NRL SuperCoach: Paul Gallen, Corey Parker, Johnathan Thurston — who should be your captain?

IT’S the cornerstone of any successful NRL SuperCoach side — picking the right captain. SuperCoach guru Trent Copeland reveals his top pick.

WELCOME to the cornerstone of any successful SuperCoach side … Picking the right captain! Some may like to just lock in the Paul Gallen/Corey Parker type every week, and some may use this article each week to get a little nudge ahead of the pack with trends on form, new opportunities or maybe just a hunch.

The infamous “Captains Loophole” will be discussed at length in this segment each week. No idea what I am talking about? Here’s a quick summary of what all the SuperCoach cool kids are doing, and how to execute the best trick in the book.

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1. If you have a non-playing player, put them on your field and make them captain.

2. Ensure that this ‘C’ player won’t play until after your vice-captain choice.

3. Choose a player who plays early in the week (Thursday or Friday) as your VC.

4. Did your VC kill it? If your VC was Sam Burgess, and he scores a truckload (100+ is normally a good number to stick to) then you will stop here and not make any further changes. You will receive the Vice-Captain score because your captain did not play, that is the role of the vice-captain.

5. Did your VC have a stinker? If your VC had a bad game or even worse, got

injured, then you can swap the ‘C’ off of your non-playing player (they can’t have

played yet) and on to a legitimate captain option, perfect guy is Paul Gallen. This

way you get your new captain score.

6. The captains loophole gives you two chances to get the best captain score.

Important: Remember though that you will get your lowest score from the rest of your squad as the auto-emergency replacement player, and to start the year you shouldn’t be having any non-playing players in your 25-man squad, so this is best used in big bye rounds.

Paul Gallen is a popular choice as SuperCoach captain. Picture: Tim Hunter

Still can’t get it? Here’s a video Tom Sangster and I did last year to give you a bit more of a run down on how to make it work.

Now on to this week’s Captain options.

As it is the first week of the season, the safest way to go is to pick your highest averaging player from last season that you’re starting with. I’m always an advocate of picking guys with big base stats like Gallen and Parker, so that is where we will begin with no form on the board, but expect to see some left-field guys make the list in future.

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CAPTAINCY OPTIONS

Paul Gallen FRF | 2RF (Sharks) v Cowboys

Gal will be my captain this week, and most weeks that he is healthy. A career average of 77.67 points against the Cowboys across nine matches and easily the highest ‘floor’ of any possible selection. If you own him, it’s simple — stop reading now and put the C on him!

Corey Parker FRF | 2RF (Broncos) v Eels

Yes, it’s away at Pirtek Stadium, but the man is called ‘GOD’ in SuperCoach circles for a reason. An average of 80.30 over 10 meetings with the Eels in his career shows just how reliable he is. If you don’t have Gallen, he’s the logical choice.

Corey Parker is a logical choice for SuperCoach captain. Picture: Annette Dew

Johnathan Thurston HFB | 5/8 (Cowboys) v Sharks

The best playmaker in the game somehow managed to change my opinion of picking backs/halves as captain straight out last season. Averaging 77, and constantly scaring the life out of me as captain sitting under 10 points at half-time, normally on a Monday night as my last player in a matchup, only to turn it on for me and finish 100+. The Cowboys always play well at home in Townsville so bank on a biggie from JT to start the year.

VC OPTIONS

Sam Burgess FRF | 2RF (Souths) v Roosters

Will be almost permanently on this list as one of the highest ceiling players in all of SuperCoach. He doesn’t make this week’s captains list due to his career average of 58.11 against the Chooks, but man will he want to show the NRL and the world that he is BACK. Both of his brothers being out may lead to more front-row rotation in the first few weeks also.

Sam Burgess will want to show the NRL he is back to his back.

Shaun Johnson HFB (Warriors) v Tigers

Who is projected to score the most points according to SuperCoach GOLD in round one you ask? Shaun Johnson with 89 is the answer! Looked phenomenal in the Nines and showed all of us that the ankle injury is well and truly in the past. A risk/reward selection.

Good luck picking the right captain to start the season, it really will be the difference between bragging rights around the water cooler, or laughing stock of your league each week.

Originally published as NRL SuperCoach: Paul Gallen, Corey Parker, Johnathan Thurston — who should be your captain?