Scott THOMPSON Adelaide Crows
It’s all come down to this weekend. For those still in the running to take out their respective league Grand Finals, choice of captain this week is a massive issue. With Gaz only just travelling last weekend, suddenly the choice of a left-field captain holds some appeal – especially of you look like being behind the eight ball in your GF matchup. It’s take a lot of courage to go for an unusual captain selection in the biggest game of the year, but where there’s no guts, there’s no glory. Check out these suggestions – could they win you the flag?
Scott THOMPSON Adelaide Crows
0 Comments
As the SC season draw to a close we are finally having a bit of luck with our left-field captaincy choices. Last week – despite Sam MITCHELL being a late withdrawal and giving us nada – out other two unique choices did pretty well. Adam GOODES belted out a 131, while Tiger midfielder Shane TUCK came to the party with a tidy 139. So, it’s preliminary final week and it’s all or nothing. Obvious captain choices will be Gazza and Swanny, but if you are looking down the barrel of a loss against a quality opponent and have nothing to lose, why not give one of these guys a shot? It’s make or break time…
1. Marc MURPHY Carlton MURPHY is a ball magnet, there is no doubting that – and this week he comes up against the Gold Coast Suns in a game that you would expect Carlton (who are flying at the moment) to win very comfortably. Averaging 116 pts for the game and on the back of a whopping 187 last weekend, MURPH should burn this week against a team he scored 133 pts against in his only game against them in 2011. He won’t get tagged (they don’t have on anyway) and should run riot. Expect a 150 plus game – is that enough to sway you? 2. Adam GOODES Sydney Back-to-back nominations for GOODESY, which is rare in this section – and when you look at his recent scores against the Hawks of 94 in 2012, 94 in 2011 and 106 in 2010, you might question why. However, GOODESY deserves a look-in, especially if Josh GIBSON doesn’t make it back into the Hawks lineup. Despite those recent low scores, GOODES averages 122 against the Hawks, and also has a steady 100 average at the SCG. With a productive 131 last weekend, I have a sneaky feeling he might pull one out of the bag at home this weekend. 3. Corey ENRIGHT Geelong A stalwart of SC teams and a super-consistent performer for many years, ENRIGHT has again averaged a nice 93 pts per game in season 2012. This week he returns home to Simmonds Stadium, a ground that he averages 112 pts per match. In addition, the in-form Cats are taking on the struggling Bulldogs, a team ENRUGHT has his highest career average against, of 114 pts. In what should be a very one-sided affair, ENRIGHT should see plenty of the ball and rack up a ripping score. There are lots of other left-field captaincy options to look at to combat your opponent this week. Geelong stars Joel SELWOOD or Steve JOHNSON against the Bullies. Adelaide superstars Patrick DANGERFIELD or Scott THOMPSON against Melbourne. St.Kilda onballers Nick dal SANTO, Lenny HAYES or Brendan GODDARD against GWS. Carlton’s Chris JUDD against the GC. It’s a huge decision to make – break even with Gaz or Swanny, or take the punt?????? Okay, so it takes a brave man to select a left-field captain in a sudden death Semi-final SC week, but it may be just what you need to get you over the line against a more fancied opponent. Last week we failed with GILES (82), and did just okay with MONTAGNA (113) and BARLOW (104). Not the greatest scores, but not total disasters. Hopefully this week we can find that 150+ diamond hidden in the rough.
1. Adam GOODES Sydney It’s finals time in fantasy land, and we will try and find a little hidden Captaincy nugget for you for this week. Last weekend saw our choices score fairly ordinarily – FISHER (104), MOLONEY (88) and PETRIE (82). Disappointing results all round. Most people probably think ABLETT is a shoe-in for captain this week, but if you either (a) Don’t have him or (b) Finished 4th or 8th and are up against a more fancied opponent this week, then you might want to take a chance on one of these fellas. Good luck.
1. Jonathan GILES Greater West Sydney As Meatloaf belted out so badly in the infamous Grand Final fiasco, “Two outta three aint bad” – and that’s what we got last weekend, with good results from GODDARD (127) and SELWOOD (126) matched with a very poor outing from ROCKLIFF (65). Hope you didn’t take a punt on him. Onto this week, and there are a few ripping games that should start to give the eight some shape – plus it’s our last regular season SC round. Do you need the win to make the eight? Maybe your captain choice could make all the difference.
1. Brent MOLONEY Melbourne After the awesome round of football last weekend, we are now back to a pretty regulation set of matchups for round 18, with a lot of clear favourites. Last week, in our search for a unique SC captain, our best result was Marc MURPHY (108), with Paul CHAPMAN (72) and Dustin MARTIN (88) letting us down. Of course we did mention Matthew PAVLICH at the end of the article, and his 160 pts was enough to get my side a few wins. Now, onto the search for gold this week.
1. Brendan GODDARD St Kilda Not quite sure why I’m recommending GODDARD, given the way he has been playing, but this week he has a couple of things on his side. Firstly, it’s his 200th match and a game the Saints should win comfortably. Secondly, he averages 136 against the Bulldogs, including scores of 102 in 2012, 143 in 2011 and 98 in 2010. Let’s not forget he averages 118 at Etihad too. Does all that add up to a decent game from GODDARD – finally? 2. Joel SELWOOD Geelong Cats captain Joel SELWOOD had his quietest game for the year last weekend, the first time he has scored under 100 for the season. Expect him to bounce back well against the Crows, who he averages 120 against, including recent scores of 114 in 2012, 87 in 2011 and 144 in 2010. SELWOOD is also back at Simmonds Stadium, a ground where he amazingly averages 132 pts per game played there. WOW. With a season average of 120, Joel could be your man this week. 3. Tom ROCKLIFF Brisbane Almost given the nod as “Trade of the Week” this week, ROCKY takes on the Eagles in the West this round – a daunting task but one made a little bit easier by his average of 111 against the WCE. Poor scores of 88 in 2012 and 66 in 2010 don’t inspire much confidence, but sandwiched in between those two doozies is a belter – 179 in 2011! That’s right, 179 pts folks. How does that grab ya? Of course, we can’t go without mentioning that the Pies take on GWS this weekend, in what should be an absolute slaughter despite the Pies resting a few big names. Obvious captain choices include SWAN (Could he get 60 possessions?) and PENDLES, with BEAMES also a prime candidate. Hard to go past them, one would think. What a ripsnorting round of football we are in for this weekend, with some absolutely superb match ups that should lead to some classic contests. Of course, SC Finals are almost upon us and every win is vital at the moment, as you reach for the top 4 or top 8 in your league. Captain choice becomes crucial – we bombed out completely last weekend with Newman (56), Yarran (81) and Kerr (105) all struggling. Maybe this week we can change our fortunes? 1. Paul CHAPMAN Geelong Hard-nut forward and midfielder, CHAPPY has long been a SC favourite and over the years, has rarely let us down. In 2012 CHAPPY is averaging a very tidy 105 pts per game, and this week comes up against the Bombers’ in an absolute must-win game for both clubs. CHAPPY loves the big matches, and loves playing Essendon, averaging 132 pts against them including 125 pts in 2011 and 94 and 106 in 2010. Add that to his Etihad average of 133 pts per game, and his appeal as captain increases even more.
2. Dustin MARTIN Richmond Does anyone have the nerve to select Richmond bad-boy Dustin MARTIN as captain in his return game from a two week suspension? Maybe you should – his average against Nth Melbourne is 130, including returns in 2011 of a massive 168 and a very steady 126. Prior to that, he notched up a 96 in 2010. Dusty might be sleepy, but he also might be a sneaky choice to lead you SC team this weekend. 3. Marc MURPHY Carlton MURPHY showed his quality and class last weekend upon his return from injury, notching 112 pts against the Kangas. This week he comes up against the Bulldogs, a team against who he averages 115 pts per game, including recent scores of 103 in 2011, 126 in 2010 and 105 in 2009. MURPH also averages a neat 100 pts per game at Etihad, and with Captain Judd now out for a month, MURPH could be the one to stand up and turn it on for the Blues. This weekend Fremantle play GWS, Port play Melbourne and Brisbane plays the Gold Coast. If I was looking for a favourable captain choice from those games, it seems pretty clear to me that Matthew PAVLICH would be the standout. He’s in great recent form and could destroy the fledgling Giants at Paterson Stadium. Well, it’s taken us fifteen rounds but we finally had a big captaincy victory last weekend, with West Coast midfielder Matt PRIDDIS smashing it with a huge 170 pt game. That score was made even better by the fact that big guns (and popular choices) Ablett and Swan struggled somewhat. Did you have the guts to go with PRIDDIS or not? Let’s see if we can find another hidden captaincy gem this weekend.
1. Chris NEWMAN Richmond With GAJ struggling last weekend with a poor 88 pts, we did okay nominating Dean COX as our primary target – and he didn’t let us down with a nice 134 pts against the dismal Suns. Jimmy BARTEL (97) and Jed ADCOCK (74) weren’t as impressive, but we all now have a dilemma – do we go back to Gazza against his old team this week? It’s a decision that could make or break your team. If you need someone out-of-the-box to get an unexpected win, have a look below.
1. Steve JOHNSON Geelong Just an average week of selections in what was an average week of SC – Barlow gave us 90, Goldstein 105 and Stevie J 91. Bland and dull results there. Obviously with Gazza back into most sides this weekend the choice will be fairly simple, but we’ll still have a crack at some unique options that might be worth looking at.
1. Dean COX West Coast |
The only thing sadder than a SuperCoach tragic? A St.Kilda supporting SuperCoach tragic.
After another pre-season full of off-field scandal, it's time to scale the dizzy heights of SuperCoach glory once again. Tips, trades, stats and stars, I'll provide a bit of everything here at SCHQ. Previous Blogs:
All
Archives
December 2013
|