Joey Lynch reveals his Sokkah Fantasy team!

In the middle of a packed Australian football schedule, freelance journalist and broadcaster Joey Lynch made some time to talk us through his Sokkah Fantsay team just in time for kick-off of the 2026/27 A-League Men’s season.

Lynch is a figure synonymous with Aussie football, passionate and inherently knowledgeable about the A-Leagues, Matildas and Socceroos, Australia Cup and Championship and Victorian men’s and women’s football.

He is a Sokkah Twitter mainstay, and one of the few remaining journalists dedicated to covering Australian football. When we caught up, he was fresh off the back of a madhouse few days featuring the blockbuster Australia Cup final and launch of the Australian Championship.

“The best atmosphere at a domestic game I have been to since the Victory/Sydney Grand Final here [AAMI Park] in 2015,” he said of Saturday’s occasion.

Much like Stefan Colakovski’s team, Lynch has spent his cash on the midfield, where there are a host of good options, both premium and bargain, with the classification of wingers as midfielders providing plenty of routes to points.

But without further ado, let the man himself talk you through his team. You can follow him on Twitter for plenty of Australian Football content @joeylynchy.

The Team |

Goalkeepers ($288k) |

Starter: Macklin Freke – MCY ($105k)

Bench: Matt Sutton – PER ($183k)

Like many others, Lynch has been mulling over the Melbourne City goalkeeping arrangements during pre-season, and has bet his starting spot that former Roar stopper Macklin Freke will get the nod this weekend over James Nieuwenhuizen.

“He [Nieuwenhuizen] had his struggles in the Australia Cup in pre-season, so I thought that Freke has the potential to start and given that I’ve got significant investment elsewhere, at $105,000 I thought he was a pretty good bargain bin bet,” Lynch said.

“In the event he doesn’t start, I’ve got Matt Sutton as a cheap backup, and if he does get the nod, I can transfer Sutton out to get some more funds elsewhere.”

Lynch has put faith in the City backline writ large and their ‘strong defensive structure’, with City blue appearing in his defensive selections too.

Defenders ($915k) |

Starters: Harrison Delbridge – MCY ($190k), Jordan Courtney-Perkins – SYD ($163k), Alex Gersbach – WSW ($232k), Philipp Ziereis – MVC ($225k)

Bench: Trent Sainsbury – CCM ($105k)

Harrison Delbridge starts for Lynch’s side for Round 1, alongside Victory’s highly rated German Philipp Ziereis, Jordan Courtney-Perkins from Sydney FC and his Sydney derby opponent Alex Gersbach.

Trent Sainsbury rounds out the defenders on the bench, and Lynch said his decisions are focused on clean sheets, with one eye kept on potential attacking returns.

“City, Sydney, Victory [defenders], they all play for teams that have good defensive structures, and probably won’t concede a lot of goals.”

“And then Gersbach, he is probably in line to get decent minutes, in an attacking full-back position for the Wanderers. Ufuk [Talay] has talked about wanting to play an attacking style, so he can potentially rack up points going in both directions.”

While Gersbach has the nod to be in the squad, Lynch is reserving his position on Wanderers for the season ahead until he sees the rubber hit the road.

“I’ve been speaking to people that have watched their pre-season games that said they have looked really good, but it doesn’t matter at this point. I’ll leave the door open for them being good, but they actually have to walk through it before I’ll give them credit for it.”

Midfielders ($1.21m) |

Starters: Stefan Colakovski – PER ($180k), Denis Genreau – MVC ($351k), Max Burgess – NEW ($268k)

Bench: Liam Gillion– WSW ($106k), Craig Goodwin – ADL ($308k)

Lynch has picked what he describes as a “midfield of good blokes”, headlined by captaincy pick Stefan Colakovski from Perth (a theme of our team reveals).

“I’ve put Colakovski in there as the skipper, because if he’s going to talk so much sh*t, he might as well put his money where his mouth is and give me some fantasy points.”

Direct and to the point, we like it.            

Colakovski is joined in the starting lineup by Victory talisman Denis Genreau despite a hampered pre-season, and Newcastle’s Max Burgess. Wanderers recruit Liam Gillion is on the bench for week one along with Adelaide’s Craig Goodwin as the Reds sit out proceedings with the bye.

“Denis has been sick, so has had a hampered preseason, but someone has to replace Juan Mata’s production,” he said.

“And given that his best position is as a 10, it could very easily be him.”

“Max Burgess, one of perhaps the best blokes in the A-League, and he pulls the strings for that Newcastle team, and they might need him to do even more of it this season, so for $268k, he was a good value buy.”

Attackers ($573k) |

Starters: Musa Toure – MAC ($145k), Jaidan Kucharski – PER ($225k), Medin Memeti – MCY ($203k)

Lynch has opted for three mid-price options across his forward line, all three of who are starting in his side for round one.

Macarthur’s Musa Toure, who joined the club after a stint in Europe, is joined up top by Perth gun Jaiden Kucharski and Melbourne City youngster Medin Memeti, who Lynch is expecting big things from if given the chance.

“Memeti, I think, is another really good buy low candidate, I obviously spent a lot on the midfield. So, I had to look for some buy low candidates up front.”

“They have big tickets on him, so I think he, especially if Max Caputo doesn’t fire or injuries hit City as they have in previous years, he’s a really good buy low candidate who I can easily see going on a run, if he gets minutes, and getting goals.”

With no news coming out of Macarthur in pre-season, Lynch is gambling that Toure will get a starting spot, and pointed to the potential upside of the $145k youngster after the success of Macarthur’s strikers last campaign.

“... For 145,000, I think he’s a good buy low candidate with the potential to have massive upside. Because when you look at the Bulls, Harrison Sawyer, when he was starting before the January transfer window, he was scoring goals. And then when Mitch Duke came back, he was scoring goals.

“And then Jaiden Kucharski, he’s obviously got a ton of talent, got caught up in the Western United drama and all that sort of stuff. But coming to Glory and at $225,000, without Adam Taggart there, I think he could really step up and provide a lot of goals and assists.”

Anyone you wanted but couldn’t get, Joey?

“I would have liked maybe a guaranteed starter up top. Because you look at all my nines, they’ve all got bags of talent, but they’re all buy low candidates that you’re banking on potential.”

“... Just maybe I would have liked the striker that he’s guaranteed to start week in, week out.”

Have you finished your team? Deadline for Gameweek 1 is 7:30pm this Friday, 16th October, as the A-League Men’s season kicks off with a blockbuster Sydney Derby at 8pm.

Don’t forget, Sokkah Fantasy has tipping competitions for the A-League Men’s and A-League Women’s, which kicks off on Saturday, 17th October with three matches.

Click here to enter your tips.