23-0 Tips: The Best AFL 18 to Pick and How the Scoring Really Works

Straight from the engine — updated June 2026

Everyone is chasing the same impossible record in the 23-0 game: win all 23 home-and-away games without dropping one. Most tips floating around social media are guesswork. These aren't — we built the simulation, so here is exactly how it judges your 18 and what it takes to go perfect. In short: stack the midfield, carry no passenger below ~80, treat each spin's two picks as a star-plus-role-player pair, spend rerolls on thin draws — and even a flawless 18 only converts a perfect season about two times in three.

How the simulation actually scores your 18

Every player's rating is weighted by line before the season is simulated. Midfielders carry the heaviest weight (1.3×) — footy is won at the coalface, and the engine knows it — then forwards (1.15×) and defenders (1.0×). Your weighted squad score is pushed through a cubic curve — 23 × score³ — to project wins, which is why an average 18 projects mid-table while a 90+ squad suddenly projects a flag tilt. Small rating gains near the top are worth far more than they look.

Tip 1 — Win the midfield first

The centre-square six are the single most heavily weighted line, and they come with a hard gate: if your midfield averages below the high-70s, the engine docks your per-game win rate before a ball is bounced. A soft coalface doesn't just lose clearances in the match sim — it mathematically ends the 23-0 run before it starts. Ablett junior, Judd, Martin, Cripps and Bontempelli (all 94) are the elite picks, with a genuine ruckman like Gawn to feed them.

Tip 2 — No passengers, anywhere

The engine tracks your weakest player. Anyone below ~80 shows up as the team's "weak link" and quietly drags the whole projection; one pick in the 60s caps your ceiling outright. A balanced 18 of 86-rated players beats a team of superstars carrying one 72-rated passenger in the back pocket. Draft like a list manager building for September, not a fan collecting posters.

Tip 3 — Use the two-picks-per-spin rule

Every spin hands you a club and decade, and you must take two players from it. That is the game's real strategic layer: the second pick is where weak spots sneak in. The pattern that wins: take the star first, then spend the second pick on the best remaining fit for your thinnest line — a solid back pocket, a second ruck-sized mid — rather than a third forward you don't need. Nine spins, nine pairs: star plus glue, every time.

Tip 4 — Spend rerolls on thin draws, not bad luck

Easy mode gives three rerolls, Normal one, Hard none (with ratings hidden). A reroll replaces the entire club-and-decade draw — and it only works before you've taken your first pick from that club — so save it for genuinely thin draws at your open positions, not for a club that merely lacks your favourite legend. If only defence is still open and the drawn club has no 85+ defender, that is the moment.

Tip 5 — Read the pre-season odds before you simulate

Once your 18 is complete, the bookies' panel shows your projected finish, expected ladder points and the honest probability of a perfect 23-0. That projection is what your squad should produce — then the season plays out goal by goal with real AFL scorelines, and anything can happen on the day. Beating your projected finish is its own badge.

What a perfect 23-0 actually requires

The exact thresholds, straight from the engine: a weighted squad rating of roughly 92 or better, a midfield six averaging 89 or better, and a weakest player rated 79 or better. Clear all three gates and the perfect season still only converts about 65% of the time — perfection is meant to feel mythical. Fall just short and the realistic target becomes the unbeaten tier: zero losses with a draw or two, the season even the 21-1 Bombers of 2000 would envy.

A verified 18 that clears every gate

This team rates 92.4 with the engine's weights — midfield gate cleared at 93.5, no passenger below 89. It is the strongest 18 the player pool allows, and it still goes 23-0 only about two runs in three:

Of course, the slot machine has to offer them first — every run draws different clubs and decades, which is the whole point. Use the profile as a target: a 93+ midfield, forwards in the low 90s, and nothing below the mid-80s anywhere.

Quick answers

Has anyone gone 23-0 in real life? No — the best home-and-away season ever is Essendon's 21-1 in 2000. Is 23-0 possible in the game? Yes, but only with an elite, gap-free 18 and some luck on top. Best first priority? Whichever elite midfielder the wheel offers — the coalface caps everything else. More in the full FAQ.

Ready to test it? Build your 18 and chase 23-0 →