Captainancy Candidates – Round 11

Captainance Candidates – Round 11

Round 10 Recap – VC’s Good, Captains Bad

Round 10 was another reminder that SuperCoach is a very simple game right up until it absolutely isn’t.

Our VC options were excellent.

Isaac Heeney scared everyone early with a very slow start before exploding in the third quarter to finish on 99, while Brodie Grundy absolutely destroyed the round with 203 in one of the great ruck performances of the season.

Zac Butters delivered another reliable 138, Noah Anderson bounced back again with 134 in Darwin, and Bailey Smith casually pumped out 154 because apparently scoring 150 is just part of his personality now.

Honestly, except for Heeney making everyone sweat for two quarters, the VC line was exactly what we wanted.

Lock them away. Sip lattes. Pretend you’re a SuperCoach genius for the rest of the weekend.

Unfortunately…Our Captain fallback options were not nearly as kind. Luke Jackson 66. Lachie Whitfield 79. Marcus Bontempelli 88. Tristan Xerri 87. That is what we in the industry call “not ideal.”

Jack Sinclair was the only one who really stood up with a strong 139.

To be fair, Captain options are often more dependent on fixture timing than being the absolute best play. Usually they come from the late games after the VC loophole has failed and you’re trying to recover emotionally from Friday night decisions.

Still…Those were some painful Sunday afternoons.

Round 11 – Pendles, Daicos and the Easy Matchups

This week Richmond and Essendon play each other, while Collingwood host West Coast at the MCG for Scott Pendlebury’s record-breaking game.

Honestly, nobody owns Pendles anymore……but if you do, just for old time’s sake you almost have to VC him.

One final salute to one of the greatest SuperCoach players ever.

Of course, the real discussion is Nick Daicos.

West Coast have flirted with tagging over the last couple of weeks, but good luck tagging Nick Daicos at the MCG in Pendlebury’s record game.

That sounds less like a tactical plan and more like a cry for help.

This is a Saturday afternoon game, making Daicos both a VC and a legitimate Captain option.

And the history is ridiculous: 125, 123, 147 and 131 in his last four against West Coast.


Friday Night – Time to Respect Archie Roberts

I know I haven’t given Archie Roberts much love this season.

That changes this week.

He has clearly shown he has a genuine 150+ ceiling, and a Friday night matchup against Richmond is almost impossible to ignore.

This is exactly the type of game where half-backs collect 17 uncontested marks before halftime and you start wondering if Richmond are legally allowed to defend.

Roberts is a genuine VC option.

And so is Zach Merrett.

Only 14% ownership somehow. Two scores under 100 all season, an 87 and a 98. That’s ridiculous consistency.

And this matchup could easily become his statement game. He scored 156 in the corresponding matchup last year and Richmond still allow midfielders to score far too easily.


Thursday Night – Tasmania Is Never Fun

Hawthorn host Adelaide in Tasmania. Which is never fun for travelling teams. Especially not Adelaide.

Izak Rankine is always capable of a huge score and as a Thursday night VC option there is definitely some appeal, but I can also see Hawthorn giving him plenty of attention around stoppages and transitions.

Jordan Dawson has been solid all season, but he hasn’t really shown the spike scores we want from a true VC option.

Worth burning the VC on? Probably not.

The Rucks – Oh Yes, Grundy Again

Let’s talk about the big boys.

The rucks.

And yes…Brodie Grundy again.

As a non-owner, I’d personally like to stop talking about him because last week there were only two types of SuperCoach coaches: Those with Grundy and those pretending they were okay without him.

This week he gets Geelong.

And Geelong do not have a strong ruck department. Will it be Edwards? Blicavs? Do they wheel Rhys Stanley back out of storage?

It honestly doesn’t matter much. Two weeks ago Tristan Xerri scored 164 against Geelong. The week before that Jordan Sweet scored 141.

Now they get Brodie Grundy in career-best form.

This could get ugly.

The game is Saturday afternoon, making Grundy both an elite VC and Captain option.

Honestly, he might be the safest premium play in the game right now.

The Same Game – So Many Premiums, So Many Problems

The same game also features all the usual suspects. Isaac Heeney. Nick Blakey. Bailey Smith. Max Holmes.

I don’t think the coaches let anyone run free.

Heeney probably gets some quality time with Mullin.

Blakey could easily cop attention from O’Sullivan or Henry.

And the Swans still have James Jordon sitting there waiting to ruin someone’s day.

This game is absolutely loaded with premiums. Which somehow makes it harder to trust anyone outside of Grundy.

Grundy feels like the lock. Everyone else feels slightly dangerous.

Xerri vs Gold Coast – The Numbers Are Ugly

Tristan Xerri has Gold Coast on Saturday.

And historically…This has not been good.

The Suns are comfortably his worst matchup statistically, with a career average of only 74 against them.

That’s enough to make me nervous immediately.

Gold Coast’s ruck setup and midfield pressure just seem to make life difficult for him every time.

Can he still go big? Of course. But compared to other weeks, I just can’t look at him with huge confidence.

And after last week’s 87…with low TOG…Owners are already slightly traumatised.

Sunday – Gawn Looks Very Nice Again

Max Gawn gets the Bulldogs in the final game of the round and immediately shapes as one of the best fallback Captain options.

If English is out, Gawn should absolutely dominate.

Now yes, we still need to talk about Max Heath. The sharing of ruck duties remains a concern. Last week Heath played very low TOG because he was assessed for concussion, but he has been cleared to play this week.

So the split probably continues.

That does cap Gawn’s ceiling slightly. But Melbourne clearly still want Gawn heavily involved around stoppages and behind the ball, and against the Bulldogs there should still be plenty of scoring available.

He hasn’t gone under 100 all season.

Bont – Hurt, But Still Bont

In the same game we have Marcus Bontempelli.

He is very clearly carrying a knee issue. And to his credit, he has still been scoring well despite it.

Last week though, it may finally have caught up with him a little, struggling to 88 against a very energetic Carlton side.

Melbourne’s midfield has not been restrictive at all this season. That gives Bont every chance to bounce back immediately.

And honestly…Betting against Bont usually ends badly. For you. Not him.

Luke Jackson vs The Saints Dual Ruck

Luke Jackson gets a much tougher matchup this week against the St Kilda dual rucks of Rowan Marshall and Tom De Koning.

That is not ideal. But we said similar things against Hawthorn’s rucks 2 weeks ago and Jackson still found a way to score 141 thanks to a massive final quarter.

That’s the scary thing with Jackson. Even when the matchup looks bad…He can still break the game open.

This is a Friday night fixture, making him a very interesting VC option again.

Jack Sinclair should see plenty of the ball again across half-back and through transition. Coming off a huge score last week, there’s no reason that role suddenly disappears.

St Kilda will almost certainly spend large periods defending at Optus Stadium, and that usually means Sinclair gets involved heavily in the cheap mark-and-kick game that SuperCoach coaches absolutely love.

He’s not the flashy option but very annoying if you don’t own him.

Caleb Serong is quietly starting to find form again with scores of 118 and 113 in his last two games, that’s much more like it, I’m not sure I’d go as far as calling him a top-tier VC option this week, but he’s absolutely back in the discussion and looks far more like the Serong owners paid for earlier in the season.

Then there’s Josh Treacy and honestly he could absolutely get off the chain here.

Treacy already has four scores of 120+ this season, and if Fremantle’s midfield gets on top at home, this could become one of those ugly key-forward domination game

 

Saturday Night – Butters at Adelaide Oval

Zac Butters gets Carlton at Adelaide Oval.

And honestly…That sounds like a problem for Carlton.

Butters is a machine at home and continues to score regardless of matchup, attention, weather, or apparently the laws of physics.

He feels like one of the strongest Captain options of the round.

Especially Saturday night under lights at the Adelaide Oval.


Sunday – Whitfield Rebound Time?

The other Sunday game sees GWS take on Brisbane.

Lachie Whitfield was tagged last week by West Coast, which still feels slightly disrespectful to football itself.

I cannot see Brisbane doing that.

The Lions will back their system and their forwards to beat GWS. Which is very good news for Whitfield owners.

He immediately shapes as a strong Captain option again.

And from Brisbane, Lachie Neale still feels like the best midfield option. Reliable. Professional. And somehow always standing exactly where the ball lands.

Vice-Captain Options (Ranked)

1. Brodie Grundy (Saturday) – Geelong simply do not have the ruck setup to stop him
2. Nick Daicos (Saturday) – Ridiculous history vs West Coast and Pendles’ record game at the MCG
3. Zach Merrett (Friday) – Elite consistency and Richmond matchup screams ceiling game
4. Jack Sinclair (Friday) – Huge role across half-back and should see plenty of the ball again
5. Archie Roberts (Friday) – Time to finally respect the ceiling

Captain Options (Ranked)

1. Zac Butters (Saturday Night) – Carlton at Adelaide Oval feels like the perfect Butters game
2. Max Gawn (Sunday) – Especially if Tim English misses
3. Lachie Whitfield (Sunday) – Should be free from tags and back to normal scoring
4. Marcus Bontempelli (Sunday) – Hurt or not, still one of the best players in the game
5. Lachie Neale (Sunday) – Still Brisbane’s safest midfield premium and rarely has two quiet weeks in a row

 

thanks fellas