NRL Round 5 Supercoach Wrap: 10 Things We Learnt

What a wet and wild week we saw in Round 5!

Scores were spread as far as the eye could see, and if you avoided most of the damage, I’m sure you saw some green arrows.

Spare a thought for those out there who owned James Tedesco, Dominic Young and Reuben Garrick, as the trio combined for a grand total of -10 points. 

It seems like each week there is a fire that needs to be put out and trades are getting burnt just fixing a hole caused by an injury or suspension.

The wet weather didn’t deter many with Friday being played in a swimming pool but the weather cleared up like it was a different city on Saturday for Shaun Johnson and co. to end Souths’ chances in 2024.

Harsh, but when the Titans are above you, it’s not looking good.

Turbos Hamstrings had another solid week, but nothing spectacular, scoring 1115, rising 3114 ranking spots into 9235 overall. I copped Garrick but Reece Robson and Zac Lomax came through and picked up the slack.

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10 things we learnt from Round 5

1. Hughes and Katoa kick the weekend off

Remember the combo of Nicho Hynes and Briton Nikora, yep well, we have found the 2024 version!

It’s new and updated and comes with a swag of Supercoach points!

Something about hard-running backrowers with a baby face that could kill has gotten myself and plenty in the Supercoach world excited.

The combination was on point on Thursday night as Elisea Katoa strolled over for a double, thanks to the sleight of hand by his halfback. The pair finished with 110 and 108 respectively and are well in the sights of many owners come lockout.

The second-row spot is looking a bit shaky, but with Katoa, you have a player who has a very high ceiling and could seemingly play for the next 7 weeks uninterrupted.

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2. Wet weather footy does not dampen scores

The prediction of this weekend’s rain had me looking to trade in Noah as a POD.

The rain came but like a flood watch, the scores only kept rising!

The rain was torrential on Friday afternoon, and for most of the day to be fair, but for the Dogs Roosters and Knights Dragons it did not matter one iota as the footy kept getting thrown around and points came in waves.

Kalyn Ponga, Zac Lomax, Joseph Manu and Sam Hughes all went big in the wet giving owners something to cheer about over the weekend, whilst they waited for their washing to dry.

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3. Roosters. Uncle Nick will be asking questions!

What happened on Friday night?

I have not seen the Chooks so off their game in a long time.

Whatever they tried just didn’t seem to work. Well, for the first 40 minutes anyway. 

But the night was especially relevant with Dom Young and James Tedesco owners looking for the delete button as the pair had one of the all-time shockers!

Tedesco got carried off after getting up close and personal with Viliame Kikau’s hip and failed his HIA.

He will miss next week and has a BE of 184 when he plays Melbourne. Sell.

But Dom Young! What a disappointment he has been for owners!

Took poor Blake Taafe’s head off and was subsequently sent to the bin after 27 minutes. Jumper ripped and all.

And in that time, he managed 2 missed tackles, 2 errors, and conceded a penalty to finish with what could be a record (DYOR) of -15.

Owners who bought him in after his heroics 2 weeks back were served with a price rise of 17k and a total of 16 points. See ya.

May also only managed 20 minutes as the send-off to Young meant the Chooks only played with one front rower. I wouldn’t worry about it.

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4. Hoodoos gonna hoodoo!

We here at the SC Playbook batcave believe and trust in the ancient ritual of a hoodoo.

And we aren’t one for trying to sage the game with mugwort, wormwood, or vetiver.

We let the Hoodoo do its thing. And in this universe, Tim Williams and Joey Manu are not meant to be.

Tim spoke all week about going to Manu, and a little bit of rain scared the Overlord away. 

Manu then got moved to fullback and banged out an impressive 108.

Manu will also be fullback next week against Newcastle where you can lock in 100+.

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5. Fullback Roulette spins a double 00

The Spy has spoken at length about the fullback roulette and didn’t Round 5 come up with some spins!

Depending on who you owned, you either had a great week and have a pocket full of chips or one of the worst, leaving the casino with an empty wallet and nothing to show for it. 

On Monday I was rueing the fact I didn’t own Scott Drinkwater, but then realised I had both Kalyn Ponga and Tom Trbojevic, meaning I scored 228 from my 2 FLBs so I can’t get too greedy!

But there could be those who owned Clint Gutherson (don’t take my advice from last week), James Tedesco, Latrell Mitchell or Ryan Papenhuyzen who might be sitting here today pondering their life choices.

As I said last week, the throne keeps getting a new fullback king after each round so be patient. 

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6. HIAs still give owners a headache

Just might leave this headline in for each round I think!

We will not get away unscathed throughout the year when it comes to HIAs, just have to grin and bear it!

I copped Reuben Garrick’s this weekend for his 1 point, but plenty would have had Liam Henry who still made money, despite scoring -1.

James Tedesco as mentioned earlier also succumbed to concussion. He only managed 4 points for owners whilst Sam Walker also failed his HIA.

Can’t plan for it, can’t do anything about it once it’s happened. 

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7. Drinkwater takes the Titans to task

Of course, Scott Drinkwater goes ballistic! It was written in the humidity of a Townsville afternoon!

A massive performance and a huge leg up for owners. His 144 propelled those who owned and captained him up the rankings and set the season up! 

He was in everything: attacking the Titans’ line, kicking, scheming, and setting tries up.

The Titans could barely lay a hand on him. For a small bloke, his feet and movement are unlike any other. 

It could be a mistake not to own him as in my eyes, he has been far and away the best FLB in the opening 5 weeks, and this score was always coming.

I thought in Round 1 he was unlucky not to score 130.

He was ably assisted by Reece Robson, who has been by far and away the game’s leading hooker, scoring 53 more points than his nearest rival Reed Mahoney and 138 points more than Harry Grant.

8. Do we start bye planning?

The question always comes up around this time of year – Bye planning. 

We are only 8 rounds away from Round 13 but that will come sooner rather than later and it can’t hurt to just check who is playing in Round 13.

With Origin players out, it might be worth keeping an eye out for those studs who play in the 13 and won’t play Origin. Joey Manu hellooo!

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9. Raiders attacking flair

Where has this been from the Green Machine!

Throwing the footy around like they had Meninga and Nadruku in the backline

They transformed into the early 90s Raiders and tore the Eels’ edge apart.

Ethan Strange was enormous scoring a season-high 96 and will make owners a stack more cash.

Matt Timoko showed the NRL world what a superstar he is scoring a double in a superhuman effort scoring 124 whilst James Schiller has come from the clouds to be the cheapie of the year*

*Last week it was Blaize Talagi, and the week before was Lachlan Galvin and next week it will be Kayal Iro or someone.

Still, Schiller, if named, will have a BE of -117. He could make you 300k without doing too much.

10. Minute Watch:

Storm v Broncos
Grant 80, Katoa 80, Blore 64, Te Kura 24, Baker 35

Bulldgos v Roosters
Curran 66, Hughes 44, Salmon 72, A. Crichton 80, May 20

Knights v Dragons
Brailey 60, KPP 80, Lucas 80, Molo 62, RFM 24, Eisenhuth 46

Rabbitohs v Warriors
Murray 60, Cook 63, Ford 77, Barnett 73, AFB 60

Sea Eagles v Panthers
Burbo 80, Ola 80, Henry 7 (HIA) 

Dolphins v Tigers
JMK 80, Flegler 36, Kerr 37, Pole 67, IPap 80, 

Cowboys v Titans
Lolo 32, Cotter 64, Fifita 80, Fermor 80 

Raiders v Eels
Smithies 80, Levi 62, Lane 80, Hopgood 61, Matto 67