SuperCoach NRL: The players who are set to win or lose in 2019
We take a look at those SuperCoach prospects whose stock is set to rise, or fall, in 2019 due to player movement between clubs and forecast positional switches.
- Transfer Talk: Knights get their Mann, Dragons on the hunt
- Young Guns: Future Queensland Origin stars
Player movement between clubs, and positional switches within clubs, should be keenly watched by SuperCoaches as they often have the capacity to create, or erode, opportunity.
We take a look at some of the players whose stock is set to rise, and fall, in 2019:
BRONCOS
Tevita Pangai Junior (Winner) - With Josh McGuire heading to the Cowboys for 2019 there is opportunity for SuperCoach fan favourite Tevita Pangai Junior to lock in a permanent move to the middle of the park. TPJ played three games at lock in 2018 and averaged 58.33 PPG and 56 MPG - that’s 5.33PPG and 6MPG more than his 2018 season averages - over that span. McGuire averaged 66MPG in 2018, and TPJ’s Broncos teammates have put him on notice that he will have to lift his fitness if he is to handle the extra workload in the middle. Pangai proved in 2018 that he can score big attacking stats, if he can add 10-12 PPG in base stats to what he scored in 2018 then we will have a new addition to the 60/60 club (scoring over 60 points in over 60% of games) and one with a proven high ceiling.
SHARKS
Matt Moylan (Winner) - Valentine Holmes’ decision to ‘pursue his dream’ of making it in the NFL has opened the door for the fullback role at the Sharks. Couple this with Cronulla’s recruitment of playmaker Shaun Johnson, and it would appear that Moylan will most likely shift from five-eighth to fullback for 2019. Should the move eventuate then Moylan could be a significant bargain for 2019. Thanks to a lean stretch to close 2018 in which he finished with a 5RA of just 43, Moylan is sure to be available at a significant discount to the price he was when he averaged 62.2PPG playing fullback in 2017 and 63PPG at fullback in 2016. Add to that the fact that Moylan is available at five-eighth and he may just be a must-own to start 2019.
KNIGHTS
Kalyn Ponga (Loser (likely))* - By all accounts Newcastle plan to move star young fullback Kalyn Ponga to five-eighth in 2019. Why? I do not know. I mean, I DO know the theory - the plan is to move Ponga closer to the action and get him more involved in the attack. Buuut this is a kid who led the Dally M voting with just one round to go while playing his first full season at fullback. Who knows how much better he would have been at the position in 2019 with all that experience under his belt? Ponga played just the one game at five-eighth in 2018, round 23 before the Knights shut him down to rehab an ankle injury, and scored just 42 points.
I’m expecting him to average better than that despite the positional switch, Ponga’s talent is obvious and I’m not suggesting this positional switch turns a SuperCoach stud into a SuperCoach dud, but I’d be surprised if he nears the 66.89 he was averaging at fullback in 2018. One caveat to the doom and gloom is the news that Newcastle may hand Ponga the goalkicking duties full-time in 2019. Last year Ponga (27/39 accuracy) split the job with Ken Sio (25/37), should he take the whole of the role you can add approximately 5PPG more to his average.
* It’s his aforementioned talent and goalkicking role that sees Ponga listed as only a ‘likely’ loser. I’m not betting against anyone with so much ability, but as I say above I won’t be betting on him until I see how the move affects his SC scoring.
EELS
Junior Paulo (Winner) - Parramatta lacked a genuine power forward last season, and new recruit Junior Paulo is all power. 2018 was a tale of two seasons for Paulo with the big man suffering a foot injury in round nine and not returning to the field until round 16. Prior to the injury Paulo was averaging 45.25 MPG and 53.25 PPG. After the injury Paulo averaged just 35.7 MPG and 33.1 PPG. More than capable of shouldering big minutes - he averaged 55 MPG and scored 52 PPG in 2017, Paulo will be available at a fair discount to his starting price and he has shown enough of an offload/tackle bust ability to make the move up to the fringe of the FRF gun show should the minutes come at the Eels.
TITANS
AJ Brimson (Winner) - When veteran fullback Michael Gordon’s season was cut short late in 2018 it was AJ Brimson who was given the chance to fill in as custodian at the Titans. The livewire former touch star impressed in the role scoring 26, 84, 73 and 58. In the off-season playmakers Ryley Jacks and Tyrone Roberts along with utility Tyrone Peachey joined the club and all three are competing to partner Ash Taylor in the halves on the Gold Coast. As a result the pre-season will pit Brimson and Gordon in a battle for the fullback role. Should Brimson win, he’ll be one to watch.
STORM
Joe Stimson (Winner) - Having been used in both starting and bench roles in 2018, a strong finish to the season would seem to have given Joe Stimson first dibs as starting second rower for the Storm in 2019. Sharing his time between bench roles and starting duties saw Stimson average just 38 PPG in 2018. A workhorse in defence, Stimson never scored less than 39 in those games in which he started and averaged 52.7 PPG in those games. A bargain workhorse - sign me up.
Cameron Munster/Jahrome Hughes (Winner(ish)) - The retirement of Billy Slater opens the door for someone to claim the fullback role as their own at the Storm - the question is who? One learned colleague, Tim Williams says Jahrome Hughes will win the role, another, Nick Campton, is backing Munster. For the record I have no idea which way the Storm will go though am leaning towards Hughes at FB simply because I think Munster is almost as good in the halves as he is at fullback whereas Hughes seems a considerably better fullback than he is a half. If Munster does earn the starting fullback role then he must come under consideration for your side as he boasts an average of 73PPG when playing at fullback across the past three years. Hughes averaged 56.8PPG at fullback last year - thanks in no small part to a massive 120 points in round 17 against the Dragons - so watch his price should he lock down the Storm’s number one. While I consider whichever player is named at fullback to be a winner I wouldn’t be investing in them. There is too much uncertainty over the Storm’s backline makeup and I’d want to see a few more weeks of evidence before investing there.
RABBITOHS
Cameron Murray (Winner) - 2018 was an odd year for Cam Murray, with the South Sydney forward playing more than double the number of games he managed in his debut season of 2017, but at an average of less minutes per game. Not exactly blessed with a hulking physique, Murray nevertheless possesses one hell of a motor and he punched out better than 1.0 PPM in 2018 - with close to 85% of that in base stats alone. With Angus Crichton taking his talents to Bondi Beach in 2019 Murray looks poised to secure a spot in the South Sydney first XIII with Sam Burgess shifting to the edge and Murray starting at lock. In the seven games he started at lock in 2018, Murray averaged 62.7, a hefty 13 PPG more than his season average and therefore he looks a juicy bargain at his opening price.
* Canterbury’s Morgan Harper was listed in an earlier version of this article however at the time of writing Harper is on the Bulldogs development squad and will not be available until mid-2019.
Every Test, ODI & T20I live, ad-break free during play and in 4K. Only on Foxtel. SIGN UP TODAY!
$50K richer: SuperCoach champ’s first expense is shouting Kyle Flanagan
SuperCoach winner Blake Gentle is a groomsman at the wedding of Dragons five-eighth Kyle Flanagan and he knows exactly how he’ll have to spend the first part of his $50,000 winnings.
‘We’ve got to deliver’: No excuses as Sharks ready for finals charge
Craig Fitzgibbon knows few are giving his Sharks much hope in a week one NRL finals match-up with Melbourne, but the Cronulla coach is relishing the opportunity.