SuperCoach NRL: Trent Copeland’s captaincy picks for round three

Resident SuperCoach stats nerd Trent Copeland crunches the numbers, match-ups and form in his hunt for the best captaincy options for round three.

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What a weekend for the Copes’ Captains!

The headliners, Sam Burgess (129 points), Damien Cook (96 points) and Shaun Lane (71 points) all went berserk - as did Jai Arrow with a monster 110 points in 69 minutes.

But, who do we entrust with the all-important ‘Orange Armband’ this weekend? * Looks through the fixture list to see who plays the Bulldogs… *

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

Without further ado…

Trent Copeland's top tips for the armband in round three.

VC OPTIONS

Many teams will be left with the likes of Simonsson, Roache and/or Albert Hopoate among others as loophole skippers who wont play this weekend, so we have our first chance at a legitimate VC option!

Tevita Pangai Jnr FRF | 2RF (Broncos) vs. Dragons

TPJ was unbelievable last weekend against the Cowboys in a Taumalolo-like performance, scoring 70 points in just 45 minutes of game time. A try, linebreak, try contribution, 15 tackles, 10 points in tackle busts, an offload and 18 points in hit ups is beyond belief. The upside of this man is unquantifiable, and against the Dragons’ understrength middle third he could go bananas. Let’s hope Anthony Seibold gives him 55-60 minutes this week.

James Tedesco FLB (Roosters) vs. Eels

Teddy has started with scores of 23 and 52 in the opening two rounds, but this weekend he gets a matchup with the Eels who he has played eight times in his career for an average of 85.1PPG and high score of, wait for it, 180 points in round 25 last season! A try, FOUR try assists, 24 points in tackle busts just to name a few of the ridiculous stats that day. Yes, the Eels are improved, but no one is good enough to stop Teddy on his day. My VC this week.

Blake Ferguson FLB (Eels) vs. Roosters

Against his former club, on the back of a monster performance last weekend against the Bulldogs (scoring 119 points!!) you can see this being a good score from Fergo. SuperCoach Stats projects 71 points, and it’s hard to argue a case against that. Given he is only owned by 6.9% of teams, he presents as the perfect POD VC selection this week.

Other options… Kalyn Ponga, Anthony Milford, Corey Oates, Tom Trbojevic

COPES’ CAPTAINS

Damien Cook HOK (Rabbitohs) vs. Titans

Cook tore up the Dragons middle third last week for 96 points - hate to say I told you so after a slow-ish start in round one. ‘Onya, Chef. Playing in the last game of the round, a 10-day break from last week’s match against the Dragons, Cook gets a matchup with the Titans where SuperCoach Stats projects a score of 75 points. I’m calling that ‘unders’ for a second week in a row for the best player in SuperCoach.

Jai Arrow 2RF (Titans) vs. Rabbitohs

Wow. 69 minutes played for almost 300 metres gained, 110 SuperCoach points and amazingly NO Dally M points (lets leave that one alone). With Arrow’s extraordinary PPM of 1.4, if he is going to see 69 minutes of game time each week we are looking at some massive scores! This week he comes up against the in-form Rabbitohs pack and will be needed to play massive minutes if the Titans are going to compete. Oh, and SuperCoach Stats projects him to score 93 points… That’s an ok score, right?

Sam Burgess FRF | 2RF (Rabbitohs) vs. Titans

Yep, all three options this week fall in the last match of the round! I love Andrew Fifita’s matchup with a Taumalolo-less Cowboys for what it’s worth, but how could we ignore big Sammy B after his 129-point massacre of the Dragons last week. By way of career averages, Surgess has played the Titans 8 times for an average of 83.4PPG and high score of 133. Impressive. Clearly SuperCoaches are switched on as the big Englishman is currently the most popular captaincy choice this week at 11.5% of teams.

Other options… Andrew Fifita, Esan Marsters, Robbie Farah, Jake Trbojevic

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