MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 14: Brodie Grundy of the Demons handballs during a Melbourne Demons training session at Gosch's Paddock on December 14, 2022 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Martin Keep/AFL Photos for AFL Photos)
We’re blessed for vice-captain options in Round 4 but sometimes that makes it tougher to make a call. Honeyball’s Corey Viney runs the rule over the best AFL Fantasy VC/C picks this round.
Vice-captains
There’s vice captains aplenty this round as Dunkley and Daicos run around on Thursday night, before LDU, Docherty and Sheezel run around on Friday afternoon.
Add to this Andy Brayshaw and Rory Laird go head-to-head early Saturday afternoon, you’re certain to have someone to be your free hit VC this week.
With so many options, I’ll give you a couple of quick dot points on each, in order of who I would be giving the VC to this week if I owned all of them.
Sam Docherty
- Fresh off a monster 136.
- Plays the Roos, who Sicily had 132 against last week with 12 marks.
- Midfield minutes last week, a role he had for the last 2 games last year for scores of 123 and 137. Whichever role he plays, he will score.
Rory Laird
- 110 in his last game against Freo (2021).
- Bounce back game after a tough matchup, scored 142 in Round 2 after a bad week.
- Is Rory Laird.
Josh Dunkley
- 116 last week
- Taranto had 111 against Collingwood last week
Harry Sheezel
- Scores of 118, 127 and 109 to start his career. Again, trust what you see, and we have never seen anything else.
Nick Daicos
- 114, 117 and 100 to start the year
- Richards scored 103 off HB against Brisbane last week.
- Potential to finally cop some attention from a decent shut down player this week in Berry.
Luke Davies-Uniacke
- 108 and 123 to start the year.
- Potential Curnow tag on the way.
- Only scored 63 against the blues last year.
Captains
1) Brodie Grundy
For those that have been caught up in the mess that has been injuries to the ruck line, if you ended up with Grundy in your side this week, you are finally set to be rewarded. The ruck pig had 124 against the Eagles last year, and 129 against them in 2021. Darcy (128) and Flynn (110) have mauled Williams in the ruck already this year, and Xerri was on track to do the same in round 1 before injury, but even Comben managed 80 once Xerri went down. People have forgotten how dominant Grundy can be when healthy, but he is set to give them a very big reminder this week.
2) Josh Kelly
What a good pick this guy would have been if he didn’t cop a knock to the head in Round 1… However, he was straight back to his best in his return last week, posting a huge 126, and this inside midfield role is legit. The last time we saw Kelly play this role for a season was back in 2019 when he averaged 115.9 for the season. Those are huge numbers, just like the ones scored against the Essendon midfield last week. Crouch (122), Wood (118) and Ross (117) had it on a string, and I expect Kelly to have it very similar this week. Massive score on the cards.
3) Clayton Oliver
This man just can’t be stopped. Only scored 91 on the Eagles last year, but with Serong (127) dominating against them last week, and injuries riddling an already ordinary side, there is no reason to think Clarry’s run of 100+ scores to start the year will end this week. You can only judge what you have seen, and after averaging 128 in his first 3 weeks, Oliver is in a league of his own at the moment. Even with the potential of a Ginbey tag, should be a safe 110+ option again this week.
4) Andrew Brayshaw
Brayshaw is coming up against the Crows, who he scored 120 on last year, and 111 in 2021. Having already allowed Rozee (113), Taranto (108) Tom Green (128) to score freely against their midfield, Brayshaw (and Serong for his owners) will rack it up this week. Good option of you don’t own any of the players named above, but could potentially be a VC option also as he plays early Saturday, it all comes down to who you have in your side.
5) Tim Taranto
A guy yet to drop under 100 this year coming up against a Dogs outfit leaking points to midfielders, with Dunkley (116,) Steele (118), Crouch (111) and Oliver (124) all cashing in with nice scores against them so far. Like I said with Oliver above, you can only judge what we have seen, and this guy is a safe 3 figure score for you this week, with a potential ceiling. In his last game against the Dogs he scored a 104 back in 2021. He should beat that this week.
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