Welcome to the greatest, the best… Australia’s No. 1 captain research in the land. Last year, I… Calvin, the King Pirate was the No. 1 captain (legit was) picker-er last year and this is because of the hours and hours of research that goes into it.

The mega article (comes out Tuesdays) can be found with the game by game coverage over at our patreon also. 2300-words and all relevant players covered in detail. With my top-10 launching on Thursday night at 7:00pm.

VICE CAPTAINS… not this week

Basically… we want 30 players playing. We’re not chasing red dots in order to do a loop hole, especially in round one. We will get BYE PLAYERS coming through in the early rounds and this will open up options for this Loop hole to be more of a play. Do not chase red dots… unless… your VC nails a big 150, then it can be considered. At the end of the day, this week is ‘eggs all in the one basket’ kind of play. Just nail a good captain and then move on to next week when the byes kick off.   Let’s get into it.

CALVIN’S TOP-5

🏴‍☠️ 1 – Max Gawn v GWS
@ MCG, SUN 3:20pm

Briggs has he has been ruled out with concussion and that means Max Gawn will go off! In the Opening Round, Darcy Cameron scored 136 against the ruckless Giants who relied on Lachie Keefe who lost the hit out count 37 to 12. This could be a Max Gawn 150+ special. He’s done it beore and we all know he is fit and firing and ready to do it again… Add to that… This is at the MCG and could be nasty, especially in the wet!

🏴‍☠️ 2 – Xerri v Dogs
@ Marvel , SAT 7:35pm

In the last six rounds of 2024 we saw Briggs 89, ROB 111, Gawn 136, Grundy 109 and Sam DeK 103 all score with ease against English who is listed as mega easy on the scale. Xerri also played him earlier in the year and had 129 (round 16). Now… Xerri did play the Bulldogs in round 23, however, English was out and Xerri went against Lobb and scored 122 (44 hit outs to 13). Another 120-130 is on it’s way.

🏴‍☠️ 3 – Dawson v StK
@ Adelaide, SUN 12:35pm

I like what I see here, Dawson is a huge tick. He scored 114 on the Saints last year and averaged a huge 119 at home. That’s nuts. Dawson is coming off a nice 135 in the AAMI and in the AAMI against the Saints we saw the Port players did whatever they liked with Rozee 142 and four others hitting 100-plus. Ticks so many captaincy boxes it’s not funny.

🏴‍☠️ 4 – Zorko v Syd
@ SCG, SAT 4:15pm

GC defenders Jefferies (99) and Noble (95) did well against the Swans in the AAMI and last week in the OR, we saw Amon (107), Scrimshaw (85) and Sicily (81) score well… and featured in the Hawks top-5 scorers. Last year, against the Swans he racked up with 127 (GF) and 131 (round 19).  A tag from James Jordon is the only concern. They didn’t do it last year, but with a new coach… he could be a target.

🏴‍☠️ 5 – Whitfield v Melb
@ MCG, SUN 3:20pm

Scored a game high 97 in the AAMI and scored well against Melbourne last year with 127. He scored that at the MCG and even posted 132 against the Tigers there as well. Towards the end of the year, we saw similar player to Whitfield carve up the Demons like Josh Daicos 137, Houston 115 and Dale 114. You know I love this guy and +6’s don’t come any easier for this Whitfield, but the wet weather is a small concern.

Also consider…

Patrick Cripps v Richmond – Richmond were the No. 1 easiest team for MIDs to score against last year and conceded the most 100 and 120-plus scores across all areas. We saw in the AAMI what Collingwood did to them when Lipinski 141, Nick D 127 and Josh D 120 all had it so easy it wasn’t funny. Cripps scored 100 and 129 against them last year.

Connor Rozee v Collingwood – Top scored in the AAMI with 142 and averaged 100 at the MCG last year with just 70 against the Pies in round 6… last week the GWS Giants did as they pleased against Collingwood with some big scores from Ash 125, Kelly 118 and Calla 110. He is apparently ‘sore’ but he’ll be fine.

Caleb Serong v Geelong – Remember his 161 in round one last year? And that was much harder than this as he did that against the Lions. He scored 103 on the Cats last year who were rather easy on their day for MIDs. Serong will be fine.

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Calvin

Do you need a Captain? Then Calvin will help you out. Don't want a Captain? Calvin will tell you anyway. The man who digs deep into stats will help you pick a great captain and give you plenty of Fantasy advice. Follow him on Twitter: @CalvinDT