The Phantom’s Final Word: Round 5 captain analysis, on-field rookies and Reilly O’Brien, the next big SuperCoach cash cow

As the start of Round 5 nears, The Phantom delivers the final SuperCoach word on the best captain options, on-field rookies, Reilly O’Brien and more.

• The Phantom’s Round 4 Review
• Numbers reveal Sheed’s role change
• Westhoff’s SuperCoach downfall
• Round 5 Trade Guide

As the start of Round 5 nears, The Phantom delivers the final SuperCoach word on the best captain options, on-field rookies, Reilly O’Brien and more.

Find out if your SuperCoach team is in your state’s Top 50 ‘Battle of the Postcodes’ ladder

BANK ROB

With the news of Sam Jacobs’ knee surgery and extended stint on the sidelines, Adelaide’s second ruckman Reilly O’Brien has shot to SuperCoach relevancy as a money-making R3.

After scores of 85 and 84 in the past two weeks, the 23-year-old is facing a break-even of -89, the second-lowest in the competition.

Earlier in the week, the expectation was Jacobs would return for the clash with the Suns, sending O’Brien back to the SANFL.

Reilly O'Brien, left, with teammates Jake Kelly and Alex Keath at Crows training.

But with Jacobs to miss up to six weeks – and maybe more – O’Brien’s price is set to skyrocket while he leads the ruck for the Crows.

His job security is much stronger than any other rookie-price options on the bubble – Richmond’s Sydney Stack included – and, from what we’ve seen so far, so is his scoring potential.

In what appears to be a popular move within the SuperCoach community, The Phantom is looking to trade Carlton’s Will Setterfield, who miss two weeks through suspension, to O’Brien via Patrick Bines and his dual-position status.

The plan is to then downgrade O’Brien, who, if he maintains his average, will be worth in excess of $300k in a month’s time, to a rookie-price forward, when one pops up, and reinstate Bines as a non-playing R3 loophole.

For what it’s worth, out of the other rookie-price players to have played two games, with defender Jayden Short out for an extended period, The Phantom believes the job security of Stack is much stronger than that of Demon Marty Hore and Eagle Josh Rotham.

The latter were both late inclusions last week and, despite an impressive 86-point performance against the Swans, Hore will be sweating on the return of veteran Jordan Lewis and small-defender Neville Jetta.

CAPTAINS

THE BEST OPTIONS

Brodie Grundy (Coll)

Thursday night v Brisbane

It’s hard to avoid Grundy as VC in the first game of the round. The Collingwood big man, coming off a 160-point performance in Round 4, has posted scores of 121, 110 and 120 in his past three matches against the Lions.

Lachie Neale (Bris)

Thursday night v Collingwood

The only reason you would overlook Grundy as your VC is this guy. Neale is the top-ranked scorer in the competition after starting the year with scores of 127, 140, 177 and 140. And in his last meeting with the Magpies in Round 23 last year, the former Docker tallied 34 disposals and 140 points. You’d take another 140 on Thursday night.

L achie Whitfield (GWS)

Saturday v Fremantle

The former No. 1 draft pick is in blistering form, scoring 152 and 137 in the past two weeks to sit as the third-ranked scorer in game after Round 4. In the Derby last week, the Dockers gave up SuperCoach tons to three Eagle midfielders, Andrew Gaff, Jack Redden and Elliot Yeo, who all tallied more than 30 disposals. More of a VC option if you don’t have Grundy.

Max Gawn leads the way at Melbourne training ahead of its clash with the Saints.

Max Gawn (Melb)

Saturday v St Kilda

In Round 15 last year, Gawn finished with 25 disposals, 11 marks and a game-high 145 points against the Saints. Expect the Melbourne big man, who has posted three consecutive scores of 113 or more, to be far too good for the St Kilda ruck brigade.

Jake Lloyd (Syd)

Saturday night v Richmond

In his last six matches under the roof at Marvel Stadium, the playmaking Sydney defender has recorded scores of 130, 131, 118, 96, 136 and 106. And the 136-point performance, on the back 34 disposals – at 85 per cent efficiency – and eight marks was against the Tigers in the corresponding fixture last season.

Jack Macrae (WB)

Sunday v Carlton

The Bulldogs ball-magnet has to feature here every week, regardless of who he’s playing. Again, with a 125-point average in his past three matches against the Blues, he’s a great Sunday captain option.

Patrick Cripps (Carl)

Sunday v Western Bulldogs

With scores of 157 and 169, no player in the game has recorded more points than Cripps in the past two weeks. And, in his last two meetings with the Bulldogs, the star midfielder has finished with 106 and 143. Hard to look past.

Patrick Dangerfield (Geel)

Monday v Hawthorn

But then again, with Dangerfield taking on the Hawks on Easter Monday – a side he’s scored 160, 130 and 141 against in the past three meetings – maybe it’s worth looking past Cripps.

THE SMOKIES

Zach Merrett (Ess)

Friday v North Melbourne

After 67 points in Round 1, the Bomber midfielder has found form in a big way, posting 155 points, on the back of 35 disposals and 15 contested possessions, against the Lions last week. Merrett would be a very left-field VC selection Friday afternoon, given the other options in Round 4, but he’s scored 118, 98 and 130 in the past three matches against North Melbourne.

Bulldogs star Marcus Bontempelli is still flying under the SuperCoach radar.

Marcus Bontempelli (WB)

Sunday v Carlton

If you’re behind in a league match or just wanted something a little different, considered Macrae’s team-mate, Bontempelli, if you have him. The 23-year-old sits just two points behind Macrae for total points after scoring 124 points or more in three of the opening four rounds. And his 130-point three-match average against this week’s opponent is the third-highest in the competition.

THE PHANTOM’S CALL

There’s plenty of great options this week but it has to be Brodie Grundy as VC against the Lions. As hard as it is to look past Patrick Cripps, I think I will go with Patrick Dangerfield as C on Monday, if Grundy scores less than 130.

BY THE NUMBERS

SuperCoach Captains Round 5 — By The Numbers

ON-FIELD ROOKIES

DEFENCE

1. Sam Collins

2. Xavier Duursma

3. Jack Scrimshaw

4. Jordan Clark

5. Connor Rozee

MIDFIELD

1. Sam Walsh

2. Charlie Constable

3. Tom Atkins

4. Sydney Stack

5. Zak Butters

I’d consider playing Bailey Scott ahead of Sydney Stack and Zak Butters if he’s recalled by Kangaroos coach Brad Scott.

Geelong’s Gryan Miers has been outstanding in his debut season.

FORWARD

1. Willem Drew

2. Gryan Miers

3. Matthew Parker

4. Jack Petruccelle

5. Chris Burgess

To say we’re stretching for rookie-price forwards is an understatement. If Parker overcomes an injury concern, start him over Petruccelle, despite the 32-point performance last week. If you own him and you’re able to, swing Rozee forward to help out.

Originally published as The Phantom’s Final Word: Round 5 captain analysis, on-field rookies and Reilly O’Brien, the next big SuperCoach cash cow