KFC SuperCoach: 10 things we learned Round 9
There are a few scoring runs in KFC SuperCoach that go down in folklore – who could ever forget Jarryd Hayne’s 2014 run, or Jack Reed’s magical month in 2015? Enter Teddy.
SuperCoach
Don't miss out on the headlines from SuperCoach. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Do you have Teddy? If so, you’re probably still keen on KFC SuperCoach.
If not, you’re probably finding it hard to stay motivated, such is his dominance right now!
Alas, there’s still plenty to look at so let’s see what we learned this week.
Kayo is your ticket to the 2020 NRL Telstra Premiership. Every game of every round Live & On-Demand with no-ad breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly >
1 James Tedesco is scoring at an unprecedented level
There are a few scoring runs in KFC SuperCoach that go down in folklore – who could ever forget Jarryd Hayne’s 2014 run where he notched 12 scores over 80 in a 15-game stretch, nine of those scores being 100 or more? Jack Reed’s magical month in 2015 where he inexplicably surged out of KFC SuperCoach irrelevance and scored 141, 110, 110 and 70, before fading back to irrelevance afterwards? Anthony Milford’s hot start to 2016, averaging 90+ for over nine games? Valentine Holmes’ 2018 at fullback, where he averaged 90.3 across 12 games, not scoring below 64 points that whole time?
All those historical runs may eventually pale in comparison to 2020’s post-COVID-19 Tedesco, who is currently averaging 130.2 points per game in the five games he has played, and shows absolutely no signs of stopping anytime soon.
2 Reece Robson is flying under the radar
Since becoming an 80 minute player in Round 5 onwards, mostly at hooker although sometimes just at lock, Robson has averaged 77.4 points per game (inclusive of this week’s 116) and at 1% ownership, is an intriguing pivot from the common names of Grant, Smith, Cook and Koroisau.
He isn’t afraid to run the ball out of dummy half and when you can roll off the back of Taumalolo and the rest of the Cowboys pack, I can’t blame him! All this points to consistent points from his tackles and hit-ups, and he’s showing a real knack for sneaking in tries from dummy half so far – provided the Cowboys can keep getting up the field and near the tryline, there’s every chance that keeps up!
MORE KFC SUPERCOACH:
EARLY MAIL: Predicted team changes
CASUALTY WARD: Two clubs in COVID mayhem
3 Jai Arrow just isn’t getting the minutes
We know that Arrow is a KFC SuperCoach gun when he gets the playing time; in his 14 games across 2018 and 2019 playing 60 or more minutes, he averaged 81.6 points per game. Unfortunately, that just isn’t happening this season, with 2020 basically a write-off for the Titans already, we see that Justin Holbrook is playing around with combinations and giving other players – the ones that are staying around next year – more minutes and opportunity.
And fair enough! All this means that Arrow just won’t see the necessary game time to be relevant for KFC SuperCoach this year, which may be a blessing in disguise as he may become a genuine option to start with in 2021!
4 Latrell Mitchell is too frustrating to own for KFC SuperCoach this year
He’s having a two week holiday so plenty will sell, but the lack of goalkicking has really just confirmed exactly what we knew all along – that he doesn’t get involved enough and his workrate is too low.
Even though his run numbers have increased, his lack of tackles from centre basically evens that out, and the Rabbitohs aren’t a good enough team (not compared to the Roosters) to justify the rollercoaster ride that is Latrell without goalkicking. Do yourself a favour and cut him loose.
5 Dylan Edwards is a great POD at fullback
Only 729 teams own Dylan Edwards and enjoyed his 126 points last week. We’ve seen Edwards be great with consistently running the ball back but he has worked on his passing game and it is paying off big-time lately for the Panthers.
Two try assists, four line break assists and two try contributions highlight how much more involved he is in attack this year and with match-ups against the Cowboys (Teddy just put 178 on them), Titans (RTS just put 89 on them), the Sea Eagles (Dufty with 53) and the injury-ravaged Raiders (Papenhuyzen just scored 106 on them) coming up, he looms as an intriguing POD play away from the likes of Ponga, Gutherson and Papenhuyzen (not Teddy though, definitely not Teddy).
We often have some very left-field teams win the weekly prize. But this team is totally LIT. Congrats to Goannas, enjoy the $1,000 and free @KFCAustralia. pic.twitter.com/Ep0fqx0iWW
— SuperCoach NRL (@SuperCoachNRL) July 13, 2020
6 Pangai the prop goes alright
We haven’t seen much of him setting the world alight playing in the middle, with the common narrative being that Tevita Pangai the edge backrower is better overall for KFC SuperCoach purposes. Well, that narrative might be changing after his starring role this week. He played 50 high intensity minutes, squashing in 28 tackles, 15 runs for 21 points, four tackle busts and six offloads (three effective).
Then there’s his opportunistic, but 100% effort, try – his offload which contributed to the Oates’ try and of course, his amazing ‘flick of the wrist’ offload (while being pushed over the sideline by five Bulldogs!) to deliver Isaako his second try on a silver platter. He won’t get that many attacking stats normally but the workrate is impressive and he looks eager to offload at every opportunity.
7 Josh Papalii is basically the ‘last man standing’
The Raiders have been savaged by injury after injury – especially up front. This means Papalii has no choice but to play big minutes, and do everything basically. 62 minutes this week, and he’s gone large on a significant majority of his games over 55 minutes.
This is a public acknowledgement that I was wrong and @copes9 was right with regards to Shaun Johnson vs Cody Walker over the past 4 weeks in @SuperCoachNRL I humbly acknowledge this in the most public forum available to me. pic.twitter.com/Oy0WaRh5sF
— Rob Sutherland (@rob_sutherland3) July 13, 2020
He has an incredible strike rate as a prop in scoring tries, as he demonstrated this week even against the stingy defence of the Melbourne Storm, and if the Raiders are any chance of winning games in coming weeks, he *has* to keep playing big minutes. He’s owned by 12% of teams but there’s a good chance that plenty up the top don’t own him – it might be worth doing some research to check that out if you’re at the pointy end.
8 Nathan Brown is high risk, high reward
Much like Tevita Pangai, Nathan Brown plays with his heart on his sleeve, and leaves everything on the field. That sometimes results in ‘acts of passion’ and not the good sort, that eventually mean another trip to the judiciary and another few weeks off the field. However, there’s no denying his impact on the field, and on the stats sheet for KFC SuperCoach purposes.
He’s scored 69, 95 and now 82 in his last three games. Most of that has been in base and base attack stats, with just a line break, a line break assist and one try contribution in those scores. With the Eels just continuing to roll on each week, Brown could be a serious option at just 2% ownership currently.
9 Paul Vaughan continues on steadily
2020 Paul Vaughan has just been steady all year, with an average of 61.2 points per game across nine games and scoring between 48 to 72 points each week. There have been no attacking stats and hardly any base attack stats.
But with Ben Hunt seemingly the new starting hooker, a more offensively-minded hooker than McInnes, the likelihood of more attacking stats for the pack is a genuine chance, as evidenced by the try that Josh Kerr just scored this week. We know Vaughany can score them (just refer to 2017’s record-breaking prop tryscoring season), so at 3.9% ownership he’s another decent POD option for your FRF position.
10 Zac Lomax has pushed himself into top five CTW contention
Currently sitting as the fourth best CTW in overall points, and sixth best on averages (although Ikuvalu probably doesn’t really count does he?!), Lomax has certainly settled into his right centre position. His scores are consistent and he’s finding ways to get some attack.
At this rate, there’s genuinely no point selling him and he – much like Kurt Mann even – is a legitimate season-long hold. Looking at his immediate upcoming draw, you’d fancy his chances to score well in every game until the next Roosters game – but even then you remember that he rolled out 70+ against them too, and you can probably look at the Dragons’ run for the rest of the season and think about him as a genuine option for the rest of the year.
Good luck for Round 10
Can Teddy keep his ridiculous run going? That’s the $1,000,000 question – literally! If he nails another big score this week, we might see the first million dollar KFC SuperCoach player! Good luck with your trades this week.
Originally published as KFC SuperCoach: 10 things we learned Round 9