NRL SuperCoach: 10 things we learned Round 19

Former NRL SuperCoach champion Wilfred Zee has identified a few surprise must have players next season, as well as a few serious PODs for the run home.

• LEGEND: Tigers great Farah calls time on career

• KENT: Is consistency too much to ask for?

It was a topsy-turvy round this week with some big movement in the overall rankings.

As noted previously, the start/sit decisions are incredibly difficult as we all have stacked squads, and limited (or no) trades. Let’s look at what we learnt this week.

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Former NRL SuperCoach champion Wilfred Zee reviews Round 19.

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1) Josh Dugan is scoring better than we think

Dugan is one of the more polarising figures in the NRL, with his actual talent and ability overshadowed by inflated contracts and the perception of him being injury-prone.

The reality is that he is a good player but not elite, that he plays more games than people think, and for SuperCoach he is actually quite a hard worker and has a decent base line. However, he does occasionally go down injured, and doesn’t always play the game. Dugan has started 16 of a possible 18 games this year; however he has played less than 35 minutes in two of those games due to injury, and also spent time off the field for a HIA in a third.

He has averaged 56.1 points per game across the season in his non-injury affected games, and in fact has a five-round average of 66.8 points if you remove his 18 from just 23 minutes last week. Would you have the stomach to take a risk on Dugan at just $424,000?

Corey Thompson is a serious option when playing fullback. Picture: Tony Feder

2) Corey Thompson is a legitimate CTW option when playing fullback

He has played eight games at fullback this year for an average of 58.6 points per game, but one of those games was a single one-off game at the start of the year.

In Round 11 he was handed the No. 1 jersey back and since then, he has averaged 63.4 points per game while averaging 41.9 points per game in base and base attack stats.

His strong floor definitely warrants some consideration for the next SuperCoach season, as his starting price will be inclusive of his games on the wing where he averaged just 42 points per game.

He currently sits with a five round average of 62.8 and a three round average of 70.7 points per game.

Connor Watson looms as a serious POD when playing hooker. Picture: Tony Feder

3) Connor Watson might be a legitimate POD option for the rest of the year

Watson has struggled at times this year as he has shifted between positions, starting off at fullback with the Ponga five-eighth experiment, before suffering an injury, then returning off the bench, to five eighth, back to the bench, then hooker, then fullback, then back to the bench.

Talk about instability! But also, what versatility! And although Watson admittedly doesn’t prefer playing hooker, seeing himself more as a fullback or five eighth, it’s hard to argue that hooker isn’t his best position for both rugby league and SuperCoach purposes.

Watson has started the three games at hooker this year for an average of 72 points per game, plus also had strong cameos off the bench where he scored 67 in 67 minutes, and last week’s 76 in just 53 minutes.

With the word that Levi will be dropped this week, Watson will return to playing hooker and could be looking at 80 minutes straight away – at $478,400 and just 2 per cent ownership he is an intriguing option in a stacked position!

Paul Vaughan has finally found his try scoring form. Picture: Dan Himbrechts

4) Paul Vaughan could be warming up

Some of us remember the 2017 Paul Vaughan, who had finally moved from the Raiders to the Dragons and was handed a starting jersey.

This began one of the more incredible seasons by a prop, scoring eight tries in the regular season. Some props don’t even score eight tries in their whole 200+ game career, let alone a single season!

But that’s the type of player Vaughan is, and near the try line he is very hard to stop. He has not been bad at all this year, averaging 61 across the season despite juggling Origin duties and an underperforming team around him; however his last two games has seen him cross for his first try of the season, and then put together a big base stat game for scores of 77 and 72 in 50 and 60 minutes respectively.

With the likes of Fifita and Pangai being suspension risks and Taupau and Fonua-Blake struggling with consistency (and minutes), at $492,300 and 7 per cent ownership, Vaughan might be a great option.

5) Waqa Blake could be a CTW mega-POD

Blake hadn’t played a game of football since Round 11; fast forward to Round 19 and he’s switched clubs and then knocked out a solid 55 points in his club debut for the Eels at Bankwest Stadium.

Most impressive is that his score included just the one line break as far as attacking stats go, and also two errors; that’s 49 points in base and base attack stats which if you’ve been paying attention to me at all this season, you’ll know that those numbers are elite CTW numbers! Blake is just $330,100 and is owned by just 1 per cent of SuperCoaches – he is a cheap, mega-POD that could legitimately explode, as those who may remember his nine-game stretch after returning from a long injury lay-off last season.

From Rounds 17 to 25 last year (after sitting out injured since Round 5), Blake came back to average 68.9 points per game for the rest of the season! Could he do it again?

Jamayne Isaako could be back to his best. Picture: Chris Hyde

6) Is Jamayne Isaako back?

Isaako was the 2018 NRL Rookie of the Year, and for many of us SuperCoaches he was also Rookie of the Year too (as long as you didn’t sell him too early).

However, he certainly didn’t start 2019 that way and for the most part, looked horribly out of form just like the Broncos did.

Now, as the Broncos have started to find their mojo somewhat, Isaako has looked like a new player who has rediscovered the joy in playing footy.

That may have had to do with him spending some time on compassionate leave with his father battling cancer.

He’s been back for three games and while his first game wasn’t very impressive, he now has back-to-back scores of 108 and 77, which also features him returning to the goalkicking role with a solid five goals from six attempts last week.

At just $402,400 and 7 per cent ownership, Isaako could be a legitimate POD option for the rest of the season (although he’s probably not a ‘start’ option this week against the Storm).

Manase Fainu is a great option if he can lock down the hooking role. Picture: Brendon Thorne

7) Manase Fainu is a must-have once he gets a starting position hooker position

I’ve written about Fainu before this year, and talked up his attacking prowess and his SuperCoach-friendly game, so these scores are not surprising at all to me.

But since Koroisau went down injured and Fainu has been starting, he has scored 77, 61, 70 and 95 in 80, 74, 65 and 90 minutes of game time.

That’s an average of 75.8 points per game which is basically Damien Cook level. While he has struggled with injury at times, Fainu is a legitimately good player in actual footy terms but his SuperCoach ability is next level!

8) Corey Harawira-Naera could be trusted for the rest of the year

Quite a few SuperCoaches were burned by Dean Pay’s decisions earlier this season but the backrow logjam has become somewhat clearer with Rhyse Martin’s departure to the English Super League.

CHN has played 80 minutes in every game since Round 14, and looks to have finally nailed down that left edge backrow spot again.

He has since averaged 54.6 points per game despite spending the majority of one game at centre, and as evidenced by his big scores this year (141 and 93) he has the ceiling to go very, very big when the match-up is right!

9) John Bateman is a legend and could be a must-have in the backrow next year

Thinking ahead to 2020, Bateman is most likely going to lose his CTW eligibility (despite actually being the first-choice backline cover option ahead of Whitehead these days) but given the way he is playing and scoring, there’s every chance that Bateman is still a top five, if not top three, 2RF option that we need to have in our teams next year.

Taking out his injury-affected score, he is sitting on a season average of 73.3 points per game which means only Jason Taumalolo ranks ahead of him in the backrow!

10) Nathan Cleary is making a late charge to be top averaging halfback for the season

Mitch Moses and Daly Cherry-Evans have been the standouts across the season but as the Panthers storm home this year, Nathan Cleary is also climbing up the SuperCoach ranks. Sitting on a three-round average of 77.3 points per game, he has lifted his average to 61.9 points per game and with a few more 75+ scores he will be on par with Moses.

With the highest base of all halfbacks in the NRL, all Cleary was missing were the attacking stats and we’re starting to see them come in thick and fast these days.

His ownership has crept up a few per cent each week and you certainly cannot blame SuperCoaches for jumping ship to Cleary.

Bring on Round 20

As we come into the final rounds of the season, it’s often about taking a risk or two on some lower ownership PODs, so hopefully I’ve identified a few options to consider. Good luck with your start/sit decisions and of course, the weekly captaincy struggle!