Player profile: Taukeiaho and Mann

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Happy footy week troops!

I’m bloody excited and sat down recently to check out a couple of guys I have mentioned in the podcast who I have some serious interest in.

Those guys are Kurt Mann and Sio Siua Taukeiaho.

Here’s a look into both of their SuperCoach credentials ahead of Round 1.

*Scroll down to the bottom of the page for a key on all SuperCoach relevant abbreviations.

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KURT MANN

Stats when playing in the halves:

2019 – 69, 29, 37, 34, 45, 35,

2018 – 75, 36, 38

2017 – 43, 21, 74, 52, 60, 37, 34, 47

2016 – No games in halves

2015 – No games in halves

2014 – No data

766 / 17 = 45PPG

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Essentially, we have a guy who has had 17 starts in the halves throughout his career (2014 data) unavailable.

Priced at an average of 30PPG and available in the tough to fill centre position, with a good draw and covering the first bye week, I think he is a huge option.

The question is whether or not you play him in your 17? This will come down to salary cap and team balance.

If he can average 45PPG he could gain approximately $130-140K. I also like that at five-eighth he should have a decent base for a centre cheapie with tackling and runs. In fact, his base last year while playing in the halves was 30.5BPG. Yes please!

CONS:

Mann isn’t locked into the number 6 jersey, but I believe he is a good enough player to make it his own.

Mason Lino and Phoenix Crossland are waiting in the wings, so who knows? At $287K I’m taking the punt and will deal with it if he is dropped.

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SIO SIUA TAUKEIAHO

SST for mine is one of the most underrated players in the game and absolutely one of the best middle forwards.

He was hit with some mid-game injuries on a couple of occasions last year.

The last of those really impacted his minutes over the final five games he played, as coach Robinson kept him fresh for the finals.

This dropped his season average to 58PPG, which may see him quite under-valued based on the below.

Prior to this (excluding one injury affected match), he was averaging 54.3MPG and averaging 63PPG up until Round 15. That’s huge.

Imagine if he also goal-kicks! That would see an estimate of 7PPG added on (he will miss some kicks when on the bench) and we are looking at a 70PPG average if things align.

There is no reason he can’t average this again and make you some serous cash while producing great points for your side, while the additional upside is absurd. He could become a genuine keeper.

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QUESTIONS:

Can he keep up the PPM? It was between 1.02-1.09 in the previous two years.

But I believe he is a better player now and even 1.09PPM still gets him an average of 59PPG based on last year’s minutes.

One point above his price average (again without goal-kicking).

Will he actually kick? Flanagan could well take the duty.

Can he stay on the paddock? I think the biggest risk for my man here is injuries and possibly getting hurt and leaving a game early which happened twice last year.

This, along with the quality of the Chook’s squad which perhaps allows Robinson to rest him a little more, is the thing keeping me from not locking him in from round 1.

The numbers suggest though that if you take the risk it could pay off enormously! Personally, he could come into my side early if things go his way. A big watch this weekend and good luck if you take the punt!

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