NRL SuperCoach: Trent Copeland reveals who to captain in round 13

OH boy. It’s Origin time, bye time and freak yourself out with a case of ‘blue-dot syndrome’ time, all at once.

OH boy. It’s Origin time, bye time and freak yourself out with a case of ‘blue-dot syndrome’ time, all at once.

As a result, captaincy choice has never been more important. Pick the right one, and that basically makes up the value of an extra player (or two) on the park.

Each week I will delve into the stats that stick out, the best matchups, form and even sometimes a gut feel to find the best skippers of the week. With everyone fielding less than 17 players this week, the captaincy loophole is an ABSOLUTE MUST as with no AE it is essentially a free swing the first time around.

If you aren’t sure how hit us up with a question on the live show and we can explain.

Without further ado…

VC options

Johnathan Thurston HFB (Cowboys) vs. Sea Eagles

Johnathan Thurston is a sneaky VC option.

Yes, I know, JT has been well below par (for his standards) this season averaging a career low 49.6PPG through 12 rounds and coming off the worst of those scores - 18 points vs Storm last week - everyone will be off him. Some are even SELLING this week despite the struggle to field a side. That is exactly why, if your first captain option this week is a risky one, it should be on JT. The Sea Eagles are depleted at the best of times, let alone without the Turbo Bros. Across his 11 previous meetings with the Sea Eagles, JT has averaged 69.7PPG with a high score of 100. C’mon JT, make me look like a genius.

PODCAST! Teams are in for the toughest round of the year so far. Get the lowdown with Tom Sangster and Tim Williams.

Jason Taumalolo 2RF (Cowboys) vs. Sea Eagles

Lolo has long been touted as the best captaincy option for this bye round, is one of the most purchased players this week and currently has a five-round average of 68.4PPG. In his full minute allotment (which could increase without Hess and Cooper in the pack) Lolo is at worst scoring 58, and best-case scenario is up over 100 against the Sea Eagles without Jake Turbo. The safety-first captain plan is Lolo with the VC here (then whack the C on someone like Cam Smith if he kills it), followed by Fifita/Surgess on Friday night.

Kalyn Ponga FLB (Knights) vs. Eels

Let me start by saying the obvious third choice here is Marty Taupau who I really like, but this one is for those who don’t have the ‘Kahunas’ to go the straight C on Ponga if Lolo/Fifita fail. Ponga copped a massive hit from Luke Lewis and will be in the concussion protocol/monitoring phase all week - so firstly double check late mail that he plays! Following that, there is no player with greater upside this week against an Eels side conceding a truckload of points in recent weeks. Prior to last week’s 30 in 66 minutes, his lowest score was 49 and the upside is sky-high!

Other options… Marty Taupau, Cody Walker, Shaun Lane (could play 80 at lock!), Matt Moylan.

Copes’ Captains

Andrew Fifita FRF (Sharks) vs. Rabbitohs

Fifita has been an absolute SuperCoach superstar this season, even playing 80 minutes two weeks ago in the absence of the likes of Gallen, Graham, Lewis, Sorensen etc. The scores are just monstrous - 104, 89 and 75 over his last three matches for an average of 89.3PPG. This week Fifita is projected by SuperCoach Stats to score 84 points (the highest of any player taking the field), and given the Rabbitohs are without Inglis, Crichton, and Gagai it could easily be more! Currently the most popular captain at 13.9% of all teams.

Sam Burgess FRF | 2RF (Rabbitohs) vs. Sharks

Surgess has been an enigma this season, playing the house down in patches, getting suspended multiple times, sin-binned and finding his way to HIA-ville on occasion - but that’s what you buy in to. The upside is enormous, and despite the Sharks being an extremely hard team to score SuperCoach points against overall, they are conceding the second most points to 2RFs in the competition. By way of career averages, Surgess has played the Sharks seven times for an average of, wait for it… 75.6PPG! I like those odds.

Lachlan Fitzgibbon 2RF (Knights) vs. Eels

If you aren’t aware of Fitzgibbon and how good he has been the past two seasons since getting his start on the edge for the Knights, well you’ve either been living under a rock or missed one of the great PODs of SuperCoach. Dubbed a potential Origin bolter, Fitzy is only owned by 6 per cent of teams, has an average of 64.5PPG this season along with scores of 88, 83, 49 and 78 in the past four weeks. Better yet, the matchup against the Eels this weekend is the best there is for 2RFs… Yep, the Eels concede the MOST SuperCoach points to 2RFs in the entire game.

Other options… Manu Ma’u, Ryan Matterson, Esan Marsters, Paul Gallen

Good luck everyone, may the Orange Armband fall on the right man this week!

Originally published as NRL SuperCoach: Trent Copeland reveals who to captain in round 13