SuperCoach NRL 2018: Wilfred Zee’s wrap of the good, bad and ugly from Round 20

LATRELL Mitchell makes every run count while while it’s nothing but woe for Warriors. Former SuperCoach NRL champion Wilfred Zee looks at the good, bad and ugly of Round 20.

• NRL Late Mail: Team news and changes for Round 20
• SuperCoach NRL: Wilfred Zee’s Fearless Predictions for Round 20

FORMER SuperCoach NRL — presented by hipages — champion Wilfred Zee looks at the good, bad and ugly of Round 20.

Roosters v Dragons (36-18)

The Roosters are the real deal. They really stamped their authority on this competition, and announced themselves as the team to beat along with the Storm, in this comprehensive victory over the Dragons. Based on this week’s performances, you would be expecting a Roosters v Storm grand final but as we’ve seen this season, a week, let alone six of them, is a long time in rugby league. The Dragons, well, they’ll make the finals this year but are they going to be a factor at the back end of the season?

Let’s look at the good, bad and the ugly in this game.

The Good

Ben Hunt (118)

For the Dragons it was the Ben Hunt show this week, as Widdop was thoroughly contained. Hunt stepped up where he could, scoring two solo tries (both with line breaks), setting up another try (with the associated line break assist), busted seven tackles, offloaded three times effectively, played his part in goal-line defence as he held up another player in-goal, plus got through 19 points of work in pure base stats. A strong game from him, but it wasn’t enough to beat the Roosters.

Latrell Mitchell (114)

Fresh off 129 points last week, Mitchell backed it up with a hat-trick of tries, two of them with line breaks associated with them, as well as six tackle busts, two effective offloads and four goals from seven attempts. His pure base stats were low as usual (only 17) but he sure makes every single run of his count! With the Roosters in this kind of points-scoring mood, he’s hard to leave out of your team for the run home!

The Bad

Gareth Widdop (23)

12 of his points were from goalkicks, and that sums up how poor Widdop’s base stats are for SuperCoach purposes. Having said that, Ben Hunt was clearly running the show for the Dragons this week, and scored accordingly.

Matt Dufty (31)

His score includes a line break in it already, and as fearlessly predicted by yours truly (one of the few I’ve managed to get spot on lately!) he dropped a disappointing score as he was unable to score any major attacking stats.

The Ugly

Luke Keary (37)

He played 51 minutes before going off with a knee injury. There were some fears that it may have been an ACL injury, but initial medical assessment seems to indicate that it is only an MCL injury, which should see him back before the finals. We then had the interesting scenario of Boyd Cordner playing five eighth with Ryan Matterson switching over to the left edge, and Mitch Aubusson coming off the bench and playing on the right edge.

Titans v Warriors (36-12)

The Titans finally beat the Warriors at home! It hadn’t happened for more than six years, but the Titans finally showed their home fans a victory over the Warriors. The Warriors were diabolical, and the loss of Issac Luke and Tohu Harris were keenly felt, notwithstanding the return of Blake Green. The Titans also put together their best performance for quite some time and it will be interesting to see if they can cause some trouble for other teams on the run home.

Let’s look at the good, bad and the ugly in this game.

The Good

Alex Brimson (99)

No doubt we all picked a half in this game for Perfect Eight – but it was probably one from the Warriors! Brimson played possibly his best game in first grade, as he scored a try, set up another, broke the line twice, assisted two other line breaks, busted seven tackles and scored 22 points in pure base stats. The Titans have a real potential star on their books, and it’ll be interesting to see how he goes for them next season – especially if he does switch to fullback as has been suggested.

Phillip Sami (94)

He had a great game, but the real highlight was THAT STEP he put on RTS. Poetry in motion, and I’ve re-watched it so many times as a result. Pity there aren’t any SuperCoach points for incredible steps! He scored two tries, broke the line three times, busted three tackles and scored 26 points in pure base stats – all runs, as he didn’t have to make any tackles! If only the Titans were more reliable, as at their best they have so much potential to score points, and Sami is likely to cash in on more than one occasion if that’s the case.

The Bad

Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (31)

Even his usual workrate was down (due to the stoppages, etc.) but was the real dagger in the heart watching Phillip Sami do a ‘Tuivasa-Sheck’ on RTS himself? Or watching him get a nice ball from SJ in half a gap, and the RTS of old would have steamed through without stopping… today, one hand around his jersey managed to pull him off his feet and stop a line break (and any potential try or try assist follow-up – especially with Fusitu’a looming on his outside).

David Fusitu’a (17)

In a recurring theme, he was in my team and this was one of the match-ups I targeted him for! The Warriors really let me down this week… not even one try!? Was thoroughly outplayed by his opposite number in Sami.

Dishonourable mention has to go to Jai Arrow, playing just 40 minutes. Or maybe it should be to Garth Brennan, for preferring to play Hipgrave (with his five missed tackles, two penalties conceded and two errors) for 73 minutes instead of James, Arrow and even Wallace for more!

The Ugly

No major injuries to note, although Gavet went off for a HIA, and Hurrell hurt his shoulder but played out the game.

Storm v Raiders (44-10)

The Storm haven’t really gotten out of second gear for most of the season, and it’s only been the last few weeks where they have started to warm up. This game was a bit of a statement, as they put on a score and still found time to give some of their ‘more experienced’ players a bit of a rest. The Raiders… well, this year really was a case of “what could have been” given how many close games they lost. They (on the whole) have no one to blame but themselves though.

Let’s look at the good, the bad and the ugly from this game.

The Good

Cam Munster (103)

Munster had one of his best games of the season against Canberra, scoring a try, setting up two more and putting together and a line break, a line break assist and four tackle breaks. His 103 points was his best score of the season and his five round average is an excellent 61.2. He’s a genuine option down the stretch as Melbourne begin to warm up for the semi-finals.

Felise Kaufusi (77)

Kaufusi hasn’t had the attacking numbers he put up last season but he was back to his best against Canberra, crossing for a try and running for a season high 123 metres. Melbourne’s attack has evolved and diversified, but don’t be surprised if they go to the newly minted Queensland Origin forward more and more often in the future.

The Bad

Brad Abbey (4)

He played the full 80 minutes on the right wing (yes, Sticky swapped Leipana over to the left edge, with Soliola playing right centre and Cotric playing fullback despite where they were all named) and barely saw the ball.

Will Chambers (13)

He has normally been associated as one of the highest base stat CTWs in the game but Chambers was barely troubled – despite being matched up against Leipana. He did miss three tackles and made four errors though!

Dishonourable mention to Jordan Rapana (29) who managed to get himself sinbinned with two minutes to go – for a penalty that he didn’t even concede! He just couldn’t stop himself from giving the ref a bit of lip.

The Ugly

No major injuries to note. Slater was rested with 15 minutes to go, and we saw a little interesting reshuffle with both Vunivalu and JAC given a go at fullback for a bit while Cheyse Blair played in the centres and/or the wing. Cam Smith then had a rest with 10 minutes to go, and I think we may have seen Hughes playing hooker and Joe Stimson having a go in the halves again. The Storm were having some fun!

RABBITOHS v EELS (26-22)

For most of this game I thought we were going to see a repeat of last week, but twice as bad. The Eels were beating the Rabbitohs! Until, they didn’t. The Rabbitohs weren’t great but they had just enough to sneak the win, and consign the Eels to yet another loss in their season from hell. Next week though, it’s going to be a cracker of a game, and a massive test of their premiership credentials, as they face the Storm. For the Eels, they probably have their minds set on next week’s game against the Titans but Round 24 – against fellow cellar-dwellers in the Cowboys – could be a legitimate ‘Spoon Bowl’.

Let’s look at the good, the bad and the ugly from this game.

The Good

Damien Cook (119)

Seriously I’m running out of compliments I can throw his way. He played 80 minutes again. He made 49 tackles and didn’t miss a single one. He ran the ball 13 times for 22 points – a total of 71 points in pure base stats! Throw a try assist, two line break assists, four tackle busts, four effective offloads (and just two errors) and you’ve got a monster of a game. He’s got such a high floor for such a dynamic attacking playstyle. It’s hard not to just go ahead and captain him every single week. What a SuperCoach gun!

Dane Gagai (102)

The ‘representative game specialist’ himself, Gagai hasn’t exactly set the NRL alight with his club form across the past few years. However, he is still a very talented player who knows what to do when given good attacking opportunities. He scored two tries, set up another, broke the line once, assisted another line break, busted four tackles and scored 30 points in pure base stats. How weird that the Rabbitohs had so much success last game going down their left edge, but most of the points were found on their right edge this time around

The Bad

Bevan French (5)

Three runs (only one of them over eight metres too) in 80 minutes. This was probably his second laziest performance in first grade. Yuck.

Hymel Hunt (17)

Hunt was sinbinned in the first half and was later substituted for Doueihi, but then returned to the field for the final eight minutes when Robert Jennings left the field for a HIA.

Corey Norman (32)

He was a big part of getting the Eels in front, but he also helped let the Rabbitohs back in. He contributed a try assist, a last touch assist, and two forced dropouts, but this was all offset by three penalties conceded and a sin bin.

The Ugly

Kaysa Pritchard (5)

He lasted just six minutes before a dislocated shoulder ended his night. A shocking run of injuries continue for Kaysa.

Daniel Alvaro played less minutes due to a HIA.

SEA EAGLES v PANTHERS (24-28)

So, the Panthers were pretty bad. Like, they were losing 24-6 to a Sea Eagles team that wasn’t playing particularly well themselves. But somehow, they found a way to score four tries in the space of seven minutes to mount an incredible comeback and take the win by four points. Seriously, how does that even happen! I feel sorry for Sea Eagles’ fans.

Let’s look at the good, the bad and the ugly from this game.

The Good

Brian Kelly (111)

Kelly had a hell of a game as he managed to show up one of the best defensive centres in the game while scoring one of his two tries (one with an associated line break), with the other coming off a fortunate bounce from a kick. He also set up another try off a line break, busted four tackles and scored 37 points in pure base stats. Great game from the young centre but somehow, it wasn’t enough to get his team over the line.

Nathan Cleary (98)

I had a coin toss trade between Cleary and Peachey this week, and in the end the temptation to ditch Kurt Mann from my squad won over. It was also looking like the right trade, 10-15 minutes from full-time until Cleary went from a score of around 30 to 90+ in the space of five minutes. Ouch. He scored a try, set up another, broke the line once, offloaded once (ineffective), busted two tackles, kicked four goals from five attempts and scored a huge 39 points in pure base stats – massive numbers for a half! He is looking like a must-have for the run home now he’s got the kicking back!

The Bad

Dallin Watene-Zelezniak (10)

He’s not 100 per cent fit and it showed in this game, with him barely having any involvement! Eight runs as a winger isn’t good enough.

James Maloney (17)

He’s not 100 per cent fit either but sheesh, seven tackles and seven missed tackles! He was almost outscored by Tyrone May off the bench in his 23 minutes!

The Ugly

Sione Katoa (38)

He went off early in the game for a HIA, and returned in the second half, but he may still have a suspected broken nose. He was replaced by Tyrone May at hooker while off the field.

Bulldogs v Tigers (16–4)

The Tigers needed to win this game to keep their faint, flickering finals aspirations alive. Well, that’s that then! The Bulldogs played like the Tigers did last week, in their upset with over the Rabbitohs, and somehow the Tigers forgot how to play good footy. A disappointing end to their season with such a promising start, but to just miss out on finals (pending a late collapse) has to be considered an improvement after expectations from last year.

Let’s look at the good, the bad and the ugly of this game.

The Good

Kerrod Holland (111)

In a game where there were a number of SuperCoach-relevant CTW options (such as Marsters, Hopoate and Nofoaluma) it’s somewhat surprising that Holland is the top score here. He scored two tries, both with line breaks, as well as assisting another line break, busting eight tackles and scoring 33 points in pure base stats. He’s cemented his spot in the backline over the hapless and unlucky John Olive, so well done to anyone who took the punt on him.

Kerrod Holland leaves Moses Mbye in his wake as he heads for the tryline. Picture: AAP

Rhyse Martin (78)

Martin bounced back from last week’s serviceable, but still somehow disappointing, score of 53 last week with a cracking 78 this week – all without any attacking stats! Sure, 16 of those points were from his four from four goalkicking – but that still means he scored 62 points in pure base stats and just two tackle busts. Hard-working edge forward who is also a deadeye with the boot – why are people leaving him out? He’s a captain option for sure …

The Bad

Luke Brooks (24)

In the most important game of the year the Tigers needed their halfback to stand up and deliver – unfortunately he wasn’t able to take control of the game.

Jeremy Marshall-King (19)

Right now JMK is being overshadowed by his halves partner, and he’ll need to step up if he wants to have a chance of staying in the halves next year when the likes of Jack Cogger and (a hopefully healthy) Kieran Foran are back on board.

The Ugly

No major injuries to note. Mbye went off just before halftime for a HIA which he passed.

Cowboys v Knights (20–18)

A classic “game of two halves” as the Knights of the first half were incredibly dominant, and then the Knights of the second half were unrecognisable. The Cowboys just hung in there, trying hard the whole game even though sometimes it wasn’t paying off. In the end, the Cowboys snuck over the line, albeit over a questionable forward pass, but the Knights really beat themselves in that game as they just didn’t come back out to finish the game after halftime.

Let’s look at the key performers in this game.

Lachlan Fitzgibbon ran riot against North Queensland. Picture: Alix Sweeney

The Good

Lachlan Fitzgibbon (125)

Fitzgibbon is fast establishing himself as one of the best line runners in the game, and it’s why he has such a good strike rate of scoring tries. He scored another two in this game, both with line breaks, busted seven tackles and offloaded effectively once. He also got through 50 points in pure base stats, plus made on tackle where he held up the opposition player in-goal. It was a great game from Fitzy.

Justin O’Neill (83)

Paul Green talked about an injection of “youth” into the team, but I’m not sure O’Neill fits that description. Still, he was good in this game as he scored a try, set up another, broke the line twice, forced a dropout, busted two tackles and got through 26 points in pure base stats. I wouldn’t get too excited though, as the Cowboys have a few tough games coming up.

The Bad

Jason Taumalolo (48)

It’s bad because he played 62 minutes for his score! That is a very poor workrate for the base stat beast, and most concerning is his lack of runs and metres gained. Just 22 points in runs!

Very concerning.

Jason Taumalolo underperformed against Newcastle. Picture: Alix Sweeney

Jake Clifford (18)

He’s just a rookie half and, despite some promising signs, he’s still yet to settle in. I guess it’s hard playing beside JT after all when you’re so young … but he’s made some simple mistakes too.

The Ugly

Ben Hampton (26)

He had played 25 minutes and just made a break up the field when he slipped over. The chasing fullback accidentally kneed him in the back and he was forced off in a great deal of pain with a rib injury.

Danny Levi (40)

He played 55 minutes before a hamstring injury forced him from the field, with Buhrer filling in while he was off. He was also sinbinned earlier.

Broncos v Sharks (12-10)

In a game that featured some of the best defence of the season, one of the most impressive team tries of the year, and some finals-intensity footy (albeit not quite finals quality with the errors from both teams), it’s sad to say yet again that people are obsessing over the referees. Chad Townsend’s missed conversion from almost in front of the goalposts is a far worse mistake from someone on the field last night — whether they were a Bronco, Shark or referee — than almost every other player. Yet all you’ll hear about is the “horrible calls” from the referees. They’re human too, and will make mistakes, but that’s footy eh?

Let’s look at the key performers.

Andrew Fifita stood tall for the Sharks against Brisbane. Picture: Getty Images

The Good

Andrew Fifita (90)

He played just 50 minutes due to what was confirmed to be a stomach bug, but he was busy while on the field, setting up one of Holmes’ two tries (with a line break assist), offloading twice (both effective), busting six tackles and getting through 52 points in pure base stats. After running up the tunnel to “offload” — and getting some old-fashioned lemonade vomiting remedy while on the bench — Fifita still managed to play out the game when he came on. Solid game from him as he was the captain in Wade Graham’s (and Gallen, when off the field) absence!

Valentine Holmes (85)

Holmes has really settled into his role at fullback after a tentative start to the season which saw him replaced by Dugan after a few games. Well, he is playing with great confidence and making plenty of things happen every time he gets the ball in good position. Holmes scored two tries, broke the line once, busted four tackles and notched up 35 points in pure base stats. He looms as a real POD option for the run home, as the Sharks have a fairly kind end to the season.

Kodi Nikorima was held well in check by the Cronulla Sharks. Picture: AAP

The Bad

Kodi Nikorima (16)

He killed it last week but in a low-scoring game he was ineffective. He was surprisingly okay in defence, so that was a win for him.

Chad Townsend (27)

His SuperCoach score wasn’t the worst on ground but Townsend is being blamed by some less conspiracy-theory driven Sharks fans for the loss — missing the easy conversion, putting in some really bad kicks which gave away seven-tackle sets, and generally not getting the job done. Some fans are even calling for his head.

The Ugly

Alex Glenn (20)

He played 36 minutes before a suspected broken hand or wrist ended his night, and potentially season. There are conflicting reports though about the injury not being as serious as suspected, which may mean he gets back in a few weeks. TPJ owners no doubt will be keeping a close eye here!

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Originally published as SuperCoach NRL 2018: Wilfred Zee’s wrap of the good, bad and ugly from Round 20