Wilfred Zee’s fearless SuperCoach NRL predictions for Round 11

Round 11 is here and former SuperCoach champion Wilfred Zee nominates is tipping the Thursday night game to provide a plethora of points.

Round 11 is here and some SuperCoaches are tilting about Round 12 right about now. There’s still a week of footy to get through though! Bring on Round 11, let’s get into it.

1. Captain Pick — Jake Trbojevic / Jai Arrow (Damien Cook)

As stated last week, I’m just going to put Cook’s name in brackets each week, because it is a legitimate strategy to just leave the orange armband on him all season long. However, I am intrigued by the potential battle between Jake Trbojevic and Jai Arrow this week — as they could end up clashing just a week later for their respective states! Both teams are among the friendlier teams for opposition backrowers to score against, and we know how good Jake and Jai can be in SuperCoach terms. Both are likely to have a fairly safe floor given their workrates, they can both sniff out a try and both of them also have that offloading/ball-playing ability to put their teammates over for a try too!

*edit keep an eye on Wacko’s Late Mail following Jai Arrow’s injury scare at training on Thursday

Wilfred Zee's fearless predictions for Round 11.

2. Stud of the Week — Cameron Munster / Ryan Papenhuyzen

It’s a week of double suggestions from the same game, but the reason for this double-up is because I’m not 100% sure that Papenhuyzen isn’t sneaking into the starting line-up come final team lists on Sunday afternoon! You may say it’s just wishful thinking as a Papenhuyzen owner, but this is not a SuperCoach consideration — the Storm looked better with him on the field at fullback and surely Bellamy has taken that into consideration. Of course, Bellamy also rewards consistent performances so that may play into Hughes’ favour as well. In any case, I think the Storm will be up for this game after their last gasp escape last week, and they will be out to make sure they notch as many wins pre-Origin as possible. They also like nothing more than coming into the spiritual home of an opposition and turning the place upside down, so expect a big performance from Munster and Co.

3. Flop of the Week — Mitchell Pearce

He has been the form halfback over the past four or five games and his SuperCoach scores back that up. However, as he comes up against his old club (off a tough loss) I think Pearce may struggle. A smart and crafty coach like Trent Robinson knows his team will need as many wins as possible before Origin, and he’ll also know how to scheme against a Pearce-led offence so I suspect he will have some defensive plans in place to nullify Pearce’s impact in this game. In his only career start against his old club he managed just 39 points, and I could see him going near that again this week.

Clint Gutherson and the Eels look likely to score plenty of points against the Panthers Thursday night. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

4. SuperCoach Gold Mine

The Eels and the Panthers both have extremely explosive SuperCoach players in their teams, with some huge attacking upside. I am actually worried as someone who only owns two players from this game, as I can see multiple 100+ scores on the horizon. I am expecting a high scoring game in this one, so throwing the Vice Captaincy on any number of players in this game could be a great idea as they play first this week. Could we see some SuperCoach records broken Thursday night?

5. Upset of the Round — the Broncos

Trying not to pick through Broncos-coloured glasses here but I feel last week was a real turning point in their season as they claimed the scalp of the reigning premiers, as all the changes for the Seibold Era Broncos finally started to click and the team actually looked cohesive in defence. The Warriors were quite impressive last week too but unfortunately it’s hard to measure how well teams are playing against the Panthers right now. The Broncos get an eight-day turnaround as they fly over to New Zealand and that extra day of rest may end up invaluable after such a tough physical contest. Broncos to sneak home with the win!

Round 11 kicks off tonight

It’s the Battle of the West at Bankwest Stadium! The Eels have made Bankwest their home fortress so far but they have not been in great form the last two weeks. The Panthers though … not great all season. Will this be the week they finally snap their losing streak? I’m actually quite curious on how this will play out! Good luck with this week everyone!

Originally published as Wilfred Zee’s fearless SuperCoach NRL predictions for Round 11