SuperCoach NRL: Wilfred Zee’s Fearless Predictions for Round 20

TWO Warriors tipped to party on the Gold Coast while it’s time to cut ties with one young Dragon. Former SuperCoach NRL champion Wilfred Zee has his say on round 20.

MY predictions were a bit better this week, nailing three out of the five but, I copped my worst round of the year in SuperCoach NRL — presented by hipages — terms.

I am in free fall as I now sit outside the 700s … but I am feeling pretty good about my team this week, far more confident than I was last week!

The top eight solidifies by the week but there are some intriguing match-ups in the coming weeks which could have a massive bearing on the top four, as well as the race for the wooden spoon.

LATE MAIL: Breaking teams news ahead of round 20

POD WATCH: Nine underowned overachievers

Let’s have a look at Round 20.

1. Captain Pick — Shaun Johnson

I called his flop last week, but I’m super keen on SJ as a potential captain option this week. Did you know he has a career SuperCoach average of 88.4 against the Titans from 14 games? Further, he has an average of 84.0 from his four games at Cbus Super Stadium. His last scores against the Titans - 82 in round two this year, 97 and 147 in 2017, 110 and 65 in 2016 … he does all right against them, eh? The Warriors haven’t lost to the Titans on the Gold Coast since 2010, and plenty have described the Titans’ home ground as the Warriors’ “other” home ground. Lock him in for a 70+ score at the very minimum!

Roger Tuivasa-Sheck of the Warriors loves playing against the Titans. Picture: AAP Image

2. Stud of the Week — Roger Tuivasa-Sheck

I’ve had two successful trends this year when nominating captain picks or studs — hookers against the Cowboys, and fullbacks against the Titans. Combining the success of fullbacks, and the Warriors against the Titans, gives us the magnificent RTS — who has scores of 130, 94 and 85 in his three games so far against the Titans as a Warriors fullback. That’s a three-game average of 103. Yes please!

3. Flop of the Week — Matt Dufty

Dufty has been quietly bubbling away with a three-round average of 75.0, so well done if you managed to take a punt on him as a POD at fullback. He’s coming up against the best defensive team in the league in the Roosters, however, and this could see him struggle somewhat as he doesn’t score that great without the attacking stats. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Dufty go sub-40 this week and he may struggle to crack 50 even with an attacking stat. He’s a prime candidate for a week on the pine, assuming you’ve got the likes of Tedesco, Trbojevic, Ponga or even Tuivasa-Sheck to play ahead of him.

Matt Dufty of the Dragons is Wilfred’s Flop of the Week. Picture: Getty Images

4. The SuperCoach Gold Mine

Well, I got this one right last week, as we saw a season-high 1146 SuperCoach points scored by the Roosters in their flogging of the Sea Eagles. Maybe those Sunday afternoon games work well … so I’m going to look at another Sunday arvo game this week — the Titans and the Warriors to be specific. The Warriors have had great success at their second home ground, and, as noted above, SuperCoach-relevant players in SJ and RTS have great averages against the Titans and with that often comes SuperCoach points for them and the players around them. The Titans are also always capable of putting points on the board, so it will really depend on which Warriors turn up this week!

5. Upset of the Round — the Knights

It’s rare that a team sitting 11th on the table will find themselves outsiders when playing the 15th placed team, but here we are. Sure, the Cowboys are at home, but that doesn’t seem to matter this year as they have a 2-7 win-loss record at home or away. The Knights sit with a 4-4 win-loss record when playing away, so it’s not because of a poor away record for them. The Knights got Mitchell Pearce back, and are a good chance of having their prodigious fullback back from injury as well — perfectly timed for an old-fashioned revenge game against his old club! The Cowboys have struggled all year in attack, scoring just 15.8 points per game whereas the Knights are sitting at 18.3 points per game. I think the Knights will have enough tricks in the bag to take out the struggling Cowboys.

Bring on Round 20

It was a high-scoring round last week with plenty of popular players going large. The run home will be determined by getting the right mix of PODs and staple options in your team, as everyone’s squads look very “decked out” and reserve and captain choices could not be more important. Good luck on your selections this week!

Originally published as SuperCoach NRL: Wilfred Zee’s Fearless Predictions for Round 20