Round 23 Captaincy Candidates

Round 23 Captaincy Candidates – Follow the Winners?

Round 22 gave us some absolutely ridiculous SuperCoach scores.

Rankine went nuclear with 223, followed by Rowell 174, Bailey Smith 161, Miller 157, LDU 156 and Neale 155. Once again, they all had one thing in common, they played in winning teams.

We mentioned this last week and it happened again. Maybe we’re onto something. When looking for our VC and captain, perhaps one of the first questions should simply be: Who do I think is going to win the game?

Personally, I was happy enough with Nick Daicos’ 132 as captain. It wasn’t one of the monster scores of the round, but I’ll take 132 from my C every week.

This week we finally get a Thursday night off, so put the loophole calculator away, enjoy your dinner and come back Friday.

Vice-Captain Options (Ranked)

1. Luke Jackson (Friday vs Adelaide) – Coming off 149 against Max Gawn and now gets a much friendlier ruck matchup. Fremantle at home gives him a genuine monster ceiling.

2. Will Ashcroft / Lachie Neale (Saturday vs Gold Coast) – Brisbane are red-hot, the Suns don’t tag and this looks like another game where the Lions midfield could feast. Ashcroft for ceiling, Neale for reliability.

3. Isaac Rankine (Friday vs Fremantle) – How do you ignore a bloke coming off 223? His role is SuperCoach gold. Tougher matchup in Perth, but Adelaide have plenty to play for.

4. Bailey Smith (Saturday vs North Melbourne) – Bounced straight back with 161 last week. North may try to put some work into him, but stopping him is another matter.

5. Tristan Xerri (Saturday vs Geelong) – The matchup is screaming at us. Geelong have leaked huge ruck scores all season and Xerri scored 165 against them earlier this year.

Captain Options (Ranked)

1. Isaac Heeney (Sunday vs Essendon) – This is the matchup Heeney loves. Essendon are struggling, he can kick a bag and has genuine 160+ upside. The only concern is Sydney managing his minutes.

2. Max Gawn (Saturday night vs Port Adelaide) – Sweet makes the matchup tougher, but Melbourne have everything to play for. These are the games where Max tends to put the team on his back.

3. Nick Daicos (Saturday night vs Hawthorn) – Brownlow form and coming off a comfortable 132 for us last week. Hawthorn will put attention into him, but we’ve already seen him work through it.

4. Marcus Bontempelli (Sunday vs Carlton) – Hasn’t been vintage Bont consistently, but seven 140+ scores tell us the ceiling is still enormous.

5. Lachie Whitfield (Sunday vs West Coast) – The safe fallback. Great matchup, reliable role and exactly the sort of player I’d be comfortable putting the C on if my VC misses.

Fremantle vs Adelaide – Friday Night

What a way to start the round.

Fremantle against Adelaide in Perth, and we’ve got two very different VC options depending on which side you think wins.

Luke Jackson immediately jumps out. He scored 149 last week against Max Gawn and this week he’s likely facing Riley O’Brien, who returned last week for the injured McAndrew. ROB is no Max Gawn. You do the maths.

Then there’s Isaac Rankine. We put him ahead of Dawson last week and he responded with a lazy 223. At this point, I think he’s officially moved beyond “nice option” territory. We can’t ignore him anymore.

His role has become incredibly SuperCoach friendly. He’s pushing back, getting involved in the first possession out of defence and becoming that link player between defence and attack. Add his midfield work and ability to kick goals and he’s suddenly got about four different ways of scoring points.

This one might simply come down to who you think wins.

Fremantle at home are incredibly tough, although they seem to have the minor premiership pretty well locked away. They lost to a hungry Melbourne last week and now face an Adelaide side desperate to secure a top-four position.

If you think Fremantle respond, Jackson.

If you’re backing Adelaide, Rankine.

Richmond vs St Kilda – Saturday

Normally we’d be talking about NAS here, but with Sinclair already missing and Wanganeen-Milera now ruled out, there are suddenly a lot of St Kilda SuperCoach points looking for a new home. NAS’s hamstring injury is expected to keep him out for the remainder of the home-and-away season.

Maybe Max Hall and Bradley Hill are the beneficiaries.

Someone has to get the football against Richmond.

There’s probably not enough here for me to seriously recommend a VC, but it will be interesting to see where all those possessions end up.

North Melbourne vs Geelong – Saturday

This could be a beauty.

North are capable of causing an upset and they’ve got two midfielders in outstanding form in Harry Sheezel and Luke Davies-Uniacke.

The problem? Mullin.

One of them is probably getting his attention. My guess would be LDU, although we’ve seen these tags change during games, which makes either slightly uncomfortable as a captain option. As a VC? I’m much happier taking the chance.

Geelong have their own superstar in Bailey Smith, who bounced straight back to form with 161 last week. North may try to put some work into him, but Smith isn’t exactly easy to stop.

Then there’s Tristan Xerri. This might be the sneaky play from the game.

Geelong have been giving up monster ruck scores all year. Jackson 176, Briggs 148, Marshall 169 and Cameron 121 are some of the recent examples. Even Vigo Visentini managed 84 last week.

And when Xerri played Geelong back in Round 8? 165 points. If you’re looking for someone capable of producing a monster VC score, Xerri has to be in the conversation.

Brisbane vs Gold Coast – Saturday Afternoon

Brisbane are absolutely flying.

Will Ashcroft has a five-round average of 133, while Lachie Neale is averaging 126 across the same period.

And now they get Gold Coast. The Suns don’t tag, Brisbane are at home and, if our theory about backing players from winning teams continues to hold up, this looks like another matchup to attack. Ashcroft and Neale are both excellent options.

For Gold Coast, Matt Rowell owners have finally been rewarded. He’s averaging 124 across his last five against some decent opposition and is coming off a massive 174.

Outside of Rowell, though, I can’t really recommend any Suns this week.

Hawthorn vs Collingwood – Saturday Night

Nick Daicos is playing Brownlow football.

He was quiet early the last time these sides met in that drawn game, with Hawthorn putting plenty of attention into him. I was at the game and at half-time Daicos was sitting on only 29. Then came the second half. He basically dragged Collingwood back into the contest.

Hawthorn will put plenty of work into him again, but that’s hardly a reason to avoid Nick Daicos anymore.

He’s a standout VC or captain option again this week.

Port Adelaide vs Melbourne – Saturday Night

Port’s season is done. Melbourne still have everything to play for. That makes Max Gawn very interesting.

Jordon Sweet is not an easy ruck opponent, so this certainly isn’t a soft matchup. But these are exactly the games where Max tends to lead from the front.

Melbourne need to win and I think they do. This has all the ingredients for another big Max Gawn performance.


GWS vs West Coast – Sunday

GWS’ season is probably done, but they still get a lovely SuperCoach matchup against West Coast.

Lachie Whitfield is exactly the sort of Sunday fallback captain I like.

He’s not necessarily the player I’m expecting to go 170, but if your VC fails and you’re looking for something safe, Whitfield makes plenty of sense.

Clayton Oliver is another option. He hasn’t produced many of those enormous ceiling games this season, but against West Coast he should be good for a decent score.

Western Bulldogs vs Carlton – Sunday

This should be a really good game.

The Bulldogs sit ninth and Carlton tenth, with both likely heading towards the Wildcard Finals.

Marcus Bontempelli hasn’t quite been the Bont we’ve become accustomed to this season, but he’s still averaging 117. The interesting part is how he’s got there. He’s produced seven scores over 140. That’s why you can never completely dismiss him as a captain option. Even when the consistency isn’t there, the ceiling certainly is.

For Carlton, George Hewett deserves a mention. He’s averaging 125 across his last three games. Not many coaches own him, but those who do have another interesting option.

Sydney vs Essendon – Sunday

And then we arrive at the game that could destroy my Sunday afternoon.

I don’t own Grundy. I don’t own Heeney. I don’t own Gulden.

I’ll be watching this one from behind the couch.

Sydney against Essendon looks like an absolute SuperCoach feast, and all three have genuine 150+ potential.

The only concern is Sydney’s position on the ladder. They’ve effectively locked away a top-two position and last week we saw Mills and Heeney spend the final quarter sitting on the bench. Could Gulden or Grundy get similar treatment this week?

Gulden has now played seven games since returning from injury, so maybe he’s the one who gets managed. There’s even the possibility Sydney decide to rest him completely.

That’s why, of the three, I’m giving Heeney the nod. We know he loves beating up on weaker opposition, Essendon is about as friendly a matchup as you’ll find, and if he’s playing forward as well as midfield, he could kick a bag.

Grundy and Gulden are absolutely options. But if all three are named and playing their normal roles, Heeney is the one I’d want.

Final Thoughts

We’re getting towards the end now, and the pattern over the last couple of weeks is becoming hard to ignore.

Find the good matchup. Pick the team you think wins. Then find the player most likely to dominate that win.

Last week Rankine, Rowell, Smith, Miller, LDU and Neale all reinforced the theory.

Let’s see if it works again in Round 23.

Thanks fellas and for those of us without Heeney, Gulden or Grundy, I’ll see you behind the couch on Sunday.