Captain’s Table – Round 1

Written by Hot Sauce on March 21 2019

Hi all, and welcome to the weekly article discussing which players should be given the all-important VC and C each week. This off-season has been cruel to us all by removing the most frequently used option from 2018 in Tom Mitchell with injury, in what seems to be a more difficult year for deciding on which option to take. There seems to be more variety with the likes of Grundy, Gawn, Macrae, Danger, Cripps, Fyfe & Oliver the most popular choices at the moment and are quite difficult to split. The evenness of players has made your VC and C so much more important this season!

So, let’s get into the games and the options…

 

Richmond v Carlton

(Thursday – 7:25pm @ MCG)

 

Finally, footy is back! Even a Tigers v Blues game from two years ago would excite me, but Carlton’s potential improvement increases the interest even more.

Dustin Martin is the favourite from the Tigers to go large and he loves playing the Blues averaging 114.6 over his last 5 games and 139.7 over his last 3 games. Dusty could look to get back to his brownlow winning form after last year’s form “slump” from a SC perspective. Injury free, a significant midfield advantage and the possibility of being one-out directly from a centre bounce gives him the potential to go HUGE!

The only Blue worth considering is Patrick Cripps. It’s not only my severe man-crush but this bloke is primed for a big 2019 season. Has averaged 104.7 over his past 3 games against the Tigers but that includes 130 and 134 in the last 2 seasons. Can the help from Walsh and co help him reach new heights?

Best choice: Dustin Martin

Collingwood v Geelong

(Friday 7:50pm @ MCG)

Plenty of options in this game so let’s start with the Pies. Adam Treloar, Scott Pendlebury and Steele Sidebottom all have the potential to go large and Brodie Grundy dominated last season and scored 137 against the Cats in their last match. His injury-interrupted pre-season is a worry but up against the Cats poor rucks could be just what he needs to get going this season.

The Cats also have plenty of options, in particular, skipper Joel Selwood and superstar Patrick Dangerfield. Danger is promising another huge year for the 70% of SC owners who are starting him and should get off to a great start Friday night. His last 2 games against the Pies produced 137 and 146 points respectively, and I’m backing him in to produce similar numbers again.

Best choice: Patrick Dangerfield

 

 

Melbourne v Port Adelaide

(Saturday 1:45pm @ MCG)

Port Adelaide don’t offer much this game in terms of solid VC/C options as I doubt Tom Rockliff will get close to his JLT2 performance while Robbie Gray is likely to spend too much time up forward.

Melbourne however have two standout choices in Clayton Oliver and Max Gawn. Oliver is another player primed to have a big year and is one of the most popular choices in SC with his high contested possession game. He should get plenty of the pill against Port with plenty of those touches coming straight from taps from Gawn. The big fella loves playing the Power with his last scores of 140, 108, 151 and 167. Hard to pass those scores up.

Best choice: Max Gawn

Adelaide v Hawthorn

(Saturday 4:05pm @ Adelaide Oval)

The Crows are looking to fly back up the ladder and are heavily backed to do so from experts and punters alike. They have plenty of high-scoring players who can go large this game with the best choices between Rory Laird, Rory Sloane and Matt Crouch. All three recent history against their opposition isn’t as attractive as other options in other games, but still have plenty of potential for a big 130+ score.

Can’t see any Hawks players worth taking the punt on with Jaeger O’Meara likely to top their scoring but against the Crows midfield with no Tom Mitchell – definite pass.

Best choice: Matt Crouch

Western Bulldogs v Sydney

(Saturday 7:25pm @ Marvel Stadium)

This will be a very interesting game in finding out how good these two teams are, and also how good certain SC players will perform. Can the likes of Josh P Kennedy, Buddy Franklin (if selected), Luke ParkerIsaac Heeney or Jake Lloyd lead the way with a huge score? Or will it be a Doggie that leads the field?

If it is it is likely to be last season’s breakout super premo Jack Macrae! His recent results against the Swans are solid without being outstanding, but he is more than capable of going large even with the likes of Marcus Bontempelli and Tom Liberatore likely to have solid games.

Best choice: Jack Macrae

 

Brisbane v West Coast

(Saturday 7:20pm @ The Gabba)

 

There is a lot of positivity surrounding the Lions this upcoming season and I am eager to see how they compete on Saturday night. Their star recruit Lachie Neale loves playing the Eagles with recent scores being 120, 151, 113 and 124. That screams captain material!

Standing in the Lions way are the reigning premiers and the likes of Elliot YeoJack ReddenDom Sheed and Shannon Hurn leading the way. They all have the potential to score big but unlikely to topple the Lions recruit.

Best choice: Lachie Neale

 

 

St. Kilda v Gold Coast

(Sunday 1:10pm @ Marvel Stadium)

 

There aren’t many options likely to be taken up in this game despite the likes of Seb Ross and Jack Steele who could prove to be too strong against young Suns midfield.

Best choice:

 

GWS v Essendon

(Sunday 3:20 @ SSS)

 

The Shiel Cup is likely to be an entertaining game as both teams like to utilise their speed and dare across the ground. The Giants will be looking to superstars Lachie Whitfield, Stephen Coniglio and Josh Kelly who tore the Bombers apart in 2017 with a massive 176.

The Bombers leading scorer will likely come from dependable trio of Dyson HeppellZach Merrett and boom recruit Dylan Shiel.

Best choice: Stephen Coniglio

 

Fremantle v North Melbourne

(Sunday 3:20pm @ Optus Stadium)

 

Both teams are looking for a positive start to the new season and the new Kangas recruits will be looking to show their fans and teammates their merit. Despite this, it is the Kangas stalwart Todd Goldstein who could take hold of the Dockers rucks.

The Dockers superstar skipper Nat Fyfe loves playing the Kangas with his most recent scores against them being 163, 139, 126 and 141. Those numbers can not be ignored.

Best choice: Nat Fyfe

 

 

Hot Sauce’s Top Picks:

  1. Patrick Dangerfield (VC)
  2. Nat Fyfe (C)
  3. Max Gawn
  4. Jackson Macrae
  5. Stephen Coniglio

Wildcard: Seb Ross

Which direction are you taking with choice of Captain? Let us know about it……

 

Good luck, Coaches!

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19 thoughts on “Captain’s Table – Round 1”

  1. Well done Sauce! – Just FYI – it’s Saints V Suns! (not Brisbane!)

    Great first up article for the year!

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  2. Great article Sauce, couple of concerns, didn’t Greenwood keep Danger to 60 odd point’s (maybe year before last). If Collingwood are to win they need to keep Danger quiet. Think Brodie will go well against the virtually ruckless Cats.
    Love the new format , very easy to read and digest.

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    1. Correct Joestar, 65 was the score. I’m happy to back Danger in to get closer to the 120+ though.
      Good luck!

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  3. Brilliant stuff Hot Sauce. Love the layout for this.
    Cripps into Danger/Gawn for me!
    Good luck in 2019 HS and thanks again! 🙂

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    1. Cheers allsaints!

      Danger is locked in for VC for me and deciding between Gawn & Fyfe for C.

      Good luck mate!

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  4. Any hope of installing a poll in the future?
    A bunch of captain options with 2choices to select? With a someone I’ve mentioned in the comments selection as well.

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