NRL SuperCoach: Wilfred Zee’s predictions round 13

IT’S finally here, the first bye round of 2018, and it’s already looking like the week from hell for SuperCoach.

IT’S finally here, the first bye round of 2018, and it’s already looking like the week from hell for SuperCoach – presented by hipages.

Not only are half the teams out on the bye, we’ve also lost plenty of SuperCoach-relevant players to Origin, suspension and non-selection. I know there are some SuperCoaches who have lost up to five players they had planned to have for this bye round – that’s heartbreaking after the weeks of planning!

It’s going to be an absolutely critical week for the overall standings, so let’s have a look at Round 13.

1. (Vice) Captain Pick – Jason Taumalolo

Jason Taumalolo is set for big game time. Picture: Zak Simmonds

The Cowboys forward pack is decimated this week, with starting props Scott and Bolton out due to suspension and injury respectively, and their edge backrowers of Cooper and Hess selected for Origin duty. The only starters remaining are Granville and their million-dollar man, Jason Taumalolo. We saw last year how well Taumalolo scored when playing big minutes and effectively single-handedly carrying the Cowboys down the field on his sizeable shoulders. He looks set to play big minutes – potentially even the full 80 – and he will need to take plenty of runs to get the Cowboys down the field. Lock him in for a high floor as a result, and there’s always the chance he carries a few defenders over the line in the act of scoring a try…

PODCAST! Teams are in for the toughest round of the year so far. Get the lowdown with Tom Sangster and Tim Williams.

2. Stud of the Week – Anybody playing this week

It’s a tough round, so let’s just celebrate every single player who will contribute SuperCoach points to our teams this week. You da real MVP, each and every single one of you!

More seriously, following on from the chat regarding the decimated Cowboys pack, that’s exactly the same reason why big Marty is my pick for Stud of the Week. Aside from Taumalolo, there’s no one else in that pack that Taupau will struggle to run against, and that is a recipe for tackle busts, plenty of over eight metre runs, opportunities for offloads and potential for linebreaks or other attacking stats. Throw in the fact the Sea Eagles are going to miss Jake Trbojevic’s 80 minutes in the middle, there’s every chance Taupau plays 60-65 minutes himself this week. A more than suitable alternative to putting the VC on Taumalolo.

3. Flop of the Week – Anybody not playing this week

Call it a copout, but this week is TOUGH, so anybody who takes the field for our SuperCoach teams this week is automatically a Stud to be honest!

Hah… okay, so the real pick is going to be Andrew Fifita off the back of the news from Shane Flanagan stating that he doesn’t expect Fifita to play “big minutes” this week. So Fifita is more likely to be playing 40 to 50 minutes, instead of the 65+ he has been playing during the recent injury crises. Of course, he could still score well given his explosive attacking ability, but he might be eased back into things slowly given his ongoing injury management for his knee. Either way, I’d avoid putting the big ‘C’ on Fifita this week.

Wilfred's SuperCoach predictions round 13.

4. The SuperCoach Gold Mine

Injuries, sinbins and another stop-start game meant my pick for Gold Mine flopped last week – the first week I’ve got this prediction wrong actually! We saw the Knights and Sharks put together the highest scoring game, and also the highest SuperCoach-scoring game with a big 1,593 points, 120 points clear of the next game in what was a lower-scoring week across the board. This week is an absolute lottery with so many SuperCoach-relevant players either on the bye or playing Origin, and for that reason I’m going to look at the least Origin-affected game this week. In fact, the Eels and Knights have supplied a sum total of zero Origin players, so they are (barring injury and suspension) rolling out close to full strength squads. Both teams aren’t defending that great either, so we could see a few points scored by both sides this week.

5. Upset of the Round – the Roosters

So, with 15 minutes to go in the Bulldogs and Tigers game, I was watching with the score sitting at 10-8 thinking, “I really hope I’m wrong with that prediction, I don’t want the Bulldogs to win while playing this kind of footy.” Thankfully, the Tigers came through with the goods and stole the win! It’s slim pickings this week, with the favourites being favoured for legitimate reasons. I’m tipping the Roosters, who admittedly are missing Teddy, Cordner and Mitchell, to perform far better than expected given they still have some pretty handy players remaining, including the likes of former Origin players such as Cooper Cronk, Blake Ferguson and Daniel Tupou, and up-and-coming fringe representative players such as Luke Keary and Sio Siua Taukeiaho. Plenty of quality still in that squad, so it would be foolish to write-off the Roosters at home this week.

Bring on Round 13 ...

The byes are finally here, and they are far harder than any of us gave them credit for. Lesson learnt – never underestimate the beast that is NRL SuperCoach! Hopefully you’ve got at least 10-12 players, as it seems anything under that will be well behind the pack. 13+ and you’ll probably be look at some green arrows for those playing overall!

Originally published as NRL SuperCoach: Wilfred Zee’s predictions round 13