KFC SuperCoach Plus Article: Stats that matter Round 5

An underrated quick cash cow and an even more underrated forward buy – all revealed exclusively for KFC SuperCoach Plus subscribers.

Round 4 saw the big KFC SuperCoach scores start adding up, and some big blowouts in the NRL contributing to these scores. As always there’s plenty to take away so let’s jump straight in.

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1. We need team depth this year

Controversies about the new 2021 rules aside, the quickly-mounting injury toll and improved concussion protocols over the first four rounds have highlighted one thing – we need team depth. Whether it’s to cover a potential one week mandatory concussion resting due to not having enough days to pass the protocol, or whether it’s just teams rotating and resting players due to the length of the season and what appears to be quite a large workload being placed on them, it just stinks of late season drama with teamlists and player unavailability. All the more reason for us to keep focusing on building team value, and depth!

2. Matt Burton might be a short-term ‘rental’

This is obviously team-specific, but for those who might be in need of a five-eighth or halfback for a week or two, Burton might be an affordable option at $341,200 and with a negative breakeven this week due to his scores of 41 and 107 so far – one score in the halves, and one score at left centre where he should stay while Edwards is out injured and Stephen Crichton plays fullback. Of course Burton has plenty of attacking stats in his 107, but he scored 40 in base and base attack stats as well, which should see his price nicely for the next few weeks even if he doesn’t get any more attacking stats (which seems unlikely given his upcoming games are against the Sea Eagles, the Raiders and the Broncos).

Sam Walker is the most popular buy this week.

3. The Rabbitohs CAN go right

Yes, they are ambi-turners and it’s not all left side, strong side. Whether it was the game plan, or whether it was the early injury to Lachlan Lewis which meant the Rabbitohs saw the opportunity to target an out of position rookie defending at five-eighth on the Bulldogs’ left edge, the Rabbitohs showcased their ability to tear up opposition defences on their right edge. This meant the left edge was somewhat quieter than usual, but it really didn’t take much opportunity for the left edge to find some attacking stats anyway.

4. Welcome to the big time, Ryan Papenhuyzen

Of course he’s already won a premiership, so this is the KFC SuperCoach big time I’m referring to! We knew he was good, we knew he had a lot of potential… but maybe even the most bullish of us probably still didn’t see 197 points here! It’s also his workrate, his involvement, his ability to be everywhere, that really showed how good Papenhuyzen is. Take away the four tries, the try assist, the two line breaks, the line break assist, even the forced drop out – that means he still scored 83 points from everything else! 38 points alone in his hit-ups, one tackle, nine tackle busts, three offloads and lastly his five goals from seven attempts. Take a bow Ryan, those are some seriously impressive numbers!

5. Will Kennedy has had an amazing start to the season

It doesn’t seem that long ago during the preseason that Will Kennedy’s spot in the team was questionable, let alone his spot as the starting fullback. Fast forward four rounds, and Kennedy has silenced his doubters with some eyecatching performances. Imagine Kennedy would be the fourth highest averaging fullback in KFC SuperCoach after four rounds – despite only playing 38 minutes in Round 3 as well. Sitting with an average above 80 across the four rounds, Kennedy trails just Mitchell, Tedesco and Papenhuyzen on averages so far, and sits ahead of Tuivasa-Sheck. Talk about a left-field option!

6. Faa’suamaleaui causes regrets

… for almost 2,500 KFC SuperCoaches who decided to sell him this week, just before his first breakout performance for the Titans. Tino played 71 minutes, mostly in the middle although he was called upon to spend the last 18 or so minutes on the left edge after Anthony Don left the field due to injury. Aside from one line break, the rest of Tino’s points were made up of nothing but pure base and seven tackle busts. We just witnessed an absolutely monstrous performance from one of the scariest up-and-coming young forwards in the NRL, and you get the feeling we’ll see plenty more of Tino this season.

7. Mitch Barnett might still be relevant even without goalkicking

Barnett was a shrewd pick early on for under 5% of KFC SuperCoaches, but his ownership skyrocketed to 22% due to his strong performances across the first two weeks. Much of his value initially looked like it may be due to his extra goalkicking points; a short-lived situation until Kalyn Ponga’s return. Then there was the calf injury, the handing over of duties to Tex Hoy and the uncertainty over whether Barnett would even play this round. All that aside, he played, and played extremely well. Even taking out his goalkick (just one), and his line break assist, Barnett would still have scored 63 points this week and that includes having to spend time at five-eighth due to injury reshuffles for the decimated Knights. With this type of floor, and the potential upside of running off Kalyn Ponga from next week onwards, Barnett might be a long-term, if not season-long, option!

8. The kid can play

Which kid? Not Joseph Suaalii – he’s still studying for his HSC. It’s all about Sam Walker right now, who had an impressive debut game for the Roosters, and for KFC SuperCoach. Walker didn’t star, but he definitely looked comfortable and not out of his depth at first grade level. Some KFC SuperCoaches were worried about how the Roosters would go without their dominant playmaker, Luke Keary; well, from the first game, it looks like the Roosters will be just fine, as will their gun SuperCoach options in Brett Morris, Angus Crichton and James Tedesco, amongst others. Get ready to trade Walker into your teams if you didn’t start with him already.

9. Tohu Harris continues to be underrated

This is for both NRL and for KFC SuperCoach, as is often the case with Warriors players – ‘out of sight, out of mind’ applies all too often with Warriors players given how little ‘primetime’ they receive in Australia. Trust me though, Tohu Harris is one of the best backrowers in the game, and he deserves your attention, with scores of 66, 85, 87 and 72 – an average of 77.5 points per game – across the first four rounds. He gets through plenty of work, plus also gets put into situations where attacking stats are on offer. He won’t play Round 13 but he is most likely one of the gun forwards you’ll need on deck for Round 17 coverage later in the season.

10. Dylan Brown has a ridiculously high floor for a half

Wait, hear me out. I know all the attention has been on Cody Walker, Cam Munster and Jarome Luai. But Dylan Brown continues to put up huge numbers in base and base attack stats. Currently sitting with a 52 average after four rounds, Dylan Brown has scored just 20 points in attacking stats – one try assist, and two try contributions. He is averaging 47 points per game in basically base and base attack stats, with one forced dropout in there too. In other words, one try assist with a line break assist, one try with a line break, and ‘Dylbagsssss’ could put up 70-80 scores quite easily. He does look somewhat awkward on the right side, but you’d think someone with his talent will eventually settle in and click…

Bring on Round 5!