AFL SuperCoach 2023: 5 Bargains You Must Have on Your Page Jacob Hopper, Nat Fyfe

Everyone does it.

Mick Randall likes to do things a little differently with his team of KFC Supercoach by hooking up with the mid-priced men who are on their way to breakthrough.

This is what Mick-Priced Madness looks like ahead of the season.

You can see his starting teams for 2022 here and 2021 here.

DEFENSE

Sam Docherty is pretty much everyone’s first choice, right? Mason Redman at M2 is my massive breakthrough contender as he is about the only player on Essendon’s roster who is actually at the AFL level. I want to pick Charlie Constable every season – and have done so a number of times. This is finally the year he makes it. Elliot is a yeo-brainer as a defender at that price point, McKenna will make money and then there’s a couple of kids to top it off.

MIDFIELD

Can I just pick the Kangaroos midfield? Stupid I know but I want everything from LDU, Simpkin, Phillips, Hell, I even reckon Clarko can revive Hugh Greenwood as super coach merchandise. Can I have Powell, Shiels, Goater and Howe too? OK, let’s not get too silly. I think the Roos’ biggest mover will actually be Horne-Francis… oh wait.

I’ll have Cripps until he gets into the Scott-Pendlebury phase of his career, only the Phantom hypes Tom Green more than me every season, and has everyone forgotten about that boy Rowell? The Hawks are the Newcombe Worpel show now and I’m here for it, Hopper in his new pad at this price is a suspension, Finn Callaghan had a great preseason and everyone has Ashcroft.

BACK

Gawn Grundy is gone. I’m going with Nundy: No Max, no Brodie, and I’ll no doubt pay dearly for it. A huge Marshall fan and I think he’s ready to rip it apart. Could be the #1 Ruckmann in the KFC Supercoach this season. And I love the cut of Darcy Cameron’s jib – it will land north of $600,000 – and a new reel for a healthy Esava can’t be ignored at this ridiculous price.

FORWARD

I’m not sure I could have hated the forward line more on the face of it this season. Thought to pick Dunkley and then all the rookies. At one point I had Josh Rachele and Alex Davies with me. But one deeper dive and I think there’s a gold mine. Shai, as Al Paton knows very well, is a Mick Randall Hall of Famer favorite, while I can’t turn Ziebell down. I got another North kid in Harry Sheezel, added popular picks Ben King and Toby McLean, and everyone should have a player named Fergus on their Supercoach team. Phillipou could be one of 10 towers with SuperCoach potential.

The 5 Bargains You Need to Fit in Your SuperCoach Page

– Chris Cavanagh

There are more bargain purchases at KFC SuperCoach this year than during the Boxing Day fire sale.

Jacob Hopper for $332,200? What offer.

Nat Fyfe for $313,600? Cheap as chips.

Oscar Allen for $210,200? Daylight robbery.

Esava Ratugolea for $174,000? bargain basement.

Conor McKenna for $167,500? Almost free.

Get them all in your own team – quick smart.

From there you can build the rest of your squad using the usual formula of Premiums and Rookies.

Sure, some of my bargain picks come with risks. Hopper, Fyfe and Allen are all coming back from injury-interrupted campaigns in 2022, while Ratugolea has a new role on defense and McKenna has not appeared in an AFL game since Round 12 in 2020.

However, the potential payoff for this pick is huge.

Hopper averaged 97 points in his last full season in 2021, Fyfe averaged more than 100 points in nine straight seasons prior to last year, Allen is a rising star averaging 78.6 points in 2020, and Ratugolea and McKenna shine being cash cows early in the season.

Elsewhere, gone are the days of Max Gawn and Brodie Grundy having a jerk combo in KFC SuperCoach.

Now they are on the same AFL team in Melbourne and will share ruck duties. Expect her score to drop a bit.

I chose Tim English and Rowan Marshall for my ruck combo – two players who won’t share many ruck contests with anyone else on their team.

You can’t rule out Will Ashcroft, the second draft pick in midfield who is considered this year’s equivalent of Nick Daicos.

Brisbane manager Chris Fagan suggested in last November’s draft he would have included Ashcroft in his senior team last year had he been available, so dominant was his VFL form for the Lions.

Marcus Windhager is slightly unfavorably priced but excelled at the St Kilda track in the off-season and could have a breakout campaign, while Will Day is another mid-price player but will use his silky skills in a new one Roll through the Hawthorn midfield this year.

Happy bargain hunting.

Originally published as KFC SuperCoach 2023: Reporters Mick Randall and Chris Cavanagh reveal their teams