SuperCoach: Trade or hold?

Adelaide's Patrick Dangerfield under extreme pressure against Essendon. Source: Getty Images

SHOULD we hit the trade button already on underperforming stars or to grab an early bargain? Al Paton weighs up the pros and cons.

We've all felt it - the itchy trigger finger.

Unless you're on top of the overall leaderboard, we've all got players in our SuperCoach teams who didn't live up to their potential in Round 1.

Meanwhile, other players we almost picked, or just never thought about, are racking up the points for everyone else's team.

The temptation to trade straight away is almost overwhelming. And with 30 trades this season, what's the harm?

Take a deep breath.

There are still 22 rounds to play, another week until player prices change and head-to-head matches begin, and two days until the first rolling lockout of Round 2.

There might be a good reason to make a trade, but make sure you've thought it through properly first. Here's some points to consider:

When a trade is a good idea

There are a couple of good reasons to get your team right before the private league season begins:

GETTING RID OF A PERMANENT DONUT

It's hard to know which young players will get a game before Round 1, and there's no shame in backing the wrong horse.

Watch the team selections this week and if one of your bench players is still yet to make an appearance, it's probably a good idea to trade them in for a rookie who is playing and about to increase in value (see list below).

LONG-TERM INJURY

Getting burnt by injury in Round 1 is not easy to take (yes, we're talking about you Mark LeCras). But there isn't much point hanging on to a player when he can't score points for more than two weeks. See the list below for possible alternatives - fellow Eagle Josh Kennedy seems the obvious swap for the Frenchman.

Eagle Mark LeCras comes off the ground with a serious arm injury. Picture: Daniel Wilkins Source: PerthNow

When trading is a bad idea

ONE BAD GAME

It's only natural to be dirty on Patrick Dangerfield for scoring just 63 in the opening round, or to be dirty on yourself for picking him instead of a player like Scott Pendlebury - who scored a lazy 160 - or David Mundy, who managed 126 despite costing $150,000 less than Dangerfield.

But we only have to look back to Round 1 last season to see how dangerous it can be to read too much into one game.

Magpie Steele Sidebottom managed just 72 points against Hawthorn in Round 1, 2012. If you jumped off him, you would have missed one of the year's best mid-price options as Sidebottom went on to average 106 for the season.

Eagle Andrew Gaff scored just 60 against the Bulldogs 12 months ago, then averaged 90 for the rest of the year. In the same match Dogs forward Tory Dickson scored just 30 points. He turned out to be an excellent forward bench choice, ending the year with an average of 70 points a game.

Conversely, the rookie everyone wanted to jump on this time last season was Bulldog Clay Smith, who scored 102 in his first match. Unfortunately, Smith didn't go close to matching that again, finishing the season with an average of 52.

Eagles forward Josh Kennedy scored 115 in that Bulldogs match (sound familiar?). If you jumped on him after that game you would have received all the benefits of a season average of 56 points a game - and, importantly, none of those 115 points count to your total no matter how quickly you hit the trade button.

That's not to say Round 1 means nothing. Last season Brad Ebert surprised with a score of 111 first-up, and he held that form all season.

But if a premium has bombed (Dangerfield) there is usually a reason behind it.

Back the choices you made after weeks - or months - of research over gut feel after one game.

Steele Sidebottom's Magpies are rolling in money, spending a massive $21.2 million on their football department alone last season. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: Herald Sun

MY RANKING NEEDS URGENT IMPROVEMENT

If you're feeling down about your start to the SuperCoach season, here's a stat that will make you feel better: last year's overall winner was ranked 67,429th after Round 1.

Michael Thuen went on to claim the $50,000 prize even though his team Chewylizard ranked in the top 1000 for the week just three times for the season.

As Mick Malthouse would say, it's a marathon, not a sprint.

I DON'T WANT TO MISS THE PRICE JUMP

Round 3 is vital for SuperCoach - it's when our head-to-head private league matches start, and also when player prices change for the first time. Prices go up and down every week after a player has played three matches, based on form.

That means next week is your last chance to grab a star rookie before he goes up in price, or to offload a dud before his price drops. The key to improving your team all season is to make money so it's vital you have players who increase in value.

It also means you have one more week to assess the form of players before making the decision to use a trade.

See the "one bad game" point above on why it's dangerous to make a move too soon.

But if you're still feeling trigger happy, keep an eye on these bargain selections this week. If they pull out another big score, it's worth making a switch to get them in your side:

Oliver Wines (Port Adelaide) $169,500 mid. Round 1 score: 125
Jack Viney (Melbourne) $109,500 mid. Round 1 score: 117
Brett Goodes (Western Bulldogs) $128,200 def/mid. Round 1 score: 113
Jasper Pittard (Port Adelaide) $128,000 def. Round 1 score: 93

And some mid-pricers who could be in for a hefty price rise:

Brent Moloney (Brisbane) $362,400 mid. Round 1 score: 100
Tom Liberatore (Western Bulldogs) $444,400 mid. Round 1 score: 130
Josh Kennedy (West Coast) $299,600 fwd. Round 1 score: 109
David Mundy (Fremantle) $477,300 mid. Round 1 score: 126
Danyle Pearce (Fremantle) $458,800. Round 1 score: 130
Ben Howlett (Essendon) $447,500. Round 1 score: 164