SuperCoach Bye Rounds Calendar 2026 — Complete Guide

Round 2 and Round 3 byes are done. The early byes mostly came and went without much damage — coaches had their benches stacked and traded through.

The bit that actually ends seasons starts in Round 12.

Here's everything you need to plan around it.

---

The Complete Bye Calendar

Every bye round in 2026, from the early rounds through the gauntlet.

| Round | Bye Teams | Teams Out | |-------|-----------|-----------| | R2 | Brisbane, Carlton, Collingwood, Geelong | 4 clubs | | R3 | Gold Coast, Hawthorn, Sydney, W. Bulldogs | 4 clubs | | R4 | GWS Giants, St Kilda | 2 clubs | | R12 | Adelaide, Gold Coast, North Melbourne, Port Adelaide | 4 clubs | | R13 | GWS Giants, Richmond | 2 clubs | | R14 | Carlton, Collingwood, Fremantle, Hawthorn | 4 clubs | | R15 | Brisbane, Essendon, Sydney, West Coast | 4 clubs | | R16 | Geelong, Melbourne, St Kilda, W. Bulldogs | 4 clubs |

The early rounds (R2–R4) are manageable. Twelve teams spread across three rounds, and coaches have fresh trades and full benches.

The gauntlet (R12–R16) is a different problem. Sixteen teams across five rounds, your trade count is lower, and your bench coverage has usually been traded away for premiums by that point.

---

Per-Club Bye Lookup

Quick reference — find your players, mark the calendar.

| Club | First Bye | Second Bye | |------|-----------|------------| | Adelaide Crows | R12 | — | | Brisbane Lions | R2 | R15 | | Carlton | R2 | R14 | | Collingwood | R2 | R14 | | Essendon | R15 | — | | Fremantle | R14 | — | | Gold Coast Suns | R3 | R12 | | Geelong Cats | R2 | R16 | | GWS Giants | R4 | R13 | | Hawthorn | R3 | R14 | | Melbourne | R16 | — | | North Melbourne | R12 | — | | Port Adelaide | R12 | — | | Richmond | R13 | — | | St Kilda | R4 | R16 | | Sydney Swans | R3 | R15 | | Western Bulldogs | R3 | R16 | | West Coast Eagles | R15 | — |

Two-bye clubs (10): Brisbane, Carlton, Collingwood, Gold Coast, Geelong, GWS, Hawthorn, St Kilda, Sydney, Western Bulldogs

Single-bye clubs (8): Adelaide, Essendon, Fremantle, Melbourne, North Melbourne, Port Adelaide, Richmond, West Coast

---

The Gauntlet: Rounds 12–16

This is where SuperCoach seasons live and die. Five consecutive rounds, 16 teams rotating through byes. Here's what each round costs you.

Round 12

Adelaide, Gold Coast, North Melbourne, Port Adelaide have the bye.

This is the first gauntlet round and catches coaches off guard more than the others. Port Adelaide and North Melbourne players are popular value picks. Adelaide rookies and Gold Coast (who are also on their second bye this season) will sit on your bench doing nothing.

Watch for: If you're holding multiple PA or North players for scoring, plan your trade-in window now.

Round 13

GWS Giants, Richmond have the bye.

The lightest round of the gauntlet — only two clubs. Most coaches barely notice R13. If this is your worst gauntlet round, you've structured well.

Round 14

Carlton, Collingwood, Fremantle, Hawthorn have the bye.

Carlton and Collingwood are already on their second bye of the season. Hawthorn too. This is brutal if you've been loading up on Blues or Pies — you need to plan the R14 trade window a fortnight in advance.

Fremantle's is a single bye, so it's more manageable, but combined with Carlton and Collingwood, R14 is the round that punishes lazy team structures hardest.

Round 15

Brisbane, Essendon, Sydney, West Coast have the bye.

R15 is the most damaging round of the gauntlet. Brisbane and Sydney are both on their second byes. Essendon and West Coast are single-bye clubs so it's their only miss — but they're both popular sources of mid-range premiums and emerging players.

If you've loaded up on Lions, Swans, or Bombers, Round 15 will cost you 30–50 ranking places if you're not across it.

Round 16

Geelong, Melbourne, St Kilda, Western Bulldogs have the bye.

The final gauntlet round. Geelong, St Kilda, and Western Bulldogs are all on their second byes. Melbourne is the odd one out with its only bye here.

By Round 16 you've made it through the worst of it. Coaches who structured properly through R12–15 usually have enough trades to paper over the cracks here.

---

5 Rules for Surviving the Gauntlet

1. No more than two players per club in your starting 18.

The mathematics are simple: four players from one club in a bye round = 44 points on your bench assuming you can even cover them all. Two players = manageable. Four = you're done.

2. Watch the double-bye clubs hardest.

Carlton, Collingwood, Hawthorn, Brisbane, Sydney, Geelong, Gold Coast, GWS, St Kilda, and Western Bulldogs all sit out twice. If you're holding five players from this group, two separate rounds will hollow you out.

3. Trade around the gauntlet, not through it.

Use trades in R9–R11 to structure your team for the gauntlet. Don't wait until R12 to start moving — by then you're already bleeding points. The coaches who plan two rounds ahead are the ones who come out clean.

4. Embrace single-bye clubs in the gauntlet block.

Players from Essendon, Fremantle, Melbourne, Richmond, and West Coast only miss one gauntlet round. They're structurally safer than a Collingwood or Carlton player who disappears twice in five weeks.

5. Your bye-round bench plan is as important as your starting 22.

In the gauntlet, your bench emergencies need to be from clubs that are playing that round. Before R12, map out which bench players cover which bye rounds. If every bench slot has the same bye as your starters, you're fielding zeros.

---

Rookies and the Bye Rounds

If you're building a cash cow machine, the bye schedule should inform which rookies you hold versus which you trade through.

Rookies from double-bye clubs to plan around:

• Gold Coast rookies — R3 (just hit) and R12. Their second bye lands right in the gauntlet.
• Brisbane rookies — R2 (already done) and R15. R15 is the worst round in the gauntlet.
• Hawthorn rookies — R3 (just hit) and R14.
• Sydney rookies — R3 (just hit) and R15. Same double-hit problem as Brisbane.
• Western Bulldogs rookies — R3 (just hit) and R16. Last round of the gauntlet.

Rookies from single-bye clubs (safer):

• Essendon rookies — one miss at R15
• Fremantle rookies — one miss at R14
• Melbourne rookies — one miss at R16
• Richmond rookies — one miss at R13

For cash generation, the gauntlet byes mostly don't matter — you should have sold your cash cows long before R12. But if you're holding a late bloomer or a value pick that emerged in R5–R8, the double-bye clubs become more annoying.

---

The Bottom Line

The bye calendar isn't complicated — it's just ignored until it's too late.

Mark R12 through R16 in your planning now. Map your starting 18 against the schedule. If you've got three Collingwood players and two Sydney players, you're running two rounds in a row where you're fielding 20 instead of 22.

Fix that before the gauntlet, not during it.