AFL Supercoach 2026: Final Word - Round 20


<p>Just when you thought it maybe – surely, absolutely could not – get any worse… Think again.</p>



<p>A potentially season-ending injury to Max Holmes has coaches, who likely already used a trade on Zak Butters last week, scrambling.</p>



<p>It’s not a fun position to be in, and I think my sentiment behind saving a trade on Zak Butters got lost amid the chaos last week, because it’s not simply a case of just storing a $600k player on the bench for the fun of it.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Our strategy now becomes less of “what sideways trade can I do to fix this injury?” and more of “what current players do I have who can adequately fill in the gaps?”.</p>



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<p>It’s about maximising points when we’re already scraping the bottom of the barrel.</p>



<p>So yes, I said to hold Zak Butters – not because I enjoy watching the world burn, but because the crop of Midfield rookies is far more capable of providing solid scores than any other line.</p>



<p>It’s all relative at this point.</p>



<p>All I know for certain is that if I went down to zero trades and&nbsp; copped a forward injury, I’d be absolutely cooked with the rookie options I’ve got sitting on my bench there.</p>



<p>With Butters warming the bench, Elite Dadds pumped out a 2405 to take us up to 9093rd. Bring on the next five weeks!</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Trade Talk</strong></h2>



<p>Given I’ve touched on it quite in depth in the intro, I thought it would be appropriate for this week’s trade talk to focus on the best rookies moving forward – those who you can most likely trust to cover for any premium injuries or suspensions.</p>



<ol>
<li>Hugo Hall-Kahan (DEF/MID)</li>



<li>Marcus Herbet (MID)</li>



<li>Oliver Francou (MID)</li>



<li>Campbell Lake (MID/FWD)</li>



<li>Joel Fitzgerald (MID)</li>



<li>Liam Reidy (RUC/FWD)</li>



<li>William Edwards (DEF)</li>



<li>Bailey Macdonald (DEF)</li>
</ol>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Skippers</strong></h2>



<p>VC:</p>



<ol>
<li>Max Gawn</li>



<li>Baz</li>



<li>Luke Jackson</li>



<li>Daicos</li>



<li>Dawson</li>
</ol>



<p>C:</p>



<ol>
<li>Bont</li>



<li>Sheezel</li>



<li>Ashcroft</li>



<li>Neale</li>



<li>Heeney</li>
</ol>


AFL Supercoach 2026: Final Word – Round 20

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