Captainancy Candidates – Round 12

Captainance Candidates – Round 12

Round 11 Recap

Round 11 was one of those weird SuperCoach rounds where every game felt low scoring, every captain felt disappointing, and everyone in the group chat started pretending they “almost” captained Darcy Parish. Parish was the only player to crack 150 for the round.

Outside of that, it was mostly survival.

Our VC options actually did their job reasonably well. Brodie Grundy cooled off with 95 after going completely nuclear the week before, Nick Daicos gave owners a solid 124 in Scott Pendlebury’s record-breaking game, Zach Merrett continued his excellent season with 126, Jack Sinclair ticked along nicely with 114, while Archie Roberts disappointed a little with 85.

In a low-scoring week, most of those were perfectly acceptable VC scores.

The real pain came from the Captain fallback options.

Zac Butters 103, Max Gawn 114, Marcus Bontempelli 119, Lachie Neale 114 and Lachie Whitfield was a late causing a few of us to book in our next therapy session.


Round 12 – Welcome to the Bye Rounds

And now the byes begin. Four teams missing. Half your bench covered in red dots so plenty of loopholes

The bye rounds completely change how we approach captaincy. Sometimes taking the safe 120 is the smartest thing you can do.


West Coast vs Essendon – The Last Game Problem

West Coast host Essendon in the final game of the round.

Zach Merrett immediately stands out. He continues to be one of the safest premium midfielders in SuperCoach and still somehow feels underrated despite scoring like a genuine uber premium nearly every week.

Against West Coast, the ceiling absolutely exists.

In the same game there is Archie Roberts. At some point we all need admit he’s just very good at football, if he stays in defence.

West Coast continue to allow defenders to rack up uncontested possessions, and Roberts has already shown multiple times this season that he has a genuine 150+ ceiling.

The problem is Timing. Because it’s the last game of the round, these matches are usually fallback Captain options rather than clean VC plays.

Merrett feels like the safe premium play, where Roberts feels like the “I need a 145 to save my rank” option.

Sydney vs Richmond – Grundy Looks Like the VC Lock

Sydney against Richmond is shaping as one of the key games of the round.

And once again…We arrive at Brodie Grundy.

Richmond simply do not have the ruck setup to stop elite rucks. Last week they allowed Nick Bryan to score 96. The week before that Tom De Koning scored 118. And with all due respect to those two…Brodie Grundy is operating about two tax brackets above them right now.

This is exactly the type of matchup where Grundy can completely take over through hitouts, contested possessions and around-the-ground work.

And unlike some rucks, he doesn’t need 55 hitouts to score well. He scores everywhere.

The game being first on Saturday makes him almost the perfect VC option during the bye rounds. Huge ceiling.

Then there’s Isaac Heeney.

Heeney remains one of the biggest ceiling players in the game, while Richmond’s defence is exactly the type of matchup where Heeney can suddenly decide he’s the most important player on the ground and go next level scoring.

If Sydney dominate territory…This could get ugly quickly.

Grundy feels like the safest VC option of the week, but if you own Heeney instead of Grundy, also a great VC option


The Other Rucks – Gawn & Jackson

Max Gawn gets GWS.

And GWS have been giving up huge points to opposition rucks lately. Two weeks ago BJ Williams scored 147 against them.

Yes, Max Heath remains slightly annoying. But Gawn lloks to have got his role back as the ‘main’ ruck option. Gawn still looks like one of the safest Sunday Captain options on the board.

Luke Jackson matchup this week is genuinely difficult.

Brisbane have actually been one of the more restrictive teams for opposition rucks this season. Brisbane pressure don’t allow easy uncontested possessions around the ball and that could effect Jackson who relies on follow-up work and ground-level involvement.


Thursday Night – Saints vs Hawks

Thursday night gives us St Kilda vs Hawthorn.

Jack Sinclair just keeps doing Jack Sinclair things.

Quietly accumulating points while everyone else argues about captains.

Honestly, I can see the Saints trying to play a giant game of keepings-off against Hawthorn, which suits Sinclair perfectly. Lots of uncontested marks. Lots of short kicks. Lots of Hawthorn fans screaming “MAN UP” at their television.

Flanders has also been spending a lot more time in defence lately and should score very well in this style of game.


Friday Night – Holmes and Smith at the MCG

Friday night gives us Geelong vs Carlton at the MCG.

Carlton have won two straight games and deserve some respect……but Geelong in form are still a different beast.

And once again, Max Holmes and Bailey Smith are right in the VC discussion.

Holmes is now basically a midfielder, winger, defender and emotional support animal all at once.

Bailey Smith is an unbelievable footballer, anyone who watched his 3rd quarter effort on the weekend will know what i mean. When he puts 4 quarters of that type of football together he is a player who destroys your week if you don’t have him.


Bailey Dale – Quietly Becoming One of the Best Captain Options

We probably need to stop treating Bailey Dale like a “nice POD defender” and start talking about him properly.

Because right now…He is absolutely flying. Dale comes into this round with a five-round average of 124 and the matchup against Collingwood looks almost perfect for the way he scores.

The Pies continue to allow uncontested ball to opposition half-backs because of the way they defend territory and structure up behind the ball.

And if there is one thing Bailey Dale loves, it’s standing 45 metres behind the play collecting easy marks and kicks, i’m sure he goes to bed and mumbles “back to me” in his sleep.

The scary thing is how reliable the role has become.

Dale could absolutely push another 130+ score. Bailey Dale is now a genuine premium Captain option.

Sunday – Gawn, Whitfield and the Temptation of Oliver

Melbourne vs GWS shapes as one of the key Captaincy games of the round.

Max Gawn looks like the perfect Sunday fallback option. The matchup suits. The role suits. And GWS have been leaking points to rucks.

Lachie Whitfield was a late out last week, but assuming he returns, he immediately becomes one of the strongest Captain candidates again. No tag. Elite role. Kick-ins. Cheap marks.

Clayton Oliver, i didn’t think i would be saying this, but he has absolutely been rewarding owners lately with a brilliant run of form. BUT, Would you trust him with the Captain on a Sunday? Oliver somehow feels capable of scoring 145 while also feeling capable of scoring 84 from the same 37 contested possessions and six clearances. SuperCoach makes no sense sometimes.

Final Thoughts – Captain & Vice-Captain

A safe 120 VC during the byes can genuinely be a winning play.

Vice-Captain Options

1. Brodie Grundy (Saturday) – Richmond simply do not have the ruck setup to stop him

2. Max Holmes (Friday) – MCG matchup, elite role and Geelong could dominate this game from start to finish

3. Bailey Smith (Friday) – The ceiling is ridiculous and if Geelong get on top he could absolutely explode

4. Isaac Heeney (Saturday) – Richmond simply don’t have the midfield quality to contain him if the Swans get on top early

5. Jack Sinclair (Thursday) – Huge role across half-back and bye-round safe scoring

 

Captain Options

1. Max Gawn (Sunday) – GWS matchup looks perfect for him

2. Bailey Dale (Saturday) – Five-round average of 124 and Collingwood allow huge points to half-backs

3. Nick Daicos (Saturday) – Massive stage game, elite form and always capable of breaking the round open

4. Zach Merrett (Sunday) – West Coast matchup gives him genuine ceiling potential

5. Marcus Bontempelli (Saturday) – Big game player, elite ceiling, and always dangerous in close contests

 

VC options are usually driven by the early games, while the Captain options are often the later fallback choices.

That naturally changes the way we rank players.

The VC selections are usually the higher-risk, higher-ceiling plays where you’re chasing that big early score to loophole safely for the rest of the round.

The Captain options, on the other hand, are generally the safer premium selections in the later games, the players you trust to still give you a strong score if your VC attempt doesn’t quite work out.

That’s why players like Grundy, Holmes and Smith feature heavily in the VC rankings this week, while Gawn, Merrett, Daicos and Bont rise in the Captain rankings. It’s not just about matchup, it’s about giving yourself a reliable fallback plan later in the round.

thanks fellas