The Phantom’s Round 15 SuperCoach Captain Analysis: Patrick Dangerfield is the perfect Friday night VC but can we trust the big men if he fails?

Can you really leave two players who scored 325 points between them last week out of your captain/vice-captain combination in Round 15? The Phantom explains why this might be the week to go unique.

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The bye rounds are over, all the big names are back and, again, the SuperCoach captain options are everywhere.

But with the blue dots missing, playing the captain’s loophole might be difficult for some.

Who am I kidding!? We’ve all got donuts everywhere on the bench.

Anyway, there are a number of great early-round VC candidates in Round 15 — a week when you might want to overlook Brodie Grundy and Max Gawn altogether.

Can Bomber tagger Dylan Clarke restrict the influence of in-form Giant Josh Kelly?

Josh Kelly (GWS)

V Essendon, Thursday night

The last time the star Giant played at Marvel Stadium, in Round 20 last year, he tallied 41 disposals and a career-high 205 SuperCoach points. While it was against a struggling Blues outfit, Kelly has posted scores of 99 and 176 in his past two matches against the Bombers and he’s recorded seven consecutive SuperCoach tons this season. But the threat of tagger Dylan Clarke, who held Patrick Cripps to just 11 disposals in Round 11, might be enough to put you off.

Patrick Dangerfield (Geel)

V Adelaide, Friday night

There’s not much to put you off Dangerfield as VC on Friday night, though. With scores of 141, 149 and 130 in his past three matches, the superstar midfielder is starting to hit his straps, boasting the second-highest three-round average in the game. And he’s posted scores 126, 111, 149, 142, 119, 158 and 128 against his old side after leaving Adelaide at the end of 2015.

Jake Lloyd (Syd)

V Gold Coast, Saturday

If you’re after something a little different, consider the Sydney ball magnet. The Suns continue to leak SuperCoach points to the opposition and you know Lloyd, who has scored 100 points or more in 12 of his 13 matches this season, will be the first to cash in.

Luke Parker (Syd)

v Gold Coast, Saturday

If want something even more left-field and you own Parker as a midfield point-of-difference, seriously consider him as VC. After all, the fourth-ranked midfielder in the game has posted six SuperCoach tons on-the-trot, four of them in excess of 130. And midfielders have gone big against the Suns all year with Saint Jack Billings (169) the most-recent example before the bye.

Brodie Grundy, left, dominated last week but he’s failed to do so in his past three matches against North Melbourne.

Brodie Grundy (Coll)

V North Melbourne, Saturday night

Just when Max Gawn looked like he might’ve been getting away, the Collingwood big man comes up with career-high 174-point performance against the Bulldogs. But, while he’s reached three figures, in his past three meetings with North Melbourne big man Todd Goldstein, Grundy’s highest score is 114. If you can’t find a way to make a Saturday night VC work, I wouldn’t sweat on it too much this week.

Jack Macrae (WB)

V Port Adelaide, Saturday night

In his past three matches against the Power, Macrae has posted scores of 147, 51 and 145. The big scores were in Melbourne, while the 51-point performance was at Adelaide Oval — the venue of this weekend’s fixture. But that night in Round 13 last season, Macrae injured a hamstring and took no part in the second-half. And after a season-low 84 points in Round 11 against the Eagles, the ball magnet has responded with scores of 150 and 148 after the bye.

Max Gawn (Melb)

V Brisbane, Sunday

Like Grundy, Gawn has struggled in his past three matches against this week’s opponent — Stefan Martin and the Brisbane Lions — with the two big men cancelling each other out in each meeting. But with a lowest score of 144 in the past five weeks, should we really doubt him, even though it’s in Brisbane? I won’t say yes but I’ll say there might be better options.

Fremantle skipper Nat Fyfe looks set to go head-to-head with Carlton’s Patrick Cripps on Sunday.

Nat Fyfe (Freo)

V Carlton, Sunday

The Docker skipper against the Blues on Sunday is one of them. While Fyfe’s eight-week streak of SuperCoach tons came to an end after a 91-point performance against the Demons last week, the star midfielder scored 154 in his last meeting with the Blues. Expect another big score from Fyfe, who has passed the 125-point mark in every non-injury-affected match at home this season, as he goes head-to-head with fellow contested-ball beast Patrick Cripps.

THE PHANTOM’S CALL

I am going to let the big men go this week. It’s Dangerfield into Macrae for The Phantom