SuperCoach NRL: Rob Sutherland’s tips for round 11 captaincy

DEPUTY resident SuperCoach NRL stats nerd Rob Sutherland identifies the best captain and vice-captain options to lead your team in round 11.

WITH resident SuperCoach NRL — presented by hipages — stats nerd Trent Copeland enjoying a well-earned break from the rigours of nominating the best captain and vice-captain options each week I’m going to step up and offer my thoughts on the topic.

* Disclosure my record of picking captains for the Belalie Beasts has not been stellar this year so hopefully I can do better for you guys.

VC OPTIONS

James Tedesco (Roosters v Broncos, Friday 7.55pm)

Teddy does not have the best record against the Broncos, in fact he only averages 41.3 PPG against them. But Tedesco has been playing well over the past few weeks and while the Broncos have been one of the harder teams to score against they have been leaking points to fullbacks.

Tedesco currently boasts a 3RA of 64.0 and is coming off the back of an 83-point effort against the Warriors last week in a game in which the Roosters attack finally showed signs of producing points. When he gets it right Teddy can go very, very big which is exactly what you want from a speculative VC option and you could do worse than throw the light blue armband on Tedesco.

James Tedesco of the Roosters is a tempting VC option for round 11.

Tevita Pangai Jr (Roosters v Broncos, Friday 7.55pm)

At first glance it may seem odd to nominate a young Broncos forward with a career high score of 72 points (2016) and a season-high 71 (round two) as a potential vice-captain option but stick with me. The Roosters are pretty poor at defending the 2RF position in 2017 and Pangai Jr looks set to play pretty big minutes at the position due to the Broncos’ horror run with injuries. Blessed with a solid floor and capable of accumulating attacking stats with tackle busts, offloads and line breaks, TPJ will post a triple-figure score at some point and this game might just be the one he does it in.

Kalyn Ponga (Knights v Titans, Saturday 3pm)

This little factoid will come as a shock to nobody — the Titans are the worst defensive team when it comes to restricting fullbacks from scoring in SC — and so they’re the perfect team for Ponga to play as he seeks to emerge from a mini-slump. Averaging 69.6 across the season, the boom Newcastle Knight has slumped to a 3RA of “just” 58.3. Ponga has exceeded 70 points in five of his 10 games so far and it would be no shock to see him do that and more in what looms as a high-scoring affair on dry Gold Coast track on Saturday afternoon.

ROB’S CAPTAINS

Ryan Matterson (Roosters v Broncos, Friday night 7.55pm)

Having your captain play early in the round can be a blessing or a curse depending on how they go, I suppose, but if you wanted to lock in a reliably solid captain before the weekend begins in earnest, then Matterson’s your man. The matchup is a plus because if the Broncos have been a bit loose against fullbacks so far this season they have been worse against 2RF. Add to that Matterson averaging just a whisker under 50 PPG in base stats, and the fact that just 0.5 per cent of coaches currently have placed the armband on him, and you’re looking at a dependable POD selection.

Jason Taumalolo (Cowboys v Rabbitohs, Saturday 5.30pm)

After opening 2018 in a lackadaisical manner, Lolo turned the corner in round six and since then has a 5RA of 80.8. In that span Taumalolo has put up just the one score you would be genuinely disappointed in from a captain which was his 58 in round 10 against the Tigers. The Rabbitohs are the equal fifth-worst team when it comes to defending backrowers and it looks like plenty of SuperCoaches know it with Lolo the most popular captaincy choice for the week currently. Sometimes it’s nice to go a POD, other times it makes sense to cover the field and play it safe. Depends on how you’re travelling I guess.

Damien Cook looks set for a big game in round 11. Picture: Brett Costello

Damien Cook (Cowboys v Rabbitohs, Saturday 5.30pm)

It’s a perfect storm with Damien Cook, riding a hot hand of five games in which he has scored below 80 points just once, coming up against the Cowboys, the worst team at defending hookers. Cook has a season low base of 44 points and must be the safest captain choice for the round. Kiss. Of. Death.

Cameron Munster (Storm v Sea Eagles, Saturday 7.30pm)

Munster has hit a rich vein of form over the past three rounds for scores of 78, 80 and 80 and would be looking forward to a home match against the Sea Eagles. Manly are the third-easiest team for five-eighths to score against so far this season. Not the safest pick, and as someone who captained a lacklustre Anthony Milford last week probably not one I would make if I owned Munster, but one for the punters among us.

Jake Trbojevic (Storm v Sea Eagles, Saturday 7.30pm)

To be honest I wasn’t going to put Trbojevic up as a captaincy option this week solely because he’s up against the Storm, a team that defends his position better than any other. However, with a 3RA of 68 in base alone it would be remiss of me not to include him even if I’m a bit salty because I was stupid enough to trade him out a few weeks ago ...

Andrew Fifita (Sharks v Bulldogs, Sunday 4.10pm)

To be honest I wouldn’t make this move even if I owned Fifita. Which I don’t. Which has sucked over the past three weeks in which he has averaged 82.7 PPG. However, Paul Gallen looks like he’s back this week and as a result Fifita’s minutes should drop — the big fella played the full 80 last week so they can hardly go up! The Bulldogs defend FRF reasonably well and it’s the last game of the round — I hate waiting that long for my captain to play.

Originally published as SuperCoach NRL: Rob Sutherland’s tips for round 11 captaincy