Things open up for us this week with our captaincy options after a tough round last week. Read below to see who the best options are for Round 21!
Vice-Captains
Three genuine VC options are available for us on Friday night this week, headed by Marcus Bontempelli. Tagged last week to just 86, that was his first score below 100 since round 8. Richmond are a friendly match up for mids, and Bont will bounce back hard this week. Had 108 on the Tiges in round 4, but he is in far better form now. Bont owners can lock him in as their VC and expect to rest easy for the rest of the weekend, knowing they have a handy captain score.
Tim English is the second best VC option on Friday night, fresh off of a massive 153 last week. That was his 5th score of 140 or more this year. Nank is back this week, which makes this a bit of a tougher matchup, and English does average less at home compared to away… Regardless, a great VC options with a huge ceiling.
Tim Taranto is the final option on Friday night. Now, his form hasn’t been good, which is why he sits third on the list. But in his 1 game played at marvel this year, he scored 126, and Dusty is out managed. We have seen Martin start attending more CBAs of late, and with him out, Taranto may just find some form again this week. Riskier play, but it could pay off. Don’t forget this is a man that scored 14 tons in a row to start the year and is still averaging 117 for the season.
Captains
Below are the guys you can lock in as your captain this weekend if your VC fails. I have huge confidence in the top 2 this week, who are highly owned, so you may want to increase the line in which your VC needs to score for you to take it.
- Zach Merrett This man has played 6 games at marvel this year, for 5 tons, including a 140 last week, and a 155 and 158. That is a 50% strike rate of scoring 140+ at this venue. Add in the fact that this week it is up against West Coast, who we all know is as good of a matchup as it can get, and who he already scored 111 on earlier in the season, Merrett is as safe a captain option as you could pick this year, and also potentially one of the most rewarding. Clear top pick this week.
- Christian Petracca This man has been criminally underrated this year. Only 2 scores under 90 this year, the lowest of them being an 80. Only 4 scores under 100. 9 tons in a row. That is as consistent as anyone in the game. And this week he has the rabble that is North Melbourne, a team that he scored 142 against earlier this year… He is in form, the match up is perfect, if you are a Petracca owner looking for a little edge on the rest of the comp, this is the week to back him in. You are about to be handsomely rewarded.
- Jordan Dawson After his little blip on the radar of consecutive tons in round 19 (still scored 97), Dawson bounced back to his normal ways last week with a 134, against the toughest matchup in fantasy, Port Adelaide. This week the matchup is much easier, coming up against Gold Coast, who he has already put up 128 against this year. Adelaide are trying to scrape into the finals, and the skipper is going to lead from the front in a game that will end the hopes for one of these two sides this year. Touk is out, so no tag is coming. Dawson will be huge again.
- Josh Dunkley This man is just built for Fantasy. Last week he had 30 disposals, 6 marks and 10 tackles for 137 fantasy points. That is just what Dunks does. Lines up in a tougher match up this week in fantasy terms against Fremantle, but he has scored 115 on them already this year, and with the chances being his partner in crime Neale cops a fair bit of attention again this week, Dunks will need to pick up the slack in the middle. His injured game in round 16 was the only game he had scored under 112 since round 10, and that’s probably his basement again this week.
- Max Gawn Max is back to being a weekly captaincy option. Since going back to being a solo ruck, big Max has pumped out scores of 162, 115 and 131. That’s an average of 136 in those 3 rounds. Gawn hasn’t been a genuine solo ruck since Luke Jackson Debuted in 2020, and in the two previous years when he was solo ruck, he averaged 111.3 in back-to-back seasons. It’s real, he can be trusted, and the double team from Goldstein and Xerri won’t mean a thing to him this week. Expect another 115+ from Maxy again in the cold, wet Tassie conditions.
Read Thursday’s injury news, with updates on Touk, Daicos, Walsh, Gawn and many more
