Only 5 weeks remain of the 2025 AFL Fantasy season, but our premiums have started to stand up in the back half of the year with some monster scores.
There are Captaincy options galore for us in round 20, so let’s get straight into it!
VC Options
There is not a single player of interest for VC selection on Thursday night, so we will jump straight into the first game of Friday night footy, with Essendon taking on the Western Bulldogs!
Tim English is the standout VC here, which says a bit considering Marcus Bontempelli has hit some of his best form over the last 3 weeks. English has scored 116+ in 5 of his last 7 games, including 2 scores in the 130s. He did only score 102 against them earlier in the year, but Essendon are the easiest match up for rucks over the last 10 weeks and he should be better than that this week.
If you aren’t an English owner, Marcus Bontempelli is next on the list. As I said, he has hit some of his best form in recent weeks, with scores of 105, 166 and 133 over the last 3 rounds. He scored 101 against the Bombers earlier this year, but he is in ripping form and can be considered as your VC with Essendon being the 2nd easiest match up for inside mids over the last 5 weeks. There is the flag of some attention from Durham, but I wouldn’t be too worried.
Bailey Dale is another one his owners will be keen to take a punt on after he scored 154 from a ridiculous 49 disposals against the Bombers earlier in the year. The issue with performing like that against someone is it is unlikely they let you run free the next time you meet. We saw Guelfi make his way back into Essendons lineup last week, and I expect he could get the job on Dale this week. With that said, Dale has the ceiling you are chasing with a VC and could reward you handsomely if he does get off the chain.
Zach Merrett must be considered as always, but his form this year and the other names mentioned above him, I wouldn’t be overly keen on using my VC on him this week.
I will be leaving the 2nd Friday night game out of the VC part of the article, as it would make the top 5 Captaincy options for this week thin if they were to be talked about as VC options. This doesn’t mean you can’t use someone from that game as as VC though! So, as always, if you miss the mark with your VC or want to wait until the later Friday night game or even later in the round to use it, you will want to be aiming at one of my top 5 Captains for the round. They are named, in order, below!
Captains – Top 5
- Nick Daicos
The Magpies superstar sits at the top of the list after dominating last week on his way to 162 points against the Dockers. This week, he has an even easier match up as he comes up against the Tigers on Sunday afternoon, who are the 4th easiest match up for inside mids. His form runs deeper than last weeks monster though, with a 3 round rolling average of 124 and 5 round rolling average of 122. He has had 3 scores of 132+ in his last 4 games, and I expect him to make that 4 out of 5 this week, with him well and truly sniffing another 3 Brownlow votes.
- Errol Gulden
After a couple of disappointing weeks after being a popular trade target, I still expect Errol to bounce back in a big way this week. He loves playing the Giants, with a career average of 110 against them, including a score of 154 against them in their most recent match up. This game is at the Giants home ground ENGIE Stadium, where Errol averages 143 from his 2 games played there. The Giants are a mid pack team in terms of difficulty to score against for outside mids, so there shouldn’t be too much restriction for Gulden, and I expect his owners to finally get some reward this week.
- Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera
What a fantasy gun this man has become this season. A monster 151 last week as a genuine midfielder makes you wonder what he could be capable of for the run home this year in that role. He comes up against Melbourne this week, who have become quite restrictive in terms of points against in the second half of this year, but you can back NWM in regardless. He has scored 125+ in 4 of his last 6 games, is averaging 123 in his last 3 and 120 in his last 5 which both have the James Jordon tag affected game in them. That is the only score under 109 in his last 8 weeks. Genuine weekly Captaincy option.
- Brodie Grundy
The ruck pig has done nothing wrong to be sitting down the order at number 4 this week, however with some elite options around, it is where he has found himself. 10 scores in a row of 111+, a 5 round rolling average of 125 and a match up with GWS, who have been relatively friendly for Rucks over the last 5 weeks, and certainly have been friendly over the course of the year as a whole. The surefire, safe option.
- Bailey Smith
He gets another week to redeem himself, and I can’t see a world where he doesn’t do just that, as he comes up against North Melbourne, who are the easiest match up for inside mids over the last 10 weeks and the third easiest over the course of the season. Last week Isaac Heeney had a career game against the Roos on his way to 166 points, and I expect Smith to cash in similarly this week. His form has dropped off with 3 sub 100 scores in a row, but we can’t forget how elite he was earlier in the season where he scored 12 tons from his first 13 games, with 7 of those being over 125. He may even be a bit of a POD captain option for you this week due to his form, and it could be a massive boost for you.
