Another week of knowing all Team’s 22s before the bounce of the first game on Friday night. Take advantage by preparing a rock solid VC/C plan, with Jimmy Crawford bringing you his top SuperCoach tips.
Follow him on Twitter @Pig_Mentality for more SuperCoach VC/C chat.
Vice-Captains
1. Tim Taranto
Tim has a reputation for butchering the ball and ruining his SuperCoach score, but he has bucked that trend this year, averaging 118 points this season. This is highlighted by scores of 144 and 140 in his last two weeks. He now comes up against the depleted West Coast Eagles, who just gave up 153 points to Patrick Cripps, 134 points to Adam Cerra and 124 points to George Hewett.
2. Patrick Cripps
I am slightly hesitant to recommend Patrick as a VC option, as the only time I have suggested him this year he spat out an 80. But he has been a different player since the return of Sam Walsh, going off for 130 and 153 in that period. And the VC option gives you a chance to have a look at his score with some added security.
3. Sam Walsh
Sam has had three great scores to start of his year; averaging 117 points per game. Coincidentally he is averaging 116 points over his last three games against the Lions, which includes 119 and 130. He also put a 141 on Brisbane in their first ever meeting.
Captains
1. Clayton Oliver
Clayton is coming off a 134 and now comes up against his second-favourite team to score against. Clarry averages 132 over his entire career (8 games) against the Gold Coast. This includes 121 and 166 in their last two meetings. He also averaged 128 at Heritage Bank Stadium. It doesn’t get much safer than an Oliver C or VC this week.
2. Christian Petracca
The Demons midfielders as #1 and #2 Captains? Yessir. Christian is coming off a giant 167 against the Kangaroos, and now versus a Suns midfield that give up plenty of points; 140 to Taranto last week, 111 to Ziebell in Round 6 and 146 to Serong in Round 5. And Trac has a history with the Suns, coming off 129 and 148 in their past two meetings.
3. Tim English
Tim burnt his owners last week, with his first score under 130 for the year. But I am expecting a bounce-back this week. Coming up against Matt Flynn looks good for English. In the last three weeks, Flynn has given up tonnes to Ladhams (103), McInerney (109) and Reeves (117). Imagine what he gives up to a proper ruckman like English.
4. Patrick Dangerfield
Patrick is having a great season and is somewhat flying under the SuperCoach radar, with a four-round average of 126. Danger loves playing against his old team, whom he averages 123 points per game in their matchups over his career (9 games). This is his most profitable matchup, and I am expecting another Captain-type performance from the new Cats’ skipper.
5. Luke Ryan
Luke is having an incredible season, averaging over 121 points per game to be the sixth highest scorer for the year after 7 rounds. He now comes up against the Hawks, who have a habit of bombing the ball in long, which may result in plenty of intercept marks for Ryan. He scored 119 points on them last year and is in even better touch this season.
POD Captain?
1. Jack Steele
Is Jack back? Judging by his 126 on the weekend, he might be. Couple that with his great track record against North Melbourne, and this could be a nice unique Captain option if you have him. Scores of 154 and 128 in his last two against the Roos look nice. I am not super confident in Jack just yet, returning from the shoulder injury, but if your VC fails, Steele could be a tasty point of difference Captain.
My moves
I hovered in the rankings this week to currently be sitting at 2,934 for the season.
Last week I chose English as Vice-Captain (90) into a Daicos Captaincy (72). I copped Daicos’ poor score as my Captain, preventing me from climbing the rankings.
This week I will be mixing it up, with the Vice-Captain on Taranto followed by English as my Captain. (This may be influenced by who I trade in this week).
For those interested in my recommendations, I started this article in Round 2, and since then the stats look like this:
Average VC recommendation score: 128
Average C recommendation score: 117
Average POD C recommendation score: 107
*excluding injured or subbed games
