SuperCoach Plus: 11 things you need to know for round 20 of the 2023 AFL season
Lift the lid on the best interceptors in the game and who steps up when it matters most. Plus an eye-popping Tim Taranto stat and this week’s best captain options.
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The overall rankings race is tightening up and KFC SuperCoach league finals are just around the corner.
It’s time to find an extra gear in the push to the fantasy finish line.
And SuperCoach Plus can help.
SuperCoach Plus subscribers can see score and price projections, Break Evens and live trade data every week. Plus exclusive weekly analysis articles just like this one!
Here are 11 nuggets to lift the lid on the KFC SuperCoach scoring system and help you make the best trade and captaincy calls for round 20.
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1. SICILY’S BACK
James Sicily rebounded from a down game against North Melbourne in massive style, racking up 171 KFC SuperCoach points against Richmond as he set up a one-man wall across half-back. Sicily took an equal AFL record 10 intercept marks, earning 57.8 points from that source alone. He won five more intercepts in general play and every one of his 19 kicks hit the target. Sicily lost $3500 in value despite his huge performance but looms as a fantastic point of difference for his 29,000 owners (15 per cent) over the final five rounds, starting this weekend against the Saints. He has a projected score of 147 after posting 172 against them in round 11.
2. INTERCEPT KINGS
Sicily wasn’t the only player who showed how important intercepts are to their teams, and KFC SuperCoach scores, in round 19. Gold Coast’s Sam Collins matched Sicily with 10 intercept marks against GWS, while Tom Stewart scored 31.5 points from six intercept marks against the Lions. Stewart now has a five-round average of 127.6 and hasn’t scored below 91 all season – if we take out his injury-affected 18 against Collingwood in round 1. Tiger Noah Balta leads the AFL for intercept marks this season with 76, ahead of Charlie Ballard and Darcy Moore.
3. FABULOUS BAKER BOY
Liam Baker’s versatility can be his undoing when it comes to KFC SuperCoach – one week he can pile on the points at half-back and the next he’s playing as a forward pocket. On Saturday he got the job done at both ends in one matchwinning passage of play. With two minutes left against the Hawks, Baker won the ball at half-back and started the last forward chain of the game, earning 7.2 points. A minute later, after receiving a handball and kicking long to the forward line, Baker was in the perfect spot to snare a Will Day spoil and snap on his left boot to put Richmond in front, an effective kick and goal that earned just over 20 points in total, a large chunk of his 84 points for the match.
4. MATCHWINNERS REWARDED
It was a thrilling round of footy with four games going right down to the wire – when KFC SuperCoach scoring comes into its own. The unique formula rewards players who stand up with the game on the line, and Jamie Elliott is no stranger to that situation. He scored 6.5 points for his lead mark in the dying moments against Port Adelaide, 11 points for his goal plus 5.2 points for the effective long kick. Meanwhile, Max Gawn had the chance to nail the coffin shut for Melbourne on Sunday when he marked within range with minutes left at the MCG, but his shot for goal sailed wide. He earned 5.7 points for the mark, zero points for the ineffective kick and 1.1 points for the behind – leaving a massive points boost on the table.
5. QUARTER MASTERS
Jack Steele’s entire last quarter against North Melbourne was one for the ages. He won 11 of his 33 disposals in the tense final term plus seven contested possessions, two intercepts, a goal assist and a long goal of his own that was worth 9.5 points, plus 4.7 points for the long effective kick. In total, he scored 71 of his 160 points in the final quarter. Steele’s price spiked by over $52,000 after his biggest score of the year and, after some battles in 2023, he now has a five-round average of 117.6. Taylor Walker also lifted when it mattered, kicking three goals and scoring 53 points in the last quarter against Melbourne.
6. MINUTE MEN
Jordan Ridley scored a season-high 138 points against the Bulldogs on Friday night, but it could have been a mammoth return after he was subbed out with injury early in the final quarter. To that point he had 29 disposals – 28 effective – and 14 marks (five intercepts), scoring at a rate of 1.72 points per minute – which adds up to 199 points over the full 116 minutes of the game (Ridley played 80 minutes). In terms of making a big impact in a short space of time, it’s hard to go past Richmond sub Matt Coulthard. In 37 minutes (31 per cent game time) he had seven disposals at 100 per cent efficiency, two tackles and three score involvements to score 40 KFC SuperCoach points – a scoring rate of 1.1 PPM that would have equated to 139 points if he kept it up across the full game. At the other end of the scale, Gold Coast rookie star Bailey Humphrey managed just 12 points from six disposals (one effective kick) in 87 minutes against GWS, scoring at a rate of 0.13 points per minute.
7. CLANGER KING
Tim Taranto was instrumental in Richmond’s win, with three goals to go with his 23 disposals. Unfortunately, his KFC SuperCoach score fell well short of where it could have been, with Taranto paying the price for a career-high 13 clangers. He leads the AFL in this stat for the season with 101, 15 more than Tim Kelly (86), with Stephen Coniglio and Christian Petracca next on 83. Taranto hit the target with five of his 14 kicks against Hawthorn for a kicking efficiency of 35.7 per cent, the fourth-worst on the field (ahead of Josh Weddle, Trent Cotchin and Jai Newcombe). Taranto lost a total of 38.8 points from negative acts, made up of clanger disposals, free kicks against and no-pressure errors. He remains the No.1 scoring forward in KFC SuperCoach this year with an average of 113.1, but his five-round average of 98.4 ranks ninth behind players including Sam Flanders (110.6), Charlie Curnow (109.4), Dustin Martin (110.4) and Ben Keays (99.4).
8. ENGLISH CLASS
Tim English posted his 11th score of 130-plus on Friday night with another standout performance against Essendon. The Bulldogs big man didn’t set records like the week before, with more modest tallies of 18 disposals, three marks and one tackle. He even lost the overall hitouts 51-35, but dominated hitouts to advantage, recording 15 to Andrew Phillips’ eight, Nick Bryan’s four and two to Peter Wright. English combined five times with Tom Liberatore, three each with Adam Treloar and Bailey Smith and twice with Marcus Bontempelli. His hitout to advantage rate of 45.5 per cent was ranked second for the round among players with more than three hitouts – behind Giant Kieren Briggs (52.2 per cent).
9. DC GOES LARGE
More than 4000 coaches traded out Darcy Cameron when he missed Collingwood’s round 18 match through injury. That decision came back to haunt them with Cameron returned against Port Adelaide and scored 135 points. With a disposal efficiency of 56 per cent, one mark and two tackles, Cameron compiled most of his points from contested possessions (12) and hitouts to advantage (20 – a career-high and the most of any player in round 19). He attended a mammoth 99 ruck contests, while Mason Cox featured in 28. The score continued the theme of Port Adelaide being the easiest team for rucks to score against in 2023, good news for owners of Reilly O’Brien this week, and Briggs in round 22.
10. ASHCROFT AGONY
Will Ashcroft suffered a devastating ACL injury in Brisbane’s win against Geelong, but he will go down as one of the stars of KFC SuperCoach 2023. After starting the season priced at $202,800, he averaged 84.5 points a game (101 at the Gabba) and came home strong with a five-round average of 95.8 before his knee gave way. His average of 22 disposals is the seventh-best recorded by Champion Data, with his total of 398 just nine fewer than Clayton Oliver in his first 18 matches. After spiking by $56,000 following round 3, Ashcroft enjoyed another 13 price rises across the season, suffering a small dip in rounds 14-15 but overall gaining $307,500 – the second-biggest profit of any player in the competition.
11. CAPTAINS CORNER
Sicily’s record against St Kilda – a team that has conceded more points to defenders than any other this season (on Sunday Harry Sheezel scored a career-high 126 against the Saints and Ben McKay posted 91, almost 30 above his season average) – makes him one of the standout captain options in round 20. But there some other great picks to choose from. Tom Stewart faces Fremantle, a team he had 40 disposals and 187 points against last year. English and Briggs face off in a fascinating ruck duel but Marcus Bontempelli could be the go-to man on Saturday afternoon. He scored 164 against GWS in round 8 and has dominated the Giants in the post-Matt de Boer era. Meanwhile, Max Gawn has an insane record against Richmond, averaging 137 in his past seven games against the Tigers. That run includes four scores over 140 with a low of 98 which came in round 6 when Brodie Grundy was also in the team (he scored 128 that night). Gawn is averaging 167.5 rucking solo over the past two rounds.
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