Captain’s Choice for Round 5 in AFL SuperCoach

With player prices beginning to rise and fall, getting the armband choice is never more important than ever — pick the right player as your captain and those double points will be worth … well, double!

Lachie Neale should be used as a VC loophole this week according to Paige Cardona

With player prices beginning to rise and fall, getting the armband choice is never more important than ever — pick the right player as your captain and those double points will be worth … well, double!

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LOOPHOLE OPTIONS

The rolling lockout will be so important this week with a huge Thursday night match-up featuring two SuperCoach favourites who will enable extra opportunities to hedge bets and maximise scores with two bites of the cherry. While the Friday night match between North Melbourne and Essendon holds little in the way of SuperCoach captaincy relevance, the first two Saturday games between the Giants and Dockers and the Dees and Saints could throw up a loophole surprise.

Remember, it’s the Easter long weekend this week, with the final game of the round played on Monday between the Cats and Hawks, so your loophole options will extend this round.

LACHIE NEALE v Collingwood
The most obvious of choices, the leading points scorer in SuperCoach and overall AFL leading possession winner is primed to give the Pies a tingle on Thursday night at the Gabba. Neale’s ridiculous SuperCoach average of 140 points has him a logical captain choice every week for those lucky enough to have started with him or since traded him in. It makes sense to throw the VC on him on Thursday night and watch him pump out 130 + points.

Brodie Grundy is an early VC option for those without Lachie Neale

BRODIE GRUNDY v Brisbane
The Collingwood big man just turned 25 and he is already in some stunning form. His ability to dominate the hit-outs while filling his weekly quota of 20+ disposals has him in rarefied air. Grundy has a three-round average of 143 points, but in saying that he only has a high score of 121 points in the six times he’s played the Lions in his career to date.

LACHIE WHITFIELD v Fremantle
A genuine option this week with the Giants hosting the early Saturday match. Whitfield has averaged 132 SuperCoach points from his last three games and will not be taking the foot off any time soon. The Dockers struggle to contain opposition rebounding defenders, and I’m backing Whitfield to continue this trend while maximising his point-scoring output. Lock him in for a solid 130 + here at home as the Giants continue their winning ways.

MAX GAWN v St Kilda
The twilight game at the ‘G between the Dees and Saints will be a solid game given the form line of both sides, but more importantly, it’ll be the form of big man Max Gawn who’ll look to take advantage of a young Rowan Marshall in the ruck and in doing so should dominate the hit-outs. In the two games that Gawn played against the Saints last year, he finished with scores of 127 and 145, so throw the VC on Gawn with comfort.

CAPTAINCY OPTIONS

JACK MACRAE v Carlton
Expect the Bulldogs to bounce back this week against a struggling Carlton outfit, in which the Bulldogs midfield should technically make light work of the Blues. Enter Jack Macrae. Notably down on his output last week against the Pies, he still managed a score of 110 which was lower for the lofty heights we’ve come to know Macrae’s scoring for. A score of 140+ isn’t out of the equation here, for the last time, Macare met the Blues he finished with 141 points.

Patrick Dangerfield looms as a safe Monday captaincy option

PATRICK CRIPPS v Western Bulldogs

Patrick Cripps is so good that even playing for the worst team in the competition, he is still one of the most reliable and heavily-backed captain options week in, week out in SuperCoach. The kid is a beast. At the time of writing this, SuperCoach Stats tells us that Cripps is the highest-backed captain this week, which makes sense given he is also one of the highest-owned players in the game. Cripps doesn’t mind playing the Doggies either, with a score of 143 coming in the last time he faced off against the red, white and blue. Another player you can comfortably back with confidence this week with an average of 142 from the first four games of the year.

PATRICK DANGERFIELD v Hawthorn
If things go pear-shaped with your VC, then Patrick Dangerfield might be the safe get-out option against a depleted Hawthorn midfield on Easter Monday. He traditionally loves playing the Hawks on the big stage, with scores of 130 and 160 coming from the two games he played against Hawthorn last year. Those are some serious figures! In fact, if you were to average out his SuperCoach score against the Hawks in the time that Dangerfield has called Kardinia Park home, he averages a whopping 136.6 from those five games. Back with confidence.

Originally published as Captain’s Choice for Round 5 in AFL SuperCoach