NRL SuperCoach: Wilfred Zee’s round 24 predictions

FORMER SuperCoach champion Wilfred Zee is coming off a perfect five from five predictions last week.

A MOMENT to reflect on my perfect five from five predictions last week: what a feeling it is! At least one good thing happened in my SuperCoach season this year, as my strong moves in the middle of the year are now slowly spiralling away as I slide down the overall rankings.

Anyway, two rounds to go, and the race for overall honours is TIGHT. I’m very excited to see how the last two weeks play out. It’s also crunch time for head-to-head specialists too, so let’s not fluff around and get straight into it.

1. Captain Pick — Jason Taumalolo

Jason Taumalolo could go large in Johnathan Thurston’s final game.

A week on the sidelines where he would undoubtedly have been frustrated watching his team go down in a winnable match-up with the Sharks. I think Taumalolo will be fresh, rested and eager to play some big minutes in the ‘Spoon Bowl’. It’s also Thurston’s very last home game — and you can guarantee that the next JT (Taumalolo that is) will be desperate to send the great man out a winner in Townsville. Throw in the fact that the Eels are missing their main middle man in Nathan Brown (due to injury) and there’s a chance a sneaky try is on offer too.

2. Stud of the Week — Angus Crichton

The Raiders have leaked plenty of points to second row forwards all year — in fact, the most points (on a per minute basis) to second row forwards all year, as well as in the last three rounds. Admittedly, much of it has been to the left second row forward, but given the way the Rabbitohs have been attacking lately, and the type of player that Crichton is, I can see him having yet another strong game with some attacking stats mixed in. The only uncertainty is the weather, but if anything that probably makes him harder to tackle!

3. Flop of the Week — Alex Johnston

Alex Johnston may struggle for involvement on his return from a hamstring injury.

I might be slightly cheating on this one, but even if AJ is passed fit I would be very hesitant to play him given the nature of his injury, as well as the weather. Nothing worse for increasing risk of an already fickle, easily re-injured injury than wet weather! There’s every chance he could be ruled out but if he passes his final fitness test, I’d be minded to give him the week off from my SuperCoach side anyway as he may limit his involvement (which is already limited to begin with).

4. The SuperCoach Gold Mine

Absolutely nailed this one last week (it helps when the highest SuperCoach score record was broken in the same game) but I’m not as confident this week. The wet weather puts a real dampener (sorry) on things! So for that reason I’m going to lean towards one of the few non-rain affected games — namely the Warriors and the Panthers. There are plenty of SuperCoach-relevant players for both teams, even if their scores haven’t been as good as they could have been for a few recent games.

PODCAST!!! It’s sudden death in SuperCoach finals. Tom Sangster and Tim Williams have the teams lowdown.

5. Upset of the Round — the Titans

Call me crazy but I smell an upset again. The Titans weren’t fabulous in beating the Sea Eagles — no side leaking 34 points really should deserve a win — but they found a way to score even more. The Storm are a different monster but who could forget that incredible game at Suncorp Stadium last year when the Titans managed to beat the Storm with a scoreline of 38-36?! The Storm are obviously injury-affected right now as well, which could certainly see the Titans steal the win.

Bring on Round 24 ...

Every single point counts this week and the wet weather is a massive factor which needs to be considered. The late mail is crucial as always, and don’t forget to check your final team lists before locking in any late trades or reserve or captain decisions. Good luck to those fighting it out in the head-to-head finals, and especially good luck to the coaches of ‘Spartans’, Munsters Inc.’, ‘Gils Front Runners’ and all the other teams at the pointy end of the overall standings.