SuperCoach 2024: Early mail and best captain picks for round 24
It’s time for the biggest captain call of the SuperCoach season. See a break down of every round 24 match-up to find the player who can lift the premiership cup for your team.
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It all comes down to this.
After the longest SuperCoach season ever (remember round zero?) there are nine games left to decide the overall winner, and thousands of league premierships.
And with trades all but exhausted across the SuperCoach world, there is one big selection decision we can make that could be the difference between grand final glory and heartbreak.
Here’s the inside intel you need to know on every round 24 match-up to help pick the best captain and vice-captain for your team.
Friday, 7.40pm: Melbourne v Collingwood (MCG)
Can Nick Daicos kick off grand final week with a captain-worthy score? Midfielders have been putting up big numbers against Melbourne, a trend that continued last round even with the Demons recording a handy win. Daicos could go out with a bang in 2024, but there is one big red (and blue) flag – when these teams met on King’s Birthday he was tagged by Alex Neal-Bullen and held to 15 disposals and 64 points.
Max Gawn scored 132 in that game but is clearly not 100 per cent and faces one of the competition’s most in-form rucks in Darcy Cameron (five-round average 132).
Saturday, 1.45pm: Geelong v West Coast (GMHBA Stadium)
The Eagles have been one of the teams to target in captaincy match-ups all year, so this game deserves a close look, although the most highly owned Geelong players in SuperCoach are Shaun Mannagh and Lawson Humphries. Tom Stewart (26 per cent owned) should go close to matching the 135 he scored against the Eagles in their last encounter, while gamblers could take a punt on Jeremy Cameron (9 per cent owned) kicking a bag at GMHBA Stadium. Last year Taylor Walker played the Eagles on SuperCoach grand final weekend, kicked nine goals and scored 167 points. With no Jeremy McGovern or Tom Barrass for West Coast, Could Jezza be the Tex of 2024?
Saturday, 2.10pm: Richmond v Gold Coast (MCG)
Richmond has been leaking points all over the field, so if you have a Gold Coast player in your team, they are right in the captaincy mix. For 62 per cent of coaches – or 99.8 per cent of those ranked in the top 10 per cent – that player is Sam Flanders. Despite Damien Hardwick throwing a late-season curve ball by playing him mainly as a forward the past two weeks, Flanders still can’t help finding the ball, racking up 28 disposals against Melbourne and adding two goals. Expect even bigger numbers on Saturday.
The 10,000 coaches with Noah Anderson take note – he averages 140 in his past three v Richmond.
Saturday, 4.35pm: Hawthorn v North Melbourne (UTAS Stadium)
Just leaving the C on Tristan Xerri could be the easiest move of the SuperCoach finals. His past four games have delivered 151, 144, 185 and 141 points. His opponent this week Lloyd Meek has had a great season, but rucks have been able to score against him, including Reilly O’Brien (124), Darcy Cameron (132), Luke Jackson (116) and Rowan Marshall (164).
The Kangaroos, meanwhile, give up a lot of points to forwards – Dylan Moore is worth a shout given his high ceiling and a score of 116 when these teams met in round 6, although forecast rain on Saturday might impact his output.
Saturday, 7.25pm: Brisbane Lions v Essendon (Gabba)
Avoid Zach Merrett this week – the Lions are the hardest team for opposition midfielders to score against in 2024. The Bombers have also been surprisingly restrictive, but could Lachie Neale or Josh Dunkley cut loose at the Gabba with the Bombers out of the finals race? Neale famously scored 198 against the Bombers in 2022.
Saturday, 7.40pm: Sydney v Adelaide (SCG)
The Swans didn’t run a heavy tag when they played the Crows in round 14 but after James Jordon shut down Zach Merrett last week, I would be very nervous if I was a Jordan Dawson owner – certainly too nervous to put the C on him.
Adelaide has been conceding big numbers in the midfield lately, including 156 to Zak Butters and 131 to Ollie Wines last round, which puts Isaac Heeney or Errol Gulden in prime position for a huge return this week. Heeney is my pick of the pair after putting up 141 against Adelaide earlier in the year.
The only worry is John Longmire managing his stars’ game time with top spot locked away.
Sunday, 12.30pm: Western Bulldogs v GWS Giants (Mars Stadium)
Cometh the moment, cometh the Bont? When these teams played in round 10, Callan Ward kept Marcus Bontempelli on a tight leash (93 SuperCoach points), while tagger Toby Bedford spent time on Bailey Dale. But with the Bulldogs’ season on the line in Ballarat, expect the skipper to rise to the occasion.
Tom Green is finishing the season strong with a five-round average of 120 and three-round average of 127, but the Bulldogs have been the second-most restrictive midfield this season.
Sunday, 3.20pm: Carlton v St Kilda (Marvel Stadium)
Sam Walsh enjoys playing St Kilda, averaging 129 in his past three against them, but it would take a brave coach to entrust him with the captaincy considering he hasn’t scored above 110 for eight weeks. We know Patrick Cripps can put the team on his back when they have everything to play for – after scoring 142 last week, don’t discount another big total here.
Rowan Marshall is on fire (five-round average 131) and should continue that high-scoring run against Marc Pittonet.
Sunday, 6.10pm: Fremantle v Port Adelaide (Optus Stadium)
If you have the nerve to hold off your captaincy until the 414th, and last, game of the home-and-away season, there is one obvious candidate. Zak Butters enters grand final week as the second-highest scorer in SuperCoach 2024, behind only Marcus Bontempelli. He has a three-round average of 140 – including 156 last week from 42 disposals – and scored 136 against Fremantle in round 5.
Al’s top 5 captains
1. Sam Flanders
2. Tristan Xerri
3. Marcus Bontempelli
4. Tom Stewart
5. Zak Butters
SUPERCOACH NEWS: SHEEZEL OUT, CURNOW HOPE
Charlie Curnow is a chance to return for Carlton’s final home-and-away game as the Blues try to lock in a top-eight spot.
Curnow missed the Blues’ win over West Coast after hurting his ankle the week before against Hawthorn.
He is listed as a “test” for Sunday’s clash against St Kilda on the Blues’ injury list – along with Adam Saad (hamstring), while Harry McKay (quad) has been ruled out again.
Carlton can cement a finals berth with a win over the Saints. A loss would then leave their fate in the hands of Fremantle in the final game of the season, with the Dockers able to jump over the Blues into the eight with a win against Port Adelaide.
Curnow features in almost 30,000 SuperCoach teams, who will be hoping for a boost in grand final weekend.
However, Harry Sheezel’s 93,000 owners will have to live without him again this week.
Sheezel missed his first game last weekend since making his AFL debut in round 1 last season with an ankle problem, and late on Tuesday North Melbourne put him on ice for the 2024 season.
“Harry over the course of the back end of last week was slower with his progression and recovery with that ankle injury than how he initially responded,” Kangaroos head of performance Kevin White said.
“Although he’s tracking more positively today (Tuesday), he is still in a moon boot this week to look after that ankle, but he’ll run out of time to pass through clearance to play this weekend.”
Defenders Charlie Comben and Miller Bergman will both miss Saturday’s match against Hawthorn with concussion.
Meanwhile, West Coast has sent Jeremy McGovern for surgery on a dislocated thumb, ruling him out of the Eagles’ trip to Geelong.
“Gov’s’ been carrying a thumb issue for a period of time. It’s been getting gradually worse,” high performance manager Mat Inness told the Eagles website.
“We’re going to take him into surgery, so he won’t play this week.”
BEVO RULES OUT ENGLISH AGAIN
– Ed Bourke
Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge is hopeful Tim English will return for the finals as he backs in “chameleon” Rory Lobb to carry the ruck load again this week.
English is slowly recovering from an ankle injury and Beveridge said the Bulldogs were fortunate to have Lobb available to continue in the No.1 ruck role after he suffered a heavy cork against the Kangaroos but declared himself fit to play.
English was absent from the track at Whitten Oval on Wednesday as he managed his moderate grade ankle ligament injury, but Lobb trained albeit on lighter duties.
“(English) is close … hopefully he gets a chance and we get a look (at finals) by winning this weekend, but we don’t anticipate he’s going to be available this week,” Beveridge said.
Describing Lobb, Beveridge said: “I was trying to work out what sort of reptile – I’ll get in a bit of trouble here – whether it’s a salamander or a chameleon or just your garden variety lizard that can do that, but Lobby, that’s why I love his attitude.
“He’s a very durable player, and he’s just got the attitude to match. I love that straight away, he’ll declare that he’s going to be OK.”
SuperCoach stalwart Jack Macrae is firming for his first game in the starting 22 since round 18. The 30-year-old midfielder had 17 disposals and kicked 2.1 in only 47 minutes of game time against the Kangaroos after starting as the sub.
“Westy (Rhylee West) has had a hit of midfield time prior to last week, so with Caleb (Daniel) and Jack (Macrae) coming onto the ground near the end of the game, there are some options there for that midfield that weren’t there previously.
“The boys had a pretty good win for Footscray against Sydney last week, so we’ve got some candidates to come in and play some forward time in Rhylee’s absence.”
GRUNDY ‘DOWNS TOOLS’
– Lachlan McKirdy
Sydney coach John Longmire has suggested he won’t make too many changes for this Saturday’s clash against Adelaide but has left the door ajar for some of his stars to have an extra week off with a home qualifying final all but secured.
Longmire’s side essentially wrapped up the minor premiership with a dominant second half against Essendon thanks to their superior percentage.
It means they are guaranteed to play in the first week of finals at the SCG, and could potentially have two weeks off in the next month if they progress straight to the preliminary final.
“My experience over many years has told me that you go too far one way, too far the other and not get the balance right,” Longmire said. “You can go too far down a conservative route and then that impacts the way you play.
“If any players are at risk or sore, they don’t play. But if they’re fit and ready to go, and there’s no reason for them not to play, you can’t live in the space of we shouldn’t play half the team because they might get injured. That’s a pretty dangerous space to be in. You want to make sure you keep your footy going.
“Once we get through Saturday night and have hopefully what is a strong contest against Adelaide, we’ll then sit down and see what the coming weeks look like.”
Chad Warner is likely to return against Adelaide after missing the Bombers clash with a sore calf.
One player who appear primed for a week off is Brodie Grundy, who has had an increased workload throughout 2024 in a fantastic first season for the Swans.
Internally, Longmire suggested that the club is comfortable with where Grundy and hardworking forward Will Hayward are placed. But they will make a definitive call later this week.
“Only if they need it,” he said. “Will has had a sore knee for a number of weeks, and he actually feels a bit better today.
“Brodie has had a big workload, we’ve been able to manage him during the week, he’s been able to have some time off and down tools and regenerate there as well. So once again, you have to be mindful that it’s about this week, but there’s also a bye the following week.
“You’ve just got to get the balance right. We’ve got some experienced coaches and experienced medical condition staff that would generally try and sit down and make the right decisions.”
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Originally published as SuperCoach 2024: Early mail and best captain picks for round 24
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