KFC SuperCoach 2023: Early rookie bible and cheapie analysis
It's never too early for rookie research. which young guns will we be filling our KFC SuperCoach teams with next year? Here’s 15 to add to your watchlist.
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It’s never too early for KFC SuperCoach research.
The 2022 campaign has only just finished but already cheapies are putting their hand up for selection in our round 1 sides in 2023.
Whether they be draftees tearing it up, youngsters on the cusp of a debut or untried guns impacted by injury, there’s a host of options in the mix.
Rookies are the the building blocks of KFC SuperCoach, allowing you to upgrade your team as quick as possible and fill your team with premiums from the very start.
And they can even end up being keepers — as Collingwood Rising Star winner Nick Daicos turned out to be this year.
In the third edition of our (very early) pre-season series, we bring you 15 rookies to put on your watchlist.
Will Ashcroft (Brisbane)
SC Ave 2022: 130 (VFL), 166 (U18 Champs), 159 (NAB League)
It’s one thing to average more than 150-points at under-18 level, but his 130-point average from his three matches against seasoned bodies in the VFL is simply ridiculous for a player who is yet to be drafted. The Lions father-son has scored 119-points or more in all but one of his 17 matches – the first of the season – and was the No.1 ranked KFC SuperCoach scorer at the national championships and in the NAB League. Ashcroft would step straight into any AFL team next year – even the Lions who have a fairly settled centre-bounce set-up. The Nick Daicos of SuperCoach 2023 — but he won’t come cheap.
Darcy Wilmot (Brisbane)
SC Ave 2022: 56.5 (AFL), 83 (VFL)
KFC SuperCoaches will receive a nice gift in defence next season with Wilmot rookie price-tag remaining intact after making his AFL debut in the finals series, rather than round 23 (g’day Ross Lyon if you’re reading). The exciting playmaker has fitted in seamlessly in important finals wins, finsihing with promising scores of 52 and 61, looming as a round 1 starter in 2023. These totals have come from 11 and 15 disposals respectively, showcasing the running defender’s ability to reach solid on-field scores from limited possessions.
Campbell Chesser (West Coast)
SC Ave 2022: DNP
Chesser was a round 1 lock in KFC SuperCoach last pre-season before succumbing to a foot injury in a practice match. But he will be even better value this time around, with the blow set to see him price dip from the inflated $148,800 he started at this year. The Eagles will be eager to pump games into youngsters next year and the blistering defender should be a regular across halfback.
George Wardlaw
SC Ave 2022: 125 (NAB League)
He has been sidelined for most of the year, but Wardlaw has proved the main challenger to Will Ashcroft to be the first name read out on draft night. Wardlaw is an elite contested ball-winner, a fierce tackler and has been likened to Clayton Oliver. That comparison alone should be enough to put him on your 2023 watch-list.
Mattaes Phillipou MID-FWD
SC Ave 2022: 144 (SANFL U18s), 102 (U18CH), 83 (SANFL Reserves)
The top-10 pick contender models his game on Marcus Bontempelli – and he’s put together a junior career full of scores similar to the Bulldogs skipper. Phillipou, a tall, goalkicking midfielder, averaged 129 points across 25 SANFL under-18 games over the past two years and scored 181, on the back of 23 disposals, 16 contested possessions and two goals, in the national carnival opener in 2022.
Elijah Tsatas MID
SC Ave 2022: 149 (NAB League)
The breakaway speed and game-changing qualities of Tsatas will put him in the frame for senior action in his debut season at whichever club snaps him up the pointy-end of the draft. And his scores of 102, 154, 165, 126, 161 and 186 in an injury-interrupted NAB League season put him firmly on the KFC SuperCoach radar.
Mitch Szybkowski
SC Ave 2022: 120 (U18 Champs), 116 (NAB Leagie)
The other potential draftees on this list are likely to be expensive, but Szybwkoski looks to be in the mid-first round to second round range - and the further he slides, the cheaper he will be for coaches. Szybkowski ranked fifth at the national carnival for KFC SuperCoach points and equal second for disposals, with his ball-winning and ready-made frame as a midfielder giving him the capacity to push for senior selection next year.
Josh Sinn (Port Adelaide) DEF-MID
SC Ave 2022: 24 (AFL), 35 (SANFL)
Port Adelaide’s first pick from last year’s draft scored just 24 KFC SuperCoach points in his one and only game in an injury-ravaged 2022 – but that’s good news for his price next year. He was a surprise early-season debutant, before a groin injury marred most of his season, on the back of Port’s need for Sinn’s speed and line-breaking run. And, with a full pre-season, it’s likely to be a similar story in 2023.
Lachie Cowan
SC Ave 2022: 141 (NAB League), 100 (U18 Champs)
Running defenders are generally consistent rookie scorers in KFC SuperCoach, and Cowan’s dash and penetrating kick mean his teammates are always looking for him. The Morrish medallist loves to use his footskills, recording a kick to handball ratio of three in the NAB League, and post SuperCoach tons in all 12 of his matches. A kick-in pig of the future.
Ned Moyle (Gold Coast)
SC Ave 2022: 111 (VFL)
Moyle is the heir to Jarrod Witts’ thrown and if the 2022 breakout performer goes down, as he has in previous seasons, expect the talented young ruckman to fill his place. The 2021 mid-season draftee posted impressive numbers in the VFL this season, averaging 111 KFC SuperCoach points, 39.1 hitouts, 14 disposals and 5.4 clearances per game, proving that he is capable of stepping up to the plate at senior level. Turning 21 next year, Moyle shapes as the one of the better cheap rucks on offer, but he remains behind Witts in the queue.
Charlie Dean (Collingwood) DEF
SC Ave 2022: 60 (VFL)
SC Ave 2021: 85 (VFL)
The mature-age recruit was the great KFC SuperCoach rookie hope last summer, before a pre-season foot injury dashed the hopes of a Round 1 debut, before wiping out most of his season. But the 21-year-old Fothergill-Round-Mitchell Medalist is an intercept star, who will be ready to fill a hole in Collingwood’s backline, providing he gets his body right.
Jacob van Rooyen (Melbourne)
SC Ave 2022: 87 (VFL)
The swingman settled in attack at VFL level for the Demons in his first season, where has kicked 36 goals from 17 matches. And his form as a marking tall in the back-half of the year has put him in the mix for a round 1 debut next year, averaging 98.5 points and slotting 19 majors from his last eight games. Key forwards generally aren’t our friends in SuperCoach, but we may not have the embarrassment of riches with forward rookies that we did this year.
Mitch Szybwkowski
Zac Taylor (Adelaide) MID
SC Ave 2021: 82 (SANFL)
SC Ave 2021: 126 (NAB League)
The young Crow’s KFC SuperCoach potential was on show during his draft year, with the skilful midfielder averaging 159 points in his final four NAB League matches. And he could get a chance to put it on show at senior level in 2023, after an impressive finish to this season in the SANFL. Taylor averaged 98 points in his last eight matches of the year, impressing with his composure during the finals series.
Brett Turner (Adelaide) MID
SC Ave 2022: 99 (SANFL)
SC Ave 2021: 114 (SANFL)
After posting scores of 154 and 184 in the opening month of the SANFL season for Glenelg, Turner was picked by the Crows in the mid-season draft. But he arrived at the club injured and didn’t get his chance at senior level. That could change if he receives a new contract, however, after the strong-bodied midfielder averaged 26 disposals, 16 contested possessions, 11 tackles, nine clearances and 121 points in the final three games, to be the club’s best player in the state league finals.
Adam D’Aloia MID
SC Ave 2022: 150 (SANFL U18s), 133 (U18CH), 124 (SANFL Reserves)
These are D’Aloia’s SuperCoach scores at junior level this year: 135, 156, 118, 148, 118, 188, 200, 141, 112, 148, 143 and 130 – the last four coming at national under-18 carnival. Add to that eight scores of 100 or more in his 10 SANFL under-18 games as a bottom-ager in 2021, and tallies of 112, 172, 196 and 138 in his seven reserves matches for the Eagles this year, and it’s a pretty impressive resume. He just needs to final an AFL home now – KFC SuperCoaches should watch with fingers crossed.
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