VK’s Saturday SuperCoach wrap: Jayden Nikorima benched and more injuries to key players

EVEN more injuries to key players, plus the last-minute benching of Jayden Nikorima, ensured another tough Saturday for SuperCoaches.

North Queensland Cowboys v Sydney Roosters from 1300 Smiles Stadium, Townsville. Roosters Jayden Nikorima after a Cowboys try. Picture: Zak Simmonds

EVEN more injuries to key players, plus the last-minute benching of Jayden Nikorima, ensured another tough Saturday for SuperCoaches.

Josh Hodgson (92) – fast becoming one of the Raiders’ go-to men in attack. Hodgson played the full eighty and complimented his 48 points of base stats with a host of attacking stats including 2 try-assists, a line-break and a line-break assist.

Elliott Whitehead (90) – proving himself a more than worthy replacement in the halves for the injured Aidan Sezer and Blake Austin. Backed up his respectable 83 last week with another high score which was made up of a variety of stats including a try, 2 line-breaks, 2 effective-offloads, 4 tackle-busts, 12 runs and 27 tackles. Whitehead is certainly not a five-eighth who likes to play in a dinner suit.

Ryan James (99) – big score in 61 minutes from the Titans captain which included a try with a line-break, 19 hit-ups, 35 tackles and 4 tackle-busts. Will head into round five with a three game average of 81 which is impressive considering his $319,000 asking price, however, he has inflated his points by scoring three tries in as many weeks.

Jarrod Croker (63) – jagged himself a ‘meat pie’ and kicked four goals to post a score that is virtually smack-bang on the 2015 season average which saw him selected as a safe set -and-forget option in the CTW by 26.7 per cent of SuperCoaches.

Shaun Fensom (59) – played 64 minutes and was all about the base, churning out 44 tackles and 14 hit-ups with 7 of those runs exceeding the 8m mark. Fensom will drop in price by over $25,000 after a concussion effected round two.

Shaun Fensom will see a huge price drop.

John Olive (59) – the $133,300 cheapie will see an initial price rise of $28,000 after scoring a late try with a line-break to set up the win for the Titans. Olive will continue to grow in value over the next few weeks if he can hold his spot in the starting side.

Josh Papalii (48) – averaged 69 so far this year but couldn’t cross for a try for the first time in three weeks. Papalii still churned out some decent base stats with 14 hit-ups, 5 tackle-busts and 18 tackles.

Ashley Taylor (34) – couldn’t fire from a SuperCoach perspective but luckily regained the kicking duties to kick three goals in the second half for a much needed 12 points. Taylor also had the last touch for a try and forced a drop out.

Leivaha Pulu (26) – a definite slow earner who will see a second price-rise next week of $18,000. Played 57 minutes which was positive but scored at an under whelming rate of 0.46 points per minute

Agnatius Paasi (26) – scored with a PPM of 0.78 but just can’t maintain decent, consistent scores when only playing 33 minutes. Owners may need to look at other options.

Shaun Kenny-Dowall (118) – had an absolute cracker on his 200th game for the red, white and blue-sters and was a man on a mission. Two tries, two line-breaks, two offloads, nineteen runs and thirteen tackle-busts capped off a great score on a milestone evening for SKD.

Blake Ferguson (76) – frequently looked dangerous at right centre scoring a try with a line-break and setting up another with a line-break assist.

Jamie Lyon (64) – top scored for the Sea-Eagles delivering a captain’s knock which included a try, 3 tackle-busts, 17 tackles and a flawless evening with the boot kicking five goals.

Jackson Hastings (64) – gave his 73,215 owners a little reminder that he still has plenty to offer as a cash cow setting up two tries and making 20 tackles to exceed his breakeven by 45 points. Took responsibility for the goal kicking in the second half which could also make him harder to sell.

Matt Parcell (53) – played the full game, made 45 tackles and 4 runs. Beat his breakeven by 86 points and will start round five valued at over $220,000. Parcell is playing well enough to hold down his spot and if he can maintain these minutes, he will grow in value and be one of the value buys of the year.

Daly Cherry-Evans (46) – continues to raise the blood pressure of his 6202 owners after leaving the field in the 65th minute with an ankle injury. Will drop in value by nearly $25,000 this round and will have to be moved on if his injury puts him in the re-hab group for even a few weeks.

Aidan Guerra (23) – moved to five-eighth when final teams were released and failed to have much of a SuperCoach impact in the halves with his points coming from 9 runs and 14 tackles.

Jayden Nikorima (11) – Nikorima’s SuperCoach stocks have taken a dive after he was relegated to the bench and only played 19 minutes. Those SuperCoaches who made the last minute trade to Matt Parcell would have been happy with their decision.

Jayden Nikorima was benched by the Roosters. Picture: Gregg Porteous

Kane Evans (34) – another 40 minute performance and final confirmation that despite ripping in when on the field, Evans is officially a 2016 trap. To quote Donald Trump “Kane Evans……..you’re fired!”

Jamie Buhrer (10) – sits with Ben Henry as one of the unluckiest players in the NRL after breaking his thumb in his first game back from a broken jaw only lasting 18 minutes.

Brett Stewart (10) – if SuperCoach Gold offered a section for ‘rocks or diamonds’ players, Brett Stewart would sit close to the top of that list. He is so influential in the Sea-Eagles attack and has a high ceiling but as the 1436 coaches who own him have found out the hard way, he can also leave you heartbroken with a below average score when shut out of the game.

Originally published as VK’s Saturday SuperCoach wrap: Jayden Nikorima benched and more injuries to key players