KFC SuperCoach 2023: Expert Al Paton reveals his first team

The first Thursday night of the season has been challenging in recent years with few if any Tigers in my KFC SuperCoach team, which has instead featured the likes of Patrick Cripps, Mitch McGovern and Paddy Dow (yes, that was a bad pick).

This year I will be a lot less conflicted watching the season opener, and it will be a nice change watching my friend and Blues tragic Tim Michell cheer for Jacob Hopper and Tim Taranto to pump up their KFC SuperCoach scores.

The Tigers’ star recruits were the first two players picked in my team when KFC SuperCoach opened for 2023. Hopper is one of the bargains of the year at $332,000 after playing just seven matches last year and averaging 67 points a game. I’m expecting much closer to his 97 point average of 2021 this year, or potentially higher as one of the top dogs in the Tiger engine room. Taranto, meanwhile, is an easy pick in the forward line given he’ll also get a lot more time in the middle.

And looking at my early team I can’t see a single navy blue jumper. Bring on round 1.

DEFENCE

Tom Stewart (Geel) $604,000

Jordan Dawson (Adel) $603,100

Nick Daicos (Coll) $502,500

Elliot Yeo (WC) $337,000

Conor McKenna (Bris) $167,500

Campbell Chesser (WC) $123,900 DEF-MID

Charlie Dean (Coll) $123,900

Rhett Montgomerie (Ess) $102,400

How many of the five $600k-plus defenders can you start? I’ve gone with the two with the most lucrative roles in their respective teams, plus Nick Daicos, who is a freak and primed to become a regular 100-plus scorer in his second season. Yeo is clearly a huge injury risk – he has managed 10, 12 and five games in the past three seasons – but he’s hugely underpriced for a guy who averaged 100-plus three years in a row from 2017-19 and is reportedly training the house down with the Eagles midfield. McKenna will be in every team if he’s in the Lions’ best 22. All the rookies are placeholders at this stage but Montgomerie is a 23-year-old intercept defender from the SANFL, which has produced the likes of Callum Wilkie and Tom Highmore in recent years.

MIDFIELD

Clayton Oliver (Melb) $699,800

Touk Miller (GC) $662,400

Marcus Bontempelli (WB) $639,500

Noah Anderson (GC) $552,900

Jacob Hopper (Rich) $332,000

Will Ashcroft (Bris) $202,800

Will Phillips (NM) $158,300

Josh Sinn (Port) $123,900 MID-FWD

Connor Blakely (GC) $123,900

Oskar Baker (WB) $123,900

Joe Richards (Coll) $117,300 MID-FWD

I don’t think I can afford Rory Laird and Clayton Oliver and I’ve got with Oliver just because of his longer record of elite scoring, and some possible extra points roving to Max Gawn and Brodie Grundy. Bontempelli was hampered by injury last year and should get more midfield time without Josh Dunkley, while my fourth midfield spot is currently reserved for a value breakout pick. There are some great options this year including Luke Davies-Uniacke, Tom Green and a cut-price Tom Mitchell, but I’ve gone with Suns young gun Noah Anderson. Taken at No.2 in the 2019 draft after Matt Rowell, he’s ready to explode past his teammate in KFC SuperCoach after averaging 110 last year after Gold Coast’s bye. Hopper picks himself, Ashcroft’s junior numbers rival Daicos’s and former No.3 draft pick Will Phillips is due a change of luck after being struck down last year by Covid and two bouts of glandular fever. See my earlier note re rookies but I was very interested in Ken Hinkley’s comments about second-year youngster Josh Sinn being a leading candidate to take the wing spot vacated by Karl Amon at the Power.

RUCK

Tim English (WB) $581,000

Darcy Cameron (Coll) $465,900 RUC-FWD

Nicholas Madden (GWS) $102,400 RUC-FWD

Who knows! English was a great scorer last year and should get even better after Stef Martin’s retirement while Cameron’s price factors in the first six rounds of last year when he was understudy to Brodie Grundy – he averaged 96.5 after that. I’ve had versions of my team with Grundy and Rowan Marshall in these spots, and I’m expecting one of them will come in at some stage and Cameron can move to the forward line, but with so much up in the air it’s hard to commit to starting them.

FORWARD

Josh Dunkley (Bris) $596,400 MID-FWD

Stephen Coniglio (GWS) $557,700 MID-FWD

Tim Taranto (Rich) $503,100 MID-FWD

Nat Fyfe (Frem) $313,600 MID-FWD

Toby McLean (WB) $178,900 MID-FWD

Josh Bruce (WB) $161,200

Fergus Greene (Haw) $123,900

Blake Drury (NM) $102,400

Dunkley is a no-brainer and if you can’t pick Fyfe in January, when can you pick him? We can worry about injury problems later, for now just enjoy seeing him sitting at F4. McLean will feature in most teams as a potential 90-plus scorer for under $200k and I’m hoping Bruce can win a spot back in the Dogs’ 22 as a defender, where he has been training and could score OK. Coniglio will be much more of a unique pick this year than he was in 2022, but I can’t see his scoring going down especially with the departure of Hopper and Taranto opening up more midfield opportunities. Greene is another mature-age cheapie to watch – he booted 78 goals in the past two years for Box Hill in the VFL and could fill Jack Gunston’s old spot.

Of course, this team is subject to change before round 1, stay tuned to see how it evolves ... but I might screenshot it so I can revert to it when panic sets in!

THREE PLAYERS I WISH I COULD FIT IN

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Tim Michell

Zak Butters ($529,400 MID/FWD) – Drove me nuts early last year but finished the season with six straight 100-plus scores including three over 120. This could be the year of the big Butters breakout. But how many of the top-line DPP forwards can we start?

Jack Macrae ($634,400 MID) – Potentially underpriced after posting his lowest average last year since 2018, and it was still 115. Could get an instant bump if he gets back in the centre square every week but Lachie Hunter’s departure makes me nervous Bevo will persist with the Macrae wing experiment.

Ben Cunnington ($419,000 MID/FWD) – I know some SuperCoaches were hoping he would be cheaper but he could still be an easy stepping stone to a forward premium. Clarko has a lot of talented young midfielders at his disposal but Cunners will still be the general in there.

Originally published as KFC SuperCoach 2023: Expert Al Paton reveals his first team