KFC SuperCoach NRL: 10 things we learned from Round 13
He’s kicking goals, playing big minutes and even joined Jason Taumalolo in an elite stats group but can the Roosters giant keep it up and become a KFC SuperCoach God?
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Each week the craziness just seems to ramp up another level! Let’s see what we learned from Round 13.
1. Sio Siua Taukeiaho is a monster
I remember when he first burst onto the scene off the bench as a rookie, that was somehow available at CTW for SuperCoach purposes; Taukeiaho (sometimes abbreviated to TKO, or SST even) was a worthy cash cow and on the field he drew some early comparisons (unfairly, I thought at the time) to Jason Taumalolo. Well, TKO has joined Taumalolo as one of the few forwards in recent history to crack the 300 run metres in a single game mark, as he played the full 80 minutes, kicking goals for most of the game and generally just getting a heck of a lot done on the field on his way to 92 SuperCoach points! He won’t play 80 minutes every week but while he’s got the goalkicking, he’s the closest thing we’ve got to Corey Parker from a few years ago right now!
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2. Mitch Aubusson, take a bow
“AuboGUN” has been a legend for KFC SuperCoach for years, although in the same vein as the likes of Lewis Brown rather than the likes of Corey Parker. However, with his expected retirement at the end of this season, the past few weeks may in fact be the last few SuperCoach-relevant games of Aubo’s 300 game (thus far) NRL career, as he has been given the chance to start while other players have been out injured. With those players expected back soon, Aubo will find his way back to the bench but the past three rounds has netted owners a solid 65.7 point per game average while also making (assuming he scores about 35 minimum next week) almost $170,000 since most owners jumped on a few weeks ago – thanks Aubo!
3. Tohu Harris is undeniable this year
I’ll ‘fess up, I’ve been a Tohu doubter this year. The uncertainty about Tevaga’s return and it’s impact on him, the changing of Tohu’s minutes, the changing of his role from starting on an edge, to moving into the middle, to playing on the edge for the full 80 minutes, to being named at lock but then starting on an edge… it’s been a mess to say the least! However, in among all that has been an incredible consistency with two of his three lowest scores coming in Rounds 1 and 2. Since then, he has only scored below 65 once since Round 3, and averaged 76 points per game in the 11 games since! I’m sorry Tohu, you deserve better.
4. Welcome back, David Fifita
His ownership was still around 12% but given his popularity at the start of the year, and the injury over the COVID-19 enforced suspension of the 2020 season, it’s safe to say that a large percentage of that 12% ownership relates to SuperCoaches who had already given up on the year. Still, some people jumped straight back on and they were duly rewarded for their boldness with another strong score. There is arguably no player that is more dangerous close to the try line at the moment and Fifita proved that again this week. He will have his down weeks if he doesn’t get bulk tackle busts or his attacking stats, but more than likely he will explode at least once or twice on the run home, regardless of how badly the Broncos are going, because he is nigh unstoppable at times.
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5. Welcome to the NRL, Nicho Hynes
Okay so this was his fourth game but only his second game starting and playing 80 minutes, and also his first try and try assists, and also goal! Hynes was busy, and he fit right into the Storm attacking structures without missing a beat. Later, he also took over the goalkicking when Cam Munster went off injured, which makes him a somewhat interesting prospect for those desperate for a downgrade in the five eighth position to cover an injured Munster, while also freeing up money to purchase guns elsewhere. The match-ups are tough but his involvement and potential goalkicking floor (if Cam Smith misses a second game) may make him a slightly less risky purchase for those willing to take a punt. As a side note, it’s clearly unfair how Bellamy has stockpiled all these quality players as backups when some other NRL clubs’ first string hooker and fullback options are less capable than the third choice Storm hooker and the fourth choice Storm fullback!
6. Jacob Saifiti is quickly catching up to his brother
We saw the ‘Saifiti Twins’ debut in Round 1 of what would become the horror show that was the Knights’ 2016 season. Jacob started as an edge backrower and Daniel was coming on as a prop off the bench. Fast forward a few years and Daniel had definitely made his mark as one of the better props in the NRL, playing Origin last year, while Jacob has struggled with injury and indifferent form. Well, not so much the past few weeks, where the injury to Daniel has allowed Jacob to start and well, basically step up and fill the hole left by his brother. It’s like, he’s a carbon copy of the same player (couldn’t help myself). Imagine one day having to line up against these two identical twins staring down at you (unless you happen to be taller than 1.95m)… nope, not for me!
7. Blake Green may have been the key to unlock Ponga’s full effectiveness
This is not a dig at Kurt Mann playing five eighth as Kurt has had a great season, not just for SuperCoach but for himself too. However, it’s safe to say that he has blunted Ponga’s involvement in games due to not passing, or taking the line on himself more often than not. There’s also been times where he’s given the ball to Ponga too late and it hasn’t given Ponga much to work with. Blake Green, well, in his first game he already seemed to have a good feeling for when to distribute the ball to Ponga and let him go to work, with devastating effect. I have a sneaky feeling this is just the beginning…
8. There are too many cooks in the Eels’ kitchen
I’m just reiterating this point but this week’s Eels’ game – featuring scores for Gutherson of 26, Moses of 52 and Dylan Brown of 119 – says exactly what I was trying to highlight. With all three players back, it’s going to be really hard to predict which one goes large on any given week, so while overall averages will be fine, it makes any of them a risky captaincy option. Moses may end up being helped by the return of Ryan Matterson, and he remains a massive value at his current price, but as we can see from this week, Dylan is able to take over a game when he wants to and Moses is able to cruise through for the rest of the game. With the competition at fullback heating up again, it’s safe to say that of the three options, Gutherson is the least appealing given the premium options available at fullback.
9. AJ Brimson could be a temporary solution at five eighth
The young fullback has been out of sight, out of mind for most of the year due to injury, but we saw glimpses of his ability last year when he averaged 60ish once he nailed down a settled position at fullback in the second half of the year. He’s managed just the one game before this week, and even then suffered injury again. So sure, he’s a bit risky, but we all need to take some risks now and then, right?! AJ has a few relatively easy games coming up and with the Titans in the best form they have been in for quite some time, they could end up jagging another few wins over the next five weeks. If so, you’d think AJ will be in among the points and could end up with a few other big scores, while still being less than $360,000 next week.
10. John Morris is going to give Sione Katoa owners a migraine
I wrote previously about how incredible Sione Katoa has been while playing on the right wing. Even including his HIA-affected score of 10 in Round 9, and including Round 1 where he spent most of the game on the right wing after Mulitalo went off, Sione has averaged just under 72 points per game for those 9 games on the right wing. In his four games on the left wing, Sione has averaged just 37, and hasn’t scored a single try. It’s somewhat incredible that he’s scored 12 tries in 9 games, and 0 tries in the other four! So with this week’s unexpected swap back to the left wing, for seemingly no reason, Katoa owners will need to make a decision…
Good luck for Round 14
It’s safe to say that we needed every single possible trade this year and despite the abundance of trades, it has been a REALLY tough year! Good luck with your choices this week!