Captain’s Challenge: Who to skipper in Round 20?

• SPY TALK: Deep dive into fullback, halves, CTW positions
• STAT ANALYSIS: Vital numbers to beat the best

What an incredible seven days in SuperCoach land it’s been.

Times are tough with injuries and suspensions hitting the competition hard.

The silver lining, and I mean the only silver lining, is the fact many of us will get two cracks at a skipper by utilising the vice-captaincy loophole.

Last week Tom Trbojevic was captained by 97% of the top 100-1,000 ranked overall SuperCoaches.

Tommy Turbo was the number one pick for us also, banging out a solid 95 points, with Daly Cherry-Evans stealing his thunder.

Those running 17 or less players this week who get two cracks at skipper will interpret the below article different, but with 7.6 players on average missing from the top 20,000 ranked teams (pre trades) I suspect that’ll be plenty.

Running a bit low on time this week, I’ll keep the article a bit shorter.

Let’s take a look at the Round 20 captaincy options.

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TIER ONE

TOM TRBOJEVIC

The fact he had a down week by his standards of 95 points against the Tigers just about says it all.

There’s some decent match ups this week, but I still think Turbo is far and above the best pick.

If he knocks out a double ton, which is very possible, you could be left behind very quickly by trying to get too tricky.

Cronulla do defend fullbacks the 11th best of any team in SuperCoach, but Turbo is a different beast.

Daly Cherry-Evans is also an option, but you’d have to forego Turbo which I think is madness. DCE averaged mid 50s up until his recent run of form against ordinary opposition.

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TIER TWO

CODY WALKER

The Dragons are missing a wealth of stars once again this week, highlighted by the naming of Corey Norman at centre.

I think the Bunnies can put a big score on this week in the vicinity of 50 points.

What is harder is trying to land which of their strike weapons will amass the majority of those points.

Last week it was Damien Cook going bonkers, hopefully this week it’s Cody.

He has a 5RA of 100PPG and he could easily notch another ton this week.

I think he has a 150+ score just around the corner, however as mentioned above there is so much strike at the Bunnies that the major attacking stats can often be shared between them, limiting the ceilings of each player.

The Dragons concede the 8th and 12th most points to halfbacks and five-eighths which is solid, but that’s them at full-strength, which they aren’t this week.

The Bunnies are building to something special as the season goes on.

LATRELL MITCHELL

For all the reasons listed above, Latrell is a huge option and would be a super POD play for anyone who does own.

I think there’ll be a game on the run home he threatens 200+.

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CAPTAIN RISKY/PODS

ADAM DOUEIHI

Doueihi isn’t risky if he’s your vice-captain, I can’t see many going straight skipper.

The Warriors have lost so many key players in recent weeks, so much so that they failed to name a full squad this week.

I think Doueihi could go large here, however the Tigers are unreliable and despite the injury toll the Warriors have shown plenty of grit this season, so the result could be anything.

The Warriors concede the 5th and 10th most SuperCoach points to halfbacks and five-eighths respectively, but again it’s a different side running out this week.

Doueihi already has two monster tons of 154 and 141 this season and another one is more than possible this week.

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NICHO HYNES

I’m in two minds about Nicho this week, I really wanted to put him in the avoid category but he does appeal.

Part of me says he could go nuts against a severely depleted Penrith outfit, the other says it’s madness to skipper someone against the Panthers despite the injury toll.

Melbourne should win well enough, but Penrith’s defence should still be okay, they’ll just really struggle to score points.

Stats are irrelevant because it’s a Penrith side we haven’t seen before.

He’s an alright VC option for sure, especially for those with two cracks at captain, but there’s no way I’d be going straight captain.

Further, we’re still uncertain how his role will be impacted when Ryan Papenhuyzen comes onto the field with both Cam Munster and Jahrome Hughes on deck in the halves.

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AVOID

DAVID FIFITA

Here me out here…

I actually think Fifita could easily eclipse 100 and therefore be a great pick, however it’s the timing of his game that makes him a tough option as skipper.

The Titans play in the second last game of the round, so anyone who would consider looping his score would need a non-active player in the following game between Manly and Cronulla which finishes Round 20.

You’d also need a player in your team that game to drop in the same position as your non-player which is fairly unlikely.

If you are psycho enough to avoid Turbo as skipper then Fifita is a fine play.

PAYNE HAAS

I just don’t think he has the ceiling of the other guys to warrant the move despite how good he has looked with a 3RA of 95PPG.

The time for chasing 100 point skipper scores is in the past.

Even if he smashed his top score this year and went 120 you still probably wouldn’t loop.

TEDESCO/GUTHERSON/S.WALKER

All have tough match ups this week.

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VERDICT

Tommy Turbo is the clear pick yet again for me. Boring I know, but avoid him at your own peril.

I could spice things up and opt for someone different for fun, but I’d just be dishonest if I did.

My vice-captain will be Cody Walker, but at significantly lower ownership I’d be tempted to go with Adam Doueihi if I owned.

A word of warning, run through scenarios in your team now to make sure that if your vice-captain does go big you are able to loop successfully, I see SuperCoaches of all levels get caught out with this all the time.

For the record, as a straight skipper I prefer Cody, but as a vice-captain it’s Doueihi due to ownership levels.

Good luck to everyone this week!

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

3RA = Three round average

5RA = Five round average

BREAKEVEN (B/E) = The score a player must record to earn a price rise.

*Please note all our stats are taken from the geniuses at nrlsupercoachstats.com