Each week we use our AFL Fantasy Projections (available to members of The Keeper League) to find some of the best captain options for your sides.
There are always some very obvious captain options, but we’ll try to dig a little deeper to find less popular options due to the widespread nature of players in keeper leagues.
There are always some very obvious captain options, but we’ll try to dig a little deeper to find less popular options due to the widespread nature of players in keeper leagues.
Remember if you have the Uber premiums, then please don’t take this article as advice not to put the Captaincy on them.
For the streamer options, I’ll look at some players who perform well historically against their opponents that may not be automatic selections in your side. I will also give coaches a ‘loop of the week’ option.
Captains
Patrick Cripps stellar pre-season form has him back in a captain’s article. Cripps averages 94 against the Tigers and is coming off a mammoth 141 in the AAMI Community series.
Scott Pendlebury averages 96 against St Kilda and 102 at Marvel Stadium. In addition, he now has a fantasy-friendly role in defence taking kick-ins for Collingwood.
Jy Simpkin is the number one midfielder at North Melbourne and is a great Captain option Round 1. In Round 9 of 2021, Simpkin amassed 38 disposals and 142 points on the Hawks.
Tom Stewart is under an injury cloud, however, if he plays Round 1 against Essendon lock him in. Essendon still lacks key forward targets, which plays into Stewart intercepting hands. Stewart averages 82 against the Dons and scored 110 on them in Round 16 last season.
Luke Ryan plays against an inexperienced Crows outfit in Round 1. He will take the bulk of the kick-ins, he averages 101 against the Crows and scored 113 on them in Round 5 last year.
Vice-Captain Loophole
Adam Cerra has moved into the Carlton engine room and provides coaches with an early VC Loop option. He scored a mammoth 138 on Richmond in Round 20 last season.
Tom Liberatore averages 107 points against Melbourne and scored 96 on them in the Grand Final last year.
Christian Salem is another under an injury cloud, however, he amassed 133 points against the Western Bulldogs in the Grand Final. If fit he is the perfect VC Loop.
Caleb Daniel is a tag target for the Western Bulldogs but with a score of 126 against Melbourne in the Grand Final and a Wednesday night fixture, he presents VC value.
Streamers
Tom Atkins has a fantasy-friendly halfback role and scored 106 against Essendon in Round 16 last season.
Tom Barass is one of West Coast intercept marking options and he dined out on Gold Coast in Round 1 last season scoring 101 points.
Bailey Fritsch has become the main man forward and averages 82 against the Western Bulldogs and he scored 87 against them in last year’s Grand Final.
Jared Polec is hoping for a 2022 resurgence, he averages 80 against Hawthorn and scored 87 on them back in Round 4 of 2020.
Josh Rotham has an average of 80 against the Gold Coast Suns coming from his only game against them in Round 1 last season.
Want more projections? View the top 20 projected scores of the round here…
