SuperCoach AFL stats dossier: Full CBAs, kick-ins, time on ground for round 12, top captain picks for round 13

Tristan Xerri has the best match-up in SuperCoach this weekend, but the right VC and C strategy can make a big difference to your fortunes. See the stats that matter plus full CBAs, kick-ins.

Tristan Xerri.

Do we need to write more about captains this week?

We do, of course, because SuperCoach has a way of throwing unexpected curve balls in our direction – and not everyone has Xerri in their team. But if you do, he has to be the go-to captain pick for round 13.

Not only does Xerri have a five-round average of 153, he has a match-up against the Eagles, who have conceded up more points to opposition rucks than any other team this season – by a big margin. Recent ruck scores against Matt Flynn include Max Gawn’s 198, Rowan Marshall’s 179 and Reilly O’Brien’s 161. What will Xerri produce this week? If his two encounters against West Coast last year – for scores of 131 and 185 – are an indication, it will be massive.

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So, the big question for Xerri owners is whether to wait until Sunday and put the VC on the North Melbourne ruckman, or take a chance on another player earlier in the round with Xerri as back-up.

The advantage of waiting is you don’t have to make a tricky decision on whether to accept a 125 from your VC earlier in the round, but waiting requires a strong captain pick, and a zero-scoring player, playing after Xerri.

The byes take care of the zero – all Fremantle and St Kilda players are live until the start of the last game of the round on Monday and can be used for loopholes. It’s all a matter of who you want as Plan B. Here are the top options this round to partner Xerri, or hopefully go close to him if you don’t own the Kangaroos SuperCoach superstar.

PLAYING AFTER XERRI

If Xerri drops a shock low score, you’ll need a back-up captaincy option, and there are good options on Sunday night and King’s Birthday.

Tom De Koning has been a bit off the boil lately (three-round average 88), but has had a bye to freshen up ahead of a match-up with Todd Goldstein, who has conceded big scores to opposition rucks including 122 to Tim English, 121 to Brodie Grundy and 146 to Xerri.

Max Gawn faces the Magpies on Monday with a five-round average of 144. Champion Data match-up stats (see below) show Collingwood is just on the positive side of the ledger when it comes to ruck scoring this season. In two games against Darcy Cameron last year Gawn scored 122 and 132. He’s a safe as houses pick.

There could be a player with more upside, though. Melbourne has conceded the most points to opposition midfielders in 2025, ahead of West Coast and Richmond. Recent midfield scores against the Demons include Marcus Windhager’s 126, Jack Steele’s 117, Lachie Neale’s 116, James Worpel’s 122 and Andrew Brayshaw’s 120.

That brings Nick Daicos firmly into the captaincy frame. His 116 points last round was his best score since round 7, and there is no Alex Neal-Bullen to thwart him this time – on King’s Birthday last year he was restricted to 15 disposals and 64 SuperCoach points. Can Clayton Oliver keep up with Nick?

Nick Daicos plays in the last game of the round. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

PLAYING BEFORE XERRI

Marcus Bontempelli will be a fresh recruit for many SuperCoach teams this week, and he could deliver a big captain score first up. His past three scores against Hawthorn are 142, 115 and 122 and while over the season Hawthorn is the sixth-hardest midfield match-up, the Hawks have been leaking points in recent rounds – Steele Sidebottom 146, Nick Daicos 116, Lachie Neale 143, Hugh McCluggage 118 in the past three weeks alone. There are points here for Bont and the Bulldogs’ midfield scoring brigade – Tom Liberatore, Ed Richards and Co.

Meahwhile, two of the form players of the competition will be in action when Geelong hosts Gold Coast on Saturday night. Bailey Smith has a five-round average of 134 and Noah Anderson averages 137 over the same period. He scored 149 against the Cats last year, but it’s worth noting that was in Darwin. In three career games at GMHBA Stadium he averages 80 SuperCoach points.

The Suns concede the most points to general defenders – could Max Holmes be a left-field captain pick? Recent scores against Gold Coast include Jordan Clark 143, Jack Sinclair 143, Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera 126 and Bailey Dale 127.

AL’S TOP CAPTAIN PICKS

1. Tristan Xerri

2. Marcus Bontempelli

3. Nick Daicos

4. Max Gawn

5. Bailey Smith

SUPERCOACH STATS: MERRETT ROLE CHANGE, FULL CBAS

Only a few weeks ago Zach Merrett was knocking on the door of being a MID-FWD in SuperCoach.

Now he could be the AFL’s most skilful full-back.

Merrett spent a remarkable 90 per cent of game time in defence against Brisbane in round 12, following a move in the final quarter against Richmond the week before.

His four centre bounce attendances against the Lions was his fewest since round 10, 2020, and down from 16 in round 11. Merrett also took seven kick-ins, the most of any Essendon player.

The major beneficiary in the centre square was Nic Martin, who has attended 9 per cent of CBAs this season but was at 68 per cent on Thursday night. Jye Caldwell has also boosted his CBA numbers above 70 per cent the past two rounds, resulting in SuperCoach scores of 119 and 123.

Note – the final round of dual-position additions for the season come into effect after round 17. We’ve got Merrett on the watch list.

Zach Merrett has a new role in Essendon’s defence. Picture: Martin Keep/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

Champion Data’s exclusive weekly SuperCoach stats report highlights the big movers and sliders in CBAs, kick-ins and time on ground, including:

CHAD Warner’s CBAs dropping from 27 in round 11 (77 per cent) to 14 (47 per cent) last week.

RYAN Maric taking zero kick-ins for the first time this season.

LACHIE Whitfield taking five kick-ins for GWS after zero in round 11, but Lachie Ash was still the preferred player in the role, taking 10 against the inaccurate Tigers.

DION Prestia attending 76 per cent of CBAs in his first game of the year – but Kane McAuliffe staying above 60 per cent. Kamdyn McIntosh was booted from the centre square and Jacob Hopper’s CBAs were down 15 per cent – but he still had seven centre clearances.

SAINTS youngster Hugh Boxshall attended 11 centre bounces but played just 49 per cent game time.

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Originally published as SuperCoach AFL stats dossier: Full CBAs, kick-ins, time on ground for round 12, top captain picks for round 13