NRL SuperCoach: 10 things we learned round 24

THE return of “Lazy Latrell”, a rusty Rabbitoh and a glimpse at our early pick for 2019 buy of the year.

Latrell Mitchell of the Roosters reacts as he is sent to the sin bin during the Round 24 NRL match between the Sydney Roosters and the Brisbane Broncos at Allianz Stadium in Sydney, Saturday, August 25, 2018. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

TOM Sangster recaps the penultimate round of NRL SuperCoach — presented by hipages.

1 Return of ‘Lazy Latrell’

Only a few weeks ago, we thought Latrell Mitchell had finally turned the corner on consistency. Origin showed him just how good he could be, they said. Origin showed him the impact he could have on games, they said. He duly went on a serious rip following the interstate finale, averaging 106 in the three games immediately following. However, the next three weeks have seen the return of “Lazy Latrell”. In this time he has averaged just 7.5 runs per game for an average of 34 SuperCoach points. Take out points for goalkicking and he’s barely averaged above 20. Saturday’s total of 17 points in negatives clearly didn’t help.

EARLY MAIL: Predicted round 25 teams

CASUALTY WARD: Injury carnage strikes SC final

WILFRED’S WRAP: Red hot Holmes

Latrell Mitchell of the Roosters reacts as he is sent to the sin bin.

2 Ponga, Aitken, Martin injured

Plenty of SuperCoaches will be forced to play short or rely on an auto emergency in grand final week. Ponga, the second most popular fullback in SuperCoach, is set to miss another week due to an ankle injury, which would bring his promising NRL season to a close. Euan Aitken, owned by almost a fifth of SuperCoaches, is highly unlikely for the Dragons after going down with a hamstring injury. Canterbury sensation Rhyse Martin, who came into the round with the third highest average of any player, is also in doubt for the final round after limping off against the Dragons. Both Martin and Aitken lasted less than 20 minutes, dramatically effecting SuperCoach scores.

Euan Aitken leaves the field with a hamstring injury. Picture: Brett Costello

3 Sweet Valentine

Holmes came into the game with the highest projected score in SuperCoach history — 130. At the time it seemed a rather ambitious prediction, but clearly the number crunchers at SuperCoach Stats were onto something. Holmes notched a try, try assist, six goals, two linebreaks and nine tackle busts on his way to 131. He will be the most purchased player once again in the coming round.

4 JT departs Townsville in style

Was this ever going to end any other way? It didn’t take a genius to work out the Cowboys would fire up for Thurston’s final home game. The greatest SuperCoach playmaker of all time wound back the clock with 90, including two try assists and eight goals. He has another great match-up this week against the Titans (who concede the most points to halfbacks) at Cbus Super Stadium (which is already sold out for JT’s final NRL game).

5 Forecast for son shine

Kyle Flanagan, son of coach Shane, could well emerge as buy of the year for 2019. His talent is well-known to keen watchers of the lower grades, but the young gun had been held back by dad and appeared set to end the year without an NRL game (which would have kept him at base price for 2019). However, Matt Moylan went down in the final training session and Flanagan stepped up to the plate with a fine performance that, fortunately for SuperCoaches, didn’t translate into a SuperCoach score. The young gun had a hand in a few tries, but missed out on any try assists. Further, despite being arguably the best goalkicker at the club, he wasn’t burdened with the duties on debut. The result was just 38 points, despite emphatically passing the eye test, meaning his 2019 starting price won’t creep too far above bottom dollar.

Kyle Flanagan had an impressive debut, but it didn’t translate to SuperCoach points.

6 Johnson a Smart choice

SJ has come good right when it matters for both the Warriors and SuperCoaches following a modest run of form during the middle of the season. Johnson came into round 23 with a six game average of just 45, but has gone on to produce 88 and 112. He has another decent match-up this weekend against the Raiders at Mt Smart Stadium, where he averages almost 70 over a large sample size of eight seasons.

7 Cleary totally addicted to base

The Panthers got smashed and Nathan Cleary didn’t notch a single try, try assist, linebreak assist or linebreak, and only kicked two goals. Any other halfback would be lucky to score 30. Yet, Cleary managed to notch a more than respectable 68. He is by far the best base stat halfback in the history of SuperCoach.

8 Cheapie to keeper in eight weeks

Reimis Smith scores his second try. Picture: Brett Costello

When Reimis Smith burst onto the scene as a cheapie in round 17, no-one was expecting this. He was the most purchased player that week with almost 20,000 SuperCoaches jumping on in the hope of quick cash. Fast forward two months and Smith has not only created a pile of money (almost $300,000) but developed into a genuine top 17 player. He now sits with the fourth highest five-round average of any CTW.

9 Tauamlolo produces on captaincy hype

There’s been a changing of guard in the captaincy stakes over the last few weeks due to the form drop of Damien Cook, formerly an auto select for the “C”. Rested up from a week in the naughty corner, Jason Taumalolo therefore started the week as the most popular captaincy choice with the promise of a huge score in Johnathan Thurston’s final home game. He duly produced a base stat special of 85 in 68 minutes. He could go large again this week in Thurston’s final NRL game, in front of a packed house on the Gold Coast.

10 Rusty Rabbitoh

Alex Johnston came into the game after a week off due to a hamstring injury and cleary wasn’t comfortable. The fullback’s involvement was way down, running just five times and making two errors for a shocking total of 12 points.

Originally published as NRL SuperCoach: 10 things we learned round 24