Weekly Wrap: Highs, lows and shocks, Rd 17

Well that was bye planning for 2021! Thank the Overlord that is done. 

What a tough, tough weekend we just had. Some real Supercoach irrelevant teams playing plus the omission of Origin guns compounded by the injury to Tohu last weekend it was a luxury to field nine players.

And a lot of teams were very similar I noted so unless you were able to find a Trindall, RTS or even a Sam Williams, scores amongst those who had planned were pretty similar.

I was able to field a total of seven this weekend after Burbo was dropped at the last minute (what a shame I missed those 3 points), but that wasn’t through a lack of planning, it was more a case of saving trades as much as I could! 

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We have eight rounds left and those with a limited amount of trades might find themselves scrambling come Round 22. HIA, suspensions, Integrity Units having their say you, you just never know when you may need that extra trade.

If you followed the Spy on Twitter over the weekend you would know he had a bit of a Michael Crocker, accidentally leaving the C on Turbo whilst the VC was on Garrick. 

Not the worst mistake, but I had heard he has left a 35 minute voicemail on Tom Sangster’s phone trying to explain his mistake and why he is owed 79 points. #RiseforTheSpy

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Sea Eagles v Raiders

Well this was not part of the plan. After notching up 66 last weekend, a match up against a downtrodden Raiders was just what Reuben Garrick owners would have wanted.

Unfortunately the Raiders turned back the clock to 2019 with both Matt Frawley and Sam Williams tearing the Sea Eagles apart. 

Hardly a dynamic duo but they did enough to camp the Green Machine on Manly’s line for most of the night. 

I’m used to seeing 100+ next to Sam Williams’ name in MyCricket, not in Supercoach. I was hoping David Fifita would come out and put him on his ass.

Garrick was one of the most popular buys for round 17 and whilst he failed to fire a shot, he was busy and knocked out 51 mainly in base stats which is a good sign for the next eight weeks. If DCE backs up after Origin, Garrick will go huge.

Jason Saab on the other hand was awful scoring only 12. If Manly ever play without Turbo or DCE again, do not pick Saab.

For the Raiders they looked a much different side to the one that has been running around for the past month. CHN’s output has dropped slightly which is a bit of a concern for owners moving forward as he scored 44 in his 80 minutes on Thursday night.

Minute Watch – Olakau’atu 80, Lawton 80, CHN 79, Starling 55, James 15

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Rabbitohs v Cowboys

Cody and AJ you can do no wrong! The two most popular captaincy choices for the round did the job as they tore the Cowboys edges up. AJ crossed for a hat-trick while Cody set up what seemed like 13 tries.

The pair finished with a massive 130 each and will be the difference for the week if you owned them or not and whether you captained them. 

Walker now has a five round average of a Don Bradman like 99.6 and is firing at the right time of year for owners.

Owners of Jason Taumalolo would have been sitting pretty after the former gun notched up 81 which included a sprint downfield and subsequent try-assist. 

I won’t be pulling the trigger on him right away but at $460k before his price rise, I can see plenty who will.

I was a Daejarn Asi owner from day one so was thrilled when he got named at fullback. The kid looks a super talent and his 44 was enough to get me over the line in the SC Playbook league up against the Spy. Easy win…

Minute Watch – Su’A 80, Koloamatangi 65, Taumalolo 58, Robson 55

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Bulldogs v Roosters

As I look out my window now I think I can see Sam walker running backwards at speed. I think he is now running from the wrath of Trent Robinson.

What a bizarre play that was. Obviously he didn’t think the Chooks were good enough to make one more tackle against the Bulldogs.

The omission of Suaalii would have hampered a lot of owners out there who had held or even traded in the young gun for this Round 17 matchup. 

He probably becomes now more of an AE nightmare than anything for the run home.

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As for the match, I brought in Daniel Tupou for this match and beyond and although he didn’t cross the line, his 50 points in very wet conditions was very solid. Hopefully few people did the same and he can be a POD for the run home.

Tupouniua banged out a massive 80 which included a try, but for those who own him, he could be a handy matchup POD if the Chooks are taking on a bottom eight side as he can be reliant on attacking stats.

JWH was enormous again and has probably been the Chooks best in the past six weeks or so. He scored 75 which was all base and played only 60 minutes.

Minute Watch – Thompson 53, Ogden 38, JWH 60, SST 48, Radley 71.

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Sharks v Warriors

As a non SJ owner this match frightened me. He was everyone’s halfback since Cleary went and I couldn’t bring him in so when he knocks out scores of 50 it’s a welcome relief. 

As an owner though I wouldn’t be too disheartened, he does look threatening and a whole lot of the Sharks attack is centred around him.

In an otherwise pretty low scoring match, popular target AFB was busy and was able to knock out 58 in 54 minutes. The arrival of Matt Lodge did seem to take some minutes away but if he can get upwards of 60 minutes, he is a keeper.

The bye player of the year in Lodge was okay in his first hitout for his new club scoring 51, but to be fair that’s 51 more points than I thought he would get in Round 17.   

Kodi Nikorima had a shocker for new owners with just 7 points!

Minute watch – Lodge 58, AFB 54, Tevaga 53, Talakai 53, Rudolf 59