Footy Tragic

Dane Swan

It’s impossible to go past the Great Dane in his current form. Since Round 10 his lowest score has been 110 (Round 13), which was also his only score until 125 across that period. In his last two against Carlton he’s scored 131 and 140. Glasses down, easily the best captain choice this week. If you’ve got him I wouldn’t recommend anyone else. Sure, someone might outscore him this week, but his form line is just too ridiculous to risk NOT having him as your captain.

Now for those who don’t have Swan…

Gary Ablett

GAJ has really been on the wane lately. His 126 last week was a return to form, however he scored five goals, which isn’t all that common an occurrence. Goals are just cherries on the top of his scoring when he’s at the top of his game – rather than the focal point. He’s still a great option and he typically massacres Sydney. His highest score this year (and the third highest out of anyone, behind Lake and LeCras) was a 167 against the Swans in Round 7. Bare in mind, that was after he’d had a week off and it was down at his beloved Skilled Stadium.

Leigh Montagna

Montagna’s form was great until last week. There’s no reason to suggest it wouldn’t have continued to be great either…all until he slipped on a dodgy piece of grass at Etihad Stadium and tweaked his groin. Even if he’s named this week you’d have to be wary of naming him captain, purely because you suspect he’d be playing hurt. It’s a pity, because Essendon leak points to pretty much any position and he chopped them for 137 earlier this year (despite St.Kilda losing that game). Form and opposition says yes, injury cloud says no. He might even miss, though he hasn’t appeared on St.Kilda’s injury list, but never take that thing seriously. St.Kilda treat submitting an injury list with unparalleled contempt.

Matthew Boyd

The most underrated DT’er in the league is a legit captain option. Boyd gets a lot of his own ball, so it’s entirely in his hands as to how well he scores, and being such a determined player he usually comes out with great numbers (aided by plenty of tackles). He scored a modest 108 against North earlier this year, however that was in the month of footy where he was a bit down on form coming back from his broken hand. Since Round 11 his lowest score is 114 and he’s cracked 120+ four times in that period.

Paul Chapman

Despite GAJ getting a massive 167 against Sydney earlier in the year, I’d say Chappy was best on that day. He snagged a handy 140 himself and was everywhere, kicking goals, laying tackles and taking marks. Historically though, Sydney have kept him fairly contained over the years. They’re not the same Sydney they used to be, but it’s something to be aware of (last year I’m pretty certain his 73 against them was injury affected, but I can’t exactly remember at what stage of the game that was).

Luke Hodge

Hodgey completely dominated Port last time he played them and did everything but convert in front of goal. He kicked 1.5 but still scored 131 in a fantastic display. He’s been playing good lately, not great, but pretty good. He’s been a little up and down over the past 5-6 weeks actually with 140, 61, 119, 87, 126 and 101. Port kept Hodge pretty quiet both times they met last year.

Brendan Goddard

Goddard hasn’t quite got to any great heights since being a late withdrawal against Brisbane with illness. He’s scored 96 and 109 in the past two weeks. Before missing he’d scored 120+ in six straight games – the only player to do that this season (I don’t count Ablett’s run of six in a row, because he missed a game during that streak). He also only scored 101 against Essendon earlier this year. He only scored 66 against the Bombers the time before that as well, so current form and recent history doesn’t sound too compelling.

Adam Goodes

There’s so many more I could mention (Selwood particularly stiff to miss out) but I thought it’d be worth keeping a sneaky eye on Goodes. Earlier this year I wrote about how he usually storms home in the second half of the year. Well, it took him a little while to get going (largely because he was playing as a full time forward) but he has blitzed in his last three games with 158, 116 and 124. He was very ordinary against Geelong earlier this year, with a 63, but last year he scored 121 and 114 against them. It’d be a risky option, but in his current form you could throw him into the mix.