NRL SuperCoach 2016: Dave von Kotze’s wrap of early games of Round 14
MANY SuperCoaches were left devastated when Sam Burgess was injured but there have been standoutsand a few cheapies who show potential so far in Round 14.
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MANY SuperCoaches were left devastated when absolute lock captain Sam Burgess was injured and produced a miserly 15.
But there have been some standouts so far this round and a few cheapies who show potential.
Here’s how things stand so far in Round 14 with two games now done and dusted.
BRONCOS
Darius Boyd (119): bagged a hat-trick of tries with line-breaks to sit with a five-point lead for those Perfect Eight players who chose the Broncos fullback in the first leg to pick up the $80,000 jackpot. Boyd will rise in price by over $22,000 next week but is irrelevant as a SuperCoach option until round nineteen, if at all.
Corey Parker (114): thousands upon thousands of us recently broke the 11th commandment: ‘Thou shall not sell Corey Parker’. Didn’t he make us pay? Like the true champion he is and always will be in SuperCoach world, he crossed for a try with a line-break to inflate an already respectable score made up from 18 hit-ups (13 over 8m), 5 tackle busts, 5 goals, an effective offload and 23 tackles.
Anthony Milford (63): looked likely and was close to scoring on a few occasions. Milford is a big chance of being credited with an extra try assist and line-break assist on Monday when final scoring updates are completed but in the meantime, owners need to sit tight and enjoy an improved performance compared to his recent form which came from a try assist, a line-break assist, 4 tackle busts, a forced drop out, 8 runs over 8m, an effective offload and 12 tackles.
Corey Oates (32): another to have fallen from the lofty early-season heights that had his value climb to more than $372,000 because the tries have dried up for the Maroons winger. Appeared to be hampered for the majority of the second half with another injury and will drop another $29,000 next round.
Ben Hunt (27): a big chance to score another 12 points for a try assist and a line-break assist, instead of just the last touch, when final updates come through on Monday afternoon. Apart from that, the majority of his points came from 25 tackles, although he did lose eight points for missed tackles. At his current score, Hunt will drop in value by more than $27,000 next week after missing his break even by 53 points.
Tevita Pangai (19): only had 19 minutes to make his 3 runs, 2 effective offloads and 8 tackles to score with a PPM of 1. Pangai was a popular cheapie option this week and his owners will be hoping it was the disruption to the interchange schedule, due to Jordan Kahu’s injury, that resulted in these low minutes. Pangai will see an initial price rise of $38,000 this week.
Jordan Kahu (9): suffered a pec injury in the second half and had to call it a night. Kahu has also lost the goal-kicking duties and 6.2 per cent of SuperCoaches may now be forced to part ways.
RAIDERS
Kurt Baptiste (70): bottom-dollar cheapie who almost doubled his previous highest score of the year after scoring two tries with line-breaks. Potential owners looking for a cash grab need to tread with extreme caution and take into account he only played 30 minutes. In other words, do not fall for this trap.
Joseph Leilua (53): will only increase in value by just over $6,000 to be just under $470,000 next week because he was starved of the usual attacking stats that have been flowing in abundance recently. On an extremely positive note for his 9,802 owners, BJ still pumped out a decent base stat performance with 18 runs, 6 points from offloads, 4 tackle busts, a forced drop out and 10 tackles.
Jarrod Croker (46): headed for a drop in value next week somewhere to the tune of $43,000 after falling 83 points shy of his breakeven. By no means a shocker for Croker, who usually keeps his score ticking over with goal-kicking points, but with no tries or try assists since Round 11, his price continues to resemble a yoyo and will drop to around $355,000.
TIGERS
Kevin Naiqama (96): the Fijian flyer was the best on ground, SuperCoach-wise, for the Tigers with 2 tries, 2 line-breaks, a try assist, 2 offloads and 5 tackle busts during his 15 runs. Naiqama may sneak ahead of Alex Johnson as the game’s top scorer once the first round of updates is locked in.
James Tedesco (68): once again rewarded those who carried him through his stint on the sideline with a shoulder injury. Teddy appeared to bust more than 3 tackles and with an effective offload stat to be credited, updates could be kind. Teddy will edge at least another $11,000 closer to the $400,000 price range next week after setting up a try, which included a line-break assist, but he was given an early night in the final stages of the game after appearing to be in discomfort with a minor elbow injury in the final quarter of the game.
Josh Addo-Carr (16): left his and James Tedesco’s owners filthy when he put down an easy pass to score with a line-break early in the game. Addo-Carr’s price rises have hit the skids and he will only increase in value by $2,000 next week.
RABBITOHS
Alex Johnston (99): prior to the first round of updates Johnston is currently the Perfect Eight weapon of choice after a night packed with attacking stats including 2 tries, 2 line-breaks, a try assist, a last touch and 4 tackle busts during his 12 runs.
Cody Walker (85): has had an incredible resurgence since returning to the top grade and will now sit with a four-game average of 76. Walker will surge to heights in the coming weeks that no other cheapie has been this year, starting with a price rise of more than $37,000 next week if he finishes the round with this score, earned from 2 try assists, 2 line-break assists, a line-break, 3 offloads and 3 tackle busts.
Nathan Brown (58): played 57 minutes, most likely due to the Sam Burgess injury, but was one of the best for the Rabbitohs despite forcing Mitchell Moses into a concussion test in the final minutes of the game. Brown made 14 runs (12 over 8m), an offload and 33 tackles.
Sam Burgess (15): DISASTER. Pure and utter disaster for nearly 25 per cent of SuperCoaches who captained Burgess after his 107 last week. Burgess played just over a quarter of the game and could only muster 5 runs, an offload and 8 tackles.
Siosifa Talakai (15): very limited opportunity for the bottom-dollar cheapie who, if selected, will play his third game next week.
Bryson Goodwin (14): started the game in the second row after a late reshuffle when final teams were released but only played 30 minutes after leaving the field with an arm injury.
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Originally published as NRL SuperCoach 2016: Dave von Kotze’s wrap of early games of Round 14
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