NRL SuperCoach

NRL Supercoach is an online National Rugby League (NRL) fantasy football game in which participants take on the role of coach and selector to choose their ultimate team made up of 25 Australian NRL rugby league players, working within a salary cap of $6.5 million and player trading limits. Each week, participants select a starting squad of 17 players from the team. The real-life performance of the 17 selected determines the participant's tally of points. Participants may also choose to play against other people by creating and joining a private league or by being placed in an international league comp.

NRL SuperCoach is one of Australia's biggest NRL fantasy football competitions, along with NRL Dream Team. According to thetelegraph.com.au, in 2011 there were approximately 130,000 NRL SuperCoach participants.[1]

NRL SuperCoach is run by thetelegraph.com.au, The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph newspapers in New South Wales, Australia. NRL SuperCoach is also available in Queensland at the Courier Mail, Gold Coast Bulletin and Townsville Bulletin.

In 2012, due to the popularity of NRL SuperCoach, AFL SuperCoach was run for the first time in New South Wales by thetelegraph.com.au, The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph.

Point scoring

Points can be awarded or deducted based on the real life performances of the 17 players selected for each NRL round. Selected team captains are awarded double points for their performance. If any of the 17 selected players are unable to play in real life, an emergency player is automatically allocated. Meanwhile, the remaining substitutes on your reserves list don't score, but can increase in value.

Points are awarded based Fox Sports statistics and according to the following system:

Stat. description Points awarded / deducted
Tries 17 points
Try assists 5 points
Goals 2 points
Missed goals −2 points
Field goals 5 points
Missed field goals −1 point
Tackles 1 point
Missed tackles −1 point
Offloads 4 points
Line breaks 10 points
Line break assists 8 points
40/20 10 points
Hitups (over 8 metres) 2 points
Hitups (under 8 metres) 1 point
Penalties conceded −2 points
Errors −2 points Sin bin/send offs −5/-10 points

By using various statistics that cover all aspects and contributions of NRL players in various playing positions, the NRL SuperCoach scoring system presents an accurate way to determine how effective a player has been.

Strategy

There are many strategies to employ, but the most consistent and basic theme is based around gathering young undervalued players early and selling them off once their value increases, replacing them with the stars of the NRL competition. The overall goal is to go into the finals with 25 of the top points gatherers in one's team, a goal which can only be achieved through trading players as well as using the online resources provided such as player statistics, match information and expert opinion to get ahead.

Picking a team

Each participant chooses a squad of 25 players according to salary cap and positional restrictions. Participants must choose a 25-man squad according to the following positional requirements: 2 fullbacks, 7 wings/centres, 2 five-eighths, 2 halfbacks, 2 hookers, 4 front row forwards and 6 second row forwards.

Each week, participants choose 13 players in their starting line-up and 4 players from their remaining 12 'substitutes', whose contribution to a participant's NRL SuperCoach score is based on the player's real-life performance in that week's NRL round. Points are only scored by the 17 players selected for each game/round.

After selecting their 17 players, participants must choose a team captain, who will score double points for the round. Participants may also choose a vice captain, who will score double points for the round if the selected captain scores 0 points for reasons such as not playing that round or being a late withdrawal.

Players traded during the season do not have their aggregate points added or subtracted to the participant's total. Participants can make up to 40 trades per season with a maximum of 2 trades in any given round and 4 trades in the bye rounds. Trades must be made prior to the commencement of the next round and will be subject to the participant's salary cap.

In SuperCoach, NRL football players can be divided into three groups:

Multiple position players

Some players can be selected in two different positions. These players are referred to as multi-position players, or dual-position players. These players may be swapped if someone doesn't play in a particular round.

Public and private leagues

In addition to the overall NRL SuperCoach competition, participants are able to be ranked and compete against others by joining one or more leagues. The "Psyche Out" chat feature enables SuperCoach players to communicate live with others in their league.

NRL SuperCoach Leagues can be public, private or social network based.

SuperCoach Gold

SuperCoach Gold is an online subscription service to assist players of the SuperCoach NRL fantasy league game. It provides tips, recommendations, projections, player form, injury feeds and team selection news. SuperCoach Gold can also be accessed via the SuperCoach app.

In 2011, studies commissioned by thetelegraph.com.au indicated that 93% of SuperCoach Gold subscribers found it somewhat to very useful, and 72% said it improved their performance.[2]

SuperCoach app

SuperCoach is also accessible via an iOS app (the Android version was scheduled for release in 2012). The app enables SuperCoach players to access their teams, SuperCoach Gold (if a subscriber), and continue gameplay on mobile devices such as the iPhone.

SuperCoach Finals

See SuperCoach Finals.

SuperCoach the Ultimate Guide

In 2011, 60,000 editions of SuperCoach the Ultimate Guide were printed and distributed in metropolitan Sydney. This document contained information including tips on selecting players; opinion articles from some of Australia's leading NRL journalists, Phil Rothfield and Tom Sangster; and NRL team player statistics.

For 2012, SuperCoach the Ultimate Guide was replaced by a special edition NRL magazine (also available as an app). This publication contains news, form guides, expert opinion and advice on tipping competitions such as SuperTipping. It also includes an extensive subsection on NRL SuperCoach.

Terms and definitions

References

  1. ↑ thetelegraph.com.au
  2. ↑ "2011 Demographics Study: NRL and Supercoach in NSW" by News Intelligence Group, Nation Wide News
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