SC Spy
SuperCoach expert
Player profile: Ryan Papenhuyzen
The SC Spy highlights why he believes freakish Storm fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen should be in every Round 1 team.
Expert Analysis Pre-season
January 31, 2020
- GOAL-KICKING ANALYSIS: Who takes the tee at every club?
- SYDNEY ROOSTERS: Squad analysis + starting 17
The fullback position this year is looming as a pivotal decision especially early on in the year.
Who you decide to take in Round 1 could be the difference between a hot start and a sluggish one.
With that being said, the SC Spy has one standout purchase heading into the 2020 NRL season. Let’s take a look below at who and why:
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Embed from Getty ImagesRYAN PAPENHUYZEN || $508,200 || FLB
I fell a little in love with Pap as soon as I saw him play. I’ve rarely seen a bloke run the ball as often and to such effect.
In his debut season in 2019 he averaged just 38 minutes per game.
In his six starts at fullback though Pap averaged 36.3PPG in runs alone! That doesn’t include tackle busts, line breaks or anything additional.
Other key numbers to come from his six games at fullback include an average of 13PPG in tackle busts, nine linebreaks and a try in five of the six games.
Oh and three forced drop outs just because that’s what Pap does…
If we take runs and tackle busts alone and assume he did absolutely nothing else in those games he still would have scored just on 50. Madness.
What does this look like as a whole though?
Well in those six starts Pap averaged 95PPG. Incredible.
But the more encouraging thing is that across the whole season he scored at a rate of 1.37 points per minute.
He came off the bench a lot of the year and some of it was as a roving lock type position which may slightly skew things but 1.37PPM equates to an average of 109.6PPG if he played 80 minutes each week.
He won’t be that good (I don’t think), but the numbers are out of this world.
Add in the fact that Pap is priced at a mid 50s average and I honestly think you just have to pick him and decide on your other fullback from there.
I don’t care how enticing some of the other guys are. He was my first picked this season by some margin.
Embed from Getty ImagesHopefully he can be as good as advertised but even with a reduction in last season’s numbers he is still probably equal to being a genuine keeper, and at worst a bucket load of cash will be made to allow an upgrade if necessary.
If however he continues on with last year’s performances we could be looking at something very special. Captaincy material anyone? Enjoy the ride.
SUPERCOACH TERMINOLOGY KEY
MPG = Minutes per game
PPG = Points per game
PPM= Points per minute
BPG = Base per game (point accrued in tackles + runs + missed tackles)
POD = Point of difference
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