10 things we learned in Round 11: Kalyn Ponga back up and running
His side suffered a shock loss to the Bulldogs but Kalyn Ponga showed KFC SuperCoaches he’s back up and running — literally. Check out Wilfred Zee’s 10 talking points from Round 11.
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Players keep dropping like flies and there are certainly no complaints from KFC SuperCoaches about having “too many” trades right now.
Let’s see what we learned from Round 11.
1. Ryan Matterson owners will have a nervous wait and a tough decision to make
Brain injuries are such a difficult issue to understand, and manage, and Ryan Matterson owners (especially those who owned him two years ago, and watched him sit on the sideline for six weeks after copping a ball to the head midgame) are probably going to be quite nervous pending further information from the Eels.
Firstly there’s the question mark of whether he misses any games; secondly, with this week’s score of eight sitting in his rolling average for two rounds, it remains to be seen whether or not a sale and buyback in two weeks is on the cards as he could drop big cash if he doesn’t score well the next two games he plays.
What may ultimately determine the answer to this will be our depth at 2RF as well as how Matterson pulls up this week.
2. Cade Cust is a handy little player
We saw a glimpse of his potential last year, as he played six games for a KFC SuperCoach average of 60 points per game, before he went down injured in his seventh game and wasn’t sighted for the remainder of the season. He delivered an eye-catching 104 point haul this week, but it’s his pure base stats that stand out and he is serving up quite a strong floor – 33 points in pure base, plus another 14 points in base attack stats.
47 points before you start counting his held-up in goal tackles (+6) and his forced drop out as well (another +6). That’s quite a decent floor; the only complicating factor is what happens when Dylan Walker is fit …
3. ‘Tiny Tino’ is going to be a beast
Obviously the ‘tiny’ part of his nickname is firmly tongue-in-cheek, but at just 20 years of age, the 1.97 metre 115kg man mountain is going to be terrorising opposition forwards for years to come. Already locked in to the Titans for 2021 onwards, he looks set for a massive role in that increasingly talented Titans pack.
Right now however, he has been carving out a role for himself off the bench for the Melbourne Storm, and it’s no question that he is challenging the New Zealand international representative forward, and the Queensland and Australian representative backrower in front of him in the pecking order. Us KFC SuperCoaches just want to hope that there aren’t too many two-try performances for Tino for the rest of this year, so his starting price in 2021 isn’t too crazy!
4. Ryan Papenhuyzen is a weapon
… but he’s going to be an unreliable one. We saw last year that when Papenhuyzen took charge from fullback, it impacted Cameron Munster’s input into games. Things were easier for Papenhuyzen last year though as he was an unknown entity – not so much this year, as it’s clear that opposition teams have studied and prepared for him on game day.
This is turn has freed up Munster, Hughes and Smith to do their thing – but we saw his week that when Papenhuyzen gets his chances, he takes them with two hands and runs with it. It’s no coincidence that he scored a large chunk of his attacking stats once Munster had left the field for a HIA, as Papenhuyzen’s attacking involvement certainly increases when Munster isn’t there.
As we’ve seen from most of this year, Papenhuyzen isn’t quite on the level of Teddy, Ponga and others when it comes to consistent attacking involvement; however, when he gets his chances, his ceiling is just as high as anybody else at fullback.
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5. Eliesa Katoa is a legitimate KFC SuperCoach option for next year
Plenty of KFC SuperCoaches were disappointed in Eli last week, as he delivered a dud of a score following his return to injury. He just didn’t appear involved, and you have to wonder whether it was injury-related or not given not that much time has passed since Round 10.
Either way, Katoa appeared back to normal and he scored 57 points in base and base attack stats, an impressive base for an edge backrower. He and Nikorima seem to have struck up a decent combination on that left edge but his time may be up soon regardless with the Warriors losing a few more key players from their roster due to family reasons.
6. The Sharks have some serious potential in their young forwards
Paul Gallen’s retirement, Andrew Fifita’s body failing him – the Sharks’ engine room isn’t quite what it used to be in 2020. However, they’re standing up in different ways, and the likes of Toby Rudolf, Braden Hamlin-Uele and Royce Hunt delivering some of the most eye-catching performances of the season.
Rudolf coming off the bench and playing almost 60 minutes while running for 244 metres; Hunt playing just 28 minutes off the bench but delivering a run almost every minute on his way to 207 running metres; and Hamlin-Uele had been on a try-scoring run that is usually impressive for a winger, let alone a prop. It’s safe to say that if these guys keep getting the minutes, they will all be names that will remain relevant for KFC SuperCoach purposes this year and in coming years.
7. Joseph Tapine is frustratingly inconsistent
Tapine has been around the NRL for a number of years now, floating between being an attacking weapon on the edge, to playing as a middle forward out of necessity. For the most part, we’ve seen Tapine be more relevant as an edge forward, with a respectable but not outstanding work rate combined with some genuine attacking ability.
This game however, might just have been his best game as a middle forward, as he came off the bench and played 55 minutes, churning through 37 tackles, 17 runs (for 170 metres) and finding a couple of offloads and tackle busts as well. He was effective, and 83 points in base and base attack stats in just 55 minutes is elite. If only he could keep that up …
8. Mitch Barnett showed us what we’ve been missing
It was an unfortunate injury that came at a horrible time for the young forward coming into his prime. He has flashed in previous seasons, showing a lot of skill with ball in hand but also refusing to take a backward step in defence. Sometimes that translated to KFC SuperCoach points too, when given the minutes and opportunity.
We saw Mitch get a late swap to the starting lock position this week and even though injuries almost certainly played a part, he played 78 minutes and scored at a point per minute in base and base attack stats. I doubt he will get 78 minutes normally but with the injuries the Knights have suffered, there may be no choice but to give Barnett a significant share of the playing time in the coming weeks.
9. Kalyn Ponga is starting to heat up again
Ponga has been frustrating to say the least this year; he started off the season like a house on fire, delivered his best KFC SuperCoach performance to date in Round 3 and then suddenly, inexplicably, he disappeared for several weeks, delivering subpar performances on the field and also on the stats sheet. A large part of Ponga’s promising scores at the start of the season came from an increased work rate; well, this week we saw this resurface as he ran the ball 20 times.
When Ponga runs the ball, he busts tackles – that’s something we have seen consistently throughout his career and how could he not, given his footwork, speed off the mark and acceleration. Ponga scored 46 points in base and base attack stats, plus another eight points off the goalkicking tee; if he can hit that floor of 50-55 points every week, he becomes the elite fullback option that we want to see.
James Fisher-Harris has been frustrating in 2020
He’s averaged 69.1 points per game across the last eight rounds since settling into the #10 jersey, but it’s safe to say that it has been a bit of a rollercoaster experience as far as scores for forwards go. Much of it has been due to his fluctuating minutes; it seems impossible to predict with any certainty how many minutes he is going to play as a prop, compared to the almost weekly 80 minute stint as a lock last year.
We’ve seen him score 50 and 51 points in lower minutes (54 minutes), while also pumping out scores of 90 and 88 – all in base and base attack stats – in 69 and 67 minutes respectively. JFH might not be captaincy material but he’s shown that he is going to give you a strong average in his current role.
Good luck for Round 12 — the hits just don’t stop coming, but hopefully you’ve built up enough depth in your team to be able to handle the constant injuries and suspensions. Good luck with your decisions this week!
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