The best week of the calendar year is finally here, round 1 and the beginning of another AFL Fantasy season! Whilst everyone is still optimistic and hopes are high, nailing your captain in Round 1 will go a long way to setting you up for the year ahead!
VC Options
Whilst it appears as though we will be able to start with 30 green dots this year before teams are announced, having a good VC plan is still important in case selection doesn’t swing the way we expect it to. With this in mind, the first match up of the round provides what should be the most friendly match up in fantasy this year for the Blues, who come up against the Tigers on Thursday night.
Adam Cerra owners will be hoping for an immediate impact from their mid pricer, who has shown he has the ability to pump out some big scores, going over 130 for 3 games in a row in 2023, before an injury interrupted season last year. Patrick Cripps is only owned by 5% of the competition, but could be a good option for his small group of owners, whilst I wouldn’t be confident backing in Sam Walsh if he is named, even though he scored a monster 145 in his first game for the year once he returned from injury last year.
Looking further forward, Andrew Brayshaw and Caleb Serong play early Saturday afternoon against the Cats, who have both shown great ceilings in the past, with high scores last year of 148 for Brayshaw and 161 for Serong, which happened to be in round 1. With both players owned by 9% of the competition, they could be a good unique VC option if the opportunity arises.
If we aren’t able to have a look at a VC option due to team selections or if don’t get the result we were hoping for from them, I have picked out the 5 best options, in order, to lead your squad in the first round of the season below!
Captains – Top 5
- Max Gawn
Possible the forgotten man in the ruck department this year, if we cast our eye back to the beginning of the 2024 AFL Fantasy season, Gawn went on an early run which quickly separated his owners from non owners in the rankings. After a disappointing opening round, Gawn was averaging 130 over the first 6 weeks of the AFL Fantasy season, including 4 scores over 134 with a top score of 149. This week he comes up against GWS, with no Kieren Briggs, who Darcy Cameron top scored against last week with 136. This is the perfect storm for Max Gawn to come out firing again this year, just like he did last year, and is the perfect captaincy option for round 1.
- Tristan Xerri
A large reason the man above could be the forgotten man of the pre-season, Tristan Xerri finished the second half of last season like a man possessed. 3 scores above 150 in a row between rounds 20-22 is ridiculous in itself, but Xerri actually averaged 125 post bye, including a ceiling score of 168 in round 22. A friendly match up for rucks against Tim English and a wounded Dogs lineup should allow Xerri to pick up right where he left off last year, where he scored 122 against the Dogs in round 23 and 129 in round 16. If you are paying up for the Big X, he is as good an option as any to be your Captain to start the year.
- Jordan Dawson
The Crows skipper looks to be back to playing predominantly through the midfield to start the new year, where he has shown a ridiculous ceiling along with remarkable consistency when allowed to play that role. Just last year, Dawson scored a huge 155 in round 6, whilst the year before he reached a monstrous 172 in round 15. There has also been multiple week long stretches of 100+ scores across both of these seasons. Coming up against the Saints in round 1 this year, I see Dawson getting off to a flyer after scoring 114 against them in their only match up last year, whilst the Saints also allowed Connor Rozee to score 142 against them in the pre-season.
- Harry Sheezel
Possible an underrated Captaincy option to start the year, Sheezel is every chance to get off to a hot start again in 2025. After his first 7 games of last year, Sheezel had a low score of 106, 6 scores of 120+ and a ceiling score of 159. A change of role from that point saw a dip in his scoring for a few weeks before averaging 114.5 over his last 6 games of the year, with 4 scores of 118+ and a ceiling of 134., twice in that 6 week stretch. Sheezel scored 91 against the Dogs in round 16 last year for a score of 91, the week before that 6 week stretch to finish the year. He missed their round 23 match up due to injury, but another pre-season training as a midfielder and the injuries to some of the Dogs first choice midfielders should allow Sheez to rack up plenty of the pill and start the year in a similar fashion to last season.
- Connor Rozee
Assuming that Rozee really is fine after that ankle/toe mishap in their intra club match last week, Rozee should be able to cash in against the Pies this week. In opening round, the Giants 2 main mids, Josh Kelly and Finn Callaghan did as they pleased on their way to 36 and 33 disposals for scores of 118 and 110, respectively. As mentioned above, Rozee looked to be in top shape in his pre-season match, where he scored 142 in a class display. A good option as your Captain this week if you are looking at starting without one of the top priced players to start the year.
