I am going to change up the article format this week because I really love the VC/C options playing on Saturday night and Sunday. And I hate the options before that. Hopefully, you have a red-dot loophole playing late in the week.
I am recommending passing on all VC options from the first four games for this reason:
Zach Merrett/Darcy Parish – Collingwood is a hard midfield matchup.
Scott Pendlebury – Low ceiling.
Jordan De Goey – Could be a good score here, but too risky in his first game back from injury.
Caleb Serong/Andrew Brayshaw – One of them will get tagged by Finn. Stay away from both.
James Sicily – Fremantle is very restrictive to opposition defenders.
Luke Ryan – Has only scored over 112 outside of WA once since Round 1.
Luke Jackson – Reeves is a hard ruck matchup.
Harry Sheezel – Has a good matchup and good form, but can you be VCing a rookie in a SuperCoach Grand Final?
Sam Flanders – In good form, but is unfamiliar with Blundstone Arena (1 career game).
Noah Anderson/Matt Rowell/Touk Miller – I think one of them will go big, just not sure which one.
Jarrod Witts – Goldstein is a hard hit-out battle, which Witts needs to dominate to score well.
Josh Dunkley/Lachie Neale – St Kilda is the hardest matchup for opposition midfielders this year.
Rowan Marshall – This should be a fine score, just not the 130 you would want from a VC.
Jack Sinclair – Brisbane is restrictive to opposition defenders.
But if you have to pick one of these, I would rank them as Marshall, Dunkley, Sheezel.
Saturday night options
1. Marcus Bontempelli
Marcus tried his best to lift his team over the line last week and failed. A score of 162 isn’t really a personal failure but losing to West Coast certainly was a team failure. This week The Bont has had to face the media and fan criticism and he has promised a big improvement against Geelong. The Bulldogs can still make finals if things fall their way and their Captain will need to lead from the front to get them the win. Scores of 98, 143, and 96 in his last three games at GMHBA Stadium show that it is a tough place to play, but Bontempelli has exceptional motivation this week. Bont will be my VC.
2. Rory Laird
There are certain players who love beating up on bad teams, and some who take it easy. Rory is the type of player that gives everything when he is on the field, no matter who he is playing. When firing, he gets a lot of his points from tackling, and there have been plenty of opportunities to lay tackles against the Eagles in recent weeks. Treloar (14), Bont (10), Young (8) and Merrett (8) have tackled their way to great scores against West Coast in recent weeks. West Coast have been playing better over the last month, but they are still the easiest team in the competition to score against. I expect Laird to stick his snout in the trough for his final game of the year.
3. Tim English
I had English as my #1 Vice-Captain recommendation until it was announced that Rhys Stanley was playing. Rhys wins the Hit Out in 45% of his ruck contests, which is the 7th highest percentage for players that have attended over 750 ruck contest this year (7th out of 17 – middle of the pack). Yes, English scored 156 against Geelong in Round 12, but Stanley wasn’t playing in that game and English dominated the Hit Outs. The last time that Tim played Rhys was in Round 12, 2022. Stanley won the Hit Outs 23-17 and kept English to 80 SuperCoach points. I still think Tim will score well, but I think the 130+ ceiling has been taken away from him now. There have been mixed results from ruckmen visiting GMHBA this year; Jackson (87), Xerri (102), Briggs (102) and O’Brien (130).
4. Tom Stewart
We stayed away from VCing Stewart last week against the easiest matchup because St Kilda said they would tag him. They didn’t and he scored 128. This week he plays against the fourth-easiest defender matchup on his home ground. His last six games at GMHBA Stadium have led to scores of 134, 101, 104, 124, 111 and 138. His highest two SuperCoach scores ever have come at GMHBA: 187 and 174 in 2022. Most people will be VCing one of the three options listed above, so if you wanted a relative POD VC, I think Stewart has the highest upside out of anyone else.
Note on Taylor Walker:
I know a lot of people will be trading in Tex this week and throwing the VC armband on him. I don’t believe he will score anywhere near the 208 he scored against West Coast in Round 13. The Eagles are playing much better at the moment, and the Crows are out of the finals race. Maybe that suits Tex, as they may look to feed him for the Coleman Medal, but being 8 goals behind Curnow and playing before him, I don’t think they will. This looks like a trap to me, and I would avoid it. But monitor if Jeremy McGovern plays too.
Sunday options
1. Max Gawn
Max was on a real hot streak when Brodie Grundy was out of the team, but he has cooled off over the last two weeks. Even last week without Grundy he only managed a 91, but it was against the restrictive Ned Reeves. This week he plays against one of the easiest ruck matchups in the league, in a game that Melbourne will need to win to give themselves a chance at a Top 2 spot. Some other big games from premium ruckman against Sydney at the SCG include; Grundy (143), Darcy (151), Marshall (119), English (173) and Witts (87). Gawn scored 198 on the Swans in their matchup last year. This could be a big one.
2. Dan Houston
Dan is more of a Vice-Captain option than a Captain, but if you have a red dot loophole playing in the last two games you can VC him. This is my favourite high-upside VC if you don’t want to go with anyone on the Saturday night. Houston is the epitome of a rollercoaster, with seven games over 120 this year, including three over 145, and eight games under 90. This week he plays against the second-easiest defender matchup in a game that Port Adelaide will want to win, and that Richmond has nothing to play for. Some recent defender scores against Richmond include Sheezel (136), Sinclair (115), Dale (113), and Rivers (109). If you want to avoid the Saturday night VC crowd and chase a 150+ score, this is the pick for you.
3. Zak Butters
There is a chance that Zak wins the AFL Coaches Association votes this year and still flies under the radar. His form to end the year has been incredible, with scores of 134, 137, 139 and 129 in his last four games. This week he plays against Richmond, who give up plenty of points to opposition midfielders. They have become more restrictive under interim coach Andrew McQualter, but fast attacking midfielders have still been able to score well against them recently, including Thomas (128), Ross (119), Bont (153), Treloar (123) and Petracca (141).
4. Clayton Oliver
Clayton was tagged to a score of 84 last week after scoring 128 in his return game the previous week. He is a proud player who will be looking to put last week’s game behind him. Last week Callum Mills tagged Jordan Dawson, but I think Mills is better suited to trying to stop Petracca if they even tag at all. Since the bye; Laird (116), Dawson (118), Rowell (119), Green (126) Merrett (139), Brayshaw (116), Libba (149), Bont (131), Bolton (158), Martin (131) and Tuohy (126) have all dominated against the Swans’ midfield. A chance of precipitation in Sydney on Sunday only helps the pig.
POD Vice-Captain?
1. Matt Crouch
Owned by only 0.7% of teams, this is the type of player I would be Vice-Captaining to end the season if I was looking for a big rankings boost. Matt is playing against the easiest team in the league and may well be playing for his football career. He will want to prove he still has plenty to offer an AFL team and earn a new contract. He has averaged 110 since returning to the side in Round 19 and has a high score of 161 points against the Eagles, which occurred the last time he played at Optus Stadium.
My moves
I scored 2,619 last week which had me climbing up to rank 104th for the season.
Last week I chose Merrett as Vice-Captain (99) into an English Captain (118). I took English’s score as Captain.
I predict Marcus Bontempelli to be my highest scorer of the week so he will get my Vice-Captain armband. Zak Butters will be my fallback Captain if needed.
