Captain’s Challenge: Round 10 skipper options

• STAT ANALYSIS: Vital numbers to beat the best
• SQUAD BREAKDOWN: Round 10 team insights

With the wet weather around this week in Sydney, it was shaping as a good week to choose a safety-first captain choice.

It now looks like the weather is clearing and we can be a little bit more adventurous with our choices, especially for games later in the round and outside Sydney.

Let’s check out the options for round 10 and see if there’s potential for anyone not named Tedesco.

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Safety first

James Tedesco (FLB)

Teddy could be one of the most fool-proof captain options we’ve ever had and won’t let you down in any game he plays.

I can see the Raiders being up for this game defensively, despite their injury tolls, so he may not go 150+ but should still pump out a decent score.

If the wet weather in Sydney is still hanging around that also might keep his score down.

However, the Raiders are giving up some huge scores to fullbacks, having let Ponga put 159 points on them, Gutho – 102, Little Papi – 106 and Turbo was on his way to a monster score before getting injured.

Cameron Smith (HOK)

Any 80-minute goal-kicking hooker against the Titans would be a good captain choice, let alone the best hooker to play the game.

The last three times he has played the Titans he scored 102, 67 and 64.

A dry track in Queensland could be anything for a Storm team that’s starting to click with their attack.

Apisai Koroisau (HOK)

Api is averaging a great 72PPG this year and coming up against a depleted Cowboys on Sunday afternoon.

The Panthers could put another monster score on the Cowboys and Api has the ability to go 100+ with a few attacking plays.

Tyrone May on the bench is a slight concern, but Api played 71 minutes last week in a blow out game against the Sharks.

There also is a big chance Penrith attack the Cowboys edges the way they played against the Sharks and the way so many teams have had success against the Cowboys.

NEXT BEST: Crichton, Taumalolo

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Risk it for the biscuit

Nathan Cleary (HFB)

Looking at the score line last week I was shocked that Cleary didn’t crack 100 points.

Surely Cleary targets the left-hand edge of the Cowboys that have been falling over week after week.

Hopefully he has shrugged off that ankle injury and can kick his way to a monster score.

He has only played the Cowboys once in the last three years, scoring a measly 37 points.

But this is a red-hot Panthers outfit taking on the worst defensive side in the league.

Cameron Munster (5/8)

The best 5/8 in SuperCoach is back from injury with a juicy matchup against the Titans.

The last time he played the Titans, he famously played dreadful and scored a lucky 55. In 2018 he scored a decent 80 points against them.

Coming off an injury might be a concern to some, but I’m confident they wouldn’t risk him if he wasn’t 100% healthy.

He was in red hot form before getting injured and I expect him to right the wrongs of last year with 100+ on a dry track in Queensland.

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Ryan Papenhuyzen (FLB)

Lil Papi has hit some form recently scoring two centuries in his last three games and is looking great on the field.

It does worry me that his big scores came without Munster on the field and he may not be relied upon so heavily for the Storm’s attack now.

However, he is up against the Titans, who he averages 108PPG against and is surely worth a VC.

NEXT BEST: SJ, Nofoaluma

Consensus

I will be captaining Cleary who I rank slightly above Teddy this week.

It could easily backfire in my face, but this looks like a good week for a POD captain.

Throw a VC on Teddy just in case and back who you like better out of Clearly and Munster.

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