KFC SuperCoach 2023: Expert Al Paton reveals his updated team

KFC SuperCoach expert Al Paton saw three paths to follow after the Elliot Yeo injury bombshell. And he’s putting his faith in a proven superstar. SEE HIS REVISED TEAM

I had rarely felt so calm entering a KFC SuperCoach season.

As friends and colleagues chopped and changed their teams I was happy with the line-up I made public a few days ago and was ready to hit round 1 (pending late bench changes).

So much for that.

News on Wednesday that Elliot Yeo would miss round 1 (and probably more) threw a hand grenade into the KFC SuperCoach world, and blew my carefully crafted plans to smithereens.

I confess I was up way later than I should have been last night trying different versions of my team without Yeo. I even found myself looking up stats for players like Liam Stocker and Mitch Owens. But in the end I came back to the KISS principle – keep it simple, stupid.

When you have a guy who has averaged 100-plus nine years in a row – including three seasons over 120 – available at an absolute bargain price and in the forward line, you just pick him.

Here’s how I landed on the solution for my team – and some other possible paths for yours.

I can see three possible solutions to the Yeo situation:

1. Straight mid-price swap – replace Yeo with someone of a similar price in defence. This preserves your team structure, the only problem is there really isn’t anyone in that price range I trust down back. The best option anywhere close is Liam Jones at $228k, but I had him already.

2. Go up – Replace Yeo with another defensive premium – one of the $600k-plus stars or a $500k prospect like Jordan Ridley or Nick Daicos. You would have to find at least $170,000 to make it happen, but I would recommend this move if you had Yeo as your D2 (second most-expensive defender). I had Yeo at D3 behind two big dogs in James Sicily and Sam Docherty and, as much as I like the look of Tom Stewart next to them, I don’t want to pull apart the rest of my team to make it happen.

Three rookies on field down back doesn’t look too bad with Charlie Constable, Reuben Ginbey and Conor McKenna all showing decent scoring potential (in theory, anyway) and the likes of Lachie Cowan and Darcy Wilmot solid bench picks.

Al Paton’s newest KFC SuperCoach recruit. Picture: AAP Image/Richard Wainwright

2. Go down – Replace Yeo with a rookie – someone from the list above you don’t have – and use the money to turn a rookie to a mid-pricer in another line. That could turn a midfield bench cheapie like Campbell Chesser into James Worpel, Will Setterfield or Finn Callaghan – all pretty appealing. But it would push one of my high-priced mid rooks like Will Phillips or Cam Mackenzie to the bench, and I like the dual-position link Chesser gives me.

Up forward there are also good options in the Yeo price range, and this is where I’m most worried about starting a cheapie on field. Jack Ziebell or Tanner Bruhn are possibilities, along with Sam Flanders (who I had already). But Nat Fyfe is the man for me.

His forward role is a slight concern, as is his less than stellar durability. But Fremantle’s early fixture is too good to ignore. The Dockers face a depleted St Kilda, North Melbourne, West Coast, Adelaide and Gold Coast in their first five rounds.

Fyfe is built for KFC SuperCoach scoring – he wins his own footy and everything he does has an impact, especially close to goal. Give me half a dozen games Nat then we can shake hands and you can become Max Gawn or Christian Petracca when they get forward status.

Another positive of this move is it left a bit of cash in the bank to turn another sketchy forward cheapie into Esava Ratugolea. It’s a bit to pay for a guy I’m likely to start on the bench but I can breathe easier knowing I have some kind of cover if one of my starting rucks strikes injury trouble. Based on last season, that will happen sooner rather than later!

 

DEFENCE

James Sicily (Haw) $624,700

Sam Docherty (Carl) $603,600

Liam Jones (WB) $228,100

Reuben Ginbey (WC) $171,300 DEF/MID

Conor McKenna (Bris) $167,500

Charlie Constable (GC) $123,900

Bench: Darcy Wilmot (Bris) $123,900, Lachie Cowan (Carl)$117,300

It’s a rookie-heavy defence but that’s where the best cheapies are this year. Hopefully all these guys score well enough to make us some money and keep their places in their respective teams!

Liam Jones has gone from negligible ownership to featuring in almost 40 per cent of teams. How’s that for a career resurrection.

Could I run this defence in #supercoach? pic.twitter.com/G04U8xFRgh

— Al Paton (@al_superfooty) March 9, 2023

MIDFIELD

Rory Laird (Adel) $703,900

Marcus Bontempelli (WB) $639,500

Josh Kelly (GWS) $582,300

Tom Green (GWS) $534,600

Jacob Hopper (Rich) $332,000

Will Ashcroft (Bris) $202,800

Cam Mackenzie (Haw) $180,300

Will Phillips (NM) $158,300

Bench: Oskar Baker (WB) $123,900, Campbell Chesser (WC) $123,900 MID/DEF, Alwyn Davey Jr (Ess) $117,300 MID/FWD

No changes here! Rory Laird might get a little bit cheaper at some point but I’m happy to take the hit and bank the points from day one. Marcus Bontempelli hasn’t left my side since KFC SuperCoach opened. With the Dogs playing a land of the giants forward line, he can return to the midfield and collect more points, with a licence to drift forward for a trademark matchwinning play.

I had Clayton Oliver for weeks but talk he could spend a little more time outside the centre square gave me an excuse to pick Josh Kelly and save more than $100k. Kelly is a known risk given his history of missing games with soft-tissue injuries, but he also offers massive potential upside. From 2017-2020 he averaged between 114 and 117 every year, with that figure dipping to 107 and 106 in the past two seasons. But Kelly attended under 50 per cent of centre bounces in those years as Leon Cameron used him on a wing or even at half-forward. With Jacob Hopper and Tim Taranto gone and Adam Kingsley in the coaches box, it looks like Kelly, Tom Green and Stephen Coniglio are the big three in the middle for GWS, and a surge in CBAs could generate a big spike in Kelly’s KFC SuperCoach output. It’s a small sample size, but he attended 76 per cent against Gold Coast last weekend (the most for the Giants) and scored 138.

Also, GWS has a good early fixture and he’s the best player I can afford.

Josh Kelly has the potential to be an elite KFC SuperCoach midfielder. Picture: Jason McCawley/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

RUCK

Sam Darcy (Frem) $562,200

Rowan Marshall (StK) $506,500

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

Sticking to my guns here, with some insurance on the forward bench thanks to Madden’s DPP link.

Darcy didn’t have Luke Jackson in the team when he powered his way to 127 KFC SuperCoach points against Port Adelaide, but the Dockers’ prize recruit could be eased into the season after suffering concussion and I don’t think he’ll eat too much into Darcy’s ruck time, anyway.

Marshall has been locked in for a while and I threw away the key after he destroyed the Bombers last weekend.

I’m looking forward to barracking for new Tiger Tim Taranto on Thursday night. Picture: Michael Klein

FORWARD

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

Connor Rozee (Port) $513,800 MID-FWD

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

Errol Gulden (Syd) $472,000

Sam Flanders (GC) $256,300 MID-FWD

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

Bench: Fergus Greene (Haw) $123,900, Esava Ratugolea (Geel) $174,000

Fyfe is the big inclusion here at the expense of Toby McLean, who I do like but might not reach the heights were were hoping given he appears to be stuck in a forward-only role at the Bulldogs.

I was also able to upgrade Kade Chandler to Ratugolea. I’m not expecting big scores from Esava but he should be able to tick up in price and give me some peace of mind in the form of ruck coverage – I can swing Nick Madden forward and Ratugolea into the ruck if Marshall or Darcy miss a week (which they probably will at some stage).

He also offers extra loophole fun, giving me a look at a score from Greene or Flanders if the Cats play later in the round.

My big three forwards are must-haves – Dunkley is a captaincy option with his huge scoring ceiling while Taranto and Rozee could both push 105 averages which makes them severely underpriced.

I’m on the Errol Gulden bandwagon after his immense pre-season – I don’t expect 45 touches every week, but I don’t expect him to go back to being a full-time forward pocket either after showing John Longmire what he can do in the middle of the ground. I’m hoping he can push three figures as well and be a keeper for $472k.

Flanders has been the talk of the pre-season at Gold Coast and even though the practice matches revealed he’s unlikely to bust into the Suns’ centre bounce rotation in a major way, they also showed he doesn’t have to do that to score well. I’m confident he can at least average 70 and make me $150k.

How Al Paton's KFC SuperCoach team looks without Elliot Yeo.

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