SuperCoach Weekend wrap round 11, Magic Round: 10 studs go down in one week
Rarely, if ever, have we seen a tougher week on the injury front for NRL SuperCoaches, with Magic Round conjuring up some serious devilry.
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We thought the week leading into Magic Round was bad with SuperCoach studs Tom Trbojevic, Nathan Cleary, Roger Tuivasa-Scheck, Shaun Johnson, Reece Walsh, Max Plath and AJ Brimson all going down.
But the round itself was barely any better with Cameron Munster (groin), Taylan May (stood down following police charges) and Ryan Matterson (ruled out with stomach bug) all going down.
That’s a total of 10 genuine SuperCoach stars going down in the space of a week.
LOSERS
* Cameron Munster (14pts) - Came off with what appeared to be a serious groin injury in a huge blow for the Storm and Queensland.
* Taylan May (DNP) - Stood down by the Panthers over an alleged domestic violence incident.
* Ryan Matterson (DNP) - Ruled out pre-game with a stomach bug.
* Addin Fonua-Blake (34pts) - Played decent game time (50 minutes) but was well-contained by the Penrith pack.
* Wayde Egan (12pts) - Copped an early concussion and didn’t return.
* Reuben Cotter (32pts) - Played decent game time (51 minutes) but a strangely quiet performance from the Origin ironman.
* Jacob Gagai (17pts) - The most popular cheapie of the round barely troubled the scorers. Just 10 runs and no big attacking stats.
* Valentine Holmes (42pts) - Worst score of the year despite a try contribution and four goals.
* Angus Crichton (54pts) – It’s hard to class 54 points as a loser, but many would have wanted more from the barnstorming backrower. Crichton has been in scintillating form of late and will most likely rebound quickly.
* Ronaldo Mulitalo (40pts) – Somehow the prolific SuperCoach scorer was sitting on a duck egg at halftime and it didn’t get much better for Mulitalo after the break. A late try salvaged the game but still a sub-par score.
* Bradman Best (29pts) – 29 in a half is fine, but unfortunately Best did not come back out of the sheds after halftime. The bulky centre succumbed to a hamstring injury and a whole state will be closely monitoring his situation.
* Jaimin Jolliffe (7 points) - Only managed seven minutes before picking up a pec injury.
WINNERS
* Harry Grant (112pts) - Origin must be coming. Harry fired from start to finish ... well from start until the moment he got an early shower with the game well won.
* Blaize Talagi (100pts) – His side was totally hammered but Blaize again showed just how talented he is. His side only scored 16 points but Talagi was at the centre of everything good with a try, two try assists and 18 runs.
* Dylan Edwards (100pts) - Despite missing a host of crucial goals, Edwards (100) cracked the ton for the fifth time this year, notching a try and try assist.
* Latrell Mitchell (106pts) - Also notched a try and two try assists. With Bradman Best (hamstring) injured earlier in the day, did Latrell just play his way into NSW’s left centre spot?
* Scott Drinkwater (73pts) - A popular replacement for the injured Tom Trbojevic and heavily-backed in the captaincy stakes with Drinky the most popular C amongst the top 10 per cent of SuperCoaches. Looked on track for a monster with two early try assists, but barely scored a point in the second half.
* Nicho Hynes (114pts) – Another great performance by the SuperCoach darling. After being cleared of a calf injury, Hynes had a hand in everything, pulling the strings with his excellent kicking game.
* David Armstrong (108pts) – Three tries and three digits for the popular Newcastle rookie. Armstrong has been a revelation for the Knights since stepping into the side to replace the injured Kalyn Ponga.
* Dom Young (95pts) – Young backed up his fantastic round 10 performance with another huge SuperCoach score. If you don’t have him yet it may be getting too late to squeeze out any value.
* Sua Fa’alogo (81pts) – The popular cheapie produced the goods with a try assist, linebreak and THREE linebreak assists. Big price rises are to come, despite SuperCoaches going cold this week due to the injury crisis.
* Eliesa Katoa (98pts) – Another huge game from the super POD, rising high over Maika Sivo to score a try in junk time.
* Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow (90pts) - Looked brilliant for the Dolphins and will bottom out at a juicy price of around $670,000 for the upcoming round. He’s a buy for head-to-head players but not for overall players given he essentially booked his spot for Origin.
* Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad (76pts) - CNK’s move to the halves was a successful one. Despite the positional switch, he stuck to his strength - running. He made 14 runs, a very high total for a half.
* Taine Tuaupiki (84pts) - No wonder the Warriors were happy to shift CNK, they had a Ferrari in the garage ready for a spin in. Tuaupiki made 22 runs, scored a try and set one up.
* David Fifita (91pts) – Great game from Fifita who scored well despite not crossing for a try. He is clearly one of the elite 2RF options in the game.
* Reuben Garrick (98 pts) – Continues to get the job done, with a try helping him to fall just shy of three figures.
* Haumole Olakau’atu (86pts) – A workhorse who is a focal point of Manly’s attack and looks destined for his first NSW jersey.
* Ethan Strange (73pts) – Came up with a superb second half and his two try assists to Hudson Young were huge.
* Josiah Karapani (63 pts) – While he found it tough defensively at times, he ran for over 170m to smash his breakeven. Potential cheapie.
* Kaeo Weekes (71pts) – Owners are set for a price rise as Weekes continues to deliver.
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Originally published as SuperCoach Weekend wrap round 11, Magic Round: 10 studs go down in one week