Captain’s Table – Round 2

Written by Hot Sauce on March 28 2019

Well aren’t we glad the Footy season is back! Many coaches were left fuming with their early round VC and C options failing to live up to expectations. Last season’s scoring beasts in Brodie Grundy & Max Gawn failed to live up to expectations while Dustin Martin & Patrick Dangerfield also had sub-par performances. It’s not all bad news with several players putting their hands up like Bontempeli, Sloane, Coniglio, Westhoff and Sheed – to name a few.

 

Now let’s look forward and to this week’s games….

 

(Thursday – 7:20pm @ MCG)

 

A huge Thursday night game for all footy lovers where the Tigers will look to exact revenge on the Pies for their Preliminary Final loss last September.

Plenty of options in this game with the Pies offering up Treloar, Pendles, Beams and Grundy despite his poor game last week. The Pies mids have been consistent against the Tigers without being exceptional, but the AA ruckmen has dominated the Tigers in recent history. His last 4 games against the Tigers he has scored 146, 157, 115 & 135. I know a lot of us coaches would be put off by his poor game last week but he is still the best pick amongst the Pies.

The Tigers were led last week by Nank and despite his big game, I don’t fancy him as a VC option. Dusty & Cotchin should lead the way but I wouldn’t be confident selecting either.

 

Best choice: Brodie Grundy

 

Sydney v Adelaide 

(Friday – 7:50pm @ SCG)

 

Both teams will be looking to bounce back after suffering losses in Round 1. The Swans will look to exploit their home ground advantage, even though they aren’t as formidable there as they once were.

Swans midfield is hard to seperate, but the best choice is the silky Jake Lloyd with his high possession game. He has proven himself as the most consistent Swans player of late but has a poor record against the Crows with a high of 94 last season. There is another Swan capable of going BIG – but nobody would dare. Would they?

Adelaide on the other hand, Rory Sloane was in ominous form in Round 1, as was Matt Crouch, and both are more than capable of dominating this game. Sloane has dominated the Swans in recent history averaging 130 over his last three games, but if he is tagged he could dip in price, while M. Crouch is a different beast and will be harder to contain.

 

Best choice: Rory Sloane

 

Essendon v St. Kilda

(Saturday – 4:35pm @ Marvel)

 

Bombers fans would be hoping there won’t be a repeat performance of last Sunday – they were horrendous. While the Saints only scrapped home against the wooden spoon favourites Suns, they would be confident heading into this game with a Bombers side who struggled badly against the Giants.

The Saints have a few promising midfielders in Seb Ross, Jack Steele and Jack Steven. Steele started in great form but doesn’t have the best form against the Bombers. Ross and especially Steven have an exceptional record against the Dons averaging 111 and 122 respectively with Steven having a high of 170 and Ross having two 150+ games. Both being excellent choices.

The Bombers would need a serious increase in performance to warrant any VC or C tags but I just can’t see any screaming out to be selected. Shiel was ok first game while the Merrett struggled badly with a tag and get another this week.

 

Best choice: Seb Ross

 

Port Adelaide v Carlton

(Saturday – 4:40pm @ AO)

 

The Power, despite starting poorly, ran over the Dees last weekend in a fantastic Round 1 effort at the ‘G’. The Power have become fast-starters in recent years and will look to win big against the Blues.

The Blues, despite playing two good quarters, were out of their depth against their more fancied opponents. They do however, have a weapon in superstar Patrick Cripps, and even if the Power get a hold of the Blues, he is still more than capable of getting a great score.

The Power were fantastic last weekend led by veteran Justin Westhoff and by a vintage performance by Tom Rockliff. Both are likely to score well again this week, but it could be Robbie Gray who steals the show racking up possessions and kicking a bag of goals. He averages 114 across his past 5 games against the Blues, with scores of 139 and 174.

 

Best choice: Robbie Gray

 

Geelong v Melbourne

(Saturday – 7:25pm @ GMHBA)

 

This shapes up to be a great contest, with the Dees looking to bounce back after their shock Round 1 defeat. The Cats would love the fact the game will be played in Geelong with that definitely tilting the game into The Cats favour.

The Cats will be led by their superstars in Patrick Dangerfield and Joel Selwood, who both enjoy strong performances against the Dees recently including a 155 for Danger. There are still plenty of points to be collected by other handy Cats such as Tim Kelly, Mitch Duncan, Sam Menegola and Gary Ablett Jr.

The Dees will be looking to their two best players in Max Gawn and Clayton Oliver to lead the charge on their trip to the cattery. Both enjoy playing the Cats with Gawn racking up two 135+ games and Oliver never scoring below 100.

Best choice: Clayton Oliver

 

West Coast v GWS

(Saturday – 5:10pm @ Optus Stadium)

 

This will be a highly entertaining game with the reigning premiers looking to get their 2019 campaign running and the Giants looking to continue on the momentum built dismantling of the Bombers last week.

The Giants will face a tough contest, with the midfield battle set to be electrifying. The young Giants stars could welcome back superstar Josh Kelly to an already formidable group led by up and coming uber-premo Stephen Coniglio. He was simply outstanding against the Dons, and no matter the scoreline, could again top the SC scoring in this match.

The Eagles, despite continuing to miss Andrew Gaff to suspension will be banking on their own midfielders to lead the way. Luke Shuey, Elliot Yeo and Dom Sheed could all smash out big scores, with the latter in blinding early season form.

Best choice: Stephen Coniglio

 

North Melbourne v Brisbane

(Sunday – 1:10pm @ Marvel)

 

The Kangas were smashed by Freo last week while the young Lions surprised the reigning premiers in an outstanding performance after quarter time.

The Lions had six players score 100+ last weekend, led by their star recruit Lachie Neale. Neale is looking like a sure thing to have a monster year and finish as a top 8 midfielder, but is he isn’t the only Lion to contemplate handing the C badge onto. Skipper Dayne Zorko is more than capable of having huge games and with Neale likely to cop a hard tag, he could get off the chain here.

There aren’t really any legitimate C options here for the Kangas, except possibly big man Todd Goldstein, but I wouldn’t be brave enough to select him.

Best choice: Lachie Neale

 

Hawthorn v Western Bulldogs

(Sunday – 3:20pm @ MCG)

 

Both teams are off and running in 2019 with Hawks defeating the heavily fancied Crows and the Doggies toppling the Swans in arm-wrestle at Marvel last wee. This will be a tough battle and the reward being an unlikely 2-0 start, setting up their early season run.

The Hawks will likely be led in SC terms by young star James Sicily. If he could roam free and play on his terms he is likely to score well against the Dogs, especially if he patrols the back half with space and dare.

Marcus Bontempelli had a fantastic game last week, leading all scorers with 158 against the Swans. On his day, he has more than enough potential and talent to obtain a captain’s worthy score, but it most likely another Dog that will provide the best option. Jackson Macrae is a scoring beast and will likely rack up plenty of touches at the G, he is a very safe bet.

Best choice: Jackson Macrae

 

Gold Coast v Fremantle

(Sunday – 3:40pm @ Metricon)

 

The Suns almost got their just reward against the Saints last week and will look to atone for their loss against a fit and running Dockers side. Not sure which Dockers side will show up here, but they should get the 4 points here.

The Dockers were led by their skipper Nat Fyfe, and he should do the same again here. Recent form against the Suns coupled with his round 1 performance have all signs pointing to a certain huge game for the Dockers megastar. Just lock him in.

The Suns wouldn’t have anyone capable of challenging Fyfe, so don’t even bother!

Best Choice: Nat Fyfe

 

Hot Sauce’s Top Picks:

1. Nat Fyfe (C)

2. Jackson Macrae

3. Stephen Coniglio

4. Rory Sloane

5. Clayton Oliver

Wildcard: Dayne Zorko

 

Which player will you be handing the Captaincy to? (Two choices)

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48 thoughts on “Captain’s Table – Round 2”

  1. Neale for me, Jacobs should go to Zorko and I’m expecting Brisbane to come out firing knowing they could be 2-0
    M.Crouch my VC

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      1. Jacobs is out indefinitely. He’s had concussion like symptoms and they’re not sure what’s going on. He’s not playing anytime soon from all reports.

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  2. What about cog or sheed. Maybe rocky I have a team so many decision cripps danger t kelly westhoff all can score huge. Even j Lyons can score big to. Might put it on rocky or cripps both I reckon score between 150 to 170

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  3. Rocky into Fyfe for me.

    Happy to risk it with Rocky knowing I have Fyfe as the back-up plan.

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  4. Really struggling this week. Don’t think Grawndy are quite ready to go large. Don’t have Macrae or Fyfe. Danger will probably go FWD again (it ain’t broke …). So,
    MCrouch > Cripps/Neale

    Early season is usually a good time to take a risk on VC options (I’m sure I recall FD reflecting on this last season). For this reason I’m tempted to put the VC on ManofSteele, but that limits my C option to Lachie Neale, since Steele will still be playing when Cripps attends the first bounce later on Saturday. So,

    TU: Mrouch > Cripps, or
    TD: Steele > Neale

    Cheers all

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  5. What happened to the poll? It won’t let be vote, like it has finished and not accepting any more votes.

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  6. I’m planning on going Grundy into Fyfe, due to Bines(WC) are playing Saturday night. I can’t really use any Geelong or Melbourne plays like Oliver/Danger/Gawn unless I take a punt after a qtr time score. It leaves me with Grundy, Cripps or Crouch. Looking at Adam’s stats and Grundys last 3 game average against Richmond. He seem the best VC choice.

    Captain choice was easy after Fyfe last week scored well and then comes up against the Suns. Expect to do something similar

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    1. Finals are not included in my stats but Grundy scored 146 against Nank in the prelim and played the Tigers 3 times last year for an avg of 139.33 (115,157,146). Also regarding Fyfe the last time he scored below 120 in a win was RD 9 2017.

      N Fyfe:
      Past 8 Wins: 142.13 from 8 (139,140,120,160,151,126,154,147)

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    2. Forgive me Nato, noob to the site and supercoach.
      How would you take advantage of Bines to lock in a Grundy VC selection?
      I can’t make sense of it unless you have non playing MID as well.

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      1. Have Bines on field with your 2nd ruck on the bench with an emergency on (eg move Gawn or Goldy to the bench and put the emergency on them).

        If you put the VC on Grundy and Grundy scores 120+ then you put the C on P Bines. Grundy’s score will be doubled as Bines will not play and if you have put the E on your 2nd ruck who is currently on the bench then you will get their score as well.

        Example:
        Rucks: B Grundy, M Gawn, (P Bines)
        Do the aforementioned switches and selections so it becomes
        Rucks: B Grundy (VC), P Bines, (M Gawn (E))
        If you want to take B Grundy’s VC score then you will have to move the C onto P Bines.
        Rucks: B Grundy (VC), P Bines (C), (M Gawn, (E))

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          1. Happy to help. Make sure to put the E(Emergency) on the ruck being moved to the bench and double check as a lot of newcomers or seasoned coaches make that mistake.

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            1. Don’t do it if you’re away for the week-end 🙁
              Well explained Adam…it’s not so easy for a rookie swap is it? All 3 have to line up? i.e. Balta is no good?

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  7. Going to throw the C on Macrae, unsure who to make my VC however. Tossing up between Grundy and Cripps.

    T.U: Grundy (last 3 v Tigers: 146, 157 & 115)
    T.D: Cripps (last 3 v Port: 108, 109 & 111)

    History favours Grundy, while form favours Cripps.

    Thoughts?

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  8. https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/zach-merrett-played-round-one-with-a-virus-20190328-p518di.html

    “Under-fire Essendon midfielder Zach Merrett was suffering a virus when he took the field against Greater Western Sydney on Sunday at Giants Stadium. The 23-year-old managed to get up to play the game but put in a below-par performance, collecting just 16 disposals and applying little pressure.

    Merrett is also understood to have taken full ownership of his performance and was not keen for the virus to be discussed publicly in case it was seen as an excuse.”

    Could be a good POD VC option due to his record against StK as well as being keen to atone for last round’s performance.

    Z Merrett:
    Avg VS StK since 2016: 117.5 from 4 (low of 100 and a high of 129, 3/4 120+)
    Last 3 VS StK: 123.33 from 3 (low of 120 and a high of 129, 3/3 120+)

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    1. Sounds good, but if he played with a virus, I wouldn’t be surprised if it takes more than one week to get back to >100%.

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      1. Agree and also his interrupted pre season could contribute to a slow 1st month. Just noticed the article earlier this morning and thought this would be the ideal spot to post it.

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  9. Rockliff into Macrae.

    Rocky is the fittest he has been in years, has done a pre-season and is a known SC freak.

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    1. One is as good as the other. Hawthorn don’t tag so Macrae will score well. And Fyfe is Fyfe…I can’t see where you go wrong either way.

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      1. Wedders.

        The Hawks do tag.

        Howe has had many run with roles last year.
        Although Howe may miss, Cousins is likely to try and stop the Doggies best. I feel The Bont is more likely to cop attention than Macrea. He seems to have more score involvements and thats what the Hawks will be trying to curb.

        I see Macrea scoring between 110/150

        Fyfe v’s the Suns.

        Who’s going to stop him?

        I see him 150+

        Lets hope I haven’t jinxed them 🙂

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        1. Mate, Howe is unlikely to be selected and Cousins doesn’t yet have the smarts to go with Macrae. I’m a Hawks supporter and I have no problem convincing myself that Macrae will score well on Sunday, regardless of the result. I will captain him if Rockliff goes sub 120.

          Agreed that Howe does tag when he plays but even then, it is only certain types that he is deployed to.

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          1. Wedders

            Solid plan. I’m not sure there’s may run with / taggers that have the tank/ smarts to go with Macrea all day.

            I see him as a very safe V/ Captains candidate all year.

            Best of luck this week.

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  10. Can’t decide on my VC. worried the swans tagger Hewitt will take Sloane.

    TU: M. Crouch into Macrae
    TD: R. Sloane into Macrae

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