Round 3 produced some huge scores for a best 18 round, now we have to navigate going back to our best 22 for Gather Round! So who are going to be the best AFL Fantasy captain options this weekend in Adelaide’s suburbs?

A Thursday night and 2 Friday games this week means that most people should have a solid VC option early in the week. The first one i would consider would be Max Gawn on Thursday night. Averaging 119 and fresh off the highest score of the round last week (146), it is fair to say that big Maxy is back to his best. Last year against the Crows, he scored 115, and he could get your weekend off to a hot start.

My VC choice as a non Gawn owner will be Harry Sheezel. I have been disrespectful in my lack of mentioning this young gun so far this year, but the boy is an absolute jet, forcing my hand after having 3 scores of 120+ to start the year. Last week, Daicos helped himself to 30 disposals and 101 points off half back against the Lions, and the week before their bye, Luke Ryan filled his boots with 33 touches and a score of 125. Points will be there for the Sheez’s taking, but it doesn’t matter if there isn’t anyway, the kid just finds a way to perform.

The other option is Zach Merrett. He has a very tough match up against the Power, but he averages 114.7 against them over his career and 122.2 at Adelaide Oval. He had scores of 120 and 114 against them last year as well, so if you had your doubts over his opponent this week, you can still back him in as a solid VC option.

If your VC option misses, then there are still some very solid options to fall back on this week to throw the C on. Below are my top 5 options for round 4!

• Rowan Marshall

After a disappointing week in a tough match up for rucks a couple of weeks ago, big Ro-Mar bounced back last week with a 117 against the Draper and Goldy combo. This week he has the match up with Richmond and Nankervis, who allowed Grundy (103) AND De Koning (107) to ton up against him in the last few weeks. They also play at Norwood Oval, which I believe is the narrowest ground in the AFL, meaning there should be plenty of stoppages for Marshall to win some hitouts and get his hands on the ball. Scores of 103 and 131 against Richmond are nothing to be worried about either, so the Saints big man sits at the top of the list for me this week.

• Isaac Heeney

Is it crazy to be putting this much faith in Isaac Heeney to sit at number 2 in my captaincy options? Possibly. But when someone has started the year with a low score of 117 in 4 games, the easiest match up you could ask for this week and a score of 129 in his last match up against them, before he was even playing the perfect role for Fantasy that he currently is, what choice do you have? Taylor Adams may be back this week, who could take some midfield minutes, which is the only reason Heeney doesn’t sit at number 1 this week. With that said, I am extremely doubtful it will impact Heeney’s role or scoring, and we saw last year with guys like Taranto and Oliver, when they are in form like this, you just jump onboard and enjoy the ride.

• Tom Green

The second highest averaging player in the game is back for his owners after a weeks rest, and he will pick up where he left off. A low score of 116 to start the year, Green comes up against the Suns who Laird (119) and Crouch (113) had no issues scoring against a couple of weeks before the bye. As mentioned above with Heeney, this is just another guy you can ride on form and have confidence he will get the job done for you.

• Jack Steele

The man of Steele is back, averaging 117 over the first 3 weeks of the season and improving his score every week, with a 124 in round 3. With the Richmond match up this week, who allowed Heeney (127) and Merrett (122) to dominate them over the last 2 weeks, at Norwood Oval which as I mentioned with Marshall is a narrow ground, who could a game with a lot of stoppages help more than one of the best tackling midfielders in the game? I wouldn’t be surprised to see Steele improve his score for the 4th time in a row to start the season this week in what should be the perfect game for him.

• Caleb Serong

The 5th option was the hardest to decide on this week, as I think there will be a big difference between the top 4 and any other options after that. This may sound like a silly thing to say when Serong is the highest averaging player in the comp, sitting at a ridiculous average of 134.7 over his first 3 weeks and a low score of 118, but I do have concerns about a George Hewett tag this week. We saw Adelaide put some work into trying to slow Serong down last week, and it was working up to quarter time when he had 3 touches and 11 fantasy points, resulting in him starting the second quarter on the wing. He obviously got going and ended the day on 118, and he should be able to do something similar this week if he cops attention, so he will be a safe captaincy option again as always, but his ceiling may be capped slightly. I still have enough faith in him to be a captaincy option for you if you don’t own any of the guys above, but don’t expect 130+.