NRL SuperCoach: Best captaincy choices Round 6

Newcastle fullback Kalyn Ponga averages a whopping 94 against in his career against this week’s opponents the Newcastle Knights.

It was a Damian Cook-or-bust kind of round last week, with The Chef scoring 115 points and no doubt making some non-owners cry into their breakfast cereal on Sunday morning for holding out “just one more week” whilst his BE sat at 112. Ouch.

Andrew Fifita was also on-track for a monster (58 points in 48 minutes — it was 76 points before he had a try assist stolen away) before pulling a hamstring and not returning. Not bitter at all…

Lets’ move onto round five, and who we entrust with the all-important ‘Orange Armband’ this weekend.

Each week I will delve into the stats that stick out, the best matchups, form and even sometimes a gut feel to find you the best skippers of the week.

Without further ado…

Trent Copeland's SuperCoach captaincy analysis.

VC OPTIONS

Many teams are left with the likes of Bailey Simonsson, Dylan Brown and/or Adam Keighran amongst others as loophole skippers who won’t play this weekend, so we have a few options throughout the Thursday and Friday games for VC looping!

Nathan Cleary HFB (Panthers) vs. Sharks

For the second week in a row we get an early look at one of the premier halves in SuperCoach, with a decent match up to boot. After talking him up all of last week, you can bet I was one happy chappy when Cleary, A: Took back the kicking duties full time, and B: looked back to his best leading the Panthers on many attacking raids for what seemed an ‘easy’ 82 points with just the one try assist, 16 points in conversions, 19 tackles and two offloads for line break assists. Hopefully he can keep it going this week, as that big 100+ score is just around the corner.

Cody Walker 5/8 (Rabbitohs) vs. Bulldogs

One man we HAVE to start taking more notice of is Cody Walker following his four-try, 150-point BOMB last week catapulted him to being the number one overall point scorer in SuperCoach! In only 7% of teams, you can get a serious leg up on the entire competition, let alone your H2H opponent with these monster scores he is putting up — 72, 86, 64 and 150 in the past four matches to be exact! Then add in a matchup with the Bulldogs and you have yourselves a cocktail for SuperCoach success. Only downside is that choosing Walker means you can’t captain Cook.

Roger Tuivasa-Sheck FLB (Warriors) vs. Cowboys

This guy. Honestly, SuperCoaches need to show the love! Scores of 95, 61, 69, 83 and 89 points for an unbelievably consistent 79.4PPG average from the fullback position which is normally one of the most volatile for scoring. This week, RTS gets a matchup against the Cowboys who are in the top three teams conceding the most points per game on average, at home at Mt Smart Stadium.

Other options… Viliame Kikau, Shaun Johnson, Cameron Munster, James Tedesco

COPES’ CAPTAINS

Damien Cook HOK (Rabbitohs) vs. Bulldogs

115 points in an absolute canter against the Warriors — what more could we ask for from the numero uno of SuperCoach players last season. Whilst the game was a really tight one, Cook basically went untouched every time he ran the ball, as well as putting Cody Walker through a hole, twice! Along with 39 tackles, the most impressive number was the 18 points in H8s, up from a previous season high of 10 the week prior. That bodes well for a matchup with the Bulldogs this weekend, the team conceding the most SuperCoach points on average this season. Should be at the very least your VC this weekend in such a great matchup.

Rhyse Martin 2RF (Bulldogs) vs. Rabbitohs

GOD 2.0 is the ONLY player in the entirety of SuperCoach (to have played three matches at least) to score above 65 points in every game thus far — 65, 70 and 69 to be exact with basically zero attacking stats to this point. Yep, he’s the man. I feel like I’ve been shouting this from the rooftops for over a year now, but thankfully Dean Pay seems to be on board — and you should be too. Trust Martin with the armband every week, regardless of the opposition.

Kalyn Ponga FLB | 5/8 (Knights) vs. Titans

If you weren’t aware, Kalyn Ponga’s 81 points last week included 16 minutes on the sidelines due to an HIA. He has scores of 88 and 81 since the move back to fullback with huge increases in hitup, tackle bust and assist numbers. Even more exciting is this week’s matchup, the Titans, who Ponga averages a whopping 94PPG against in his career with scores of 98 and 90 previously. The best ‘upside’ choice for skipper this week without a shadow of a doubt.

Other options… Cameron Smith, Jake Trbojevic, David Klemmer, Sam Burgess

Good luck everyone, may the Orange Armband fall on the right man this week!