NRL SuperCoach 2017: Wilfred Zee’s wrap of the good, bad and ugly from round 24
WILLIAM Hopoate had his best game of the season as the Bulldogs shocked the Sea Eagles. Check out all the stars in 2016 SuperCoach champion Wilfred Zee’s look at the good, bad and ugly of round 24.
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REIGNING SuperCoach champion Wilfred Zee looks at the good, bad and ugly of round 24.
Bulldogs v Sea Eagles (16-30)
That’s two weeks in a row that the Sea Eagles have been upset by a lowly bottom four team — real danger signs and alarm bells are surely ringing at Brookvale (oops, I mean Lottoland).
Let’s look at the good, bad and the ugly.
The Good
Will Hopoate (98)
Hoppa’s best game of the year, although it’s no surprise that when the Bulldogs’ pack can dominate the middle, the spine can actually do some things. Hoppa laid on three tries, all with associated line break assists, busted two tackles, had two effective offloads and had 28 points in pure base stats. Too little too late for the Bulldogs but at least it’s a more positive end to the year than most were expecting.
Marcels Montoya (95)
Montoya has gone from rookie winger to one of the Bulldogs’ best players each week. He runs hard and puts in some valuable metres at the start of every set, and has been clinical whenever he gets a chance to finish an attacking set. Montoya scored two tries, had three line breaks, seven tackle busts and 17 points in pure base stats. No missed tackles and no errors or penalties conceded — just a nice, tidy performance.
Honourable mentions to the Trbojevic brothers (or the “Turbros” as I have cringingly called them since I started with them in my team in Round 1 last year ha ha!) who continue to pump out incredible performances both on the field and in the SuperCoach realm as well. The future of the Sea Eagles, that’s for sure.
The Bad
Daly Cherry-Evans (21)
Went missing when his team needed him to take control. It’s mildly concerning when the Trbojevic brothers both tried their hardest to spark the comeback but DCE wasn’t able to go with them. He may be excused I suppose as he was revealed to be suffering from the flu, so he wasn’t 100 per cent when he took the field.
Blake Green (24)
I suppose the same criticism levelled at DCE has to apply to Green too, although Green definitely tried to take charge and was busier than DCE was.
The Ugly
No major injuries to note, aside from the Montoya HIA which he passed. Stanley played the 15 minutes off the bench while Montoya was passing his HIA.
Raiders v Panthers (22-26)
The Panthers have all but sunk the Raiders’ chances of playing finals football, although — due to some surprising results over the weekend — there are two other scenarios that could unfold which would allow the Raiders to sneak into the top eight. Namely, the Cowboys and/or the Sea Eagles have to continue losing and the Raiders must keep winning over the last two weeks. If this occurs, then the Raiders may have a chance of sneaking in based on for and against … still, it’s a big “if”!
On the other side of the ledger, the Panthers are effectively locked in for finals football which is incredible given their 2-9 start to the year. They’ve now won 11 from their past 13 (irrespective of the ‘ease’ of their draw) so credit where credit is due, they’ve done themselves proud. I have to also say this was their best performance of the year, and it came at the right end. If the Panthers can keep improving each week then, easy draw or not, they’ll be a force to be reckoned with if they find the right balance in that talented team.
Let’s look at the good, bad and the ugly.
The Good
Nathan Cleary (91)
Jeez this kid is good. He’s now the youngest-ever player to score 200 points in a reason, due in part to being a deadeye goalkicker but also because he has a knack of being where he’s needed to score tries — 11 tries in 22 games in fact. That is a better strike rate than some wingers in the NRL. He scored his 11th try of the year this week, had a line break assist, two effective offloads, a forced dropout, two tackle busts and kicked five goals from as many attempts — all on top of 30 points in tackles and hit-ups which is very impressive from the young half.
Jack Wighton (85)
Wighton flew out the blocks, averaging 76.2 from his first six games, before the next 14 games has dished up a paltry 38.2 SuperCoach points each week. Yuck. Well, he bounced back this week with a nice 85, scoring a try, setting up another, breaking the line twice, assisting one line break, busting four tackles and scoring 20 points in pure base stats. Wighton just has too many errors in his game to be a top shelf keeper (especially in that hotly-contested fullback slot) but he can be a good POD for head-to-head purposes from time to time.
The Bad
Matt Moylan (19)
This may be a somewhat unpopular opinion, but the Panthers need to make a tough decision on Moylan. Right now he’s not the best fullback, nor is he the best five-eighth, at the club. The team works better with Cleary being the dominant playmaker too. Moylan has flashes of brilliance but then plenty of wrong decisions, and has demonstrated time and time again that he overplays his hand. It’s ruining the Panthers, and it’s also ruining his SuperCoach scores because he is picking the wrong option far too often.
Jarrod Croker (21)
The highs and lows of CTW options, eh? His 21 comes after scores of 115, 41 and 110. Croker’s score looks even worse when you consider he scored 10 of those points from his goalkicking.
The Ugly
No major injuries to note.
Cowboys v Sharks (16-26)
The Cowboys have been so gutsy, especially in the last few weeks as they have lost key players to injury midgame. It happened again, with Ponga going down within the first 15 minutes forcing a reshuffle, and then Morgan going off for a HIA which he was doomed to fail since he was knocked out. Throw in a few more HIAs to Granville and Linnett and the Cowboys were playing with one player on their bench at one point. The Panthers on the other hand got the job done without being very convincing — but they remain in the top eight and are a good shot of staying there if a few results go there way in the next three weeks. They will need to up their game though, to avoid being cannon fodder come week one of finals.
Let’s look at the best and worst performers in this game.
The Good
Paul Gallen (110)
Where was this last week, Gal?! Your 300th game was last week! He played 73 minutes this week, racking up 63 points in pure base stats, as well as a try, a line break, four effective offloads and two tackle busts — the epitome of a captain’s knock!
James Maloney (103)
He copped a lot of flak for his uninspired performance last week but he turned up ready to play. He was running the ball and it paid big dividends. Two try assists, a line break, three line break assists, three tackle busts, a perfect five goals from as many attempts, and 21 points in pure base stats. Most impressive stat though was ZERO penalties — only the second game all year he has managed this feat!
The Bad
Kane Linnett (17)
As one of the more senior players remaining in the team (i.e. not injured yet), I expected him to stand up and make himself count but he didn’t really do much, as evidenced by his low work rate and low score.
Enari Tuala (19)
Played 52 minutes as he came on the field to replace Morgan when he was off for HIA. There was a reshuffle as Hampton went to the halves, Ponga to fullback, Bowen to the wing and Tuala to centre for those 12 minutes, before Ponga ended up going off and Tuala stayed on the rest of the game. Still, low work rate and made two crucial errors getting out of his own end.
The Ugly
Kalyn Ponga (1)
Injured his shoulder early while trying to save the Brailey try, to no avail. Unfortunately, he was clearly hampered for the next 40 or so minutes until he went off at the 46th minute.
John Asiata (21)
Only played 20 minutes coming off with a shoulder/arm issue. It looked very painful and he could be gone for the season.
Wade Graham (27)
Didn’t return after halftime, was revealed later to be a calf issue. Bukuya took over on the edge. No info yet on how long he’ll be out for.
Jason Taumalolo (68)
Officially he left the field for HIA (which he passed), but I was fairly sure he copped a hit in the ribs, got up clutching the ribs, and I’ll be surprised if he wasn’t up the tunnel getting an injection to handle the pain.
Michael Morgan also went off before halftime for a HIA, which he passed to return to the field.
Roosters v Wests Tigers (22-18)
The Roosters highlighted yet again how inconsistent they are. After a finals-like game last week as they went down to the Storm, they come out and almost lose to a Tigers side that wasn’t playing that great. The Roosters are going to have to aim up big time as they seek revenge against the Sharks, after a painful drubbing in their last meeting.
Let’s look at the best and worst performers in this game.
The Good
Latrell Mitchell (95)
Mitchell has been quite the rollercoaster this year, with six scores above 70 and six scores below 40. His base stats are always a concern and plenty have been stung by the bad scores this year. When he’s on, though, he’s been doing some truly freakish things. Latrell scored a try, broke the line FOUR times, busted 11 tackles, had one effective offload and just 16 points in pure base stats. He was absolutely damaging on the left wing.
Jared Waerea-Hargreaves (91)
JWH played just 46 minutes but got through 53 points in pure base stats. Add on a try assist, line break, a line break assist, two effective offloads and a tackle bust, and you’ve got JWH’s highest score for the year. I wouldn’t be counting on him to keep it up though …
The Bad
David Nofoaluma (34)
Not a great game for Nofo, as he contributed to Mitchell flying down the left flank four times and his usually impressive and consistent base stats were well down. Hopefully he has a good bounceback week!
The Ugly
No major injuries to note.
Knights v Storm (12-44)
The Storm are just too good. Lose Cronk, insert Croft, barely skip a beat even though they’re not the same player — and then proceed to put away the giant-killing Knights squad at home by more than 30 points. Cam Smith stood up in Cronk’s absence and took on much more playmaking duties, and Croft was a big beneficiary as he was able to work off the back of Smith’s good work and capitalised with a BIG game.
Let’s check out the good, the bad and the ugly in this game.
The Good
Brodie Croft (141)
Three tries, two try assists, two line breaks, a line break assist, a forced dropout, five tackle busts, 22 points in puree base stats — not bad for someone playing their fifth NRL game. The future is oh so bright for the Storm.
Lachlan Fitzgibbon (119)
Speaking of young guns, Fitzgibbon has been impressive the past three weeks, showing off the great combination he has with Brock Lamb that was developed through the junior ranks. He scored his third try in as many weeks, as well as assisting another try, breaking the line twice, offloading four times (all effective), busted eight tackles and had 40 points in pure base stats. It will be interesting to see where he fits in next year.
The Bad
Billy Slater (34)
Not the lowest scorer of course, but he disappointed the 2.4 per cent who captained him in the hope of a repeat, or at least something similar to his Round 13 effort of 134. He wasn’t that bad this week but just didn’t have a lot to do.
Sam Stone (13)
He played 51 minutes after coming on as Sione’s replacement. His workrate in that time was bordering on pathetic — only 12 tackles and four runs!
Jahrome Hughes (21)
First game at five-eighth for the Storm, and first game he didn’t score a try for them. He was targeted in defence and did miss five tackles, but otherwise he was decent overall — just quiet in attack.
The Ugly
Sione Mata’utia (16)
Is there anyone more concussion-prone at the moment? Another week, another HIA … you’ve got to be concerned for him at this point in time, surely.
Broncos v Dragons (24-12)
I was lucky enough to get invited to this Broncos game at Suncorp Stadium again and I have to tell you, it’s been a good couple of weeks. This was at times a little boring as there was more of a grind to the game than the past few weeks, but that’s credit to the Dragons for hanging in there and taking it to Brisbane. The defence from the Broncos was very impressive and a welcome change from the focus on attack that saw them score 90+ in the fortnight before this game. On the other hand, the Dragons weren’t all that bad and stuck in this game for a long time. If they continue to play like this they could viably win their last few games. Unfortunately, their inconsistency has potentially cost them a finals berth and they now rely on other results falling in their favour to get them home.
Let’s highlight some of the key performers and flops in this game.
The Good
Anthony Milford (129)
Who else, right? Suncorp Stadium is Milford’s house, as he has a career average of 77 from his 36 games played there. That is one heck of an average for a half. He was mesmerising whenever he got the ball in open field, even just a little bit of space let him dance around and he had the Dragons defenders often bamboozled and clutching at thin air. He scored a try, set up two others, broke the line twice, assisted two others, forced two dropouts, busted 12 tackles, had two offloads (one effective) and had 21 points in pure base stats. His major blemish was only kicking two goals from five attempts, resulting in a net bonus of only two points from goalkicking.
Alex Glenn (99)
The resurgence of Alex Glenn has been so impressive and refreshing. At the start of the year, he was often playing limited minutes and he looked unlikely to regain the starting left edge spot that had seemed to be his for the taking. Enter Benji Marshall, where a few games in the middle of the year with Milford out meant that Glenn was able to link up with Benji and he rediscovered his hole-running game. Great news which is now paying dividends, resulting in two tries (and just a tiny bit off a third), one line break, two tackle busts and 54 points in pure base stats in 80 minutes of footy. Great game from Glenn!
The Bad
Darius Boyd (21)
I’m a big fan of player “revenge games“ where they take on their old club. So often they lift and deliver a big game. That didn’t quite happen here and he even dropped a bomb — something that happens once a year if even that. Lucky for him there wasn’t much need for him to do anything in attack given the dominance of Milford.
James Roberts (21)
Jimmy the Jet had been on a bit of a purple patch prior to last week and this week’s score. He still looked dangerous (as he has all year) whenever he has ball in hand in some space, but he didn’t see much ball with Milford dominating on the left edge and having plenty of success attacking that side. A quiet game by his standards this year though, just his second score below 30 all year.
The Ugly
Euan Aitken (31)
He was just back from a shoulder injury, only to redo his shoulder. Really bad luck for the poor guy and I believe he’s gone for surgery now. Best of luck for his recovery.
Tevita Pangai Junior (25)
He was only on the field for 15 minutes before a hamstring injury forced him off. He has been one of the most exciting players to watch in recent weeks, with many incredible plays (highlighted by THAT flick pass to James Roberts against the Titans). Thankfully he pulled up well and seems likely to play this upcoming week.
Rabbitohs v Warriors (36-18)
The Rabbitohs just keep rolling — another late season surge, just like last year, and yet again it coincides with Damien Cook becoming the regular starting hooker. Come on Madge, why can all the fans see that Cook should have started from day dot — not after the season is over! The Warriors also continued with their usual late-season trend; fading out once their finals chances are over and flopping without SJ in the team. Anyway, the reality is that this was a clash of two bottom eight teams who are both out of contention for the finals.
Let’s highlight some of the key performers and flops in this game.
The Good
Alex Johnston (141)
Wow, he’s in a purple patch right now. How’s this for a stat — in Rounds two to nine, Johnston played fullback and averaged only 42.8 from those eight games. Now, since shifting back to fullback in Round 21, he has averaged just under 98. That’s incredible! He scored three tries in this game (taking his tally to SEVEN from the past four games), assisted another try, had three line breaks, a line break assist, eight tackle busts, one effective offload and 25 points in tackles and hit-ups (very good by his standards). As an aside, AJ was sitting on a break-even of -33 at the start of this round, which means he will go up by over $90,000 in just one week. Well done if you’re one of the 4.9 per cent of owners who have him.
The downside though is that he came off early with a hamstring complaint is out for the rest of the year.
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (115)
It’s taken all year but RTS finally notched his first 100+ score of 2017! Not only that, I know that plenty sold RTS from Round 13 onwards (after he played the first big bye round) but for those who held (and played him every week possible) he has averaged a respectable 65.1 for the nine rounds prior to this week. It’s not quite Slater or Tedesco in terms of his average, but he’s also played more games than both and has scored more overall points. Things to keep in mind for next year perhaps when assessing trades. RTS scored two tries, broke the line three times, had seven tackle busts, one effective offload and a massive 38 points in hit-ups. No one can accuse the Warriors captain of not putting in, that’s for sure.
Honourable mentions to Simon Mannering (106) and Cam Murray (98) who both played the full 80 minutes, got through a mountain of work and scored tries too.
The Bad
Kieran Foran (11)
He didn’t play the full game due to some injury concerns with his back but even before that there’s no doubt that he just hasn’t delivered. Missed five tackles from his 17 attempts as well, which isn’t good enough unfortunately.
Blake Ayshford (9)
He was exposed defensively and had a low work rate. One of the games that reinforces the somewhat unfair but widespread opinion that he isn’t of first grade standard any more. Poor Blake.
The Ugly
Jacob Lillyman (37)
He had a great first stint when he played 36 minutes in a row, but then came off with a biceps complaint and was unable to return to the field. Obviously didn’t help the Warriors’ cause.
Eels v Titans (30—8)
Those fans celebrating not having the Bulldogs on Thursday night this week may have been a bit premature, as we were served up with a game that wasn’t much better! The Eels really seem like a team that plays better against the top teams — which is great for finals footy — but that’s two weeks in a row where they’ve been thoroughly uninspiring. Still, the Titans aren’t in a good spot right now, let alone after another injury early in the game, and ultimately weren’t able to trouble the Eels much. The positive was how well the Eels defended in the second half as the Titans held the ball a lot and through wave after wave of attack at the Eels.
Let’s highlight some of the key performers and flops.
The Good
Mitch Moses (110)
This is now three scores over 90 (including two over 100) from his past four games for Moses. Hopefully some of you listened to repeated suggestions from Dave “VK” Von Kotze and myself in our respective articles on taking a bit of a punt on Moses as a late-season POD — both of us mentioned him at least three weeks in a row.
Moses set up two tries (including that absolutely magical ball for Will Smith’s second try to cap off the game), four line break assists, a forced dropout, a tackle bust, a perfect five goals from as many attempts but just the 10 points in pure base stats. The Eels are obviously comfortable playing with Moses as the dominant playmaker but it was interesting seeing him and Corey Norman swapping as first and second receiver and also playing both sides of the field when the opportunity was there.
Daniel Alvaro (88)
He’s known to Eels fans as the Polar Bear but I’m sorry, there’s only ever going to be one Polar Bear in my heart and that’s Ben Hannant. You can certainly see the resemblance though. Well, Polar Bear 2.0 is sitting on a three-round average of 65 before this week, partially due to scoring his first try of the year a fortnight ago against the Bulldogs. Well, add another try to that tally this week as well as a line break, four tackle busts and an offload (yet to be updated). He also got through 48 points in pure base stats — very impressive considering he only played 48 minutes. Although that’s not as impressive as his 63 points in pure base stats in 54 minutes last week.
The Bad
Corey Norman (30)
How the mighty have fallen. After his blistering start to the year, averaging 66.8 from his first eight games, Norman has regressed to an average of 48.8 from his past eight games. In the middle was an injury-affected 18 points from 51 minutes. Either way, he is playing second fiddle to Moses and he would be a risky play given how dominant Moses has been in most of the Eels’ wins. He did only play 75 minutes in this game as he was given an early shower with the game well in hand at that point.
Brad Takairangi (17)
He and Semi are a shadow of their unstoppable combination from 2015. We may never see those lofty heights reached again by a CTW pairing again … oh wait, we have Leipana and the CCs of Croker and Cotric. Never mind. But yeah, the left edge isn’t seeing enough ball, even if they are sporadically dangerous when they get the chance.
The Ugly
John Olive (3)
Oh, this was ugly, oh so ugly. If you were lucky enough to not see this elbow dislocation, then do yourself a favour and don’t look it up. Just don’t. It happened in the eighth minute of the game and we saw a reshuffle of Elgey to five-eighth, Roberts to fullback, Zillman to the wing, debutant Sami to centre and Copley to right centre.
It got even messier when Don went off for a HIA and Proctor pushed out to right centre and Copley on to the right wing — luckily that was temporary only.
Podcast: SuperCoach experts Rob Sutherland and Dominic Burke analyse Rd 24
Bevan French (5)
Was he rushed back? It’s hard to know for sure, but given he played 36 minutes but only made two runs in that time, and he seemed to be troubled for a good 15 minutes before he eventually went off, it seems likely that he wasn’t 100 per cent. This isn’t good news if he’s aggravated it again, because from what I’m aware, it means a longer lay-off period.
The Fresh Prince, Will Smith, came off the bench and played fullback — and had a great game.
Originally published as NRL SuperCoach 2017: Wilfred Zee’s wrap of the good, bad and ugly from round 24
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