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Discussion NRL SuperCoach Discussion
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SuperCoach NRL: Wilfred Zee’s Fearless Predictions for Round 1
Wilfred Zee, The Daily Telegraph
Well, 2018 was fun while writing this article.
I’ll never forget the day I accidentally set off the rabid Wests Tigers fans viciously protecting their backline, or the week I nailed 100 per cent of my predictions.
Talk about highs and lows, huh?
Still, I’m happy to go around again and I’ll start by getting 2019 off on the right track.
Let’s get into it.
Supercoach guru Wilfred Zee drops his round one predictions.
1. Captain pick — Andrew Fifita
Fifita is a name that has been thrown around repeatedly this off-season but it’s for this guy’s cousin — David, at the Broncos, not as much for Andrew.
Maybe it’s because he’s such a staple pick, as the top scoring front row forward option.
Maybe because he has looked hungry, and dangerous, whenever he has been carting up the ball in his preseason trials so far.
Maybe because the Sharks, having lost Luke Lewis and Wade Graham (to retirement and injury respectively), need their senior forward leaders to step up.
I believe that starts with Fifita this week.
He also happens to be playing in what appears to be one of the few non-rain affected games — which could be critical this week! Lock him in as a genuine Captain option.
2. Stud of the week — Jake Trbojevic
Jake Trbojevic, always the bridesmaid, never the bride. Well, for the last two years anyway. This might be his year though, to finally take home the title of the highest overall points scorer out of all the players in the NRL.
With his brother (most likely) out of the question due to his hamstring injury, plus question marks over some of the other leading contenders, Jake projects to score extremely well.
That starts this week, with the Wests Tigers conceding the most points to opposition forwards — that’s both front and back row.
The bench also looks like locking in 80 minutes for Jake, so I expect a typically SuperCoach stud performance from him, even if it is wet.
3. Flop of the week — the Broncos’ Halves
It pains me to say this but I have concerns about the halves for my beloved Broncos.
Not because I don’t think they’ll do well this year, but because they have to face the Storm straight up.
The Storm were the hardest team for opposing halfbacks and five eighths to score against — not surprising since they were #2 defensive team in the NRL last year (just two points behind the Roosters) and the #1 “defensive” team for SuperCoach last year — allowing just a total of 15 scores over 80 points across the whole season, and the highest number of scores below 40 with 226!
So don’t expect a highscoring game from the Broncos, although it should be a cracking game of footy!
4. SuperCoach Gold Mine
It’s a potentially wet round with the weather across the board looking fairly gloomy.
That might leave us with just two or three non-wet weather games. So I’m going to suggest that the highest pointscorer for this week will come from the Knights and Sharks game.
The likes of SJ, Moylan, Fifita, Capewell, Nikora, Ponga, Fitzgibbon, Klemmer, Ramien, Watson and Pearce all going at it — there is a lot of SuperCoach potential and I’m expecting the most SuperCoach points to be scored in this game.
5. Upset of the round — the Eels
Call me crazy but I’m going to start the year with a bang! The Panthers have had a disrupted preseason and their main man, Nathan Cleary, missed most of it as well. They might come out firing, but I also feel concerned that their minds might not be in the game for a myriad for reasons. On the other side of the ledger is the Eels who are no doubt desperate for a win, especially in the western derby. This could be a bit of a boilover… or the Panthers could easily just thrash the Eels anyway! Go hard or go home, I say!
Personally, I’m counting down the hours until the Storm v Broncos season opener!
There’s no tougher road trip in rugby league right now than taking on the Storm in Melbourne, but I’m just happy the Broncos will be back on TV and we can enjoy some actual NRL football!
Wilfred Zee, The Daily Telegraph
Well, 2018 was fun while writing this article.
I’ll never forget the day I accidentally set off the rabid Wests Tigers fans viciously protecting their backline, or the week I nailed 100 per cent of my predictions.
Talk about highs and lows, huh?
Still, I’m happy to go around again and I’ll start by getting 2019 off on the right track.
Let’s get into it.
Supercoach guru Wilfred Zee drops his round one predictions.
1. Captain pick — Andrew Fifita
Fifita is a name that has been thrown around repeatedly this off-season but it’s for this guy’s cousin — David, at the Broncos, not as much for Andrew.
Maybe it’s because he’s such a staple pick, as the top scoring front row forward option.
Maybe because he has looked hungry, and dangerous, whenever he has been carting up the ball in his preseason trials so far.
Maybe because the Sharks, having lost Luke Lewis and Wade Graham (to retirement and injury respectively), need their senior forward leaders to step up.
I believe that starts with Fifita this week.
He also happens to be playing in what appears to be one of the few non-rain affected games — which could be critical this week! Lock him in as a genuine Captain option.
2. Stud of the week — Jake Trbojevic
Jake Trbojevic, always the bridesmaid, never the bride. Well, for the last two years anyway. This might be his year though, to finally take home the title of the highest overall points scorer out of all the players in the NRL.
With his brother (most likely) out of the question due to his hamstring injury, plus question marks over some of the other leading contenders, Jake projects to score extremely well.
That starts this week, with the Wests Tigers conceding the most points to opposition forwards — that’s both front and back row.
The bench also looks like locking in 80 minutes for Jake, so I expect a typically SuperCoach stud performance from him, even if it is wet.
3. Flop of the week — the Broncos’ Halves
It pains me to say this but I have concerns about the halves for my beloved Broncos.
Not because I don’t think they’ll do well this year, but because they have to face the Storm straight up.
The Storm were the hardest team for opposing halfbacks and five eighths to score against — not surprising since they were #2 defensive team in the NRL last year (just two points behind the Roosters) and the #1 “defensive” team for SuperCoach last year — allowing just a total of 15 scores over 80 points across the whole season, and the highest number of scores below 40 with 226!
So don’t expect a highscoring game from the Broncos, although it should be a cracking game of footy!
4. SuperCoach Gold Mine
It’s a potentially wet round with the weather across the board looking fairly gloomy.
That might leave us with just two or three non-wet weather games. So I’m going to suggest that the highest pointscorer for this week will come from the Knights and Sharks game.
The likes of SJ, Moylan, Fifita, Capewell, Nikora, Ponga, Fitzgibbon, Klemmer, Ramien, Watson and Pearce all going at it — there is a lot of SuperCoach potential and I’m expecting the most SuperCoach points to be scored in this game.
5. Upset of the round — the Eels
Call me crazy but I’m going to start the year with a bang! The Panthers have had a disrupted preseason and their main man, Nathan Cleary, missed most of it as well. They might come out firing, but I also feel concerned that their minds might not be in the game for a myriad for reasons. On the other side of the ledger is the Eels who are no doubt desperate for a win, especially in the western derby. This could be a bit of a boilover… or the Panthers could easily just thrash the Eels anyway! Go hard or go home, I say!
Personally, I’m counting down the hours until the Storm v Broncos season opener!
There’s no tougher road trip in rugby league right now than taking on the Storm in Melbourne, but I’m just happy the Broncos will be back on TV and we can enjoy some actual NRL football!
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8 under 200,000 (Host, Nikora, Keighran, Brown, Sivo, Garrick, Ravalawa and Allan) and 2 between 200,000 and 400,000 (CNK, Tatola).
CNK will be fielded and of the aforementioned 9 will be my 17th player with Keighran currently receiving that honour but Brown, Sivo and Tatola are vying for it as well.
Can't wait for the season to get underway and will attempt to watch a minimum of 1 game per round but it feels weird having no one in tonight's match as C Smith is the only current player I was aware of before entering the competition but has unluckily missed out on a spot.
CNK will be fielded and of the aforementioned 9 will be my 17th player with Keighran currently receiving that honour but Brown, Sivo and Tatola are vying for it as well.
Can't wait for the season to get underway and will attempt to watch a minimum of 1 game per round but it feels weird having no one in tonight's match as C Smith is the only current player I was aware of before entering the competition but has unluckily missed out on a spot.
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Have pondered trading Friend and Tolman to C Smith and K Capewell but decided against it and below is my RD1 lineup.
None of the popular quartet of C Smith, D Cook, K Ponga and J Tedesco which could end as depicted below but I think it will be more interesting going in with the POD's and underpriced premiums/midpricers in my debut season.
Good luck to everybody involved in the competition and hopefully we'll have something to fall back on once our AFL SC sides are in disarray.
None of the popular quartet of C Smith, D Cook, K Ponga and J Tedesco which could end as depicted below but I think it will be more interesting going in with the POD's and underpriced premiums/midpricers in my debut season.
Good luck to everybody involved in the competition and hopefully we'll have something to fall back on once our AFL SC sides are in disarray.
Pretty solid my man. CTW look really strong compared to a lot of other teams posted, so that's where you'll likely have an edge. You actually look really strong across the board with no obvious weakness in your on field talent. B. Brailey we have absolutely no idea how many minutes he will play, so hopefully it works out well for you for price rise purposes. Your FRF and 2RF bench options are mint.
Everyone should have Keighran and Brown so if they go badly you won't be the only one affected! CTW and FB cheapies can be a lottery, I'm starting to have 2nd thoughts about Garrick as I believe Manly are going to have a torrid time of it this season, so they may leak points on their defensive edges. There's also the doubt over whether he will be bumped out when Trbojevic is due back Round 2-3.
Honestly though, its a very solid side and I wouldn't fiddle too much with it unless something comes up in the next few hours.
Everyone should have Keighran and Brown so if they go badly you won't be the only one affected! CTW and FB cheapies can be a lottery, I'm starting to have 2nd thoughts about Garrick as I believe Manly are going to have a torrid time of it this season, so they may leak points on their defensive edges. There's also the doubt over whether he will be bumped out when Trbojevic is due back Round 2-3.
Honestly though, its a very solid side and I wouldn't fiddle too much with it unless something comes up in the next few hours.
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My side is still changing/developing/evolving (getting worse) every time I look at it. Have thrown Allan back into my CTW for Garrick as I reckon Allan has more potential to be a slow burning cash-cow over Garrick, whose job security isn't exactly strong. Hoping that Allan gets 30-40 minutes and put his best foot forward for future rounds.
At this point I'm running with:
McCullough (Radley - 1st Reserve)
Fifita, Taupau (Napa - 2nd Reserve, Host)
Arrow, Hess, Lane (Murray - 3rd Reserve, Garner, Nikora)
Morgan (Keighran)
Moylan (Brown)
Gutherson, Holland, J.Bateman, Capewell (Kahu, Allan, Ravalawa)
Tedesco (Nicoll-Klokstad)
Approx 18k cash leftover
Note: Undecided on 4th reserve.
The hooker position I really have agonised over as there are so many solid options without being a lock. All have their pros and cons, but I've settled on McCullough because I'm keen to see what his scoring is like when McGuire isn't there. I feel like he might take a bit more control of the pack and involve himself in plays. He tackles a lot so I can see him having very solid scores week to week. Just needs the odd attacking stat to put him above 60-65 each week.
Morgan I think is going to have a huge year, even if the cowboys don't do particularly well. I'm taking the punt on him as I couldn't quite fit Johnson into my squad.
So everyone can keep an eye on it and remind me when it goes wrong/right, I had to choose between Johnson and Moylan or Tedesco and Moylan. So when Johnson absolutely kills it, you guys can have a laugh at me.
Good luck to everyone on their round 1 performances, happy to help people out with their teams in the next few hours before kickoff! There is hail where I am right now so I'm assuming Sydney is going to be very wet tomorrow as well! Forwards love this weather!!!
P.S: As I was typing this I saw Connoisseur's post about Allan only covering injury! Ahhh, indecisiveness!
At this point I'm running with:
McCullough (Radley - 1st Reserve)
Fifita, Taupau (Napa - 2nd Reserve, Host)
Arrow, Hess, Lane (Murray - 3rd Reserve, Garner, Nikora)
Morgan (Keighran)
Moylan (Brown)
Gutherson, Holland, J.Bateman, Capewell (Kahu, Allan, Ravalawa)
Tedesco (Nicoll-Klokstad)
Approx 18k cash leftover
Note: Undecided on 4th reserve.
The hooker position I really have agonised over as there are so many solid options without being a lock. All have their pros and cons, but I've settled on McCullough because I'm keen to see what his scoring is like when McGuire isn't there. I feel like he might take a bit more control of the pack and involve himself in plays. He tackles a lot so I can see him having very solid scores week to week. Just needs the odd attacking stat to put him above 60-65 each week.
Morgan I think is going to have a huge year, even if the cowboys don't do particularly well. I'm taking the punt on him as I couldn't quite fit Johnson into my squad.
So everyone can keep an eye on it and remind me when it goes wrong/right, I had to choose between Johnson and Moylan or Tedesco and Moylan. So when Johnson absolutely kills it, you guys can have a laugh at me.
Good luck to everyone on their round 1 performances, happy to help people out with their teams in the next few hours before kickoff! There is hail where I am right now so I'm assuming Sydney is going to be very wet tomorrow as well! Forwards love this weather!!!
P.S: As I was typing this I saw Connoisseur's post about Allan only covering injury! Ahhh, indecisiveness!
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https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...m/news-story/5e9d08df3e04bc98364179d6567702cb
SuperCoach NRL: LIVE show at 6.30pm
Countdown Show starts at 6.30pm, with game commentary to start at the 7.50pm kick off.
SuperCoach NRL: LIVE show at 6.30pm
Countdown Show starts at 6.30pm, with game commentary to start at the 7.50pm kick off.
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