The final round of the AFL Fantasy season is upon us, and there are some unique Captaincy options putting their hands up.
Strange things happen in the final round of the home & away season every year, and 2024 will be no different. There are a couple of options making the cut this week that wouldn’t have had a look in so far this season. So who are the best Fantasy VC/C options for our league Grand Finals? Let’s take a look.
Vice-Captains
Max Gawn is the leading VC option on Friday night after scoring 148 against the Pies earlier in the year. He had a tough match up last week against Witts scoring 84, but the two weeks before that he had scores of 118 and 136, which is in line with his earlier season form. It will be played at the MCG, where Max has already scored 148, 152 and 149 this year. Not as highly owned as earlier in the season due to his injury, so if you are an owner, it could be a nice POD.
Nick Daicos has a nice match up on paper against the Dees and should be considered, but there is potential he cops attention from ANB. Only scored 62 in this match up earlier in the year (from only 68% TOG), and has only reached the 130 mark twice this year. I would be looking elsewhere.
My VC will be running around in the first game on Saturday. Jeremy Cameron is coming up against the Eagles, who have already ruled out both Barrass and McGovern, giving Jezza every opportunity to run around and kick a bag. He kicked 6 against the Crows 3 weeks ago on his way to 120, and I am expecting him to kick just as many, if not more goals this week. Unique, but as a VC, why not take a punt?
As always, if you want to hold your VC for later in the round or you need a fallback Captaincy option, my top 5 picks for round 24 are below!
Captains
- Tristan Xerri
He sits at the top again, and why shouldn’t he? He has not let us down once in his time at the top of the list, and he wont this week either. 5 weeks in a row scoring 120+, 3 of those over 150 for a 5 round rolling average of 144. Earlier in the year against the Hawks he scored 126. There is just no reason for anyone to be sitting at number 1 other than Big X.
- Rowan Marshall
Things are looking familiar, aren’t they? It happens when you have 2 guys in the sort of form that our top 2 options are this week. 4 scores of 130+ in a row, 10 tons in a row and coming up against Carlton, who he averages 112 against over his career. His average for the season is up to 117, and we are currently being blessed with some of the best Fantasy rucks we have ever seen.
- Nic Newman
Here is the unique one. a three round rolling average of 126 and a match up with the Saints. Newman can pump out a ceiling score with the best of them, and it could very well be on the way this week. Last week against the Saints, rookie Lawson Humphries had 82 points playing across half back by half time. The week before, Dan Rioli had 36 touches for 135 points. Newman has a better fantasy game than those two guys, and there will be points on offer for him. The top two guys are the clear cut, safe options. But if you don’t own them or want something different to the crowd, Newman could be your man.
- Lachie Whitfield
This guy has been a beast since the bye. He had one blemish a couple of weeks ago in a tough match up against the Lions, but other than that, he hasn’t dropped below 106 in 11 weeks, whilst also hitting highs of 160 and 145 in that time. Scored 100 against the Dogs earlier in the year, and he will safely be in the triple figure range again this week.
- Noah Anderson
It was Anderson or Flanders for the soft match up against the Tigers, but Andersons form has been better leading into this one. 118 last week against the Dees, 99 in opening round against the Tigers, and a career average of 118 against them. He loves this match up. Anderson has shown his ceiling is still there this season, with 3 scores of 140+, and there is the potential he could get to those areas again this week.
