NRL SuperCoach 2018: Wilfred Zee’s wrap of the good, bad and ugly from round 2
DALY Cherry-Evans served up the first “monster” score of the year and 2016 champion Wilfred Zee is calling POD. Here’s the good, bad and ugly from round 2.
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FORMER SuperCoach NRL — presented by hipages — champion Wilfred Zee looks at the good, bad and ugly of Round Two.
Raiders v Knights (28 – 30)
Oh, poor Raiders fans. I feel for you, no one deserves to suffer that same fate in back-to-back weeks. It’s even the same scoreline! I guess “the Faiders” isn’t exactly wrong in its description… Ricky Stuart has his work cut out for him this week, on top of dealing with a few key injuries including one popular centre… On the flipside, how good for Knights fans! 2-0, top four team! What’s encouraging is that the coach continues to highlight their strengths and weaknesses, and if the Knights can fix their defence they will definitely trouble more teams in 2018.
Let’s look at the key performers in this game.
The Good
Elliott Whitehead (87)
Back-to-back Perfect 8-topping weeks for Whitehead – but not in the way you’d expect. Whitehead scored the bulk of his points from right centre, after he replaced the injured BJ Leilua. Two tries, a linebreak, an effective offload, two tackle busts – but only 35 points in pure base stats explains that score. Great POD for the 2% of owners, but I guess it’s true when they say you have to make your own luck sometimes!
Kalyn Ponga (85)
“This kid is going to be something special” – we’ve all heard it said before but Ponga is certainly delivering on his promise with each opportunity. He was one of the best on the field yet again, in just his second game for the Knights. Of course he continues to have things to work on but he’s doing a lot of things right already, in attack and defence. Two try assists, two linebreak assists, a linebreak, three tackle busts, an ineffective offload, five goals from six attempts – he really fills out that stat sheet. Only 13 points in pure base stats this week though, which is slightly concerning.
The Bad
Sam Williams (24)
Somewhat of a return to normal service for Williams here, so if you decided to take a punt on him as a moneymaking option, you may need to temper expectations on how much cash he can really earn. It’s hard to trust any of the Raiders right now… except for Rapana!
Josh Papalii (39)
He played the full game but he failed to get involved. He’s also missing a lot of the tackle busts and offloads he used to get. Is there something going on behind the scenes? Is he still struggling with fitness after being part of the ‘fat club’ in the preseason? Owners will have to ask some of these questions…
The Ugly
Mitch Barnett (2)
He lasted just five minutes before getting knocked out and he didn’t return. Could drop his price nicely but it’s a tough decision to grab him later.
BJ Leilua (14)
He was actually going along nicely until he was injured in a tackle in the 22nd minute. It appears to be a lower leg fracture or possibly a high ankle sprain – no doubt more info will come to light soon. Owners will need to find a replacement… a few interesting options floating around!
Sea Eagles v Eels (54 – 0)
After their respective Round 1 performances, I certainly did not expect this scoreline or in fact, this result. The Sea Eagles came out absolutely firing from the first minute, and once they got started they didn’t stop. DCE put on an absolute masterclass, controlling the pace of the game expertly and showing why the Sea Eagles were willing to put all their eggs in the DCE basket for the short-term future of the team. The Eels in contrast were flat, lethargic and they didn’t look like troubling the Sea Eagles at any point in the contest. From being touted as a potential top four team in the preseason to a 0-2 start against teams they were expected to beat, it’s somewhat concerning for the Eels. Brad Arthur has some big decisions to make this week!
Let’s look at the good, bad and the ugly in this game.
The Good
Daly Cherry-Evans (136)
This is probably what you would class as the first “monster score” of the 2018 SuperCoach season. DCE was absolutely everywhere, and his goalkicking has really added another level to his stats for this season as 34 of his points came from goalkicking (nine goals from ten attempts). He also scored a try, set up another, broke the line once, assisted two other linebreaks, kicked a 40/20, busted five tackles, forced two dropouts, made one effective offload… wow, I ran out of breath trying to read that in one go! He also had 13 points in pure base stats, but DCE is usually making plenty of tackles so in a 54-0 drubbing, you can understand him not having to work as hard in that regard. He is definitely a POD option at only 3% ownership and also only slightly more expensive than JT.
Jake Trbojevic (103)
This is more like what the 35% of owners expected when they selected Jake in their team. Despite playing only 64 minutes, he churned through the work as he racked up 56 points in pure base stats (34 points in hit-ups, 22 tackles with zero misses). He also busted two tackles and made two effective offloads – that’s 68 points before you include his try, his try assist and his linebreak assist. Encouraging signs for owners on two fronts – the base line and also his attacking stat line. Makes me very nervous as a non-owner…
The Bad
Josh Hoffman (10)
Well, from the good books and straight into the bad books. Following on from his Perfect 8-topping performance last week, Hoffman was clearly unable to back that up, failing to get involved as his team got thrashed. This will really burn for the SuperCoaches who traded him in after last week’s great score… especially the 400 or so who swapped Sione Katoa to him. His moneymaking ability will be stunted unless he’s able to grab a few tries again soon…
Jarryd Hayne (23)
Well, after two weeks of footy this year, what’s the consensus? A score of 36, and now this week’s 23, he’s going to have a decent size breakeven next week – over 80 by my rough calculation. That’s certainly not insurmountable for a guy like Hayne, but he hasn’t really even looked like breaking out into one of his trademark attacking raids. Owners have a tough decision if he continues to languish at right centre (even if he gets to swap into fullback from time to time).
The Ugly
Mitch Moses (6)
Okay, so he looked great last week even though he had to go off for an HIA assessment and then got sinbinned. Not so much this week, as he well and truly stunk it up. And managed to get sinbinned again. Classy, Mitch. Owners will probably have to cut their losses before he haemorrhages cash from his two low scores.
Cameron King (17)
King survived 31 minutes before he copped a nasty knee to his head, which saw him taken off the field and not return. There have to be some question marks as to whether he can play this week, as he will need to go through the concussion protocol.
Lachlan Croker also spent a few minutes off the field as he needed some medical attention to a bad cut to the head.
Storm v Tigers (8 – 10)
The upset of the round, the Tigers were so impressive in this game. Again, not because of how great they were in attack, but their mental fortitude and unwillingness to give up. With such a lopsided penalty count, plus another sinbinning, they were still able to hold out the Storm for so long. And yet again, one last ditch attacking effort saw them score the game-winning try. That’s a mighty performance from a preseason wooden spoon contender, to knock off two premiership favourites in the first two rounds of the year!
Of course, I must mention Billy Slater – 300 games when it looked like he might have to retire two years ago. I can certainly say that it’s been an absolutely privilege watching him play over these 300 games and all the representative games too.
Let’s look at the key performers.
The Good
David Nofoaluma (67)
When the highest scorer in a game only scores 67, you can tell there must have been a lot of stoppages, or that the game was really poor quality in general. Well, with 26 penalties being blown and 22 errors made, there were a lot of stoppages in this game! Nofo is back too, after his week in the ‘naughty corner’. As always though, he was an absolute beast, with 35 points in pure base stats (mostly due to his 20 runs) supplemented by a massive 10 tackle busts and four effective offloads. If only he could nail down that right flank again… Team List Tuesday is sure going to be interesting this week!
Luke Brooks (59)
The hero of the day, Brooks was Johnny-on-the-spot as Ben Matulino threw a desperation offload in the general direction of a white, black and orange jersey. Brooks finished off the job, scoring the try with a linebreak, but he was also quite busy, taking on the line 10 times. He also had two effective offloads, two tackle busts and a forced dropout. Don’t get trapped though, Brooks just isn’t consistent enough to be SuperCoach-relevant.
The Bad
Benji Marshall (16)
I almost feel bad about this, because on the field Benji was great – he controlled the game well and did all the things he needed to do to direct the Tigers to a win. Unfortunately, not everything translated into SuperCoach points…
Robbie Rochow (28)
Plenty of SuperCoaches decided to trade Rochow in off the back of one strong Round 1 performance. Well, this is more like the Rochow we’ve seen on multiple occasions. He did miss nine tackles this week which is a bit more than usual, but also it’s noteworthy that he only played 67 minutes…
The Ugly
No major injuries to note.
Panthers v Rabbitohs (18 – 14)
The Panthers have come back from 14 – 0 in back to back weeks already. They have often been a good comeback team, but they will need to start games off better otherwise they will struggle against the stronger frontrunning teams like the Storm, Broncos and Roosters. There are some positive signs for the Panthers for 2018 as well – and they too will finish this round in the top four.
Let’s look at the good, the bad and the ugly from this game.
The Good
Damien Cook (83)
Starting with Damien Cook is one of my bigger decisions this year, as he backed up his first week score of 67 with a very impressive 83 - even more impressive when you compare it to one Cameron Smith, who gets written about below. Cook was dangerous all game out of dummy half, making eight runs that all went for over eight metres. Despite playing the full 80 minutes, Cook didn’t slow down, making those runs plus also 45 tackles (five missed) and busting two tackles – plus a try with a linebreak. Great start and surely those who have missed starting with Cook are considering how to fit him into the team…
Trent Merrin (83)
While he may not be getting the minutes that owners were hoping for (57 minutes this week, still shy of the 60+ minutes you would be hoping for), Merrin is certainly making the most of his time on ground. Scoring a try with a linebreak this week, Merrin still got through 48 points in pure base stats, along with three tackle busts and an effective offload. Hopefully it’s just the hot weather keeping his minutes down…
The Bad
James Maloney (15)
Jeez, he’s not doing too bad on the field, but in SuperCoach-land he is stinking it up. Even if you were to add goalkicks back into his score, he’s still not anywhere near his previous seasons. Hopefully he pulls the finger out…
Viliame Kikau (28)
Coming off the bench again, some SuperCoaches decided to roll the dice with Kikau given his impact last week. Well, he only got 39 minutes, which was four minutes more than last week, but obviously his impact was nowhere near as good. He’ll still make money but if he keeps coming off the bench, with minutes being inconsistent, it’s probably too risky to put him in your 17.
The Ugly
Greg Inglis (17)
Only made it through 46 minutes of the game before he came off due to a bad head knock, but what was ugly was the fact that the Panthers’ fans booed him. Not a good look…
Warriors v Titans (20 – 8)
The Warriors currently sit 2-0 and will finish this week in the top four, and even though they have not exactly been giant-killers in dispatching the Rabbitohs and the Titans, they have looked like a different team to the Warriors of the last few seasons.
They are far from a finished product but there are plenty of positive signs for 2018.
The Titans continue to struggle, and it could be a long 2018 for the Titans faithful – unless marquee man Ash Taylor can stay on the field and in good form.
Let’s look at the key performers in this game.
The Good
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (130)
He’s back… yeah? RTS has shown glimpses of his 2015 form but that was possibly his most complete performance since leaving the Roosters.
Scoring a try, setting up another, breaking the line three times himself and assisting another linebreak for a teammate – these are all great attacking stats.
Throw in his four offloads (three effective), seven tackle busts and 36 points in pure base stats, and you’ve got a well-rounded performance.
But more pleasing to some is the addition of the ‘held-up in goal’ defensive statistic, showing that RTS is also starting to deliver in defence as well.
He also defused several dangerous attacking raids from the Titans through smart fullback positioning and good reads.
Peta Hiku (83)
Hiku was identified early as a strong, but cheap, CTW option and with the dearth of genuine CTW cheapies this year, plenty of SuperCoaches jumped on (35% in fact).
The question is how many of us played him in our 17 this week – although the match-up indicated that he was always a good option this week.
Hiku (and the rest of the right edge) terrorised Copley and Sami all game and that showed in the statistics too.
Hiku set up a try, broke the line once, offloaded four times (three effective), busted six tackles and also had 35 points in pure base stats.
Solid numbers and a great start to making plenty of money for our teams!
The Bad
Kane Elgey (19)
Given control of the team with Taylor’s absence due to injury, Elgey wasn’t able to step up and deliver what the Titans needed.
On top of that he also bombed several opportunities presented to him by Bryce Cartwright – and earned the ire of many a SuperCoach.
He will need to step up over coming weeks or there are some other up-and-comers breathing down his neck…
Leilani Latu (23)
Already on the chopping block for some SuperCoaches, this lacklustre performance confirmed at least one of my trade-out options for next week.
I’m sure this is the same for plenty of you! Playing 35 minutes but not doing much – not a good recipe for SuperCoach success.
The Ugly
Isaiah Papalii (4)
Papalii trapped plenty last year; this year, he was looking the goods but injury has cruelled his chances of making money for SuperCoaches.
He only made it through seven minutes before a knee injury ended his game.
Broncos v Cowboys (20 - 14)
Another rivalry game, another heart-stopper. Seriously, when JT delivered that beautiful pass to Scott Bolton which set him on course to crash over under the posts, my heart felt like it was about to stop. Then the miracle happened. Flying over from making the last tackle, that beautiful man, Tevita Pangai Jr, flew through the air and smashed Bolton from the side. By luck or design, Bolton crashed into the goalposts, and lost the ball. My heart restarted when I saw TPJ regathering the ball. Anyway, how good is footy!
Let’s look at the good, the bad and the ugly.
The Good
Johnathan Thurston (111)
In what could possibly be his last game at Suncorp Stadium (unless the stars align for an unlikely scenario come finals time), JT did absolutely everything he could to drag the Cowboys over the line. In fact, he was a goalpost away from setting up the game-winning try in the last two minutes, which would have seen him score about 135 (assuming he kicked the easy conversion from right in front) SuperCoach points and sent him out a winner at a ground where he has had so much success. Three try assists, two line break assists, two forced dropouts, five tackle busts, a perfect four goals from as many attempts, two offloads (one effective) and 19 points in base stats explains JT’s impressive performance.
Andrew McCullough (72)
How awesome is Macca? Second game back from a serious ACL and MCL injury, and he’s just played 80 minutes at hooker. He put in a typical Macca-like performance, with 49 tackles (two misses only) and six runs. What was good to see was that he contributed one try assist through a towering bomb (and a fortunate bounce) and a last-touch assist for the TPJ try. Most telling, though, was not his SuperCoach output but how much better he made the whole Broncos team look.
The Bad
Ben Hampton (13)
Starting at fullback in Lachlan Coote’s absence, and playing the whole 80 minutes, he looked like a capable substitute but from a SuperCoach perspective, he was not good. Hampton should find his way back to the bench soon once Coote returns, so hopefully you stayed away.
Ethan Lowe (17)
This is a curious one, since Lowe has always had a strong workrate. Played just the 49 minutes, but even then, you would expect him to score a lot more than 17 points.
The Ugly
Jordan Kahu (5)
Kahu had his jaw broken in two places and has already gone for surgery. Hopefully he has a quick recovery, but he could be gone for at least two or three months.
Roosters v Bulldogs (30 - 12)
The Roosters, as expected, improved a lot on their Round One performance. They still have room for improvement but they certainly flexed their premiership muscle with some of their big signings starting to pay off. Of course, the man of the moment, James Tedesco, delivered what SuperCoaches were expecting. The Bulldogs were valiant in defeat and there are still some positive signs moving forward. They might be 0-2 but they have lost to two potential grand finalists already, and their performances in both games may have seen them beat plenty other teams.
There were a number of eye-catching performances in this game so let’s look at some of the key performers and flops.
The Good
James Tedesco (112)
Were you one of the 2000+ Teddy owners who decided to sell him after Round One’s disappointing score of 35? If so, then I hope you’ve learned your lesson. Teddy, like every other SuperCoach gun, is susceptible to the occasional low score. You wouldn’t have sold Cam Smith after his first round sub-40 score last year, would you? Then why sell Teddy! One try, two try assists, three line breaks, seven tackle busts, one effective offload and 23 points in pure base stats — premium SuperCoach goodness in that stat sheet.
Josh Jackson (92)
Despite not quite playing 80 minutes (Pay decided to give him two minutes’ break and put Fine on — hah!) Jackson put in a typically workmanlike performance, scoring 47 points in pure base stats. However, it appears that Foran is actually playing more on the right side of the field this year and that may play into some more attacking stats for Jackson (even though Foran didn’t set up his try). One try, two line breaks, three tackle busts and two offloads (one effective) fill out Jackson’s stat sheet this week.
The Bad
Boyd Cordner (35)
Cords played the full 80 minutes but his workrate was far below what it used to be. He also didn’t look very good on the field either, which is concerning for owners (six per cent of you are either Roosters fans or POD-hunters!). Having said that, he did have -10 points for errors and penalties, which is out of the ordinary for him. Concerning signs regardless …
Kieran Foran (24)
Here’s your regular reminder that Kieran Foran is just not SuperCoach relevant, despite all the great qualities that make him a quality footballer when he can stay fit and healthy.
The Ugly
Daniel Tupou (10)
Speaking of POD-hunters, where are my fellow three per cent of SuperCoaches who also felt a strain in their pec area the moment Tupou went down? I felt his pec tear all the way from Brisbane (not really)! He could be gone for almost three months so the silver lining is that the injury has happened before he lost any money, and we can grab some tasty CTW replacements.
Mitch Aubusson (14)
Auto came on after Tupou went down and made it through 21 minutes before he too was struck down with an ugly, ugly injury. Word is that they needed a LOT of stitches to fix up his cut, so Aubo could also spend a bit of time on the sidelines — big watch on this though because the implications are many …
Sharks v Dragons (16 - 20)
It’s possibly one of the most overused phrases in rugby league, but there could not be a more fitting description of this game aside from “it was a game of two halves”.
The first 40 minutes featured the Sharks at their unrelenting, grinding best, putting together a perfect 16/16 sets to set up their 14 — 0 lead. The Dragons showcased their defensive steel, but their efforts with ball in hand left plenty to be desired.
Well, there must have been something in the oranges at halftime because the second half was almost a comedy of errors at some points; a stark contrast to the first stanza.
How else do you explain Jason Nightingale getting sin-binned, the Sharks taking a penalty goal, and then almost five or six consecutive sets where there was a dropped ball or a penalty from both teams.
Hilarious — if you weren’t a Sharks or Dragons fan, or more importantly if you didn’t have any players in this game for your SuperCoach team!
Let’s look at the key performers.
The Good
Tyson Frizell (73)
Frizell’s combination with Ben Hunt continues to develop nicely; they seem to be relatively in-synch when it comes to Hunt’s little deft kicks (or accidental kicks, like last night!) but a few times Hunt has passed to Frizell when he wasn’t ready for it. In any case, Friz got through 80 minutes on the field, scoring 58 points in pure base stats (plus two tackle busts) and capped it off with a try to register the top score in this game.
Euan Aitken (71)
Aitken has started the year in fine style, seemingly putting aside his injury woes of last year to score tries in both games so far this season. That has only netted him scores of 60 and 66, though, which could be a little disappointing for owners given they bought him for his previously strong base stats. Not that he’s been a slouch at all — it’s just that he was even better in the past. In any case, I doubt his 3 per cent of owners are complaining about his scores so far.
The Bad
Paul Gallen (43)
Are we going to talk about the elephant in the room? Is Gal officially “past it” as a SuperCoach commodity? You can forgive him for game one, as his minutes were low and he came off the bench. This week, though, he played 55 minutes and only scored 36? That’s … unforgivable for Gallen! Owners have a big decision to make this week.
Jack De Belin (48)
Speaking of low minutes, JDB played just 51 minutes last night, backing up from 58 minutes in week one. This makes for ugly reading compared to his average of 66.3 minutes per game in 2017. The drop-off in work rate is also alarming, as he seems to be doing plenty of passing before the line. The James Graham influence is rubbing off …
Valentine Holmes (6)
It had to be mentioned … this is probably the wrong response to being dropped as fullback. Holmes needs to get his head back on right and show us that he is a world-class winger.
The Ugly
No major injuries to note.
Originally published as NRL SuperCoach 2018: Wilfred Zee’s wrap of the good, bad and ugly from round 2
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