Captains
Picking a captain in keeper leagues can be a challenge, especially if injuries or lack of depth leave you without a standout option. That’s where we come in. Instead of the obvious choices, we’re looking at some under-the-radar captaincy options who could deliver big scores this week.
If you’ve got Jai Newcombe in your keeper league team, you should feel pretty comfortable putting the captaincy on him this weekend. West Coast are giving up bulk points to midfielders, and he’s averaging 125 from his last five games.
There have been concerns over Tristan Xerri‘s fitness early in the season, but he looks to be over it now after scoring 116 last week. He comes up against Jordan Sweet, who has been tough to score against this year, but Brodie Grundy scored over 100 against Sweet last weekend, so there’s no reason Xerri can’t do the same.
West Coast are one of the easiest teams for rucks to score against this year, and Lloyd Meek managed 112 the last time he played them. Back him in for another ton.
Zak Butters looks back to his best after a delayed start to the season with a knee issue. He averages 96 from his last three meetings against North Melbourne, and I expect him to go big this week.
The Saints gave up a lot of points last weekend, and Hugh McCluggage scored 110 the last time he played them at Marvel. He’s averaging 105 from his last five games, so he’s a good captain play this week.
Vice-Captain
For vice-captains, we focus on players featuring in the first two games of the round—guys who fit the same mold as our captains but aren’t the go-to selections. If you’re looking for an early VC loophole play, we’ve got you covered.
It’s a no-brainer to stick the VC on Max Gawn this week. He faces Toby Nankervis, who gives up plenty of points to rucks, and Gawn looks like he’s finding form again after scoring 125 last week.
Tim Taranto is back in form, putting up 120 last week. With the Thursday night game, he’s a strong VC play and someone you can start trusting again.
Melbourne are currently the easiest team for medium defenders to score against. Nick Vlastuin is coming off a huge game last week, and he’s a very viable VC option this round.
Back in Will Setterfield to continue his good run of form playing in Jye Caldwell’s role in his absence. He had 97 the last time he played Collingwood, so he’s worth a look.
Adelaide have been easy to score against for medium defenders, with the likes of Holmes, Daniel, and Wanganeen-Milera all putting up big scores. It seems logical that Jordan Clark will go big in this game. Stick the VC on him.
Streamers
Here we highlight players with strong scoring history against their upcoming opponents or other factors that suggest they could be worth a punt. Whether you’re scraping the waiver wire or looking for a sneaky bench loophole, these are the names to consider.
St Kilda give up plenty of points to key defenders due to their lack of tall forwards. That allows players like Harris Andrews to take easy intercept marks. He also scored 90 the last time they met.
I’m backing in Cam Rayner in what should be an easy fantasy matchup. He had 94 the last time he played against St Kilda and averages 74.7 in his last three matchups against them. St Kilda are also the fourth-easiest matchup for mid-forwards in the competition.
Will Hayward has an unusually good record against Gold Coast. He scored 95 the last time he played them and averages 71.7 from their last three meetings.
Backing in what I said earlier about Adelaide being an easy matchup for medium defenders, I think Heath Chapman can put up a good score if he comes back into the side this week.
There’s not a lot of data to back this one up, but after two losses, I think that Hawthorn will lay the smack down on West Coast and Nick Watson should put up a good score. He scored 68 against them the last time they played, and I’ll take that as my F5 at the moment.
Want more projections? View the top 20 projected scores of the round here…
