NRL SuperCoach: Wilfred Zee’s fearless predictions for round 25

DESPERATION to pay off for finals hopefuls, Teddy to cool off and a golden-point thriller. Check out all 10 of 2016 SuperCoach champion Wilfred Zee’s big calls.

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ANOTHER 45 per cent but I literally missed out on hitting 55 per cent by a cumulative three points — and those points were lost on final review!

Brutal, since one of those guys that got downgraded was Captain Taumalolo. As disheartening as that is, it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as my SuperCoach result.

I’ve freefallen 500 spots in the past three weeks to sit outside the top 1000 for the first time in months — and it hurts, oh, it hurts!

Rest assured that I’ll be bringing my A game over the next two weeks so that I can get myself back into key ring/bottle opener contention!

It’s going to be another cracker of a week with some really exciting games with massive finals implications, so let’s look at Round 25.

1. Fortress Suncorp to hold strong

The Broncos have always had a strong record at Suncorp Stadium but it has been fortified since Wayne Bennett’s return as coach. This year they sit with a 10-2 record, with their only losses coming in golden point to the Cowboys (sunk yet again by a JT field goal) and a drubbing at the hands of a white-hot Melbourne Storm outfit during the Origin period.

Not only that, but the Broncos have scored an average of over 26 points per game, and conceded an average of less than 16 points per game, at Suncorp this year. It’s a tough place to win at for the visiting teams, that’s for sure.

With those stats and that record, I can’t go past the Broncos for a win this week, but I am expecting the Eels to show up and make life difficult for them.

2. The Raiders to record a big win over the Knights

The Raiders have not had a great record against the Knights lately. Both games last year went to extra time, with one finishing in a draw and the other resulting in a Raiders win in the most unexpected and unpredictable way, an injured Rapana chasing down a missed Austin field goal attempt that didn’t go dead, but sat up for Rapana to regather and plant down in the in-goal. This year, Newcastle comfortably beat the Raiders.

The Knights have had an impressive month as well but, most crucially for them, they have lost Brock Lamb to injury. Up steps Jack Cogger who is talented, but is so raw compared to Lamb who has had the majority of the season to improve and gain experience. The loss of Lamb, given his high involvement in organising, kicking, running and setting up the team, could be critical and it may result in the Knights falling apart somewhat.

The Raiders, due to a combination of extremely unexpected results, are mathematically still alive in the finals race — but it requires them to comfortably win this week and next (against the Storm!) as well as seeing two teams out of the Cowboys, Dragons and the Sea Eagles to lose their remaining games. That’s a lot of coincidence required just for the Raiders to potentially scrape in on for and against … I guess this week’s a good start.

3. Nick Cotric and Jarrod Croker to score two tries between them

Cotric has been on fire lately, with a whopping 10 tries in his past nine games. He scored in all of those nine games bar one. Croker has also started seeing a lot more ball since Austin swapped sides with Sezer, and his scores have duly improved as a result. I think that dominance from the left edge (along with Papalii) will continue this week and they will share the spoils.

I’m confident there will be points to be found on the right edge too though! Rapana and Leilua are both great chances to score a try or two themselves — I just feel more confident in the left edge right now.

Nick Cotric has scored 16 tries already for the Raiders. Picture: AAP

4. The Cowboys to edge out Wests Tigers

It’s been a very rough season for the Cowboys, but somehow they are still plugging away. Yes, their season is on the line now. It’s been five weeks since they last tasted victory but it’s certainly not from lack of trying. Again they were impressive in defeat, despite losing more players to injury and finishing (again) with half a bench. The Tigers were similarly impressive in going down to the Roosters, even if they got a bit closer than they should have through a badly missed forward pass. I’ve said it multiple times but they are a far tougher team than their standing on the ladder would indicate.

However … the Cowboys have to win, the Tigers don’t, and the Tigers have also lost Luke Brooks this week which tips the scales back towards the Cowboys. Especially if Coote and Cooper end up as late inclusions as they attempt to return from injury. The Cowboys to do it tough, but to get home on the back of big games from Michael Morgan and Jason Taumalolo.

5. Morgan and Taumalolo for 70+ / Tedesco for sub-70

I’ve been burned a lot lately by my predicted players scoring in the 65-69 region; I feel lowering my score cut-off is a bit of a cop-out though! So 70+ it shall remain. As I mentioned above, I’m backing the Cowboys in so I’m going all in on their key players to put in big games and guide their team to victory.

Teddy has only had one game this year where he hasn’t played with at least one of Brooks, Moses (before the transfer) or Lolohea in the halves, and he scored just 46 points that game. He’s also played six games with Jack Littlejohn in the halves (coincidentally, in all the games that Brooks was out) and has an average of 66.3 — still very respectable, but not quite the heights of what we’ve seen.

So … he’s obviously a must-play, but perhaps not a captaincy candidate? Although (to play devil’s advocate) he hasn’t had a happy time at Campbelltown Stadium so far this year (scores of just 36 and 58) so maybe he’ll be extra keen to bow out a Tiger at Campbelltown with a big game.

James Tedesco’s hot streak is about to cool off. Picture: Getty Images

6. The Bulldogs to make the Titans even more miserable

Are we a bit over the Titans lately? It’s been a rather tumultuous few weeks, culminating in King Henry being toppled from his throne, and no doubt the players just want to get back on to the park and play some footy. Unfortunately for them, they’ve lost their captain in Ryan James who has been a mainstay (along with Ash Taylor) all year long. Up against a somewhat revitalised Bulldogs team, they will miss James playing big minutes in the middle of the park, and it could be a real weakness as they rely on Jarrod Wallace returning after injury.

If the Bulldogs are able to dominate up the middle as I’m expecting, then the points will flow much like they did last week, especially given the defensive concerns the Titans have displayed lately. Not going to be a happy place, the Titans dressing room.

7. The Storm to run through the Rabbitohs

The Rabbitohs may have had a comfortable win last week, but it was hardly off the back of their defence. The Warriors scored some seriously soft tries through some seriously flimsy defence out wide so imagine what the Storm could get up to. It could be a cricket score this week, despite the return of Sam Burgess.

Not much else to say here really … just the Storm doing Storm things.

8. Sharks v Roosters will go to golden point before a Mitchell Pearce field goal steals win

I’m keen as for this one — definitely the game of the round. Last time the Sharks absolutely pummelled the Roosters so you can bet the Roosters will be up for this with the intent to get revenge. The Sharks were good for the first half last week, before they just switched off and coasted to victory. It’s been a very inconsistent year for the Sharks, with only glimpses of their best being seen all year. That Roosters game though … that was peak Sharks. We’ll need to see that again this week as Cronulla surely have to start building some 80-minute performances before the finals start.

The Roosters have also been inconsistent all year, struggling against some of the lowlier teams and not always turning up for the big games against the title contenders. The Storm loss was probably their best game all year, and then last week they regressed again aside from another hot 20-25 minute period. We’ll need to see more from them too … and this is the perfect game to do it.

It’ll be tight, very tight, before an exciting finish in extra time as the two teams face off for a coveted top four spot.

9. The Sea Eagles will get home in a high-scoring affair

They haven’t been convincing but they need to win — that’s the one reason I’m backing the Sea Eagles. Aside from the fact that the other team is the Warriors, and I never like tipping them. The Warriors get back SJ (albeit not 100 per cent fit) but the Sea Eagles also get back a fit DCE (hopefully free of all illness). Neither team is exactly a defensive powerhouse so I’m expecting to see plenty of points flowing from both ends, with the Sea Eagles just being the more desperate team as they fight for a finals spot.

10. The Dragons will turn up and keep their season alive … just

The Panthers put in their best performance of the season as they beat the Raiders last week. It was a tough game and they got there in the end. The Dragons were also strong while losing to the Broncos, even if the scoreline doesn’t quite reflect how well the Dragons played. It’s hard to match up their styles but the Dragons have been more dominant in recent years, winning their past three clashes. However, none of those have been at Pepper Stadium, where the Panthers have won three on the trot. Nothing in it, and I’m going to adopt the formula I’ve followed all this week — the more desperate team (i.e. the Dragons) will get home.

Bring on Round 25

The gap between the top two teams in SuperCoach this year is now 245 points, which sounds like a lot but, as we saw last week, it’s very possible for there to be 300+ point turnarounds depending on making the right or wrong decisions.

The race for the top 10 finish is extremely interesting too, as there are two teams sitting on equal points for the last two spots which pay out a cash prize — and a heap of teams only a handful of points behind!

Good luck to all those who remain in contention for head-to-head finals or the hunt for overall glory!

Originally published as NRL SuperCoach: Wilfred Zee’s fearless predictions for round 25