Herald Sun experts reveal their starting 2020 KFC SuperCoach squads
Max Gawn or Tim Kelly? Patrick Dangerfield or Lachie Neale? Herald Sun footy writers Gilbert Gardiner and Tim Michell have taken very different approaches to SuperCoach in 2020. Who will come out on top?
Supercoach
Don't miss out on the headlines from Supercoach. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- SuperCoach is back! See the most popular 2020 picks
- Love footy? Why it’s good to subscribe to the Herald Sun
SuperCoaches, start your engines.
The biggest and best fantasy sports game in the land is about to take off for 2020, and Herald Sun reporters — and made keen KFC SuperCoach players — Gilbert Gardiner and Tim Michell have already selected squads.
They’ve both picked Sam Docherty, Marlion Pickett and Jack Steven ... and that’s about where the similarities end.
Who will end up on top at the end of the season?
Gilbert Gardiner: Hey Tim, got a team name yet? I’ve had a glance at what you’ve come up with and if not, I think something along the lines of Marvellous Mediocrity would fit nicely.
Tim Michell: Well, Happy New SuperCoach Year to you too, Gil! I thought you might have come to your senses by now and moved on from your golden child Todd Goldstein, but clearly your attachment to the North Melbourne big man remains. This is your first warning to pick Max Gawn.
Stream over 50 sports Live & On-Demand with KAYO SPORTS on your TV, computer, mobile or tablet. Just $25/month, no lock-in contract. Get your 14-day free trial and start streaming instantly >
Gilbert: Don’t try and deflect from your team Tim. It’s Risk City population 30, Timmy boy. From Byrne-Jones, Dawson, Docherty and Doedee to Rowell, Steven, Smith and Bonar, if it works might as well send your BSB and account number to News Corp’s competition department and wait for the $50k.
Tim: No deflecting here, Gil. I’m happy to own my mistakes, of which there were a few in 2019. No Shannon Hurn was a huge blunder I won’t make again, as was starting without Nat Fyfe. I notice you don’t have the Brownlow medallist. What’s the thinking there? Just keen to give the competition a huge head start?
Gilbert: Green shoots, Tim. Green shoots. A familiar refrain for you and your Bluebagger types. Fyfe has been a tremendous SuperCoach servant for many years now, but all good things in moderation as the phys-edders say. It’s why I’ve led off with Neale, Kelly, Cripps and Kelly. In actual fact, I might box them up to trifecta the 2020 Brownlow.
Tim: The Kelly-Kelly combo interests me. You’ve got one who has had his fair share of soft-tissue trouble and another who arrives at a new club without FWD-MID status. You’re clearly thinking Tim Kelly is going to another level out west.
MORE SUPERCOACH NEWS:
Which player at your club could emerge as a SuperCoach star in 2020?
KFC SuperCoach 2020: The Phantom’s must have player in each position for 2020
SuperCoach rich list: The most expensive player at your club
Gold Coast tipped to be one of the most relevant SuperCoach sides in 2020
Gilbert: Kelly-Kelly could be a captain-vice-captain combo in Round 1, that’s how confident I them. Josh is ready to explode again, while Tim went within a whisker of the Brownlow last season without a genuine No.1 ruckman to feed off. The Nic Nat-Kelly combo will be the modern day caught-Marsh-bowled-Lillee. It’s just twigged why your team is full of risks. You’ve spent all summer doing a wonderful job with SuperCoach BBL and forgotten where your bread’s buttered.
Tim: It certainly has been a frenetic summer of cricket and although I tried to pick Marcus Stoinis in my first AFL team, I think the mindset has almost shifted into footy mode.
Gilbert: I must admit, the one selection I do like of yours is Josh Dunkley. Surprised a few, including yours truly, last year, and I might have to work out a way to get the pup in my team. Just on your question about the ageless Todd Goldstein, his selection boils down to TPP (Total Player Payments) mate, not allegiances.
Tim: The compliment is much appreciated, but you’re not lulling me into a sense of false security, Gil. In the interests of pre-season kindness though, I’m happy to concede I love your selection of possible bolter Ollie Florent.
Gilbert: OK, Tim, let’s put reputations on the line. Which player do you plan sticking fat with all season and who’s most at risk of being the first one traded out? I’ll start. Lachie Whitfield, fitness permitting, could be the No.1 scorer in SuperCoach in 2020. There, I said it. On the flip side, I’m crossing fingers and toes Jack Steven gets off to a flying start at the Cattery because I don’t think the selection committee will stomach 60s and 70s. It’s 90s or bust.
Tim: We finally agree on something with Whitfield, who is a certainty to be the No.1 forward of 2020. Last warning on not starting with the Grundy-Gawn combination too, as they’ll be hundreds of points ahead of any other ruckmen come season’s end. As for the player most at risk of getting the chop early? Dustin Martin suffered that fate last season and if he doesn’t open 2020 well, I’ll be looking for points of difference up forward.
SUPERCOACH SUMMER FORMGUIDES: Essendon | Hawthorn | Carlton | Collingwood | Western Bulldogs | Richmond | Geelong | St Kilda | Sydney | Brisbane Lions | West Coast | Fremantle | Melbourne | GWS Giants | Adelaide | North Melbourne | Port Adelaide | Gold Coast