AHOY there, me hearties, welcome back to another edition of Calvin’s Captains. Join me as I take you on a journey to help you select your AFL Fantasy captain for round four.
Brotherly love
Everyone loves a backyard fight with their brother, and no one loves a scrap more than the Selwood brothers and they are set to lock horns again this weekend at Simonds Stadium when Geelong host West Coast.
In 2012, Scott tagged his brother Joel Selwood [MID, $585,673] and held him to just 88 points. But last year when they met, the tables were turned. Despite another tag from his younger brother, Joel dominated, kicking four goals for a huge Fantasy score of 135 points.
Over the last two years of this family feud, Steve Johnson [MID, $629,580] has gone quietly about his business of racking up huge Fantasy scores. He top-scored for Geelong in each game against the Eagles with 143 and 134 points and should bounce back to his best this week after being tagged for just 69 points in round three.
Johnson averaged 114 points at Simonds Stadium last year and has already scored 121 points there in 2014. He’s a great option to be captain your Fantasy team this Saturday night.
Swan gone?
Has the run of the great Dane Swan [MID, $555,698] ended? You’d be a gutsy Fantasy coach to say so. He has been spending more time forward and accumulating fewer touches than ever before, but you can’t write off the great man just yet.
He scored 90 points last week from just 23 disposals and should bounce back to his best this week against Richmond on Friday night. If not, I’ll be a confused pirate who is fast running out of excuses when backing in this Fantasy legend.
Last year, Swan scored 130 points against Richmond and has averaged 127 against them in his last five games.
The Tigers can leak Fantasy points - the Western Bulldogs midfield all scored well againstRichmond last Saturday. Matthew Boyd had 115 points and their two young guns, TomLiberatore and Jack Macrae, scored 125 and 131 points respectively.
Listen up. This is the week my friends. This is the week, that Dane Swan will return to the scores we have grown accustomed to. Mark my words.
His teammate and captain, Scott Pendlebury [MID, $622,244] should also be considered for captaincy. He only scored 86 points last year against Richmond but did score 122, 121, 114 and 104 in games prior to that against the Tigers.
During this Friday night encounter, Trent Cotchin [MID, $524,562] is destined to cop a tag from the dangerous Brent Macaffer. The Magpie midfielders has become one of the most damaging taggers in the league after claiming scalps of Steve Johnson, Kieren Jack and Stephen Hill this year. Over the first three rounds he has held this trio to an average of 68 points and must now be feared by all elite midfielders, including Trent Cotchin.
Cotchin scored 101 points against Collingwood last year and although he had 117 points last week, Macaffer is far too dangerous to consider putting the C next to him.
The mighty Gazza
I hope you are sitting down for this because what I am about to tell you will blow barnacles off your behind.
Gary Ablett [MID, $616,598] dominates Hawthorn and has averaged 149 against them since joining the Gold Coast in 2011.
In his first year with his new team, Ablett scored 147 and 135 points and backed it up in 2012 with a massive 175 points! He continued last year with 139 points and is shaping up as one of the easiest captaincy decisions you’ll make this year.
If those numbers don’t paint enough of a story, then maybe I should tell you that he plays at Metricon Stadium this week - the home ground where he has already scored 141 and 146 points this year.
It’s very simple… make Gazza your Fantasy captain!
Just quickly…
As always, here are few more of the popular players I've been carefully researching 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.
Jobe Watson [MID, $579,973] v Fremantle at Paterson Stadium: Watson has a top score of just 101 points in his last six games against Fremantle. He was tagged by Matt de Boer last year for just 65 points as Ryan Crowley went to Stanton. I can’t see this happening again and I believe Jobe is in for a long Sunday afternoon.
Nick Riewoldt [FWD, $585,883] v Adelaide at Etihad Stadium: Riewoldt has a mixed bag against Adelaide of 99, 51, 134 and 43 in his last four games, indicating it’s much too risky gambling on him this week.
Dayne Beams [MID, $523,559] v Richmond at the MCG: Beams is averaging 107 points this year but only managed 87 last week. It appears he is carrying an injured quad and his previous scores against Richmond are not too impressive. Pass.
Kane Cornes [MID, $586,781] v Brisbane Lions at Adelaide Oval: With just 61 points last week and not one score over 100 in his last nine games against the Brisbane Lions, Kane Cornes must be avoided in round four based on these numbers.
Lance Franklin [FWD, $403,818] v North Melbourne at the SCG: Is Buddy back? He scored 113 points last week but only had 79 and 62 against North Melbourne last year. However he did have 204 points against them in 2012 - surely he’ll be lucky to get half of that this week.
Marc Murphy [MID, $473,794] v Melbourne at the MCG: Murphy averages 119 in his last three games against Melbourne and even had 124 points on them in 2013. He should be great again.
Tom Rockliff [MID, $562,664] v Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval: After a huge 157 points last week, Rockliff is a great smokey option as your Fantasy captain. Last week, North Melbourne had four players who scored over 115 points against Port Adelaide and I’m tipping Rockliff to be among the points again this week when he comes up against the Power.
Leigh Montagna [MID, $585,303] v Adelaide at Etihad Stadium: Montagna scored 104 points last week and had 129 and 127 in his last two games against Adelaide. He is always a great option.
Adam Treloar [MID, $515,802] v Western Bulldogs at StarTrack Oval: Treloar has to be mentioned this week after he scored 159 points last week to post the highest Fantasy score so far in 2014. Chasing scores like this are tough and very risky, but he is a gun and could produce something big again on Saturday afternoon against the lowly Bulldogs.
