There weren’t too many enticing VC options in Thursday night’s Carlton-Geelong game so plenty of AFL Fantasy coaches have their VC/C picks still to come, so Fantasy fiend Corey Viney offered up a few suggestions.

Author: Corey Viney @CoreyViney

Vice-Captains

The two main people I would be relying on as a VC options this week are Josh Dunkley or Clayton Oliver.

Dunkley will be my VC this week, who like Rory Laird, has a point to prove after a relatively quiet start for his new club. I wouldn’t worry too much about this, as his Round 1 opponent Port have historically been a tough team to score against, and last week was no different, with not one player scoring over 100 Fantasy points for either side during the whole match. This week’s matchup against Melbourne will be much more fantasy friendly, (Treloar 125, Libba 114, Macrae 107 all scored well against them last week), and I see Dunks bouncing back in a big way.

Oliver lines up in the same game, and as mentioned above, no Port player scored over 100 against the Lions last week, but Clarry has scored 108 (semi-final), 106 and 102 against them in his 3 matchups with them last year, and looked amazing on the weekend just gone, scoring 124. Looks to have taken yet another step this year, and with the VC being a free hit, Oliver could be the perfect option.

Captains

1. Andrew Brayshaw

Brayshaw has what looks to be a juicy match up this week against what should be a bottom 4 outfit in North Melbourne. His last 2 scores against North are 134 in their only matchup last year and he even scored 121 against them in 2021.

I don’t see North going with a tagger this year as they have a lot of young mids they need to get time into so they can develop quickly. Couple this with the fact that Fremantle are one of the last teams in the comp that are running with a high possession, slower gamestyle, Brayshaw should have a day out considering the likes of Shuey (118) and even rookie Ginbey (92) managed decent scores against North last week in a losing side.

2. Tim Taranto

Taranto is coming off a 123 last week, and meets Adelaide who Green (128), Coniglio (104) and Kelly (94 from 66% game time) scored against at will last week. Matthew Nicks openly said last week that he was happy to let Green continue to run free in the second half when he was dominating, so I don’t see that changing this week and all of a sudden having a tagger run with Taranto this week. Timmy T had a 94 against the Crows last year, but had a massive 140 against them in 2021, and we all know Taranto in the midfield is a different beast to a Taranto wasting away in the forward line. Don’t worry about the talk that Richmond don’t have a game style that results in Fantasy points, Taranto proved last week he is in for a massive year, and this week will be no different.

3. Zach Merrett

Merrett comes up against a Gold Coast team that was dismantled by Sydney last week, with Warner (117), Stephens (104) and Gulden (99) leading the way. Should avoid a tag, and with a recent score of 131 against the Suns last year, Merrett should be a reliable option to wear the armband for you this week.

4. Jack Steele

Last week the Bulldogs let Oliver (124) and Petracca (109) off the chain, and a total of five Melbourne players scored over 100 fantasy points. Steele scored 117 against the Dogs last year and should be a safe 100+ score this week, with the potential to go much bigger as we all know what Steele is capable of on his day.

5. Rory Laird

Laird comes up against a Richmond team that is no threat of a tag and with a point to prove after being shut down last week. There is a slight flag here, as Rory has only scored 95 last year and 75 in 2021 against the Tigers in his last 2 match ups with them. Although not great history, I still back Laird in to have a big week and reward those owners that held him after his poor start last week.