NRL SuperCoach 2020: Players who lose the most points through errors
In this week’s analysis, resident SuperCoach expert The Mastermind looks at the players who scored the most negative points in 2019 – the coach-killers of the NRL.
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We’ve made a list and we’ve checked it twice, to find out who’s naughty, not nice in the world of SuperCoach. These are the coach-killers of the NRL offering the gift of negative points week after week.
Each of those points down the drain is a hit to your SuperCoach score and hair torn from your head. Take The Mastermind’s melon as all the scientific evidence you need.
We’re talking missed tackles -1, missed goals -2, missed field goals -1, kicks that go dead -3, penalties conceded -2, errors -2, sin bins -8, send offs -16.
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Naturally the list is loaded with attacking players that have their hands on the ball more than other teammates, players that take risks, kick goals and have a hot temper.
There’s plenty of room for improvement in these players and value to be found for those who can tidy up their game.
Mitchell Pearce is the 2019 biggest loser. His points going missing at a rate of -9.5PPG with top spot for kicks that go dead (-30), second for errors (-86) top 10 for penalties conceded (-36), second for errors with -86 and -63 in missed tackles. It’s a far cry from James Maloney’s -12.5PPG from 2018, but few players could match his ability to sprint out of the line and miss tackle after tackle.
Mitchell Moses finished second in our list with -9.2PPG and was top three for errors, missed tackles and missed goals but also topped the league for try assists. He did cut his negative point rate with much improved discipline — in 2018 he was sin binned three times and conceded 19 penalties for -60 in 2019 he had just -20 from 10 penalties conceded.
Luke Brooks slashed his negative point rate from -9.1PPG in 2018 to -7.3PPG in 2019, and saw an 8-point boost in his overall average. His missed tackles decreased, his error rate went down, literally turning negatives into positives.
Michael Morgan who finished third on our list with a rate of -9PPG had a league high -88 points from errors. He undoubtedly has the potential to tidy that up and have a similar upswing in scoring to Luke Brooks last year.
With those dubious honours out of the way let’s take a look at each negative scoring category.
Gold Coast Titans centre Brian Kelly led the league for missed tackles with -88 points. He still managed to average a respectable 54.7PPG and is the 12th most expensive option at CTW in SuperCoach 2020. He’s been in the top 10 for missed tackles the past three seasons, but if he and the Titans sort out their defensive issues he could push towards that magic 60PPG.
■ REWIND: The biggest losers of the 2018 season
■ BREAKDOWN: The second-row forwards
The six point swing on missed goals has been the difference in many head-to-head battles — 4 points when it goes over -2 when it misses. Jarrod Croker topped the league with -56 in missed goals. He kicked at 74% in 2019, his worst season yet with the boot and his worst SuperCoach average season since 2013. Kicking at his best 85% he’d add three more points to that season average and be on 56PPG. Esan Marsters simply must be mentioned for his -42 in missed goals at 66% in 2019. He had a shocker with the boot in 2019 and didn’t get to take another shot after Round 17. He averaged 42 in the last 8 rounds and 56.6 before that. He’s undervalued if he gets the kicking duties at the Cowboys and returns to his 77% conversion rate of 2018.
Brodie Croft and Adam Reynolds topped the charts for missed field goals with -6 each. Not a massive factor for SuperCoach points. Croft landed just one, while Reynolds put three through the posts. Anthony Milford was third for missed field goals, but did kick three, with that man again Mitchell Pearce also on -4.
Speaking of the Broncos kicking game ... Milford shared top spot with Pearce in the most kicks dead -30. He was also top in this category for 2018. While Milford has scored well in this category in the past few years, there’s no doubt his SuperCoach stats will benefit from more running and less kicking with Croft’s arrival.
Connor Watson and Tyrone Peachey are probably not the names you expect to see at the top of the penalties conceded list with -44. They’ve out done the likes of Adam Blair -42 and Jared Warea-Hargreaves -40. Cameron Munster was a notable big improver in this category and showed improved discipline to slash his 2018 tally of penalties and sin bins -46 down to just -20 in 2019.
Now we get to the real bad boys ... sin bins. It’s not just the -8 SuperCoach points. It’s the -2 for the penalty and the 10 minutes not on the field, let’s say that’s another -10. A -20 point hit from one moment of madness and whatever ban might come from the foul play. Just when Tevita Pangai Jr was looking to fulfill his SuperCoach scoring potential with a great run of 69.3PPG through the bye period he hit Titans winger Phillip Sami with a high shot and was sent to the sin bin.
Posting a score of just 16 points. He was banned for one match, scored 75 points against the Cowboys then was sin binned again in the final minutes against the Panthers after a crusher tackle on James Maloney. He scored just 45 and his season was over with a five-match ban. Will we get a more disciplined TPJ after his season ended with such a whimper? If he can do what the likes of Moses and Munster and adjust his discipline he’ll be a genuine SuperCoach weapon.
Penrith seem to have the perfect man to fill Maloney’s point-leaking boots in popular cheapie Jarome Luai. He was sin binned twice last year in just 13 games.
As a final note, there’s not too much you can tidy up in the games of the SuperCoach guns and that’s why they’re worth the big bucks. James Tedesco -3.5PPG, Payne Haas -2.3PPG, Jason Taumalolo -2.9PPG, Damien Cook -4PPG, John Bateman -3.1PPG, Nathan Cleary -5.3PPG. We’ve got to give a special mention to the big man who could barely put a foot wrong last year... Josh Papalii at -1.6PPG.
2019’S BIGGEST LOSERS
Mitchell Pearce (-219) -9.5PPG
Mitchell Moses (-221) -9.2PPG
Michael Morgan (-181) -9PPG
Adam Reynolds (-200) -9PPG
Ben Hunt (-185) -8.8PPG
Josh Hodgson (-174) -8.3PPG
Lachlan Lewis (-120) -8PPG
Latrell Mitchell (-174) -7.9PPG
Tyrone Peachey (-164) -7.8PPG
Shaun Johnson (-128) -7.5PPG
Liam Martin (-118) -7.4PPG
Luke Brooks (-175) -7.3PPG
Daly Cherry-Evans (-133) -7PPG
Anthony Milford (-158) -6.9PPG
Villiame Kikau (-123) -6.8PPG
Jack Wighton (-154) -6.7PPG
Reed Mahoney (-160) -6.7PPG
Jarrod Croker (-160) -6.7PPG
Brian Kelly (-154) -6.6PPG
Kalyn Ponga (-132) -6.6PPG
Cameron Smith (-156) -6.5PPG
Wade Graham (-57) -6.3PPG
Tevita Pangai (-101) -6PPG
Victor Radley (-145) -6PPG
Connor Watson (-125) -6PPG
Cameron Munster (-125) -6PPG
Most Errors (-2 points)
Michael Morgan -88
Mitchell Pearce -86
Mitchell Moses -74
Jack Wighton -72
Anthony Milford -64
Josh Dugan -64
Ben Hunt -64
Corey Oates -62
Chad Townsend -62
Daly Cherry-Evans -62
Missed tackles (-1 point)
Brian Kelly -88
Reed Mahoney -83
Mitchell Moses -81
Ben Hunt -81
Victor Radley -79
Kodi Nikorima -74
Josh Hodgson -73
Luke Brooks -72
Corey Harawira-Naera -72
Kurt Capewell -66
Missed goals (-2 points)
Jarrod Croker -56
Latrell Mitchell -50
Cameron Smith -42
Mitchell Moses -42
Esan Marsters -42
Reuben Garrick -34
Adam Reynolds -34
Jamayne Isaako -28
Jordan Kahu -28
Shaun Johnson -26
Missed Field Goal (-1 points)
Brodie Croft -6
Adam Reynolds -6
Anthony Milford -4
Mitchell Pearce -4
Mitchell Moses -4
Josh Hodgson -3
Daly Cherry-Evans -3
Cameron Munster -3
Kodi Nikorima -3
Luke Brooks -3
Kick that goes dead (-3 points)
Anthony Milford -30
Mitchell Pearce -30
Jack Wighton -27
Adam Reynolds -27
Blake Green -24
Ben Hunt -21
Cameron Smith -18
Jake Clifford -18
Corey Norman -18
Shaun Johnson -15
Penalty conceded (-2 points)
Connor Watson -44
Tyrone Peachey -44
Adam Blair -42
Latrell Mitchell -42
Josh Hodgson -40
Curtis Sironen -40
Jared Warea Hargreaves -40
Jake Trbojevic -38
Angus Crichton -38
Mitchell Pearce -36
Send-offs/sin bins (-8/-16 points)
Tevita Pangai -16
Jarome Luai -16
Nick Cotric -16
Jack Gosiewski -16
Adam Blair -16
Kane Evans -16
Originally published as NRL SuperCoach 2020: Players who lose the most points through errors