SuperCoach NRL: Wilfred Zee’s Fearless Predictions for Round 18

BACK Jason Taumalolo as your skipper, but don’t expect big things from Jake Trbojevic following his Origin heroics. Former SuperCoach NRL champ Wilfred Zee has his say on round 17.

WOW! Talk about an unpredictable round. Despite lower player numbers across the board, the scores were higher due to the scorelines of the NRL games played. Some impressive bye period scores, especially from those up the top of the standings. We get the full compliment of teams back for this week, so instead we get to have the headaches of choosing the right reserves again!

It’s going to be yet another tough round — presented by hipages — so let’s have a look at Round 18.

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Jason Taumalolo could go large in a depleted Cowboys pack. Picture: Zak Simmonds

1. Captain Pick – Jason Taumalolo

Fresh from the bye, Taumalolo will be primed for the game against the Raiders this week.

Sure, it’s in Canberra, and the temperature might be in the single digits come game time, but Lolo is too important for a forward pack missing Matt Scott and having Gavin Cooper and Coen Hess backing up from Origin (that is, if they back up) to not play big, big minutes this week (if not the full 80 again). Sporting a five round average of 78.6 and facing a Raiders team that has given up plenty of points to opposition backrowers this year, he seems a very safe bet for a 70+ score with the potential to go large.

2. Stud of the Week – Sam Burgess

If I could be more convinced of his minutes and whether Damien Cook is playing, I would be touting Surgess as a strong captaincy option this week. After all, he has such a high ceiling when he gets to play 80 minutes at lock. In any case, up against the Bulldogs, who have leaked the second most points to backrowers this year, Surgess is still primed for a strong game and certainly has the potential to go large. His season average may only be 60.5 (64.6

without that injury-affected score of 15) but he is averaging above 68 and 72 in the past five

and three rounds. He has seriously missed out on attacking stats this year, given he has just

two try assists all year. The last time Surgess went a whole season without scoring a try was in 2011 – where he played just four games. Aside from that, his season low tally was five –

so you can bet he is extremely keen to get off the nudie run this season. Could be this week!

Jake Trbojevic has a tough ask to back up from Origin. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

3. Flop of the Week – Jake Trbojevic

He’s just come off a mammoth 74 minutes in the middle of one of the most intense Origin

games ever. Where the Blues defended their line for something like seven consecutive sets

in the first half. Backing up on Saturday against the Melbourne Storm isn’t something to look

forward to. Odds are that he doesn’t play 80 minutes and whilst you can never discount the

possibility of attacking stats for Jake, I would expect his baseline to be lower so probably best to keep the Captaincy armband away from him.

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4. The SuperCoach Gold Mine

We broke new ground this week, with the Dragons and Storm game featuring 1,901 SuperCoach points scored between the two teams. That’s a lot of points! I guess when your

spine all ton up, you’d think there would be plenty of points to go around… This week, I like

the look of the Broncos and Warriors game. Sunday afternoon, perfect weather, Suncorp

Stadium, two strong attacking teams – sounds like a perfect recipe for a points-fest!

5. Upset of the Round – the Panthers

They already provided a massive upset last week as the ‘Baby Panthers’ rolled the hapless

Warriors, but the Sharks are a different prospect. Still, at home, with their forward pack

largely untouched due to Origin and with the young halves ready to rip in again… the Sharks

can’t be complacent at all. This is the kind of game that the Panthers need to win if they are

to really demonstrate that they are a premiership force, and I’m looking forward to seeing if

they can do it! The Sharks will make the Panthers beat them, as they rarely beat

themselves.

Bring on Round 18

The Origin is over, the byes are past, and aside from this week it is looking like a clear run to

the end of the NRL – and SuperCoach – season. Good luck to everyone as you hopefully

finalise your teams while surviving the carnage of post-Origin injury/suspension wash-up,

and make sure you work out a plan for the players who may or may not play this week!

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Originally published as SuperCoach NRL: Wilfred Zee’s Fearless Predictions for Round 18