A lot of our guns produced for us last round, with high scores across the board for captaincy options. Are we in for more of the same luck this week, or are things going to get a bit tougher for us? Let’s take a look at who should be able to replicate last weeks highs in round 10.
Vice-Captains
Gold Coast match up with Geelong on Thursday night, and Sam Flanders is the best option for coaches in this game. Geelong give up marks to backs, with Houston taking 9 last week, May had 13 the week before and who can forget Sheezel’s 15-mark, 159-point performance at half back against the Cats in round 5. Flanders managed 98 points last week against North with 6 marks and 0 tackles, which I expect him to outperform both categories this week.
Noah Anderson is the only other player I would consider in this game, however he did struggle last week against the Roos with a score of 69. The Cats did give up an average of 124.6 points to Port Adelaide’s 3 main midfielders last week, which certainly isn’t the only time this year that opposition midfielders have dominated against Geelong. My concern for both Anderson and Flanders is the slippery conditions they face up in Darwin limiting their ceiling. Both have to be considered, but I would look to take them on elsewhere if you can.
Friday night sees Sydney take on Carlton at the SCG, and there is one man that clearly sticks out to me in this game. Sam Walsh, fresh off a score of 143 last week, his second score of 140+ in a five game stretch in which he is yet to drop below 100. Adding to his form for this season, is his career averages of 112 against the Swans and 109 at the SCG. Last year he scored 112 in this match up, and I expect him to hit that mark at a minimum this week. My clear top pick for a Vice Captain in round 10.
Errol Gulden is someone who also has to be considered any time you can use him as a Vice Captain due to his ceiling, however we are yet to see him really hit his straps this season like he did last year, and I have more confidence in Walsh. Isaac Heeney is the other man to think about in this game, however he has quietened down the last few weeks, and I would be surprised if we didn’t see him get some attention from Kennedy or Hewett this week, at least at stoppages.
There are some highly owned players that play later in the weekend who I am also bullish on this week to hit a very solid captaincy score, as well as another guy who is owned by a lower percentage, but also very likely to have a big week. So if you don’t quite get what you are after from your Vice Captain, below are the 5 guys who you should look to back in as your Captain in round 10!
Captains
- Josh Dunkley
A three round rolling average of 121, a season long average of 113, a ceiling of 151 only 2 weeks ago, and one score below a ton for the season. Reliable and consistent with a low floor, a monster ceiling, oh, and he plays against Richmond this week who gave up 4 scores of 126 or higher last week, including a 154 and 141. In fact, the three main mids against Richmond last week combined for a total of 421 points at an average of 140. The week before, 4 more scores of 125+ including 161 and 141. Again, the three main mids averaged 130 that week too. The points will be there, and Dunkley will be the one making the most of it. Clear top option for mine.
- Max Gawn
After saving himself the last couple of weeks with big final terms, big Max has a juicy match up this week to get back to the areas coaches had become so used to him being in early on during the season. We all know by now that West Coast give up a lot of points to Rucks, with Witts leading the way so far this year against them with a score of 135 three weeks back. Gawn has already scored 130+ on 4 separate occasions this year, with a ceiling of 149 in round 5. He hasn’t scored below 92 since he was beaten by Grundy in opening round. The ceiling speaks for itself with the numbers mentioned. I could’ve just used copy and paste on what I said about Dunkley above.. Reliable and has a ceiling.
- Zak Butters
Butters finally broke that 120 mark last week, ending up with 128 points. With that said, he has scored 110+ 4 times this year, and only dropped below 98 once. As mentioned with the guys above, it’s nice to be able to have the confidence in someone to get it done so consistently when you make them your captain. This week he has a match up with the Hawks, who last week allowed 7 tons to be scored against them, including 131 to Jack Steele. The week before, the Dogs scored 5 tons against them, (in a game they lost), including 115 to Treloar. The week before that it was the Swans with 4 scores over 120. You get the picture. Another nice match up, another reliable performer.
- Dayne Zorko
I should just copy paste the same thing for everyone in the top 5 this week. Zorko has scored below 99 once this year, scored a ridiculous 184 only 2 weeks ago, and has the same Richmond match up as Dunkley. The other player I didn’t name when writing about Dunks is Luke Ryan, who is the person who scored 161 against the Tiges 2 weeks ago from 15 marks and 31 kicks. Sounds pretty similar to Zorkos stats that week, 16 marks and 35 kicks for that score mentioned of 184. The difference to the guys above is the risk is always higher that Zorko could get an injury or even be subbed out early if the game is a blowout, but the reward could be huge.
- Luke Ryan
I mentioned above how he scored 161 two weeks ago. Well this week he plays the Saints, who allow backs to do as they please against them, highlighted by Bailey Dale’s lazy 160 in round 6. Last year in the same match up in round 1, Ryan took 13 marks on his way to 156 points. Unfortunately plays Saturday night, if he played earlier he would be the perfect VC option to back in this week due to his huge ceiling. Still an option as your captain in round 10 for those brave enough to do it.
