Jackson Scored 66. The 65% Who Captained Him Want Answers.

A 66 from your captain is a bad week. A 66 while Grundy posts 203 is a devastating week. But the registry says you weren't wrong — here's why.

Round 10 was brutal for anyone who went Luke Jackson as captain. Sixty-six points. His worst score of the season. While Grundy was dismantling a ruck-less Collingwood for 203, your 66 doubled to 132 and you bled ground.

The community split 65/25: most captained Jackson and regret it, a quarter had Grundy or looped through. The remaining 10% double-burned — Bont VC into Jackson C — and got stung twice.

Was Captaining Jackson in R10 the Wrong Call?

The 65% who went Jackson weren't chasing a dumb play. His scores going into R10: 142, 113, 108, 125, 125, 147, 143, 141. Eight consecutive rounds above 100. His R9 141 at home vs Hawthorn was one of his cleaner performances of the season, and the registry had him locked as the top VC/C loop vehicle heading into the round.

Grundy's 203 was real, but it came against a ruck-less Collingwood. That is a matchup anomaly, not a form signal — and you couldn't bank on that pre-round unless you specifically called Grundy vs Pies as a ceiling setup. Some coaches did. Most reasonably didn't.

What Actually Happened to Jackson's Score

The 66 is not a form break. The registry verdict is explicit: Fremantle led by 43 points and deliberately held Jackson at 50% time-on-ground in the fourth quarter to protect him ahead of a five-day turnaround to St Kilda. When your team is winning by six goals, your $660k ruck does not play out the garbage time.

His R9 was 141. His underlying role is untouched. The 66 pushed him below his 94 BE and his price ticked down — he's at $639k now — but at a 133-point rolling average, one managed score in a blowout is exactly what it looks like: an outlier you discount.

Should You Still Captain Jackson in R11?

For R11 Jackson faces St Kilda at Marvel. Not a premier rucking unit, no clear opposition to his hitout dominance. The registry verdict heading out of R10: hold, and captain him next week.

The real takeaway from R10 is not "should I have had Grundy." It's this: Jackson will have a week like this roughly once a season — a managed blowout where he barely plays the fourth — and it will land in the same week someone else goes nuclear. This was that week.

R11 vs St Kilda. Captain freely.

Updated: 22 May 2026. Data sourced from RookieBible intel registry.

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