AFL captains reveal who to pick and who to avoid in KFC SuperCoach for the 2020 season
We grilled AFL captains on the best KFC SuperCoach picks at their clubs and who to avoid. Then they had the chance to throw teammates under the bus, and they didn’t hold back. See the hilarious responses.
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Round 1 is just around the corner and that means some big, and final, KFC SuperCoach decisions need to be made.
Which premium players will you pick in the midfield? How many premos in defence? And most importantly, which rookies and mid-pricers are going to make the final cut?
We surveyed a selection of the AFL’s biggest names to find out who SuperCoach players should pick from their club, who we should avoid and who the they would pick first if they were selecting a team for season 2020.
Get the lowdown on clubs including Collingwood, Essendon, Brisbane and Gold Coast.
WHICH PLAYER SHOULD WE PICK FROM YOUR CLUB?
SCOTT PENDLEBURY (Collingwood): Jordan De Goey because he’s fit, healthy and will kick a lot of goals.
DYSON HEPPELL (Essendon): Darcy Parish, I reckon he’ll have a massive year. He’s been huge (this pre-season), he hasn’t missed a beat – only maybe a week back in December for a niggle but apart from that he’s been smooth sailing.
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MAX GAWN (Melbourne): Luke Jackson if you’re ready to put the money in but he’s a pretty expensive young kid. Christian Petracca – I’m sure everyone has got him. He’s been a half forward flanker for seven years but he’s about to play in the middle, so surely that’s going to increase him.
DAYNE ZORKO (Brisbane): For a premium I’m going with Jarryd Lyons for a couple of reasons – he’s a goalkicking mid, which obviously scores more, he tackles and he just seems to find the ball. I think if he doesn’t find his disposals he finds his tackles and goals and if he doesn’t find his tackles and goals, he’ll find his disposals.
Young guns coming through either Brandon Starcevich or Zac Bailey – I think they’ll average 70-90 (points), which at their price I think is pretty good. I’m not the coach (laughs) but if I was picking the team I’d have him (Starcevich) in there – he’s got a lot of x-factor, he’s probably just low on confidence and I reckon if he can get that at the top level, I think we’ll really see him go to another level. He’s got so much untapped talent that he’s got a really bright future.
DAVID SWALLOW (Gold Coast): I know draft picks are a bit cheaper so probably Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson and also Connor Budarick. They’ll all play early and their prices should go up. I’d say Matt and Noah especially (will get a lot of the ball), playing in the midfield.
STEPHEN CONIGLIO (GWS): Harry Perryman – I just want to give you someone that isn’t Josh Kelly, Toby Greene or Jeremy Cameron. He’s had a really good pre-season and had some good form last year.
WHO SHOULD WE AVOID FROM YOUR CLUB?
SCOTT PENDLEBURY (Collingwood): I don’t know, that’s a great question. Any guys that get injured – that’s a good sitting on the fence answer, isn’t it? (laughs)
DYSON HEPPELL (Essendon): I don’t know, the boys are pretty solid. I reckon we’re going to have all-round decent scores.
MAX GAWN (Melbourne): I’m very overpriced this year (laughs). Nah, who’s injury prone? They’re never good. Actually, I’m tipping Bayley Fritsch to win the Coleman but I don’t think he’ll score well SuperCoach-wise – he’s five kicks, five goals. What’s that? 60 or 70 points? So maybe him.
DAYNE ZORKO (Brisbane): Someone like a Harris Andrews or Darcy Gardiner, those defenders that pretty much intercept mark and spoil the ball and we’d prefer them to handpass instead of kick. Then you’ve got Eric (Hipwood) and Dan McStay who, on their day, can kick five or six and score you 150 (points) and other days they’ll just do the team thing and the fans won’t know that and they’ll only score 60 but be so valuable for us in a win.
DAVID SWALLOW (Gold Coast): I’m not sure – key backman normally struggle so maybe Sam Collins or Caleb Graham, I’d probably steer clear of them.
STEPHEN CONIGLIO (GWS): Shane Mumford you should avoid. Actually, you get a kick for kicking out so maybe you should look at Heath Shaw again but Sam Jacobs might prove a few headaches for Shane Mumford this year.
WHO AT YOUR CLUB WOULD PICK THEMSELVES IN THEIR SUPERCOACH TEAM?
SCOTT PENDLEBURY (Collingwood): It’d probably be easier to say who wouldn’t because there’d be that many blokes who’d pick themselves. But who would? Brodie Grundy would – yeah for sure and probably rightly so.
DYSON HEPPELL (Essendon): Mason Redman for sure, he’s throwing himself in.
MAX GAWN (Melbourne): ‘Trac (Petracca) is captain I’m pretty sure, I’m pretty sure he made himself captain of his own team. 38 (disposals) and three (goals) – he’s still talking. He likes to be called ‘CP5’ around the club based after ‘CP3’, which is an American basketballer, I don’t know his name, so he’s changed his name to CP38&3 for the last three weeks (laughs).
DAYNE ZORKO (Brisbane): I think most of them would. I know Lachie (Neale) would … sorry Lach. I think Stefan Martin would as well. I’d probably pick myself because I know what I can bring to the team, which is great (laughs).
DAVID SWALLOW (Gold Coast): Brandon Ellis without a doubt.
STEPHEN CONIGLIO (GWS): Shane Mumford (laughs). ‘Shawry’ would have himself as captain.
IF YOU HAD A SUPERCOACH TEAM, WHO WOULD YOU PICK FIRST?
SCOTT PENDLEBURY (Collingwood): Patrick Cripps. He’s a very good player.
DYSON HEPPELL (Essendon): Zach Merrett. He racks up big scores I reckon, he knows how to find the footy, tackles hard and he’s a bit of an all-rounder.
MAX GAWN (Melbourne): You’ve got to set and forget with the rucks, don’t you. I think I’d pick Brodie (Grundy). He hasn’t missed a game in six years so you’d almost back that in, I’ll go Brodie.
DAYNE ZORKO (Brisbane): Good question because we have had this discussion. I’m a person who likes to get a lot of dual position players … (also) someone who constantly scores high, probably Stephen Coniglio. He just finds the ball, he lays his tackles as well which is important and he’s a goalkicking mid.
DAVID SWALLOW (Gold Coast): Probably Tom Mitchell. He finds so much of the ball.
STEPHEN CONIGLIO (GWS): Really good question. I’d choose Toby (Greene).
WHICH YOUNG PLAYER AT YOUR CLUB COULD BE SET FOR A BREAKOUT SEASON?
SCOTT PENDLEBURY (Collingwood): Cal Brown. I think he’s in his fourth year and has played predominantly as a small forward but I think he’ll get more midfield time this year. He was drafted as a midfielder and will get back to playing midfield, which I think means more involvement in the game, more tackles and get the ball a bit more. I reckon he’ll have a breakout (season).
DYSON HEPPELL (Essendon): One to look out for is Jordan Ridley. He’s shown great promise over this pre-season and is developing really well.
MAX GAWN (Melbourne): Kade Chandler. There seems to be maybe a spot as a small half forward in our team at the moment, hence why ‘Kozzie’s’ (Kysaiah Pickett) name has been thrown around and Charlie Spargo, Alex Neal-Bullen, they’re all there but Kade Chandler is one as well. Although he’s had a sore arm the last couple of weeks, he’s playing some good footy.
DAYNE ZORKO (Brisbane): Bailey and Starcevich are probably the two.
DAVID SWALLOW (Gold Coast): Obviously Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson will look to play a lot of footy this year and Izak Rankine who we haven’t seen play yet but really excited to see what he can do. ‘Ranks’ will play – he’s had a little shoulder niggle but he’ll be right to go for Round 1.
Not sure if it’s a breakout year but even Darcy MacPherson. His pre-season form looks like it’s continuing on from last year, so might see him go to another level again.
STEPHEN CONIGLIO (GWS): Tom Green or Lachie Ash. Tim Taranto has obviously gone down with an injury and there’s a spot there in the midfield so I’d say Tom Green. I like the fact he’s a tall midfielder, which we don’t really have. You look across the board at (Marcus) Bontempelli, (Nat) Fyfe, (Patrick) Cripps, we don’t really have that type of player, someone who’s taller, a bit stronger and can give me the ball (laughs).
I actually do (think Green and Ash will play regularly). There’s usually one, not two, for us in particular, there used to be three or four playing straight away, but those two have just really impressed. It’s almost like they’ve been around for a couple of years. Really impressive.
WHICH YOUNG PLAYERS/DRAFTEES AT YOUR CLUB ARE IN THE MIX FOR ROUND 1?
SCOTT PENDLEBURY (Collingwood): We’ve probably got a couple of guys but Jay Rantall and Darcy Cameron, who we got from Sydney … both will be in the mix pretty early to play. Their ability to come in and play how we want to play, it’s one of the harder challenges to pick up a new game plan pretty quickly, but both those guys have done that and Darcy played really well in that Marsh game versus Richmond but missed out on the weekend because ‘Brodes’ was back but he’s impressed a lot. They’ll both be ready if needed.
DYSON HEPPELL (Essendon): I reckon you’ll see the likes of Irving Mosquito play throughout the year and someone like Ned Cahill – it’s his first year at the club this year but he’s a livewire as a small half forward who’ll be able to impact games. Brandon Zerk-Thatcher – he’ll score well but maybe we’ll make sure he marks the ball (instead of spoil) so he scores more points. I hope to see him playing a lot of footy for sure.
MAX GAWN (Melbourne): Jackson will be around the mark, ‘Kozzie’ will be around the mark …
DAYNE ZORKO (Brisbane): Deven Robertson is certainly in the mix and Thomas Berry is another one who had a fantastic game in our reserves last weekend. He’s a small pressure forward who lays tackles, he’s very fast and very, very tough. I feel like those two are probably the frontrunners at the moment if there was a spot available.
DAVID SWALLOW (Gold Coast): I’d say most of them would be. ‘Ranks’ will play, Matt (Rowell) and Noah (Anderson) will play and probably one to keep an eye on is Connor Budarick, he might be a bit of a bolter for SuperCoach.
STEPHEN CONIGLIO (GWS): Jackson Hately is in really good form and Lachie Ash will be right there putting his hand up and Jye Caldwell. All those guys are in the mix.
SHOULD SUPERCOACH PLAYERS PICK YOU?
SCOTT PENDLEBURY (Collingwood): No (laughs) because then I’ll get a lot less questions on social media about score more points or whatever. So don’t pick me.
DYSON HEPPELL (Essendon): Absolutely! Maybe not quite yet because I’ll miss the early part of the year but I’ll be back in there cracking in and will hit the ground running.
MAX GAWN (Melbourne): Jury is out this year I think. I don’t know, I’m a big Grundy fan and there’s some other very good rucks in (Rowan) Marshall, (Todd) Goldstein, Riley O’Brien and Stef Martin – I’m a big Stef Martin man. Who knows.
DAVID SWALLOW (Gold Coast): I’d say yes (laughs) but I don’t know what my scoring prowess is like. I’m probably cheap.
STEPHEN CONIGLIO (GWS): You should. Get him in there. He’ll help your final score (laughs).
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Originally published as AFL captains reveal who to pick and who to avoid in KFC SuperCoach for the 2020 season
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