With head-to-head finals heating up and just three rounds left in the overall season, every captaincy call could be the difference between pushing into a grand final or chasing overall glory.
This week shapes as one of the trickiest for the armband, with several elite options standing out but also some top-of-the-table clashes and possible weather implications, making decisions harder.
Here are some of the Supercoach captain considerations in a critical week that could be the difference between season success or failure.
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Nathan Cleary | 82.1 avg | $850K | 8% predicted captaincy
Cleary remains one of the safest Supercoach captaincy options, however this round with the Panthers playing the second game of the round he will be a far heavier vice-captain than captain among coaches.
For those feeling brave, or simply not in a position to loop, this presents an opportunity because you can avoid getting an AE that has a potential low score and go for broke with the straight captain early in the round.
Cleary’s early game is likely to keep his captaincy numbers in check and VC loopers could also get burnt, especially if he puts up a strong but also hard-to-loop score for some, like 90–110.
Surprisingly, Cleary hasn’t played the Raiders since 2023 where he put up a massive 124 Supercoach points. His prior game to that against the Green Machine produced 158 SuperCoach points.
Up until last week’s 74 SuperCoach points, Cleary had produced three 100+ scores in a row and is currently on a five-game average of almost 97 Supercoach points – making him one of the most reliably consistent options.
James Tedesco | 87.2 avg | $767K | 18% predicted captaincy
Tedesco is back in vintage form, producing attacking stats at will and finding consistency with Sam Walker back running the attack.
The Roosters have everything to play for and he loves standing up in big games with every week a must-win contest for the Roosters.
Tedesco is a proven strong season finisher with four consecutive tonnes to finish the 2024 season.
After a few lower scores Tedesco has now gone 189 and 85 Supercoach points in his last two games and is coming up against an Eels team he just loves to play, sporting an 80 career average against but more importantly a high score of 180.
In his last three matchups against the Eels Tedesco has scored 98, 125 and 125 Supercoach points since 2023 and the Roosters as a team have produced some big winning margins.
Even though the Eels are playing better football of late, the Roosters have been firing and Tedesco looks like both the safest and also most popular Supercoach captain choice for Round 25.
Reece Walsh | 73 avg | $753K | 7% predicted captaincy
Walsh’s explosiveness always puts him in captaincy conversations and now the Broncos are without their halves we saw him take a more commanding role of the attack last week.
That saw Walsh rack up the attacking stats and also take up goal-kicking duties for the injured Adam Reynolds which culminated in a round-best 155 Supercoach points.
Whilst Walsh is having a significantly worse season than 2024 or 2023 he has still now tonned up in two of his last three matches and is against a Knights team leaking more than 36 points per game across their past five contests.
The drawback for Walsh will be how the Broncos continue to respond shorthanded with several players missing and a long trek to Newcastle, where it is normally harder to play the Knights.
He deserves to be one of the top options however at under 9% ownership there simply won’t be enough coaches to push his captaincy to a huge percentage – and that’s a massive advantage if you own him.
Scott Drinkwater | 80.8 avg | $659K | 6% predicted captaincy
Drinkwater smashed out 151 points last round in a welcome return to form that saw him score two tries but most critically – take back the goal-kicking duties.
71, 105, 135, 95 and 173 – that is Drinkwater’s last five Supercoach scores against the Wests Tigers for a five-match average of almost 116 Supercoach points per game.
As far as historical numbers go it simply does not get much better with a small caveat being this one won’t be played in Townsville.
It’s also against a much-improved Tigers side though that won’t go near getting the wooden spoon they picked up during that five-match scoring spree from Drinkwater.
Drinkwater has the hot hand right now though and it still shapes as a game he should see multiple attacking opportunities in, so he’s a great option who will likely not be in the top two most popular captaincy selections.
Jayden Campbell | 70.1 avg | $707K | 3% predicted captaincy
The Titans were belted last round against the Sharks but the prior three matches Campbell managed 78, 112, and 115 Supercoach points for one of the best three-round averages leading into last round.
At CBUS Stadium Campbell’s average this season jumps to a sensational 85.4 points per game, and he is back at home this week against a Warriors outfit who will have to travel to the Gold Coast and is struggling of late.
It is hard to predict when Campbell will go big and like Walker below a VC would be much safer, however two of his three games of 100+ have been at home and the Warriors have not been at their best.
For the POD hunters he is sure to be a low captain option, though his VC numbers are likely much higher.
Sam Walker | 80.3 avg | $749K | 1% predicted captaincy
At just 3% ownership Sam Walker is the massive POD captaincy option this round with a three-round average of 95.3 and a five-round average of 86.4, but like Campbell a VC could be effective and an option.
Walker has been absolutely on fire and prior to last week’s tougher assignment against the Bulldogs, racked up 93 and 119 SuperCoach points against Manly and the Dolphins respectively.
Coming up against the Eels, it shapes as another big week for Walker and the best part about it is not many teams will be able to trade him in either.
Walker also plays in the sixth game of the round so if you are head-to-head focused you will have a great indication if you need to go for a POD captain or chase points with upside.
The only drawback is he will be without his main kicking target in Daniel Tupou who is out and has been on the receiving end of over half a dozen Walker try assists the past few games, but Walker still shapes as a good scorer this round.
This week offers a genuine mix of safety in Cleary or Tedesco, upside in Walsh and Drinkwater, or absolute POD glory in Campbell or Walker.
Your decision should come down to whether you need to play it safe to progress in head-to-head or swing hard to chase the big overall points, but we are certain to see some huge scores this round and the VC and C could be the difference makers.