With a round of carnage still smoking in the rearview mirror, a massive captaincy score in round 9 to help make up some of the points lost last round would certainly be appreciated. So who are the best options to be your AFL Fantasy captain this week? Let’s take a look!
Vice-Captains
The obvious answer is Max Gawn. Disappointing for owners who made him captain last week, the Dees skipper should put in a better showing on Thursday night. Before last rounds score of 92, Gawn was coming off back to back monster totals of 134 and 149. He has scored 130+ 4 times already this year, and has only dropped below 100 once. Last year he played the Blues 3 times, and scored in the 80s for all three weeks, but he is in much better form this year. As a free hit, with the ceiling Max has, there aren’t any better options as a VC.
Sam Walsh is another option on Thursday night, and last time these two sides met in the semi final, Walsh torched them for a 140. Before that it was only a score of 55 in round 12, and having just scraped his way to a ton for the last 3 weeks, he is definitely an option for non Gawn owners, but there is a big gap in between the two.
We have some more options with 2 games scheduled on Friday night this week. Zac Butters comes up against Geelong, who have allowed some absolute monsters to be put up against them already this year. With Rozee already ruled out, Butters will be the main man in the middle and could make the most of the friendly fantasy match-up this week. I’ve been saying a big score is just around the corner for a while now, but this week could finally be the one for the Power gun.
Slightly more than an hour later than Butters kicks off, we have two of the best performing Fantasy players for 2024 going head to head in the Fremantle Vs Sydney clash. Caleb Serong is fresh off 38 touches and 141 fantasy points last week, whilst Isaac Heeney has slowed down over the last couple of weeks due to getting some attention from the opposition, but he is still averaging 112 for the year and has to be considered. Errol Gulden is the other player I consider in this match, after he absolutely tore Fremantle apart in their first match up last year on his way to 153 points. He only managed 89 the next time they met, but we know what his ceiling is, so any time you can use him as a VC option, it has to be given some serious thought.
There are a few more options that should be safe for a respectable captains score later in the week, but I think the absolute ceiling from a captaincy score is going to come from your VC this round. However, if you don’t get the result you are hoping for, I have listed the top 5 captaincy options to run with if your VC fails in round 9 below.
Captains
- Tim English
The Dogs big man is back to his best over the last 3 weeks, and he is back to the top of the list in terms of AFL Fantasy captains options. 128, 141 and 126 are his last three scores, and this week he comes up against Richmond, who allow plenty of points to rucks. Last year against the Tigers, English scored 131 and 145. The clear number one fallback captaincy option this week based on form and matchup history.
- Nick Daicos
Another guy who found his way back to his best last week, managing to pump out a very solid 122 whilst copping some attention from George Hewett along the way. This week he comes up against the Eagles who are without Elliot Yeo, who he scored 114 against last year. I’m not expecting a monster ceiling game from Daicos this week, we haven’t seen them against the Eagles this year like we have in years gone by, but I am extremely confident on a very respectable captains score, highly likely to be above the 110 mark.
- Zach Merrett
The last man standing yet to score under 100 for the year. Yes, 8 tons on the trot to start the season, 6 of those being 110+ and 4 of them being 120+. Last year against the Giants he had respectable scores of 109 and 94, but I would be expecting more than that on Saturday afternoon with the form he is in this year. He is the most consistent player in the game, and there is no reason not to trust him again this week.
- Noah Anderson
The Suns young gun has put together a solid year so far, averaging 108, with only one score below 96 and a ceiling of 154. This week he comes up against the Roos, who allowed Jack Sinclair to run around in the midfield on his way to 156 last week. The week prior, Dawson and Laird both cleared 120 in the same match up. Anderson will be free to run around and do as he pleases the same way those three guys were, and he could be on for another monster score this week.
- Marcus Bontempelli
He has made his way back into the top 5 this week purely based on his matchup. Over his career, Bont averages 114.5 against the Tigers, and 104 at the MCG. Last year in this match up, he had scores of 108 in round 4 (before he really got going for the year) and 151 in round 21. Last week Serong found the ball 38 times on his way to 141 fantasy points against the Tiges, and Brayshaw and Young both scored 125 from the midfield as well. There will be points there for the Doggies this week, and Bont owners might have an overdue ceiling score on its way this week.
