Tim Michell reveals his starting KFC SuperCoach AFL team for 2023

Like tens of thousands of KFC SuperCoaches, Tim Michell has been forced into a late reshuffle due to Elliot Yeo’s injury. See his three moves to overcome the late blow and full team here.

Let’s start with the late, late changes.

In – Brayshaw, McKenna, Young.

Out – Oliver, Yeo, Jones

In the frantic run to the finish line of KFC SuperCoach pre-season, I was always going to make a few changes.

In fact, Heath Shaw told me at the KFC SuperCoach launch he would be surprised if I didn’t change half my team by the first bounce on Thursday night.

As of Wednesday afternoon, I was confident I was settled on my squad of 30 for 2023.

Then the news broke of a calf injury which will keep Elliot Yeo out, for at least round 1.

The star Eagle was such a crucial piece of my defensive structure that I couldn’t replace him in one move alone.

I had to go back to the drawing board completely and work out where I was willing to sacrifice.

It meant reluctantly parting ways with Clayton Oliver, freeing up $84k to help turn Yeo into one of Jordan Ridley, Hayden Young and/or Nick Daicos.

The other cash came from parting with Liam Jones and putting new Lion Conor McKenna back into my defence.

I’m sure some coaches will be happy to roll with Jones at D3, but that’s a bit thin in defence for me.

Check out my updated team and player notes below.

Hayden Young is Tim Michell’s big defensive bolter.

DEFENCE

James Sicily — $624,700: Took one look at our KFC SuperCoach consensus ranks and wondered why I wasn’t picking Sicily if I had him ranked as the best defensive premium. He only costs $20k more than Stewart, Dawson and Docherty and is captain of a team that is going to be under the pump defensively most weeks. That means ample opportunity for intercept possessions and kick outs, which were the backbone of his average last season. I had to sacrifice Jordan Ridley to get to Sicily, but am happy to due to some concerns that Ridley might have to play as a key back at stages throughout the year.

Sam Docherty — $603,600: Ummed and aahed about which way to go and at one point in the past week I had Tom Stewart, Jordan Dawson and Docherty in my defence (I still might go that way!) There’s so little to split them that ultimately my heart won out and as a Blues fan, I want to be barracking for Docherty every week. Dawson and Stewart are great picks too, but with so many rookies in defence I only had room for one of the $600k premiums.

Hayden Young — $508,200: The question was whether to go up or down from Yeo and I settled on a slight upgrade (of $170k). To find the money to fund Yeo to Young I had to downgrade Clayton Oliver to Andy Brayshaw and Liam Jones to Conor McKenna. I feel Young is the safest bet of three very even options between $510k – including Jordan Ridley and Nick Daicos in that mix. Ridley is going to end up playing key back again at some stage, it’s just a matter of when. Daicos is going to be tagged, potentially 5-6 times in the first 10 rounds. The only downside is Young sharing kick-outs with Luke Ryan, but he doesn’t need those to score well. Plus, Freo’s early draw is very attractive.

Conor McKenna — $167,500: Would prefer to pay the extra $60k for Jones, considering he’s a lock in the best 22 at the Bulldogs and McKenna isn’t a certainty to play every week for Brisbane. But, I just don’t have the money to make it happen anymore after having to shuffle out Yeo. I wasn’t confident enough to go with Liam Jones at D3 as some coaches are, so it meant having to free up cash by picking McKenna.

Reuben Ginbey — $171,300 MID: Young gun who’s built for KFC SuperCoach and the most-popular rookie in the game behind Will Ashcroft. Looks set to be a regular for the rebuilding Eagles. He shapes as a safe on-field selection and his DPP is a bonus.

Charlie Constable — $123,900 MID: Reborn as a rebounding defender, the former Cat looks set to be part of Stuart Dew’s defensive plans early in the campaign. That’s a role he scored prodigiously in last year in the VFL and at a rookie price, it’s impossible not to start him. He gets the nod on field ahead of Wilmot and Cowan due to experience.

BENCH:

Darcy Wilmot — $123,900

Lachie Cowan — $117,300

You could make a case for having both on field but the opportunity is there to use Cowan as a loophole when he debuts in the first game of the season. Wilmot and Conor McKenna might be jostling for the same spot in Brisbane but it’s a clear choice for me — go with the player who’s almost $50k cheaper (and wouldn’t be $123k if our prices factored in finals).

Finn Callaghan.

Marcus Bontempelli.

MIDFIELD

Rory Laird — $703,900: If you were waiting to get Laird at a discount last year, you would have been disappointed. He started at $632k and the lowest he got was $623k. The higher price tag this year makes a drop in value more likely, but you wouldn’t think a player with his consistency would get below $650k. He scored 125 or more in nine of the last 11 games last season, has four games in a row in Adelaide from rounds 2-5 and scored 116, 120 and 133 last year against the Crows’ first three opponents. Big call to leave out Oliver, but I think Laird is the one of the big two you need with some uncertainty about the star Demon’s role and the possibility of several early tags.

Marcus Bontempelli — $639,500: If you’ve read our must-haves list after the pre-season games, you’ll know I have Bontempelli ranked as the #1 choice of the premium midfielders. He carried injuries last year, spent time forward, had Josh Dunkley pinching his points and still averaged 116. This year, he hasn’t missed a pre-season session, looks to be the No. 1 centre bounce midfielder and Dunkley is playing for Brisbane. An average of 120+ looms.

Andrew Brayshaw — $615,600: Am I confident he takes the next step and joins the absolute big dogs of KFC SuperCoach as a player who averages 115+? No. But as I have tweeted a few times, Brayshaw is my favourite player who doesn’t play for Carlton and we all know he has a massive ceiling in KFC SuperCoach. He’s prone to being heavily tagged which is a worry, but has still averaged 107 and 111 in the past two years despite some extra attention on occasion. He only got as low as $532k last year, so it’s unlikely that you’ll save much by waiting for Brayshaw anyway. Brayshaw’s first six matches are against St Kilda, North, West Coast, Adelaide, Gold Coast and Western Bulldogs — with Hawthorn in round 8. He averaged 120 against the Dockers’ round 1-8 opponents last year, although that did include a score of 189 against the Saints.

Tom Green — $534,600: Big pre-season. Big hype. Big potential. His contested style is built for KFC SuperCoach. Our KFC SuperCoach group chat (which includes The Phantom) is going to be a great place to be during GWS games if Green goes off. That’s reason enough to pick him.

Jacob Hopper — $332,000: Best mid-price pick of the year. Likely to average 90-100 and become a stepping stone to a fallen premium mid-season.

Finn Callaghan — $244,000: Watching Callaghan dominate the pre-season game was bittersweet. The No. 3 draft pick from a few years ago had been in my team for about a month before he blitzed the Suns, scoring 111. At that stage only 4 per cent of teams had selected Callaghan and I was certain I had a top POD selection on my hands. After his pre-season showing, more than 20 per cent of teams are on board. He’s a player we’re going to be talking about a lot this year and should be capable of making cash fast.

Me, punishing myself by checking Finn Callaghan's rising ownership twice daily after having him at 4 per cent #SuperCoachpic.twitter.com/EN6qwyhThD

— Tim Michell (@tim_michell) March 10, 2023

Will Ashcroft — $202,800: Should be the first picked in every side. It doesn’t make sense that there are 25 per cent of teams without him.

Oskar Baker — $123,900: Set to fill the wing role vacated by Lachie Hunter, the former Demon has leapfrogged Will Phillips in pre-season to be the best D8 option. That is, unless you’re planning on batting deeper and using Ashcroft there. He scored 111 in pre-season and should be one of the safest on-field rookies.

BENCH:

Will Phillips — $158,300

Campbell Chesser — $123,900 DEF

Alwyn Davey — $117,300 FWD

I’ve been trying to get a DEF-MID and FWD-MID onto my midfield bench all pre-season for flexibility and finally got there in the last few days. Hopefully it means saving a valuable trade or two by moving the magnets around in the event of suspension or injury. Phillips, Chesser and Davey should all be great money makers.

Darcy Cameron.

RUCKS

Rowan Marshall — $506,500: Easiest pick you will make this year. The only thing that has been holding him back from becoming a top-two or top-three KFC SuperCoach ruckman was playing second fiddle to Paddy Ryder. Now he’s the main man, he should average 105+ — and that’s being conservative. Crazy to think he’s the 11th-most expensive ruckman.

Darcy Cameron — $465,900 FWD: Like many coaches, this has been my most difficult position to decide on. At last count I had tried Max Gawn, Brodie Grundy, Scott Lycett, Esava Ratugolea, Brynn Teakle, Tim English and Sean Darcy as my second ruck at different stages of pre-season. I’m worried about the shared ruck time with Mason Cox, but the overriding factor is Cameron’s DPP. It could mean after two or three rounds I can trade an underperforming premo to the must-have ruckman I have missed and swing Cameron into attack. Right now, I have no idea who that other must-have ruckman is.

BENCH

Nick Madden — $102,400 FWD: You need a RUC-FWD as your bench loophole and GWS has plenty of late games early in the season.

Harry Sheezel.

FORWARDS

Josh Dunkley — $596,400 MID: He costs almost $40k more than the next most-expensive forward (Stephen Coniglio) because that’s how much better than the other top forwards he is. Last year Dunkley had to overcome issues with his role but still averaged 108, seven points more than Coniglio. KFC SuperCoaches have been waiting for Dunkley to be prised out of Whitten Oval and get the centre square time his quality demands. Thankfully, that looks to be the case up in Brisbane. No more half forward please Fages.

Connor Rozee — $513,800 MID: Rozee has been in the must-have 11 all pre-season and I can’t shake the feeling he’s going to be a Brownlow Medal contender — that’s how highly I rate him as a midfielder. And it’s not just a gut feel thing, he averaged 110 when he played as an on-baller last year. The recruitment of Junior Rioli and Francis Evans gives me confidence Rozee’s days as a small forward are definitely over.

Tim Taranto — $503,100 MID: Taranto’s detractors knock his kicking efficiency, but he went at 60.9 per cent by foot in 16 games last year. While that’s not elite by any standards, it suggests the theory that Taranto butchers the ball might have been overblown. KFC SuperCoaches should always be on the lookout for a player whose role has improved and Taranto is set to go from a MID-FWD to a full-blown on-baller at Richmond. I can’t see a world where he isn’t a top-six forward.

Errol Gulden — $472,000 MID: I would give anything, just to get him in. I still needed some convincing after he blitzed Carlton, but more than 30 per cent of KFC SuperCoaches can’t be wrong, right? He’s got Gold Coast and Hawthorn in the first two games, so could get off to a flyer. If he doesn’t, Sam Flanders, Nat Fyfe, Tanner Bruhn etc could all be get-out options. But I’m confident we won’t need one.

Harry Sheezel — $198,300: Wasn’t going near him if he was going to be playing as a small forward for the Roos, but pushing further up the ground and even into defence makes him a genuine option. He was a big scorer as a junior and has the spike games in him to start generating cash quickly. This spot could end up being Oscar Allen, Luke Pedlar, Jye Menzie or even Sam Flanders, but I’m happy locking in Sheezel for now.

Toby McLean — $178,900 MID: Pivoted to Sam Flanders after my initial reveal on Sunday, but he had to be downgraded to McLean to make way for Sicily. Even if it’s playing as a half-forward, you would have to think McLean is going to get plenty of games early in the year while Cody Weightman is out. One of his other rivals for that role, Arthur Jones, is also injured. We know McLean can score well and at $80k cheaper than Flanders he should be able to generate money faster. Hopefully Bevo has designs on including McLean as part of his midfield rotation too.

BENCH

Fergus Greene — $123,900

Anthony Caminiti — $102,400

Greene will be one of Hawthorn’s main options in attack for at least the first month of the season without Mitch Lewis. And it appears Caminiti will get a similar opportunity to make his mark as a SSP signing in the absence of Max King. I could have picked Noah Long, but at bottom dollar Caminiti only needs one breakout game to start generating cash fast.