Weekly Wrap: Round 2 stars, flops, injuries

Well Round 2 is in the books and as I rehash what I said last week, not bad, not great actually. In fact it wasn’t good!

Another week of hiding from the live scores because you knew it wasn’t going to be great. Captain choices fell flat, last week’s big scorers also fell flat and I didn’t own Harry Grant.. 

We only had four players breaking 100, with only Nicho Hynes the real Supercoach relevant player.

The scores have been nowhere near what we saw last year and now teams need to make some tough calls on cutting some underperforming elite players or riding it out.

I might need to get the barefoot investors thoughts on how to stop the rot and save some cash!  

 The low scores and high prices have thrown some serious thought into next week’s trades. We now need to seriously consider dropping some overpaid and underperforming players and look for option with low breakevens to make some cash which can set up your year.

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Storm v Rabbitohs 

Move over Charles and William, we need to anoint Harry as the next king!

What a comeback game for the premier hooker in the competition. In his first run back since last year he amassed an impressive 92 and at one stage had more running meters than Peter Bol! Get him in at all costs. 

I was a non-owner so every time he ran the ball a part of me died inside. I did however sit with Munster last week so that made Thursday that bit better.

He was as busy as ever and with match fitness he will only get better. He finished with what I think his average might be this year in 74, on par with 2021. He scored a try but didn’t set one up. Things are looking good! 

It was a belter of a match with owners of Murray (74), Arrow (55) and Johnston (64) all sitting pretty after the first game.

Souths attack did favour their right edge where Campbell Graham was situated so that might be one to keep an eye on over the next month, once the Bunnies get through this tough stretch of games. 

Minutes played – Grant 77, King 67, Murray 72, Arrow 75

Reported Injuries – Nil

Judiciary – Nil 

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Dragons v Panthers 

Big Billy Kiks! Back-to-back weeks of beast mode and back-to-back 87s. He will be making owners a ton of cash with a -5 breakeven this week. 

Izack Tago looks the keeper for the year with an impressive 56, which included only one linebreak. You can play him with confidence every week.

The big downer out of this game was the MCL injury to Brian To’o. He’s said to miss up to six weeks, I reckon he’s back in four, as he always seems to come back early (remember the end of last season), but regardless he is a sell.  

The Saints, as Blocker likes to say, got closer than I thought and will probably win more games than I have them pegged to. Tyrell Sloan was very quiet despite scoring a good aerial try. The fullback only managed 26 Supercoach points which, minus the try, is only 9 points.  

Lomax is one to keep tabs on, he scored 50 with a late try, but that score also included six errors so less 12 points.  

Minutes played – Bird 74, JDB 74, JFH 25, Martin 80, Leniu 31

Reported Injuries – JFH (Shoulder), To’o (Knee), McCullough (Elbow)

Judiciary – G Burgess (fine)

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Roosters v Sea Eagles 

I can’t believe I’m typing this but Tom Trbojevic. Sell!

The game’s number one player always needed a fast start to 2022 with a $1.2 million price tag, but tough assignments up against the Panthers and Roosters have left owners in the lurch.

Sell the week before the Bulldogs or hold for conceivably the year? I’m glad I’m not the one making that call. He has a breakeven of 307, I suppose if anyone can do it…

Manly were okay without being great.. Okay they were awful. We don’t tend to start well anyway so good to get a few Ls under our belt early.

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Sammy Walker of that left foot, Teddy breaking tackles and scoring tries and then Angus Crichton going large.. Wait that should have said Nat Butcher..

The only downer in an otherwise strong performance from the Roosters was the lack of footy Angus Crichton saw. Apart from that, Walker bounced back with 59, Tupou found the line to finish with 72 and Teddy took an early lead for the NSW number 1 jersey, outplaying Turbo and finishing with 82.

Bullemor was only given 32 minutes after last week’s 80, so signs are not good for owners!

Minutes played – Radley 76, Crichton 80, Tupouniua 46, Watson 43, Bullemor 32, Davey 29

Reported Injuries – Watson (shoulder), Tupouniua and D Walker (HIA), Manu (knee)

Judiciary – Nil  

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Titans v Warriors 

Another game, another captain choice fail. D Fifita with a price tag of $745k has only managed scores of 60 and 54 so far. He has a BE of 128 which, judging on the Raiders D on Saturday, he actually might get close to! But the question remains, do you sell or hold?

AFB and Curran went okay again, although in six weeks’ time, maybe scores of 62 and 63 will be great! Lodge however only knocked out 20 in his 20 minutes, but was crook in his first game of the season.

Brimson looked an absolute must as he steered his side home scoring 71. He loves getting his hands on the footy. We will get another week to see if he is worth a trade but as a DPP and owned by 2% of teams, the answer might be a resounding yes.

Minutes played – Fifita 64, Tino, 63, Fermor 80, AFB 53, Lodge 20

Reported Injuries – AFB (Hand)

Judiciary – Nil

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Sharks v Eels 

What a game this one turned out to be! And what a player Nicho Hynes is! At least when he does something wrong he looks good doing it.

He notched up 101 on the back of last week’s 72 and missed three goals. He looks to have built a really good partnership with Moylan whose hamstring has seemed to last another week.

Dylan Brown knocked out an impressive 68 which included a linebreak-assist. His base is very good but will rely on those attacking stats to get the big scores.

Unfortunately for those in the WhatsApp group chat, the Spy is an owner so the better he goes, the more vocal the Spy, so a couple quiet games would just be fantastic.

The Sharkies might be looking like a Supercoach friendly side with 10 players going above 54 and five of those scoring in the 70s.

Minutes played – Wilton 66, Fifita 25, McInnes 25, Paulo 46, Brown 44

Reported Injuries – Mulitalo (HIA)

Judiciary – Wilton (one week) and Stone (fine)

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Cowboys v Raiders 

We saw an increase in minutes from big Lolo, but the whispers of him leaving won’t go away.

He scored 56 on Saturday night and did seem to be more involved with that score coming solely in base states and not an offload to his name.

The Raiders were very disappointing and seem to be a side totally at sea. No direction and lack of effort in some areas will have Stuart pulling what’s left of his hair out.

Only CHN scored over 60 as he was the lone try scorer and goal-kicker. They must have implemented the old under 10s rule of scorers kick goals.

Minutes played – Lolo 53, Nanai 79, Gilbert 74, CHN 56, Elliot 71

Reported Injuries – Dunn (Knee)

Judiciary – Gilbert (fine)

Knights v Tigers 

The steel city is alive and heaving!! What a great sight seeing a full McDonald Jones Stadium and when the Knights are winning.

It was another game though of lower scores despite the score line with one exception – D Gagai!

Where was his name when all the experts were talking about CTW players?!

He scored 82 on top of last week’s 106, he has a single digit breakeven of 7, but does take on the Panthers next match.

It was the forwards who scored well for the Tigers which is no surprise as they do most of the defence and the backs can’t score a try.

Utoikamanu should have had a try but dropped it over the line which would have infuriated owners, whilst Tuilagi succumbed to a HIA and is likely to miss next week’s clash v the Warriors.

The only positive I can find for the Tigers is they have a five day turnaround so they will already be looking at next week’s match.

Minutes played – Barnett 72, Randall 68, Mann 61, Utoikamanu 38, Tuilagi 51, Twal 58

Reported Injuries – Fitzgibbon (Knee) Tuilagi (HIA)

Judiciary – Hastings (2-3 weeks), Ofahengaue

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 Bulldogs v Broncos 

Despite the poor handling, I thought this was one hell of a match!

The return of Reynolds was significant for Brisbane as his calmness kept them in the contest for long enough for Herbie Farnworth to break it open.

Frustrating because there’s another centre out there for Brisbane who decided he would have the night off from injecting himself into the game.

Staggs finished with 32 and might miss next week’s match as he succumbed to a cold waiting for the footy to hit his side of the field.

This is however an unconfirmed report which I started this morning.

Haas was back to his 60 minute stint and was not as effective as last week meaning those who rushed to get him in might have jumped the gun. Despite the close game, he spent 20 minutes on the bench and when he was on, he was busy, but no offloads would be a concerning stat for owners.

Once the Dogs click I can see them troubling a few sides. It was intense to start with the return of TPJ adding some serious spice to the matchup as he looked to take heads and legs out everywhere.

It’s a rollercoaster owning him, but just ride it out. His offloading ability is second to none and tries will come.

And Max King!? 51 points in 35 minutes, all base! I didn’t even register he was on the filed but my God he gets through some work! Play him with confidence every week.

Minutes played – TPJ 50, Waddell 80, King 35, Haas 60, Carrigan 58

Reported Injuries – Nil

Judiciary – Nil