Mixed results from our premiums in round 14 makes it even tougher to decide on a captaincy option this week with 6 teams on the bye again.
Round 15 could genuinely be the hardest round to find top quality captaincy options in 2024. There are a few guys clear at the top, but it falls away quickly after that. So who should we be looking at to lead our teams in the final bye round of the year? Let’s take a look!
Vice-Captains
This section is going to be short and sharp this week, with only one name standing out to me if you want to get your VC out of the way early on in the week. Sam Walsh has a very fantasy friendly match up with the Cats this week, who he scored 102 against in round 7. From his 9 games this year, Walsh has scored 7 tons, and 3 of them have been over 130. He has the ceiling and match up to go big, and can be genuinely considered this week after his bye last week to freshen up. There is no one else in this match up I would be considering as a VC option.
If you aren’t a Walsh owner or would rather use your VC elsewhere, I have outlined the top 5 captaincy options for round 15 below. Again, as per the last 3 weeks, being a bye round, you can use a bye player to loop your VC score up until the opening bounce of the final game.
Captains
- Errol Gulden
For the third week in a row, the Swans gun sits at number 1 in the rankings, and with the form he is in, it is easy to understand why. Averaging 132 over the last 3 weeks and 121 over the last 5, Errol is back to the form we saw from him last year where he averaged 118 post bye. This week he plays the Giants at ENGIE Stadium, where Gulden scored 132 against them last year, in a game he had 5 free kicks against… He already has a medal for best on ground against the Giants this year in horribly wet conditions, and found his way to 98 points, so I don’t see a reason why we wont get another huge score from him this week.
- Zach Merrett
A popular trade target this week, Merrett makes it back into captaincy calculations this week after a little hiatus. He plays the Eagles again this week, who he scored 110 on in round 8, and this week it’s back in Melbourne, and West Coast are looking like they are slowing down again compared to what they were doing earlier in the season. This could be the first time this year we see the monster 140+ Merrett, or, worst case scenario, we get the same Merrett we get every week and he scores a ton, like he has 11 out of 13 games this year.
- Max Gawn
If I can talk about how good Errol’s form has been, then I have to say, big Maxy tops it. A 3 round average of 140, with scores of 148 and 152 in there. He doesn’t care who he comes up against, he just does what he does. Fresh off a weeks break, Gawn should have no worries notching up his 11th ton of the season, of which, 6 have been over 130.
- Sam Flanders
He doesn’t have a perfect match up like he did before his bye, but in a week where we are low on walk up captaincy options, you can’t leave Flanders out of the conversation. 8 tons in his last 9 games, the other was a 98. He scored 163 against the Saints before his bye, and has a 3 week average of 132. 4 of his last 8 scores have been over 120. That is a great strike rate.
- Nic Martin
Another guy who you can trust to just keep getting the job done to round out the top 5. 1 score below 90 all year, 6 over 110. Against the Eagles in round 7, he scored 119, and I think you can expect something similar this week. If he hadn’t been having the odd role change here and there recently before the bye, he could have been sitting at number 4, but he is a solid option if you don’t have any of the guys above (that would be concerning).
