KFC SuperCoach Plus Article: Now or never on top POD Adam Doueihi

Why oh why did Wests Tigers coach Michael Maguire move Adam Doueihi away from five-eighth in the first place?

The post-Origin round is always tense and not much fun, and late withdrawals/players not backing up certainly make life “interesting” to say the least. AEs were clearly an issue this week as plenty of Teddy/Turbo owners were left stranded without a fullback. Let’s see what else we learned from Round 18.

• Corey Thompson is gearing up for a strong finish to 2021

Corey T was averaging 76.1 points per game across Rounds 1 to 7 this year, before an ankle injury in Round 8 saw his scoring crash to a halt. Since his return to play in Round 16, he has delivered scores of ‘just’ 37 and 44, however those have been solely in base and base attack stats. It’s worth noting though, he has been on the right wing since his return, which is definitely not the preferred attacking edge for the Titans. Round 18 sees an expected return to the left wing (to accommodate the less experienced Greg Marzhew on the right) which may see a strong return to the big scores from earlier in the season. At just 2% ownership, he looms as a great POD option.

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• Adam Doueihi – how good!

Why oh why did Madge move Doueihi away from five-eighth? His return to the No. 6 jersey was triumphant to say the least, with a ridiculous FIVE try assists and five line break assists and one try contribution (96 points in attacking stats). That still leaves another 44 points in base and base attack stats, plus a net positive of 14 points from goalkicking – a floor of 58 points. It goes a long way to explaining why Doueihi has an average of 83.6 points per game when playing five-eighth this year; a number that is definitely boosted by the goalkicking. The Tigers have a friendly draw to end the season, and he has a -40 BE – it’s now or never!

Adam Doueihi is a great POD this week.

• Ryan Matterson showed his ease of scoring again

It was the best score from Matto for a while but the most impressive part from his 135 wasn’t the attacking stats – it was the 80 points in base and base attack stats (especially the 24 points in offloads) that really caught the eye. The concern of course has been his minutes, not having played 80 minutes since Round 10. However, he’s since had four games of 70 to 75 minutes which I guess is, “close enough”; and with a tougher run home there’s the real possibility Matto will be required to play the full 80 minutes. This will ultimately depend on the final make-up of the Eels interchange – a four forward bench is always more likely to lead to lesser minutes for all the forwards, but when Will Smith (or any other utility) is on the bench, it definitely does help out the likes of Matterson and Papali’i.

• Josh Schuster rewarded the faithful

Schuster owners who held through his injury duly received their reward last week, with a 96 first game back. The fact he made it through 80 minutes on the edge, while still scoring 62 points in base and base attack stats (including nine tackle busts and two effective offloads!) showed he will be a viable option to hold for the rest of the season, especially as a second five-eighth option. There still hangs some uncertainty over his role/minutes moving forward, especially once the Sea Eagles have to figure out where Curtis Sironen and Karl Lawton fit in the team later. But for now, he seems to be safely locked in as a starter.

• Xavier Savage has some X-factor to him

It’s so unfortunate that upon having his breakout game, the “Savage Garden” has now suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. We saw what the pre-debut hype was about, with some serious elusiveness and pace on full display from the young fullback. With 33 points in pure base combined with another 28 in base attack stats (10 tackle busts and two effective offloads), he combined a great workrate and involvement with strong support play and creative input in attacking raids. It would have been great to see what else he could have done this season, but this might be a sign of things to come.

• Justin Olam keeps getting better

Olam has had a decent, but not amazing, season this year but there are signs that better things are on the way. While overall his average is solid without being special (55.4 for the year), if you remove the four games he played while Cam Munster wasn’t in the line-up, his average takes a sharp increase to 62.1 points per game, which while not game-breaking, is very reliable for your 4th or 5th CTW option. With a four-game average (since Munster’s return in Round 14) of 72.5 points per game, and coming off 124 points where he scored two tries and had 48 points in base and base attack stats, Olam could come home with a wet sail if he and Munster continue to combine so well.

• Matt Lodge had one of the most impressive games of his career

For KFC SuperCoach purposes at least, if not even for NRL purposes. I mean, how often do you have a prop that plays the full 80 minutes, while smashing out 96 points in base and base attack stats – 52 in pure base, plus 44 in base attack stats! These are incredible numbers, and while it’s unlikely he can do this on a weekly basis, there really are very few props in the NRL who could play the full 80 minutes, let alone with this impressive workrate. With the season-ending ACL injury to Tohu Harris, there are middle forward minutes on offer at the Warriors and you would think Lodge has carved himself a sizeable portion of those minutes moving forward with this performance!

• Reece Walsh is having a great rookie season

There’s no denying the impact Walsh has had since joining the Warriors earlier in the year. He’s had some great highlight plays and also sparked a lot of the Warriors’ attack. His game is still developing but there’s no denying that he isn’t ideally suited for KFC SuperCoach purposes – yet. His workrate is lacking, as evidenced by his average of just 32 points in base and base attack stats in his 80 minute games at fullback, but it’s worth noting he has seemingly taken on board the goalkicking with Kodi Nikorima struggling with a leg injury for the past few weeks. Having said that, it’s only added four, eight and six points to his score the past few weeks, but it’s still a little added bonus to his floor! Walsh presents as a risky option to run at fullback ahead of the likes of Ponga, Papenhuyzen and others.

• Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, he can really go!

It’s unfortunate that it’s due to injury (to Val Holmes) but when the Hammer gets his chance at fullback, we get the opportunity to see him play his most natural position. We’ve spoken about his speed in the past but when we see him in the open field, there are very few runners who cover ground as gracefully and with such ease. It was very encouraging to see him put up some great KFC SuperCoach numbers this week too, as he scored 59 points in base and base attack stats – a number that appears to be an anomaly but it’s still impressive to see what he is capable of. A steady role, and steady numbers like that, and he becomes extremely interesting for KFC SuperCoach in the coming seasons! UPDATE: Unfortunately injury strikes again, with Hammer ruled out for six weeks after an emergency appendectomy.

• Cam Murray looks set for a big end to 2021

Murray started off the year in fairly underwhelming fashion, averaging just 56.2 points per game over the first five rounds. He started showing some more encouraging signs after that (scores of 105 and 86) before succumbing to injury in Round 8. His return in Round 12 was underwhelming too (given he rushed back) but since his proper return in Round 15 onwards, Murray has a three round average of 88 points per game and looks set to cash in on some attacking stats almost every week. He still might get moved to centre any time there’s an injury or two, but let’s face it, when the Rabbitohs’ attack is as hot as it is, he can jag some attacking stats at centre (like he did just this past week!). He looms as a strong candidate to replace the injured Tohu Harris…

Bring on Round 18!

Originally published as KFC SuperCoach Plus Article: Now or never on top POD Adam Doueihi