Feed the Machine Round 01 – The lights are on..

On the eve of the season opening game of the AFL in 2023, amazingly things are looking good for team Feed the Machine. Nobody (at the time of writing) has been bowled over by a bout of the spicy cough. No one has tripped over a shoelace at training and run headfirst into a barricade. The club doctor reports no injuries.

Of course with plenty of games to play across this week, that could all be subject to change but for now it seems I’m playing with a full deck. Hallelujah!

Not only that, but like a kid next to me in a dull science class, Supercoach is starting to pass me notes on various players..
(Thanks! I think..)

If you’ve just joined us, this is the ongoing saga of team Feed The Machine in our office Supercoach (Australian Rules Fantasy Football) challenge. You can read the previous parts that led to this first round both here (part 1 – other coaches) and here (part 2 – the Feed The Machine players).

Supercoach 2023 – the notes are new!

If you’re new to Supercoach a green tick near a players name means they’ve been ticked to play for the team that round and given we’re on the eve of the season opener Richmond V Carlton, they’re the only teams that have published a team list so far. Still, that’s at least 2 players in Feed The Machine I know can play this round..

The yellow post it? Well that’s a new one this year (well for me, it may have been a paid option last year that I never got round to actually paying for), someone has given me a few sticky notes to read which is interesting. Let’s have a look if there’s any burning issues I have to deal with in there shall we?

A solid game in the preseason from Heeney against the Blues. He only had 81 points but he did it in 64% game time.

Thanks Mr Notes, that’s handy to know! (But doesn’t change anything.)

If Gawn can pick up forward status this year he could be the buy of the year. He was great despite having to split time with Grundy with a huge 153 points.

Obviously more for the version of the game where you’ve got a salary cap to deal with but I’m happy that at least one of my players could be considered ‘The buy of the year.’ Because as my experience has proved over the last couple of years, my previous buys have been very hit and miss..

Macrae has gained greatly from the exit of Dunkley. His preseason game was back to the Jack of old.

Well good on him hey! (This is a good thing yes?)

Don’t use his 95 points in the game against the Eagles as a reason to pick him. He kicked 4 goals in that and his efficiency was only 66%. He won’t kick 4 goals each week.

Ahh, finally some (possible) team selection advice. I could swap him out for someone on the bench but given he hasn’t even played for me yet, he gets the benefit of the doubt (and mainly because I have no idea on anyone just yet). After he falls on his bum, then he warms up the bench. But not before.

So no injuries and no swaps so far.

Edit: I checked the app again just before dinner to find that both Scrimshaw and Perryman were listed as emergencies which means unless someone else bowed out, they wouldn’t play. Thankfully Jiath and Ward were listed to play, so they’re now in good to go.

And the predictor is still in my corner at this stage:

I don’t think we could ask for a better start to Feed The Machine really..

Meanwhile in the land of supercoach..

It’s amazing how much trade chat has been going on before any of the games have been played. Yes Facebook chat has practically been choked with bargaining from various coaches looking to trade various players which has absolutely no bearing on team Feed The Machine, namely due to the fact that no one seems to want anyone on my team.
Yet.

But still, far be it for me to not stick my oars into proceedings even though I couldn’t tell a Cam Guthrie from a Matt Crouch if my life depended on it. My input is the occasional meme, just to keep things interesting and this one went down an absolute treat.

So the team has been set, let’s get this on!

FEED THE MACHINE – ROUND 1!

Have I mentioned how much I love the fact that footy is back for the year, purely because of this Supercoach thing? No seriously, I have more than a vested interest in the sport again just to see how my Feed the Machine players fared across the round.

And this round was pretty damn spectacular all things considered.

As expected, top dog Gawn had an absolute blinder with a thumping 140 points. And it’s when you look at a performance like this leading the charge for Feed The Machine, it makes you glad you picked him as Captain (Captain’s get 2x their weekly score). Well it would have, had I actually done that. Forgetting to nominate one, Supercoach decided McCrae was a good a player to bestow that honor and while he had a great game, it wasn’t up to Max’s crazy level.

And in no surprise to anyone who has ever had him in a Supercoach team, Pendlebury was as rock solid as he ever was, showing the Mids how it’s done with 129 points. While I’m short on The Luggage and The Bont this year, boy am I glad that I can relay on Penders time and time again.

However it wasn’t all good news for Feed The Machine…

I forget which player it was last year in my team but someone came out, lasted all of two minutes and then got carried off the field due to injury, netting just a measly 7 points. However that record has well and truly been beaten by Perryman in 2023, who apparently suffered a hamstring injury and exited stage left pretty damn quickly. Luckily I had him on the bench at the time otherwise this low score could have really hurt things at the end of the round..

But overall, there was very little change I could have made to team Feed The Machine that would have changed the outcome by much:

And ultimately it meant..

A first round Supercoach win? Unheard of! And yet the team proved too strong for Tim’s Purple Drapes, even with a Richmond Carlton draw, one Harry getting injured and another failing to fire. Boy oh boy am I super happy with this start – we’re climbing that ladder baby!

Up next in round 2 it’s FEED THE MACHINE VS BOXING IS BETTER. Can the machine continue this unforeseen run? Stay tuned!