The Phantom’s Round 16 Captain Analysis: Brodie Grundy and Rory Sloane the perfect SuperCoach combination

In SuperCoach, some weeks the numbers and fixture just add up. And Round 16 is one of those weeks with an obvious early-weekend VC option and a great in-form captain candidate to fall back on. The Phantom looks at who they are.

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I’ll keep it short this week.

Brodie Grundy.

Friday night.

VC.

The end.

OK, I’ll expand slightly.

In his past three Friday night matches this season, Grundy has posted scores of 160, 108 and 165.

And he’s averaging 126 at the MCG — the venue for the clash against the Hawks — this season.

While his lowest score in 2018 came against Hawthorn in Round 1 — the last time the two sides met — Mason Cox did a lot of ruckwork that day.

Grundy dispelled any match-up concern The Phantom raised last week, finishing with 133 points against Todd Goldstein — his first score of more than 114 against the North Melbourne big man.

But if he does fail, there are a number of great captain options to fall back on.

Dustin Martin (Rich)

v Gold Coast, Saturday

In his past three matches against the Gold Coast, the Tiger star has posted scores of 91, 142 and 167. And while he’s still spending plenty of time forward in the absence of Jack Riewoldt, Martin has recorded SuperCoach tons in five of his past seven matches. While he’s only passed the 115-point mark on one occasion this season — after achieving the feat 18 times in the previous two years — a trip to Metricon Stadium on Saturday could be Martin’s chance to go big.

Adelaide co-captain Rory Sloane, left, with Port’s co-captain Tom Jonas ahead of Showdown 47.

Rory Sloane (Adel)

v Port Adelaide, Saturday

Adelaide’s co-captain loves a Showdown. In his past four matches against the cross-town rival, Sloane is averaging 142 SuperCoach points, after scores of 138, 111, 151 and 168. And if you take the injury-affected 35-point performance against the Demons in Round 11, Sloane is averaging 116 points per game this season. The best fallback-VC option this week.

Jack Macrae (WB)

v Geelong, Saturday night

After a season-low 84 points against the Eagles in Round 11, the ball-magnet has responded in a big way, scoring 140 points or more in each of his past three matches. Macrae’s 147-point three-round average is second-only to Port’s Scott Lycett and he’s back at Marvel Stadium, a venue he averages 125 at this season.

Bulldogs start Marcus Bontempelli has a great record at Marvel Stadium this season.

Marcus Bontempelli (Geel)

v WB, Saturday night

Like Macrae, Bontempelli likes Marvel Stadium, posting scores of 109, 112, 118, 146, 104, 124 and 158 there this season. And, while he finished with 130 points, the star midfielder had passed the three-figure mark by half-time against Port Adelaide last week, in another reminder of his scoring power.

Tim Kelly (Geel)

v WB, Saturday night

The Geelong star has gone 162, 87, 140, 92, 121, 76 and 128 in his past seven matches. Can he buck the trend in a midfield-shootout against the Bulldogs this weekend? He enjoyed Marvel Stadium in Round 8, tallying 36 disposals and two goals against the Kangaroos in Geelong’s only appearance at the venue this season.

Nat Fyfe (Freo)

v WC, Saturday night

Fyfe has posted scores of 114 and 126 in his past two Western Derbies despite copping some pretty heavy attention. But, again, he’s showed this season he’s almost unstoppable, finishing with SuperCoach tons in nine of his past 10 matches, seven of them in excess of 120. Another captain option you can trust.

Josh Kelly (GWS)

v Brisbane, Sunday

Another round, another SuperCoach ton for the classy midfielder. Kelly’s 104-point performance makes it eight on-the-trot this season, with five of them scores of 128 or more. And Kelly tallied 30 disposals, two goals and 149 points in his last meeting with the Lions. Expect a huge midfield battle with an impressive Brisbane engine room on Sunday.

Brisbane midfielder Lachie Neale will play his 150th game against the Giants on Sunday.

Lachie Neale (Bris)

v GWS, Sunday

Leading that engine room will be the former Docker, who bounced back after a season-low in Round 14 with 38 disposals and 137 points against the Demons last week. While he was playing for a different team, Neale boasts a career average of 114 against the Giants.

LEFT-FIELD

Scott Lycett (Port)

v Adelaide, Saturday

With scores of 115, 111, 180 and 165, no player has recorded more points than Lycett over the past month. The former Eagle averages 140 points per game when he plays 85 per cent or more game-time as a ruckman — and that looks set to continue with Paddy Ryder likely to stay in the SANFL. Can he get the upper-hand on in-form Crow Reilly O’Brien?

THE PHANTOM’S CALL

Easy for me this week — Grundy VC into Sloane C.