying to work out what all the fuss is about with having to change rules / trades etc due to the split R 1.
Why complicate things. Just leave everything the same as last year except for taking the top 18 scores during
R 2, 3, 5, 6.
When selecting your team for R1, each coach would have to decide before R 1 if they wanted to include any of the Open Round (OR) players in their team or not. If they decide to not pick any then they just pick their side with the same rules as last year.
Coaches need to weigh up any advantages or disadvantages by picking any OR players in your team. It would be the same for all teams.
Then it becomes a stategic decision.
The advantage of picking a player who plays in the OR is that you do not have to use a trade later on to get them & you get to use that player when they play in the other opening rounds when they play.The loss of any players who play in the OR round is countered by only taking the top 18 scores for that round.

Am I missing something in this analysis???
Biggest issue is picking your side without all 18 teams locked in week 1. makes it hard if to go early on rookies who are substandard or wait to following week.

From an overall perspective, think OR has to be included and no extra trades. Just make it best 12 or something.

Expect following rounds where there are byes they will make it best 18 (think they did that when Power played in China but not sure).

Bigger issue will the leagues, given there are effectively 25 rounds - 4 for final, 17 games in a 18 game league, means you start round 5. Feels a little wrong. Also, if so, do you skew your teams to those who have one bye in first 4 rounds which may not be the players you want.
 
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I thought the reason for the OR is the NSW grounds were available a week earlier and they thought in their wisdom lets hold games in Sydney, bit like a mini Adelaide weekend without the hype.



Biggest issue is picking your side without all 18 teams locked in week 1. makes it hard if to go early on rookies who are substandard or wait to following week.

From an overall perspective, think OR has to be included and no extra trades. Just make it best 12 or something.

Expect following rounds where there are byes they will make it best 18 (think they did that when Power played in China but not sure).

Bigger issue will the leagues, given there are effectively 25 rounds - 4 for final, 17 games in a 18 game league, means you start round 5. Feels a little wrong. Also, if so, do you skew your teams to those who have one bye in first 4 rounds which may not be the players you want.
The problem with including OR with no extra trades is it will almost force everyone to start the same team. You’ll need to cover OR or your season is already over, but the options will be limited while still allowing for a solid team R1 onwards.
I’d imagine the majority of OR teams will look the same, which reduces too much potential variance.

I think it has to either be OR is stand alone with unlimited trades to reset for R1, or merge OR and R1 with a DGR for some teams. Can’t see them excluding OR altogether given the goal is maximising players and site visits.
 
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The problem with including OR with no extra trades is it will almost force everyone to start the same team. You’ll need to cover OR or your season is already over, but the options will be limited while still allowing for a solid team R1 onwards.
I’d imagine the majority of OR teams will look the same, which reduces too much potential variance.

I think it has to either be OR is stand alone with unlimited trades to reset for R1, or merge OR and R1 with a DGR for some teams. Can’t see them excluding OR altogether given the goal is maximising players and site visits.

This is magnified even more if you make it best 10 or 12. Everyone will have Walsh, Oliver, Gawn, Grundy, Miller etc. and the scores will be too similiar to even bother.

At least best 18 would force more varied strategies, but you would have to have unlimited (or a lot of) trades to re-balance going into round 1.

A DGR scenario would again see the better SC players gravitating to very similiar set-ups. If you didn't maximise the DGR potential, history (in other fantasy sports) says you will struggle.

I think unlimited trades to reset is the best of a poor field of options. If Walsh, Oliver and Miller have all scored 150, does everyone grab them or do you leave them out with a bye pending? The lack of knowledge re rookie selections for the 10 teams that don't play Opening round, will cause a lot of people to drop off if they cannot reset their teams significantly.

As you say, I think it is highly unlikely they exclude OR entirely. It makes the usual planning and tinkering a bit different because we can't work around the normal best 30 parameters.
 
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This is magnified even more if you make it best 10 or 12. Everyone will have Walsh, Oliver, Gawn, Grundy, Miller etc. and the scores will be too similiar to even bother.

At least best 18 would force more varied strategies, but you would have to have unlimited (or a lot of) trades to re-balance going into round 1.

A DGR scenario would again see the better SC players gravitating to very similiar set-ups. If you didn't maximise the DGR potential, history (in other fantasy sports) says you will struggle.

I think unlimited trades to reset is the best of a poor field of options. If Walsh, Oliver and Miller have all scored 150, does everyone grab them or do you leave them out with a bye pending? The lack of knowledge re rookie selections for the 10 teams that don't play Opening round, will cause a lot of people to drop off if they cannot reset their teams significantly.

As you say, I think it is highly unlikely they exclude OR entirely. It makes the usual planning and tinkering a bit different because we can't work around the normal best 30 parameters.
Yeah one thing I do like about the DGR scenario is it does introduce an element of strategy that is a bit different to normal. Do you go hard on DGR knowing you might need to trade hard early to navigate the byes (hurting the team long term) or do you go more balanced on the DGR players knowing you’ll likely fall behind early but potentially make it up with a trade strategy not impacted as heavily by the byes.
 
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