AHOY there, me hearties. I'm back and it’s time for the round six edition of Calvin’s Captains. This week we have several players with their hands raised high ready to be your AFL Fantasy captain, so let’s get cracking.
Anzac Day rippers
With great pride, a flutter in my heart and goose bumps on my arms, I’d like to officially say, Dane Swan [MID, $537,486] is back!
It was only a matter of time and after scoring 145 Fantasy points last week, many coaches will be bringing the scoring machine into their team for round six.
Swan is an Anzac Day specialist and has previous scores of 120, 171 and 104 in his last three games against Essendon on this special day.
Although Dayne Beams [MID, $551,020] missed the Anzac Day battle in 2013, he did score 121 points in 2012, and has averaged 117 points against Essendon in his last three games.
Last week, when St Kilda played Essendon, their midfielders dominated. Leigh Montagna and Lenny Hayes scored 135 and 117 points respectively, meaning the Collingwood midfielders should have a day out.
Scott Pendlebury [MID, $608,049] will be looking to cash in as he loves the big stage. Essendon are his favourite team to score Fantasy points against and he has scored 108, 113 and 166 points in his last three Anzac Day appearances.
He scored 127 points last week against the Roos, carries a lowest score of 106 points against Essendon in his last seven games, and is clearly one of the favourites to receive another Anzac Day medal on Friday afternoon.
However, if it’s a roughie you are after, why not take a punt on Steele Sidebottom [MID, $499,673]? He scored 141 points last week, scored 143 and 126 points last year against Essendon, and should be awesome again.
The million dollar question though is ‘who will Brent Macaffer tag?’
Jobe Watson [MID, $542,342] is the unlucky frontrunner as he goes for his seventh straight 100+ score against Collingwood this week. But on the other hand, Brent Stanton [MID, $555,514] kicked an eye-catching three goals last week for his 136 points and proved he too can be a damaging midfielder, if left unattended.
New Zealand bound
I'm off to New Zealand this week for another ANZAC Day battle between the Brisbane Lions and St Kilda, and I’m expecting Nick Riewoldt [FWD, $575,402] to lead all Fantasy scoring.
Last year he tore the Sydney Swans to pieces as he scored 153 points that day. The Saints' skipper is coming off scores of 111 and 110 points over the last two weeks.
Tom Rockliff [MID, $594,979] will also be trying to continue his brilliant run, after averaging 135 points in his last three games. Last year, he had his best score of the season (144 points) when he met St Kilda and will thrive on the international stage.
Ablett returns to Metri-ton Stadium
Gary Ablett [MID, $621,376] just keeps getting it done and once again makes it hard for me to remove him from the number one spot in my top five captains. He plays Greater Western Sydney this week, a team he scored 132 and 131 points against last year.
Seven Adelaide players scored over 100 against the Giants last week, with Patrick Dangerfield (149 points) and Scott Thompson (131 points) leading the way.
Ablett loves playing in front of his home crowd and has already scored 132, 146 and 141 points at Metricon Stadium this year. He has been in smashing form over the last three weeks averaging 132 points a game and is every chance to dominate again.
Just quickly…
Once again, here are few more of the popular players that I've been looking at this week. If I have missed your favourite, let me know on Twitter (@CalvinDT) and I’ll do my best to cover them next week.
Trent Cotchin [MID, $518,011] v Hawthorn at the MCG: Last year against Hawthorn, Cotchin had his sixth best ever Fantasy score of 137 points. Surprisingly, he has struggled at the MCG this year where he has only scored 70 and 79 points compared to 117, 127 and 138 points when he has played elsewhere. Based on this alone, we have to pass on him this week.
Joel Selwood [MID, $564,399] v Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval: Selwood averaged 110 against Port Adelaide last year but only managed 58 points last week under a tag from from Will Langford. Even though he’s a Fantasy gun, we can’t have a captain scoring with this level of inconsistency.
Sam Mitchell [MID, $505,459] v Richmond at the MCG: Mitchell only scored 87 points against Geelong last week but did score 122 and 121 points in games prior to that. He had 112 points against Richmond last year and should be a solid option again.
Jack Macrae [MID, $502,514] v Adelaide at Etihad Stadium: If I had a top six, this man would have made the list. He had another impressive score of 113 points last week to average 126 in his last three games. Although he’s not quite in my top five, he certainly has my respect.
Steve Johnson [MID, $643,950] v Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval: Johnson is currently the most in form player in the competition with scores of 139 and 168 over the last two weeks. He had scores of 100, 109 and 144 (in the finals) last year against Port Adelaide.
Adam Treloar [MID, $519,044] v Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium: Treloar had his worst score of 2013 against Gold Coast last year of just 48 points. Pass this week.
Kane Cornes [MID, $573,025] v Geelong at Adelaide Oval: Geelong are one of Cornes’ worst teams to score Fantasy points against. In fact, he has failed to score over 100 points in his last eight games against them. It’s time to change this but the odds are against him with the Cats in red hot form.
