KFC SuperCoach NRL Round 5: Ten things we learned... Payne Haas, James Tedesco are freaks!
Round five proved much to KFC SuperCoach NRL players. Never bet against James Tedesco. Payne Haas could be your forever captain, and hidden gems are emerging. This is what we learned.
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We saw new things this week, least of the first time in recent memory that a game was
postponed for 24 hours on game day!
There’s plenty of drama going on each week so let’s jump straight in.
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1. Payne Haas *could* be your captain all year
This was a popular theory in the preseason, and after five rounds and a five-round average of 81, he absolutely could be your Captain locked all year. But as we’ve seen from the multiple 150+ scores from the top fullbacks this year, there is a LOT of upside in playing the match-ups and trying to nail that massive Captain score. Imagine how happy you would be if you managed to captain Trbojevic in Round 3, Ponga in Round 4 and you somehow then traded one of the other two fullbacks to Tedesco and captained him this week… ooft.
2. Stop, Hammer Time!
There was plenty of hype about Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow (hereafter referred to as ‘Hammer’ for short!) in the preseason, and it (technically) didn’t take that long for him to get his shot after dealing with some injuries earlier on. Well, that was a pretty good debut overall but somewhat ‘fortunate’ in that he was able to fill in at fullback for the injured Holmes. Given at the very least, he seemed to have earned his debut over Ben Hampton, and with the possibility of starting at fullback if/when Holmes is out injured, Hammer’s job security looks relatively secure and he could be a viable downgrade option at CTW next week (or even this week if you don’t mind the risk).
3. Maika Sivo epitomises the unpredictability of the CTW position
From scoring 103 last week to 13 this week, those who chased the points paid dearly for that move this week as Sivo was just not involved and got hardly any attacking opportunities down his side of the field. What makes this score even more surprising is that his previous scores, whilst featuring attacking stats, were still significantly better than this week’s score even just in base. With the Eels looking like a legitimate premiership team, and one of the better offences too, having a winger from that team is a solid long-term play.
4. Latrell Mitchell is gradually improving at fullback
He’s certainly still a ‘work-in-progress’ but the signs were there as he improved each week in his fullback play. His combinations with his halves, his support play in attack – they look better each week. Sure, he still lacks a fair bit in his defensive positioning, as well as his fitness overall, but they’re still improving too. More importantly (for KFC SuperCoach anyway) is that points for attacking stats are more important than being in the wrong place in defence – a perfect recipe for SuperCoach points generally!
5. Daniel Saifiti has elevated his game to the next level
It was a shaky start this year for Daniel in terms of his minutes but the past three weeks have shown that he – not front row partner David Klemmer – seems to be Adam O’Brien’s “go-to” guy for playing extended minutes. His on-field impact has been massive with some of his runs and tackles, but a lot of the good that saw him as a shock selection for the NSW Origin team last year has stepped up to the next level and translated for SuperCoach success too. With a three round average of 73.3 points per game from an average of 58.3 minutes per game, DSaif is flying under the radar at just 5% ownership.
6. Kalyn Ponga might officially be ‘match-up proof’
I’ll admit that I touted Ponga as a ‘sell’ back in Round 3 as he was missing a week from suspension, then facing two of the toughest defences in the NRL upon his return – the Raiders and the Storm. I figured, he might only score 100-120 points in that three week span. Turn Ponga into Teddy or Turbo and enjoy their points instead – which in hindsight, did work out great for those who made that jump (given the scores of Teddy and Turbo from Rounds 3 to 5 – even accounting for Teddy’s missed week!). However, Ponga returned to smash out 159 and 67 points respectively against the Raiders and the Storm, proving that just like for Teddy and Turbo, he doesn’t care how good your defence is – he’ll probably find a way to get through it anyway.
7. Adam Doueihi has settled in as fullback
Since the season restarted, Doueihi has played fullback for the Tigers and he now has a three round average of 66 points per game. He does have a try, one try assist, two line breaks and two line break assists but it means he is still averaging around 44 points per game outside of those major attacking stats; a decent floor for any CTW let alone one that has only just nudged over into the $400,000 mark ($427,200 to be precise). While not goalkicking as rumoured in the preseason, with Benji currently out of the team and Moses Mbye having a fairly mediocre time with the boot last week, Doueihi could potentially bump that average up even more if handed the goalkicking tee in the coming weeks. He is an interesting prospect with a relatively friendly draw in the coming weeks.
8. Cameron McInnes looks like a top hooker OR 2RF option
There were a few question marks hanging over McInnes’ head this week. However, even ignoring his try with a line break, or the fact that Ben Hunt played hooker for 58 minutes this week, McInnes played the whole 80 minutes between hooker and lock, which saw him make plenty of tackles (but less than his usual numbers) but more importantly, he made 15 runs for 27 points, adding a dimension to his game we hadn’t seen to such an extent yet. We also saw McInnes score his try off a simple pass from Hunt near the line, opportunities that he wouldn’t have seen in the past (although he may have been the one passing to the forward to score, or sneaking in himself). All in all, McInnes is scoring incredibly well (averaging 94 since his return) and looks like a ‘must-have’ sooner rather than later.
9. Crichton >>> Aubusson – FINALLY…?
It has been a long time coming, but have we finally seen Angus Crichton entrenched as the starting 80 minute edge forward for the Roosters? It was frustrating last year as Mitch Aubusson continuously held down that starting spot, relegating Angus to the bench. We know that when Angus gets 80 minutes on an edge, he is lethal – just look at his scores of 67, 69 and then 125 and 120! However, this was the first week we saw Cordner, Crichton and Aubusson all in the 17 and it was Angus who held down the 80 minutes all game. Great news moving forward as non-owners already have to pay a price potentially too steep to get him in (although he’s no Teddy price!).
10. James Tedesco just breaking records
I’m sure you’ve seen or heard by now, but gosh, Teddy broke the hearts and minds of many a non-owner, especially those “almost owners” who had Teddy last week only to reverse trades once he was ruled out due to his failed temperature check and pivot to Turbo instead. We knew he was good, but his ceiling just got just that little bit higher. Not really a new thing that we learned – other than that he is capable of going higher than any other player in KFC SuperCoach history (but not quite to 200 points)!
Good luck for Round 6
To Teddy or not to Teddy, that is the question for approximately 77% of non-owners. Tough conundrum for this week!