10 things we learned in round one of SuperCoach NRL 2019
Round one of the 2019 NRL season is already in the history books and SuperCoaches learned plenty. Former winner Wilfred Zee breaks down the round and names the must-have player he believes will deliver $50,000 to this year’s champion.
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Round 1 for the 2019 season is already in the history books and we were treated to a mixed bag of games, with some teams who have hit the ground running, and some teams that have a lot to work on.
Most importantly, there were plenty of things we learned about the players for SuperCoach purposes. Let’s get into it.
1. The Broncos Pack is Stacked
It’s arguably the most exciting young pack in the NRL but there’s a whole lot of talent and not a lot of minutes to go around. There was approximately 146 minutes per game from 2018’s forward pack that had opened up in the Broncos and a number of savvy SuperCoaches took random guesses at how the minutes would fall. Well, Anthony Seibold certainly has a different idea of forward rotation than the rest of us! Joe Ofahengaue and TPJ got less than 50 minutes, while Lodge played 62 minutes, and Flegler only 10. It was confusing, and there are some nervous owners of some of the Broncos forwards after just one game. It could be a very fluid situation and the minutes may end up being shared around more than we would have hoped.
2. Andrew Fifita is a MUST-HAVE
There were plenty of signs that he was going to be extremely hard to pass up but I have to say that I’d almost go as far as to say that the 2019 overall winner probably already has Andrew Fifita in their team. It is only one round but, he has shown himself to be head and shoulders above every other FRF option in the game based on his gameplay, his minutes and his opportunity. If he will get strong minutes, at a high workrate, while still maintaining his attacking upside (he was held up over the line this week), it’s near-impossible to ignore him moving forward.
3. SJ has a rest day
I had previously expressed my concern regarding Shaun Johnson at a new club, and especially one that had as much player turnover and offseason drama as the Sharks. He’s a classy player but even classy players need time to form combinations with new teammates and adjust to new coaching structures and so on (see Cooper Cronk last year). Having said that, does it excuse him not doing much on the field? Not that he’s ever been a super hard worker, but he usually makes more than 10 tackles (especially in such a defensive game) and you’d expect him to run the ball more given how dangerous he is when running. Is this just an exception? Or perhaps more of this to come… the match-up against the Titans is going to be very telling.
4. Would the real Slim Shady please stand up?
A number of us remember owning Braidon Burns from 2017, when he was a CTW rookie who offered some bye coverage. Tom Sangster was amongst those owners, as was yours truly. So forgive us when we think of Burns and remember the winger who dropped multiple Nathan Cleary bombs, scoring a magnificent eight in 80 minutes, as well as several other sub-20 scores playing 80 minutes on the wing. Fast forward to 2019, and the last three 80-minute games where he played in the centres, scoring a massive 56 and 44 points in base stats plus tackle busts and offloads at the back end of 2018, and then there’s this game – 60 points in base stats, tackle busts and offloads! Is this the real Braidon Burns? Would the real Braidon Burns please stand up?!
5. Shaun who?
Plenty had written off the Warriors from the moment they lost Shaun Johnson. However, the Warriors look far more assured than people expected, and that’s with their second best forward on the sidelines! RTS is also shaping as a super-POD for those with the intestinal fortitude to go with him over the likes of Teddy and Turbo. But most importantly (for SuperCoach), Adam Keighran won a hard-fought battle for the starting halves’ spot, and boy didn’t he have one heck of a debut! Scoring a try is special but also kicking six goals from seven attempts, including some tough ones from out wide, he’s locked himself in and will make us some nice money. My only question is why do 46 per cent of teams not have this man in their 25? Get him in, people.
6. The Bulldogs are in trouble
Now some people will say “it was only the Bulldogs” to my bit above about the Warriors… and yeah, I guess they have a point. The Bulldogs did NOT look like a good footy side, at all. Lachlan Lewis had easily his worst game in first grade, and Foran was largely missing when his team needed him to step up. Still, there’s a seriously questionable roster and an inexperienced coach in charge – are the Bulldogs going to be able to turn this Round 1 result around? Or could we be seeing the first signs of a Knights 2016 season in the works?
7. Robbie Farah is still relevant...
…as long as he gets 80 minutes. His score of 100+ is impressive, but only 47 of those points were from base stats. He’s always been an attacking hooker but he won’t score two tries, break the line once, assist another linebreak and force three dropouts every week. If his minutes drop below 80, I think his base could drop below 40 which would be scary from your primary hooker each week. With the Tigers apparently looking to rotate their bench depending on needs, owners would be nervously waiting for the games when Liddle and/or Josh Reynolds end up in the 17, especially on the bench.
8. Michael Morgan is The Main Man
Sure, I could write about how beastly Jason Taumalolo was, but that’s not something we really learned this week, is it? The speculation about Morgan however, now that was different. Some of us were more bullish on Morgan than others, and 25 per cent of SuperCoaches decided to give him a go, given his price tag. And he delivered. Sure, his base is a little low (21 points in base stats and tackle busts and offloads) but as the primary kicker, he’s going to get attacking stats and even the odd 40/20. And there will be plenty of opportunities for attacking stats given the general lack of attacking output from the backline – except mostly from him. The Main Man seems like he could go all right this season.
9. Eels’ injuries right up my Lane
Cheesy and forced pun aside, the stars have aligned with arguably the two most important forwards in the Eels pack – Manu Ma’u and Nathan Brown – now on the sidelines. This means Shaun Lane’s minutes are looking guaranteed on that left edge. There were some question marks initially about minutes and his combination with Dylan Brown but the Nathan Brown injury, plus Dylan Brown’s debut and combination with Lane, have basically answered those questions. A match-up against the struggling Bulldogs awaits next week so he could be a perfect replacement for… Nathan Brown.
10. Check the weather report
So… how about that weather, huh? The weather this week certainly rained havoc on our SuperCoach scores. It’s muddied the forward rotations (as have the usual injuries). A flood of interesting options are out there waiting for us to slip over as if we were walking on thin ice. Some of us may feel like we are drowning already after a subpar showing from our teams. Okay, that’s enough of that. Fact remains though, if you looked up the weather, you might have gone with a safer captain option like Fifita instead of Jai Arrow, or picked Adam Keighran as a reserve instead of Dylan Brown. When some of these decisions are basically 50/50 coin tosses (i.e. picking between two rookie halves who are debuting in the NRL this week) a decision to go with the one that played in the better weather conditions would have netted you an extra 40-odd points. Of course, that’s why the SuperCoach NRL weather preview is here to guide you.
Good luck for Round 2. Hopefully we can all reflect on the lessons to be gleaned from Round 1, as we wait with bated breath for the mass updates and make decisions on our trades for this coming round!