NRL SuperCoach: Fearless predictions Round 9

Jake Trbojevic is the man to captain this week, while former SuperCoach champion Wilfred Zee is also backing the Titans to upset the Sharks.

Magic Round is here and the buzz around Brisbane is building! Personally, as a Brissie boy I am super excited by the weekend of footy to come, but of course we need to prepare ourselves SuperCoach-wise, starting with the Titans and Sharks tonight!

Bring on Round 9, let’s get into it.

1. Captain Pick – Jake Trbojevic

It’s hard to go past Jake this week, as the Broncos have conceded the second most points to opposition backrowers and the most points to front row forwards in 2019. Their middle defence has been a concern all year and Jake Turbo loves some attacking stats when they’re on offer. His last three scores against the Broncos have been 114, 93 and 66 – plus Jake has only scored below 60 (a 58 and a 54) twice this season. A safe as houses pick that also has upside – I love it!

Wilfred's fearless predictions Round 9.

2. Stud of the Week – Ben Hunt

In amongst the multitude of interesting stories and match-ups this week, we have two former Broncos halfbacks facing off against each other – but for two totally different teams! Hunt returns to the scene of his joint demolition job (with Gareth Widdop) of the Broncos in the finals last year, and takes on the halfback who replaced him at the Broncos, in his first game with this new team, the Warriors. The Warriors may find their work cut out for them and the pressure will be on Hunt to step up and lead his inexperienced halves partner, to play as the main man in Norman and Widdop’s absences. I expect him to jag a few attacking stats against the questionable Warriors defence this week.

3. The #ReverseJinx Flop of the Week – Clint Gutherson (3rd time lucky?!)

Gutho owners need to thank me, as he has turned it up each time I’ve nominated him to flop. Well, I’m not just doubling down, I’m tripling down this week and also putting my faith in the Storm to finally stop their form slump and get back into the winner’s circle. There’s not much in the NRL that’s more daunting than facing the Storm after a loss, apart from losing to the Storm after a game they feel they should have won. Bellamy has been on the war path this week and I think that spells only one thing – the Storm at their clinical best and the Eels, along with Gutho, might be the unlucky victims. Of course, when Gutho goes on to another huge score, you can all thank me again for the #reversejinx.

4. SuperCoach Gold Mine

The weather looks like it’s going to be perfect this whole weekend which means it’s going to be perfect conditions for SuperCoach points. There are some tough match-ups to predict this week, and ordinarily a game involving two of the best offences in the NRL might have been the easy go-to prediction for the Gold Mine. However the Roosters and the Raiders are also two of the best defences and it’s possible we end up seeing a lower scoring affair. The Raiders are also missing some key attacking weapons in Leilua and Bateman too. For that reason, I’m going to go with what might be a lopsided scoreline in the Bulldogs and Knights game – the late change-up to the Bulldogs’ team, resulting in new defensive combinations, and the Knights seemingly hitting their straps in attack … I’m sure Captain Ponga will be a popular choice.

5. Upset of the Round – the Titans

Despite the Sharks being regular features in the top eight for a number of years now, and the Titans often being at the other end of the ladder, these two teams have had some surprisingly close games and right now, since 2016, the score is three wins to the Sharks, two to the Titans and one draw in their six match-ups. The Sharks were at their extremely gritty and determined best to beat the Storm last week and you have to wonder if their might be a ‘hangover’ from that game. Meanwhile the Titans will be happy to have the shortest trip to Suncorp Stadium outside of the Broncos this week, and could spring a bit of a surprise on the Sharks this week.

Round 9 kicks off tonight

It’s Magic Round and I can’t wait to watch all this great footy live at the best stadium for rugby league in Australia. Come say hi if you bump into me at Suncorp Stadium this weekend!