NRL SuperCoach: Five things we learned from Dragons v Bulldogs, Manly v Cowboys

It was raining SuperCoach tons as the Sea Eagles Brookvale Oval dominance continued with an annihilation of the Cowboys. Here are five things we learned from Super Saturday.

It was raining SuperCoach tons as the Sea Eagles Brookvale Oval dominance continued with a thumping 42-12 win over North Queensland.

Earlier, Canterbury reinforced their finals credentials with a convincing showing before a late St George fightback cut the margin to 28-20.

See the big SuperCoach takeaways and scroll down to relive our live coverage.

FIVE THINGS WE LEARNED FROM SUPER SATURDAY

1. CAPTAIN TURBO AT BROOKVALE

Tom Trbojevic has a tremendous record at Manly’s home ground, he rarely scores below 100 there and tonight was no different. He was simply a class above and was involved in all of Manly’s game-breaking plays.

Produced a healthy SuperCoach return of 107 points which most coaches would take in a heartbeat as their captain’s score.

SuperCoaches know to trust in Tom Trbojevic - especially at 4 Pines Park. Picture: Getty Images

2. COWBOYS CASH COWS DIDN’T DELIVER

A popular cheap option in the halves after he beat Jake Clifford to the races for a halves spot with the Cowboys, Tom Duffy - like many North Queensland players - had a night to forget. He scored just 18 SuperCoach points and coaches will be hoping for better returns moving forward.

Jaxon Purdue is a kid with bucket loads of potential but after some exceptional trial performances - he scored 91 points in his most recent outing - he was well below his best to register just 26 points on Saturday as his defensive frailties were exposed.

3. DCE HAS STILL GOT IT

Entering his 15th season and in game 330, Daly Cherry-Evans was clinical and has the highest SuperCoach score of the round so far with 123 points following Manly’s demolition job. For those looking for a slightly cheaper option that the top range premium halves, you could do worse than DCE if he turns it on like that every week.

His longevity of course remains a question mark and it’s worth noting that after scoring two tons in this first six rounds last season, he only scored one more after that and his scores tapered off significantly in the back-end of the season.

4. TUIPULOTU REAPING LEFT EDGE REWARDS

The Dragons attacked down the left edge heavily in pre-season and it was no different on Saturday evening as Christian Tuipulotu scored the second hat-trick of his NRL career. If St George continues to favour its left edge so strongly the winger could be set for some monster scores. Opened his account with 123 points.

5. TUPOUNIUA WORTH WATCHING

Sitili Tupouniua was immense for the Bulldogs off the bench in their convincing eight-point triumph over St George, and outperformed the other mid-price second rowers dramatically with 109 points. If he scores well again next week, he could be worth cashing in on for a healthy price boost before the prices change given his breakeven was just 43 on Saturday. He costs $425,800.

Originally published as NRL SuperCoach: Five things we learned from Dragons v Bulldogs, Manly v Cowboys