Back to normality this week with the byes finally behind us. To make things even better this week, you have two of the in-form players in the game playing Thursday night to throw your VC on. Let’s have a look at this week’s top options.
Vice-Captains
It doesn’t get any easier to pick a VC than this week. There are two options. Number one is Tim Taranto. The best player in the game, six scores in a row of 120+.
Matchups don’t matter to this man, and you will be able to rest easy all weekend when you can lock in a 120+ score from him as your captain on Thursday night.
The second option is Josh Dunkley. I expect these two to play on each other for a lot of the game. Now I know when you have someone of Taranto’s ability available to put your VC on, you take it. But… Dunkley has a 172 next to his name this year, and we have seen that ceiling in the past too. Richmond is an incredibly easy matchup, and if you are looking for a point of difference this week, you could risk going with Dunkley as your VC and hoping for him to pump out one of those massive ceiling scores, as there are plenty of reliable options later in the round to be your captain if things go wrong. If you need to do something different to make up some ranks, Dunkley might just pay off over Taranto this week.
Captains
If Taranto fails for the first time all year, then take your pick from the guys listed below.
- Rory Laird
The only reason this guy is ahead of the bloke one spot below him is reflective of who I think is more likely to cop a tag now. North are one of the easiest match ups for midfielders, and Laird has scored 9 tons in his last 10 matches. His last 3 games against North, Laird has had scores of 129, 92 and 140. A safe option with a ceiling, Rory should be in for a huge week.
- Jordan Dawson
I eluded to it above, but I think Dawson has overtaken Laird as the man to cop attention moving forward. However, I think with North having a fit midfield now, they will be less likely to use a tagger anyway, so Dawson is still a fantastic option in such a soft matchup. A 3 round rolling average of 135, 5 round rolling average of 125 and 1 score below 100 in his last 11 games. Not to mention the fact he’s coming fresh off a monster 172. That screams a genuine, reliable captaincy option to me.
- Andrew Brayshaw
Last week’s 129 was Andy’s 8th fantasy ton in a row, resulting in a 5-game rolling average of 115.2. That knee niggle is well and truly behind him, and we have already seen what he can do on his day when he pumped out a 157 against Hawthorn in round 8. Another safe fallback option this week with a massive ceiling, Brayshaw could be huge in a big game under the roof.
- Brad Crouch
The St Kilda ball magnet gets his turn against the rabble that is West Coast this week, and I am backing him in to take full advantage. Averaging 116 in his last 3, Crouch is well and truly back in form and should feast in the easiest match up you can find this week.
- Zach Merrett
Now, Merrett has the toughest match up in fantasy football this week against Port Adelaide but hear me out. Last week, Fremantle elected to have Serong stand with Parish at stoppages in his first game back from injury instead of running around next to Merrett. I think Port will do the same. Drew wont be able to run with Merrett, but he may be able to slow down Parish, so I think that is where he will go. The other reason I like Merrett this week is his career average of 114.75 against Port Adelaide. Those are crazy numbers. Add in his 5 round rolling average of 126, which includes 2 scores of 150+, it’s hard to leave someone out of your top 5 with that sort of form and history. Not for the faint hearted, but could pay off for you this week.
Read Wednesday’s news, including Thursday teams
