We couldn’t have asked for a better week for Captains in Round 13, and there are some options who could produce the same sort of results for coaches this week!
With 6 teams on the bye, our options become limited. The good part of this, is it becomes a great opportunity to give yourself a massive leg up on anyone who may not own the guy you decide to make your Captain. So who could be that person for you in round 14? Let’s take a look.
Vice-Captains
There is one clear and obvious answer in the first game of the round on Friday night, and that is Dayne Zorko. His last two games, which come either side of his bye, have been disappointing for owners, both falling below the 100 mark. His 3 weeks prior to that resulted in scores of 148, 109 and 184. That sort of ceiling is exactly what you want from your VC. The other thing you want is a match up which should give them the opportunity to reach that ceiling. This week is exactly that for Zorko, coming up against the Saints, who last week allowed Gold Coast to score 5 tons against them, and all 5 of them were defenders, including 163 points to Sam Flanders alone. The game is also played at the Gabba, which happens to be the same venue he scored the 148 and 184 prior to his bye. If you own him, he is the easiest VC selection you will make this year.
If you aren’t a Zorko owner, there are still some good options in the Friday night game. Josh Dunkley would be at the top of the list, closely followed by Rowan Marshall. Dunks had his worst score of the season last week with a 79, but in the friendly match up against the Saints, I expect him to bounce back in a big way this week. He has shown a ceiling of 151 already this year, and is averaging 108 for the season. Marshall scored 105 and 132 against the Lions last year, and although well and truly down on form over the last 3 weeks, we cant forget the 2 weeks prior to that resulted in scores of 171 and 164. Anyone with a ceiling like that has to be given serious consideration as a VC option.
With only 6 games of football this weekend, I will leave the VC options to the Friday night game, but as always, you can use a bye player to loop a VC score up until the opening bounce of the final game of the round. So if you don’t own any of the guys above, or would rather use someone in my top 5 Captains list below as your VC, you will be able to do so.
Captains
- Errol Gulden
He sat at the top of the list last week, and he does again this week after he certainly delivered for those coaches who had him as their Captain in round 13. He now has a 3 round rolling average of 128.7 and hasn’t scored below 95 in 8 weeks, with 5 of those 8 scores being 115+. He is back into the sort of form he was to end last season, and he is also my tip to be the highest averaging player for the rest of the year.
- Luke Ryan
He gets into the number 2 spot on form alone. Averaging 137 over his last 3 and 135 over his last 5, including back to back scores of 140+ in the last 2 weeks before his bye last round. He plays the Dogs under the roof early Saturday, so he is a fantastic VC option as well for those that don’t own Zorko. Don’t over think it, he is a great option and he can be trusted.
- Nick Daicos
Assuming he isn’t ruled out due to the knock to the leg during Monday’s game, Nick should have a huge game against North this week. Whether he gets a tag or not, it wont matter. North have been using Sheils as their shut down man, and there is no way that he will be able to keep up with Daicos. The game is at Marvel Stadium, where he averages 108 over his career, and last year against the Roos, he scored 116. If he plays, he will be better than he was in this match up last year. 120+ incoming.
- Jack Crisp
I know what you are thinking. “I know there are only 6 games this week, but we can’t be that low on Captaincy options”. You are right, we aren’t short on options. Jack Crisp has just become one that has to be considered now he is back in this midfield role. Over his last 5 games since moving into the midfield, Crisp is averaging 116, and has hit a ceiling of 130. I know it isn’t the moster 150+ that the Guldens and Zorko’s of the world are capable of, but this guy has scored 5 tons in a row and comes up against North Melbourne this week. This will be a minimum of 110, and anyone who you can say that about simply has to make the list.
- Caleb Serong
Serong is the guy I have sitting behind Errol as the second highest averaging midfielder for the rest of the year. He started the season absolutely flying, with scores of 161, 125 and 118 in the first 3 weeks, before 2 ordinary weeks to follow scoring 82 and 92. These are the only 2 games this year where Serong has scored under 100. That is remarkable consistency. He also showed his ceiling in round 1 with the 161 mentioned, so why isn’t he higher on the list? He has only scored over 107 once in the last 9 weeks. That one score was 141 against Richmond, who we know leak points. He sits at number 5 because of this, but I also have a feeling that he will explode in the second half of the year. He started hot and hasn’t quite been the same since, I think a week off last week will be exactly what Caleb needed to rest the body and he will be back up over that 110 mark this week.
