MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 14: Max Gawn of the Demons marks the ball 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)
The two VC options available to us on Friday night this week are Nick Daicos and Sam Docherty. The match-up is better for Docherty this week, however Daicos will likely avoid a hard tag too.
Vice-Captains
Nick Daicos is my pick for VC if you want to lock it in on Friday night, only due to his ceiling and frequency of hitting it (four 130+ scores, two over 140) this season compared to Sam Docherty, who has only scored 130+ twice this year. If you are happy to go a later play with your VC, pick one of the guys below that make the cut in the top 5.
Captains
With such a tough round to pick Captains this week, I have picked my top 5 to include the early Saturday games instead of using them as VC options.
- Tim Taranto – Starting to get rolling again with a 116 last week, Taranto has another nice matchup for inside mids this week against the Dees. Still averaging 110 over his last 5, which we are calling a ‘down patch’, don’t forget this man has only scored under 110 four time this year, two of them were a 108 and 109. Had 138 against Melbourne earlier in the year and is a safe option again this week to bring your home strong on Sunday afternoon.
- Marcus Bontempelli – Has a tough matchup for inside mids this week against the Giants, but the form he is in warrants the consideration for captaincy every week. Averaging 131.6 in his last 5, which includes scores of 142 and 158. He has scored 11 tons in a row, which started in round nine with a 129 against the same side he lines up against this week. Another safe option to be your captain – or vice captain – this week.
- Max Gawn – Yes, you can do it. Assuming Grundy isn’t named again this week, we have seen back-to-back convincing tons from Max now he is the solo ruck, and that is what you can continue to expect going forward. He is still the same player in the same team he was in last year, the only difference was Grundy. With him now removed, you can expect Maximus to continue to pump out big scores. Coming up against a Richmond side that leaks points without their number one ruckman playing, Gawn could be in for a huge day. 162 and 115 are his last two scores for those of you who don’t know, and last year against the tigers he had 119. If Grundy doesn’t play, Gawn will ton up again this week.
- Rowan Marshall – If Marshall gets passed fit to play this week, he is a genuine captaincy option. Reeves is out for the Hawks which means he will be coming up against Meek, fresh off a 123 last week when he was double teamed and meant to be playing sore. He has had 6 scores of 120+ this year, and I can see another one coming this week against the Hawks.
- Jack Steele – Could you do it? With a three-round rolling average of 128, I believe so. 3 tons in a row, including a 146 and 133 and comes up against one of the easiest match ups for inside mids in Hawthorn, for those who are brave enough, captaining the man of Steele this week could pay off massively. It does come with its risks, but I have seen enough over the last 3 weeks to believe that he is back to his best, and will pump out another monster score this week.
Read Thursday’s team news, with all the key ins and outs
Read Wednesday’s injury news, with updates on Laird, Ziebell, Mitchell and Marshall
