Captainancy Candidates – Round 14

Captainancy Candidates – Round 14

No review this week. Straight into Round 14 because there are some genuinely juicy matchups on the fixture and several premiums who look capable of producing one of those increasingly rare monster scores.

As always, remember that the VC selections are generally built around the earlier games and chasing a ceiling score, while the captain rankings focus more on the later games and safer fallback options.

Vice-Captain Rankings

1. Max Holmes (Friday Night) – Loves this matchup and scored 152 against the Suns in this fixture last year. Geelong at home and Holmes in space is usually a very profitable combination.

2. Marcus Bontempelli (Thursday Night) – Still playing a little sore, but his record against Adelaide is outstanding. Scores of 141, 174 and 119 suggest another big one could be coming.

3. Jordan Dawson (Thursday Night) – Building beautifully into the season and looks every bit the captain Adelaide need him to be. Scored 159 in this fixture last year.

4. Harry Sheezel (Saturday Afternoon) – West Coast away from Perth remains one of the best fantasy matchups in football. Fresh off the bye and should find plenty of the footy.

5. Archie Roberts (Saturday Afternoon) – A little left field, but the role remains elite and he has already shown a 150-plus ceiling this season.

Captain Rankings

1. Tristan Xerri (Saturday Afternoon) – The West Coast numbers are simply ridiculous. His last four against the Eagles are 199, 153, 131 and 185. Hard to look past.

2. Max Gawn (Saturday Afternoon) – Essendon’s ruck stocks have struggled all season and Gawn’s recent record against them is excellent. One of the safest captain options available.

3. Brodie Grundy (Saturday Evening) – Port have been giving up points to opposition rucks and Grundy has scored 139 and 159 in his last two against them.

4. Lachie Neale (Saturday Night) – Richmond continue to leak points through the midfield and Neale has scored 130, 162 and 143 in his last three meetings with the Tigers.

5. Jack Sinclair (Sunday) – Rock-solid as always. Not always the biggest ceiling, but one of the safest late-round fallback options in SuperCoach.

Thursday Night – Bulldogs vs Adelaide

The round kicks off with what should be one of the better games of the weekend.

Marcus Bontempelli is still carrying a few bumps and bruises and at times this season hasn’t looked quite as explosive as we’re used to seeing. The scary thing is that even when he’s not at his best, he still finds a way to score.

His last three against Adelaide read very nicely: 141, 174 and 119. The Bulldogs are at home and Bont is the type of player who can turn a game in a single quarter. He shapes as one of the better early VC options of the round.

For Adelaide, Jordan Dawson is quietly building into the season. Early in the year he looked a little down on his usual standards, but over the past month he has started to resemble the player who carried the Crows through large parts of 2025.

He’s leading from the front, winning contested ball and getting involved all over the ground. He scored 159 in this fixture last season and deserves to be in the VC conversation.

Friday Night – Geelong vs Gold Coast

This game has plenty of SuperCoach relevance.

The usual Suns suspects deserve a mention. Noah Anderson, Christian Petracca and Matt Rowell are all capable of huge scores on their day. The problem is the venue. Gold Coast have been a completely different team away from home this season. When they’re in Queensland they look capable of beating anyone. When they travel, things become a lot less convincing.

That’s what makes it difficult to recommend the Suns midfielders as genuine VC options this week.

One Sun who is impossible to ignore though is John Noble.

His move to the Gold Coast has been a revelation and he is having arguably the best SuperCoach season of his career. Scores of 161 and 152 in his last three games show the sort of ceiling he possesses when he gets rolling off half-back. He’s not highly owned, but if you have him, this is definitely a week where you could be a little creative with the VC.

Then there are the Cats. Bailey Smith and Max Holmes seem to appear in these articles every single week, and for good reason.

Holmes is my favourite from this game. He scored 152 in this fixture last season and continues to be one of the most dangerous players in the competition when Geelong are controlling possession.

Smith remains a fantastic option, but Holmes gets the slight nod for me this week.

Saturday Afternoon – Melbourne vs Essendon

This matchup immediately takes us to the big man.

Essendon have struggled in a number of areas this season, but nowhere more than in the ruck department.

That should be music to Max Gawn’s ears.

His last two scores against the Bombers are 131 and 145, and it’s difficult to see how Essendon contain him around stoppages.

The only concern for Gawn owners this season has been the occasional appearance of Max Heath in the ruck rotation, but when Gawn gets a favourable matchup like this, he still finds a way to score.

He looks like one of the safest captain options of the round.

For Essendon, Archie Roberts remains worth discussing. His scoring has cooled slightly over the last few weeks, but I actually liked what I saw from him last week. He’s still getting involved in all the right places and the role remains excellent.

I wouldn’t put the captaincy on him, but as a unique VC option he’s worth considering.

Saturday Afternoon – North Melbourne vs West Coast

Whenever we see West Coast on the fixture, one question immediately comes to mind.

Who gets to play their ruck?

This week the answer is Tristan Xerri.

And that is very good news for Xerri owners.

His last four scores against West Coast are: 199, 153, 131 and 185.

Those aren’t scores. They’re a cry for help from Eagles supporters.

West Coast continue to be one of the best matchups for opposition rucks and Xerri shapes as one of the standout captaincy options of the entire round.

Harry Sheezel also deserves plenty of attention.

West Coast away from Perth continue to leak points and Sheezel’s ability to accumulate possessions and control games makes him a very attractive VC option.

Luke Davies-Uniacke is another one worth mentioning. He doesn’t always receive the same attention as Sheezel and Xerri, but he has the ability to produce genuinely huge scores when North are winning the midfield battle.

Saturday Evening – Port Adelaide vs Sydney

This game has no shortage of premium options.

Zac Butters at Adelaide Oval is almost automatically worth discussing.

His last three scores against Sydney are: 164, 130 and 132. That’s an excellent record. The concern is James Jordon.

If Sydney decide Butters is the player they need to stop, Jordon will almost certainly spend plenty of time with him. That doesn’t automatically rule Butters out. Plenty of players have survived tags this season. It just introduces a little more risk than we’d like.

On the Sydney side, Brodie Grundy looks like a fantastic option.

His last two scores against Port Adelaide are 139 and 159, and the Port ruck division has been giving up plenty of points to opposition big men.

The Swans midfield should get good service and Grundy looks like one of the better captaincy options available.

Saturday Night – Richmond vs Brisbane

Richmond have been generous all season. Very generous. Particularly to opposition midfielders.

Which brings us to Lachie Neale. His last three against Richmond are: 130, 162 and 143.

That is about as good as it gets.

The Tigers continue to give up points through the midfield and Neale feels perfectly placed to take advantage.

This is exactly the type of matchup where Neale can quietly accumulate 35 possessions and walk away with another 130-plus score.


Sunday – St Kilda vs GWS

The final game of the round is probably the hardest to predict.

I genuinely have no idea who wins.

That uncertainty generally isn’t ideal for captaincy, but there are still several attractive options.

Jack Sinclair continues to be one of the safest premium defenders in the game. Week after week he finds a way to score, and when you’re looking for a late-round captain fallback, reliability matters.

Then we have the two Lachies. Lachie Whitfield and Lachie Ash.

Whitfield remains one of the premier SuperCoach players in the competition when fully fit. His role is outstanding, his kick-in numbers are excellent and he always has the ability to produce a huge score.

Ash has taken another step forward this season and has become a genuine premium option in his own right. The increased midfield time has slightly reduced his defensive accumulation at times, but the ceiling remains enormous.

If you’re chasing a unique Sunday captain, either Lachie could get the job done.

Final Thoughts

This feels like one of the better captaincy rounds we’ve had for a while.

There are several premium ruck matchups, some very appealing midfielder fixtures and a few genuine POD options for coaches looking to make up ground.

Don’t be afraid to take a good VC score this week.

The monster scores have been harder to find in 2026 and sometimes banking a 130 is the smartest play.

thanks ladies and gentlemen