Who to captain in the absence of the big guns

The first of the major bye rounds, Origin selection and injuries have come together to ensure the top 13 Fantasy scorers to date in 2024 are all missing from club action this week. 

• Round 13 Fantasy teams analysis

It's difficult enough fielding a decent scoring 13 this week (remember only your starting side scores in Rounds 13, 16 and 19, with your interchange not counting), but when it comes to picking a captain you really start to see just how slim the pickings are.

In a week as difficult as this one, nailing your choice of who gets the 'C' could make the world of difference, but selecting a winning option is far from simple. 

The best captaincy options for Round 13

Trail Fuller (WFB, $615k)

The only top 10 player by average who is available this week, Fuller has been excellent in his four games to date, with a low of 44 and a high of 68, and his average sitting at 57.5.

Captaining a WFB always comes with its share of risk no matter who it is, but Fuller has a favourable matchup this week against a Raiders that are very leaky in defence.

The Green Machine haven't held a team to fewer than 20 points since Round 5 and have given up an average of 30.3 in their six games since then, meaning Fuller should have plenty of opportunities for line breaks, try assists and tries. 

Mitchell Moses (HLF, $733k)

He is returning from a two-month layoff with injury and doing so as part of a team who are winless in their last five games and seriously struggling. 

But Moses is an elite Fantasy HLF coming up against a Sharks side missing Cameron McInnes, who is a key figure in their defensive structure, so you'd be silly not to have him in the captaincy conversation. 

Moses averaged 47 points in his three games this year and should immediately take over most of the playmaking responsibilities from Dylan Brown, in addition to handling the goalkicking. There's not really any way to know what he's capable of this week, but on his day he's an excellent captain.  

Jacob Kiraz (WFB/CTR, $689k)

No Round 13 green dot is in better recent form than Kiraz, who boasts a last three game average of 66 points and comes off a whopping 79 against the Dragons last week. 

There's some real risk in captaining him given he's scored four tries and made eight line breaks in his past three games, which probably aren't sustainable metrics long term, but he's also likely to be coming up against a new-look Newcastle left edge who may not have the finer points of their defence sorted just yet. 

On paper Kiraz probably has the highest ceiling of any Round 13 captaincy option, but his record this year suggests he's also a good chance of registering a score under 40 (he has five of them already in 2024). 

Euan Aitken (EDG/CTR, $750k)

A safe as houses choice whose scoring record this year suggests you'll get at least 90 points if you have him as skipper, with a 45 way back in Round 2 his lowest score in 2024. 

His season average is 55.1, and while he's unlikely to reach the heights of others on this list against the Raiders this week (in saying that he does have three scores over 60 so far), he's also extremely unlikely to fall to their potential lows.

If the rest of your team is in good shape or you look like winning your head-to-head matchup this week, then Aitken is a very good option you can rely on. 

James Tedesco (WFB, $679k)

First the first time since 2019 Tedesco isn't featuring in Game One of a State of Origin series, which is unfortunate news for him but great news for his Fantasy owners, or those looking to trade in an elite-potential captain this week. 

The Roosters are missing three key forwards, which would normally have a potentially negative impact on a fullback's ability to rack up stats and Fantasy points, but in Teddy's case he's just as likely to pick up more work in yardage himself and have an even larger role in the game.

He's had a couple of poor scores this year but is also in great form, with three of his past four games seeing him score 60 or over, including last week's 69.