Hynes, Cleary or a star EDG? Who to captain in Round 10

If you owned Nicho Hynes over the past couple of weeks then you had a fairly simple choice to make when it came to picking your captain, with Nathan Cleary either returning from injury or being rested and the likes of Payne Haas still working back to top form.

• NRL Fantasy teams analysis: Round 10

But there’s plenty to ponder this week when it comes to selecting who you want to receive double points, with reason to be cautious around Hynes in Round 10 and a handful of other options presenting genuine cases to wear the ‘C’ for your team.

Breaking down the Round 10 captaincy options

It’s always a good idea not to stray too far from the man with the hot hand and in Hynes you have easily the best scorer in Fantasy right now, with over 18 points separating him and the next best player, Angus Crichton, when you average out their scores through the past three games.

He’d be the simple answer as best pick if he was playing almost any club other than his former side the Storm this week, who he has averaged only 53.5 against in his two games facing them, and who are coached by someone who knows Hynes’ game intimately in Craig Bellamy.

Of course, it's one thing to know what Hynes might be doing and something else completely to actually limit him in a game, but if he’s set for a score in the mid-50s, when others might hit a mid-60, there could be a crucial 20-odd points lost through Hynes as captain (note: his projection is still 73 for this week).

There are two outstanding EDG players to consider too, with Crichton and David Fifita both in excellent form with 76.3 and 73.7 point averages respectively over their past three games.

Crichton destroyed Brisbane last week on his way to a 97, which included two tries, and is coming up against a leaky Warriors right-edge defence in Round 10 who have had left-side back-rowers average 71.5 against them over the past fortnight.

The Warriors may also end up fielding a new-look combo on that side of the field, depending if Mitch Barnett lines up on the left or the right in his move from prop to the second row.

Fifita meanwhile has been utterly dominant over the past two rounds, averaging 83 points thanks in large part to breaking a ridiculous 24 tackles in those two games.

His time coming off the bench as he got back to full capability again, following his pre-season pectoral tear, looks like it’s over now, and with a seemingly locked down 80-minute role against a Cowboys side that gives up 27 points per game to opponents on average this year, he could have a big day out.

The other option is Nathan Cleary.

He was rested last week as a precaution due to recent hamstring troubles, not actually hurt, so there’s no reason to think he will be compromised in his return against the Bulldogs, in which he’s projected to score 63.

He’s averaged 54.5 in his last two clashes against Canterbury-Bankstown, and this year’s Doggies side is a much improved one which is giving up only 17 points per game on average, so it could be tough going to rack up big attacking stats.