When considering your captain…

These players love playing against their upcoming opponents:

Gary Ablett (vs Richmond): 90 average, six games, career av .73
Two hundreds in his most recent games against the Tigers.

Dane Swan (vs Carlton): 98 average, six games, career av. 81
Last three have all been 110+. Get on board.

Brett Kirk (vs Melbourne): 84 average, 13 games, career av. 75
Last four scores: 129 (this year), 129, 68 and 126. With the way the Dees are going at the moment, he’s worth punting on.

Brent Stanton (vs Hawthorn): 94 average, five games, career av. 78
Lowest score against the Hawks is 71… Could be onto a good thing with match-ups. 

Justin Koschitzke (vs Western Bulldogs): 79 average, eight games, career av. 63
Scores look worse due to a donut against the Dogs in round six last year. Should do ok against a weak ruck division, although Darcy’s retirement during the week may give the bigger Bulldogs some spark.

These players don’t have a great history against their upcoming opponents:

Nick Riewoldt (vs Western Bulldogs): 67 average, nine games, career av. 88
Numbers are dragged down by an injury-affected 24 in 2005. Grant returns to the Dogs’ backline, but it’s at Telstra Dome… I smell a Riewoldt 100 coming up.

Sam Mitchell (vs Essendon): 68 average, six games, career av. 80
His Bomber average suffers from some low scores early in his career – the last three have all been 80+. The only query is on that calf muscle; he could still be a late withdrawal, so it’s best to avoid putting him as captain.

Brent Harvey (vs Brisbane Lions): 63 average, 14 games, career av. 76
Has never topped 100 against the Lions. Has never topped 90, in fact. If he’s to do it, this is the year.

Kane Cornes (vs Adelaide): 67 average, 12 games, career av. 82
Since 2005 he’s averaged 83, but even that isn’t great for one of the most prolific point-scorers going around.

Nigel Lappin (vs Kangaroos): 74 average, 12 games, career av. 84
He’s played three matches against them in the past six years, so it’s a bit of an unknown quality. I would trust Lappin in the Lions’ current form.

Matthew Pavlich (vs West Coast): 73 average, 13 games, career av. 86
Has topped 90 twice in the past nine matches against the Eagles, and the Dockers are not in great form at the moment. Give Pav a miss.