KFC SuperCoach NRL 2020: 10 things we learned Round 10
He sits at just 13 per cent ownership – an unprecedented number at this stage of the season – and has the second most points of any player. Introducing this spritely youngster Cameron Smith.
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We’re officially halfway through the season and what a season it has been, and it’s also shaping up to be a cracker of a finish this year. Let’s dive into Round 10’s lessons.
1 Brett Morris is having a career KFC SuperCoach year
He’s been around forever and he has always consistently produced strong, albeit unremarkable KFC SuperCoach seasons. That’s all changed in 2020, with Morris coming into this week as the third highest overall CTW option despite playing one less game than the others, and the second highest averaging CTW option behind the three-game Ikuvalu (who is mostly helped by the last-start 172).
With the Roosters attacking the way they are, BMoz looks likely to continue feasting on attacking stats galore, which at just 6% ownership but costing an arm and a leg at over $725,000.
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2 Cameron Smith demands our attention again
Sure, there was a lot of uncertainty the past few weeks with Cam Munster out injured and the possibility that Cam Smith was going to play in the halves, but that’s all dealt with now. With just 13% ownership – an unprecedented number at this stage of the season – but comfortably the top scoring and top averaging hooker in KFC SuperCoach, this isn’t anything new for Cam Smith.
The mercurial hooker notched another impressive score with three try assists, three line break assists, a forced dropout and seven goals (one missed) to go along with his 46 points in base and base attack stats. Even without the three try assists and three line break assists, ‘CS9’ would have scored 76 points which is yet another confirmation of just how safe and reliable he is.
3 LUCIANO!!!
Yes Lucy, yes! This performance was teased early on as he started the year with two weeks both featuring tries. Then it went quiet, and especially when he was switched to the left edge beside Luke Brooks.
So maybe it was the Billy Walters switch to five eighth, maybe it was just how bad the Broncos were – whatever it was, Lucy finally had his breakout game where he jagged a double.
The promising part though was his workrate – he scored 61 points in pure base (elite numbers for an edge backrower) as well as an incredible 20 points in base attack stats (tackle busts and offloads). So owners can celebrate and enjoy the price rises, but Lucy might be worth holding on to for a while yet.
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4 Cam McInnes is no LOCK for your 2RF
Just when you think Mary McGregor makes one move that’s smart for the Dragons, you realise there will always be some repercussions elsewhere (for KFC SuperCoach, mainly). And with the move of Ben Hunt from halfback to hooker, and playing for 80 minutes, we see Cam McInnes, the new 80 minute lock, be the potential loser; a statement which sounds really weird, since 80 minute locks are usually the pot of gold we find at the end of the KFC SuperCoach rainbow.
However, Cam McInnes the hooker/part-time lock was actually the best role (for KFC SuperCoach), as evidenced by his subpar 63 and 61 scores since having the #13 on his back. The scores are safe but it’s not quite the 75+ average we were looking at early this season.
5 Damien Cook cannot be ignored either
After a disappointing Rounds 1 and 2 where he averaged just 41 across the two weeks (and as a former owner, I know all too well how disappointing they were), Cook has come back a different player (and likely beneficiary of the new rules) as he has not scored below 60 since, and has averaged 77.3 points per game (and that’s excluding this week’s monster 138).
He was ripe for a blow-up game and that certainly arrived this week. Just like Cam Smith, he is owned by approximately 13% of KFC SuperCoaches, and there’s a high chance a decent chunk of those might be zombie teams too. We’re getting to the critical stage of the competition where the contenders up the top need to start hanging their hats on a few smart POD options – Cook is certainly another option for that!
6 Reagan Campbell-Gillard is on fire
Some of it may be due to injury (to his teammates), some of it due to opportunity – whatever it is, RCG has averaged 77 points per game for the past four games, and it may be set to continue. And it’s all hard work – no attacking stats, and hardly any tackle busts or offloads in those scores.
What is fascinating is that he averaged just 42.5 points per game in his first sxi games this season, and then something clicked in Round 7 against the Raiders as he was called upon to play 74 minutes, with hardly any rest all game. Since then, RCG has been a man on a mission, but I have to say, it’s *really* hard to feel confident in trusting this continued production…
7 Jazz Tevaga is still building fitness
There was much excitement in the preseason for ol’ Jazz, and why not, after such an impressive second half to the 2019 season where (excluding injury-affected scores) he averaged over 72 points per game. This was just his second game of 2020 and the minutes are increasing, but they’re not quite where they need to be yet.
Still, he looks busy, mostly unhindered by any sort of injury and although the fitness may be a little lacking, the workrate still looks to be there. So the moment he starts hitting 60+ minutes consistently, then there may be some merit in rolling the dice on Jazz again.
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8 Apisai Koroisau’s time might be up
He started 2020 like a house on fire and has, for the most part, continued that hot start until this week. He only had three scores under 70 all season but this week, he finally looked like he was feeling the strain of playing 80 minutes almost all season, and was happy to let his teammates take charge as he hardly ran the ball and was just happy to ‘do his job’ this week.
It’s unlikely he’ll be like this every week but with ridiculously high ownership, two premium options only a stone’s throw away price-wise, and with his extensive injury history lurking in the background, it might be time to move him on for a far less highly-owned option in his position.
9 Nathan Cleary has got his chin in front of that halfback position
Okay that was low hanging fruit and truth be told, it’s much more than just his chin! Clearly came into this week already averaging nine points per game more than the next best option, and appears set to extend that into the double figures after another impressive this round.
In previous seasons we talked about the dominance of Smith and Cook over the other hookers, the ridiculous advantage of Payne Haas over other FRF options last year, and the gap between Tedesco and Trbojevic the past few years over other FLB only options. 2020 seems to be the #YearyofCleary in the halfback position, as no one seems to be coming close.
10 Is it possible to not own and captain James Tedesco in the coming weeks?
Teddy had a ‘quiet game’ this week and still managed to score 77 points – hardly anything to sneeze at but by his lofty standards this year, a ‘quiet game’ nonetheless. It’s also his fourth game in a row without scoring a try; his equal longest ‘dry spell’ since becoming a Roosters.
In fact, in his whole career, aside from one 12 game streak in 2017 (when the Wests Tigers won just seven games all season and came 14th), Teddy has never gone more than four games in a row without scoring a try! Suffice to say, he’s due, and with the Warriors, Titans and the Dragons coming up, he’s probably going to score more than just one!
Good luck for Round 11
We’re already at the halfway point of the season, which is somewhat incredible in the first place given all that’s going on around the world right now. But as the footy continues, so does KFC SuperCoach and I for one am glad to have the constant distraction that is fantasy sports. Good luck with your decisions this week!