SuperCoach champion Declan Creek reflects on $50k triumph
There’s more than a little of Manly coach Des Hasler in the 2019 SuperCoach champion who looks back on the highs and lows of his rollercoaster season, while giving crucial advice for those seeking overall glory. SEE THE TOP 100 HERE.
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CAMPO’S CORNER: Raw, uncut finals footy
It’s been a hell of a year for Des Hasler.
He’s the frontrunner to be named Dally M Coach of the Year, he lifted Manly from 15th last season to finals a year later, and more importantly, he’s the 2019 overall NRL SuperCoach champion.
Alright, we’re not talking Manly coach Des Hasler, rather 24-year-old Sydneysider Declan Creek, who steered his team ‘Turbo Irvo’ to SuperCoach glory and a cool $50,000 in prizemoney.
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His mates call him Des, after the Mad Scientist, which was used as his title-winning SuperCoach alias.
‘Turbo Irvo’ finished on 30,183 points, leaving him 59 clear of second placed ‘RTS Pongas’ coached by Queenslander Walson Carlos who pocketed a handy $5000.
“I acted like Des a bit in school and looked like him too, mainly the way he acts in the interviews. Probably a bit stern and grumpy at times.”
Creek planned on spending the final day of the SuperCoach season on the hill at Leichhardt Oval for the Wests Tigers’ blockbuster clash with Cronulla, but nerves got the better of him.
“I was going to go to the Tigers game but I decided against it because I needed to keep my wits about me for that last game,” Creek said.
“It was so good, I had a few of the boys around and had some beers to try and relax but it was really hard, I was too nervous.”
Creek pulled a masterstroke move in round eight to recruit Cameron Munster into his side. Munster would belt out 159 points against Parramatta just a week later sending ‘Turbo Irvo’ to the summit of the overall rankings for the first time.
His lead would stretch out to a 282 point margin come Round 17.
The once comfortable buffer was soon cut to pieces.
Creek lost the lead in Round 23, but a few savvy decisions lifted him above his 143,000 rivals at the conclusion of the season.
Incredibly, Creek forged a SuperCoach alliance of sorts with eventual runner-up Carlos early in the season.
“We ran into each other on SuperCoach Central on Facebook. Both of us were outside the top 10 at the time, he was 12th, I was 15th,” he said.
“We started talking and collaborating a bit with ideas. We obviously didn’t make the same trades, we went in completely different directions but I found he was really good to bounce ideas off throughout the year and help confirm some of my trades that I liked.”
While the end result proved captaincy choices aren’t absolutely everything, the new champion nearly came undone in the overall race due to a few misplaced armbands.
“I spoke with Walson about his captaincy options. He had a running average of about 100 for his captains and mine was only 81.6. So over 25 rounds he’s scored almost 500 points on me in captain choices.”
As for his best decisions of the year?
Creek started with unknown prospect John Bateman, the typically inconsistent Mitchell Moses and POD option Daly Cherry-Evans who all blitzed the opening half of the season.
Taking a safety first approach in Round 20, Creek brought in Nathan Cleary having realised the remainder of the top five ranked SuperCoaches owned the Penrith half.
Cleary would go on to post the highest score of the year in the final game of the season with a mammoth 186 point effort against Newcastle.
Recent champions had burnt through their trades with numerous rounds remaining, but Creek opted for more conservative tactics.
As injuries struck, he used two of his final three trades in Round 23, before being one of the few players with the luxury of trading the injured Tom Trbojevic to Ryan Papenhuyzen for the final game of the year.
And his worst move of the season?
“Rhyse Martin was my worst trade in of the year. It shows you can make mistakes in those early rounds and still be running really well.”
Reflecting on the season, Creek had some advice for those looking for a 2020 leg up.
“The main thing I learnt is with break evens. Making money only helps to a certain extent, at the end of the day points is what matters,” he said.
“If you’re making trades to make money instead of points you’re never going to win this game.”
Creek works in agricultural science where he spends much of his time contacting farmers. Speaking with battling members of our rural areas has inspired the 2019 champion to put his money to good use.
“I was thinking about donating some of the winnings to the Hay Bale Drive that they’re running at the moment,” he said.
“I know they’re struggling at the moment so that would definitely be on the cards to donate about a $1000 to hopefully help out.”
Originally published as SuperCoach champion Declan Creek reflects on $50k triumph
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