NRL SuperCoach: 10 things we learned Round 20

Former NRL SuperCoach champion Wilfred Zee wraps the Round 20 action and reveals the best way forward as head-to-head finals loom.

In a week where the two most popular captain options had polar opposite outcomes, it’s a case of “did you captain Teddy or not” to determine whether we saw a green or red arrow in the overall rankings.

Let’s look at what we learnt this week.

1. Esan Marsters is still a decent sell option

Sure, he scored well this week as he took advantage of an amazing match-up (for him) against makeshift centre, Coen Hess. But his base stats don’t stand out (28 points in pure base and 36 with his base attacking stats added) and he doesn’t goalkick (which, given Mbye’s numbers the last two weeks, he is unlikely to get back). Unless you absolutely love his match-ups in the coming few weeks, I would be looking to upgrade into a better CTW option if you still own him.

Esan Marsters celebrates a try against the Cowboys.

2. Jazz Tevaga might still be a weekly play even if filling in at hooker

Some SuperCoaches were worried about what the positional switch might mean because in previous years we saw a lower PPM when he played at hooker. However, there were absolutely no concerns this week as his workrate remained as high as ever – even if he got a few extra minutes due to Nikorima’s injury. Whatever happened, Tevaga just can’t stop tackling and his 64 tackles (with three missed) is arguably an even more impressive effort than his 65 tackles (with five missed) given he managed this week’s tackle count in only 80 minutes of game time!

CASUALTY WARD: Weekend injury report

EARLY MAIL: Predicted team changes

The performances of Jazz Tevaga, Gareth Widdop and Wade Graham are all talking points out of Round 20.

3. Kenny Bromwich has had a breakout SuperCoach year

When your previous SuperCoach career averages have only ever floated around the 40 mark and below, to average 62.5 points per game this year is a real testament to how well he’s taken to a permanent starting spot on that left edge. Now, he has eclipsed his career best SuperCoach figures with a massive 124 points this week, featuring a brace of tries, a try assist and a try contribution. No matter how you slice or dice it, ‘KBrom’ is in some serious form and there could be some real points on offer in the last few rounds of the year, for those in need of a 2RF POD.

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4. Josh Addo-Carr is a high risk, match-up dependent CTW option

‘Inconsistent’ is a kind description for Addo-Carr’s SuperCoach season, with just five scores over 60 points all year in Rounds 3, 4, 8, 11 and now 20. That’s not great, but the Storm are well and truly hitting their straps now they are out of the drudgery that is the representative period. Some of his match-ups to finish the year could see him go gangbusters. However at $392,800 and a with a breakeven of 10, it might be a risk that needs to be taken this week before his price goes up too much.

5. Marty Taupau has been very frustrating this year

Martin Taupau has produced an up-and-down season.

He’s been averaging 63.6 points per game this year which is solid at that front row forward position, but he has been so up and down. A lot of this is to do with the way Des Hasler has rotated his props and managed their minutes, and that often comes down to game script. While he knocked out a very nice 76 points this week, after scoring a try, his minutes were down to just 36 after the extended game from last week. Again, this was probably due to the scoreline, but therein lies the problem – it’s so hard to rely on Marty on a weekly basis due to this volatility of game time.

6. James Fisher-Harris just keeps getting it done

He’s owned by 22% of teams and has just been churning through the scores – but there’s no denying he has benefited significantly this year from constant injuries, suspensions, positional changes and other decisions by Ivan Cleary. It’s resulted in him locking down almost 80 minutes on a weekly basis, even if it means he shuffles to an edge for some of the game. Whatever it is, he keeps pumping out the work and given the dramas going on with the likes of Andrew Fifita, and unreliability of minutes for Marty Taupau, JFH is a genuine partner for Haas in the starting FRF position.

James Fisher-Harris is a consistency machine.

7. Will Hopoate needs to be considered as a weekly CTW option

It wasn’t that many weeks ago that I wrote about Hoppa, but since then he has kept pumping out the scores. Three and five round averages of 68.7 and 79.4 points per game highlight how beneficial it would have been to have Hoppa the past six weeks or so – and more impressive is the fact his last five rounds have only included two tries, two try assists and one try contribution. It’s further testament to his ridiculous base stats, with another 58 points in base and base attack stats this week. Imagine locking in a line-up of Latrell Mitchell, John Bateman, Manu Ma’u and Will Hopoate and relaxing with a minimum of care and concern on what your CTW line will dish up. Hmm…

8. Wade Graham just hit the radar of quite a few POD-hunting SuperCoaches

At $477,000 and owned by just 1730 teams, Wade Graham has been injury-prone for sure, but he looks incredible on the field with one of the standout performances of this week. He makes that left edge incredibly deadly, and in conjunction with Bronson Xerri, Josh Morris and Matt Moylan or Shaun Johnson chiming in for certain set plays it could create some real havoc for opposition right edge defences. He’s not your hardest worker, as with many edge backrowers, but he has the attacking involvement and upside that not many possess. High risk, high reward!

Wade Graham (left) upended while tackling Ethan Lowe.

9. Victor Radley is going through a purple patch

How else can you describe a three round average of 80 and five round average of 71.4, after averaging just 43.3 for the first 14 games of the season? Radley is certainly benefiting from a shift back to lock the last few weeks but two tries, three try assists and two try contributions is a great attacking haul in the past five games. His base stats aren’t anything to write home about but if he keeps up his attacking involvement, which is very possible given the match-ups, he could be a real POD option as well for the run home (despite his 12% ownership, plenty of these teams are likely to be inactive after unwisely starting the year with him!).

10. Gareth Widdop could be the ultimate ‘Hail Mary’ POD

Anyone got the guts to buy Gareth Widdop?

There’s no pun intended there but Mary McGregor would sure love it if Gareth was playing well enough to rack up a few SuperCoach scores in the next few weeks. Unfortunately he was unable to have a positive influence against the Eels, but with two games against the Titans in the next five weeks (including this coming round), Widdop has a real opportunity to finish his NRL (and SuperCoach) career with a bang. His last four scores against the Titans? 173 (!), 38, 116 and 93… are you brave enough to take a risk on Widdop at just $359,300 and 2% ownership?

Bring on Round 21

Five rounds to go and it’s crunch time for the teams up the top, but also for prospective head-to-head finalists! All the best with your final decisions, whether that be trades, reserves or captaincy!