Clem’s NRL Supercoach Captains: Round 10

I am Ralph Wiggum and Jahrome Hughes is the purple berries.

And boy do those berries taste like burning…

Let me take you back to last Wednesday night. Living my best main character life, I strolled through the city, surrounded by colours and noise and sparkly lights and complete and total inspirational possibility. 

And as I splashed through puddles getting soaked by the rain in my Target raincoat and inappropriate shoes, like some sort of Carrie Bradshaw from Wish, I made the grand decision to trade Cleary out for Jahrome Hughes. 

Lights, camera, action, it was done!

Because what could possibly go wrong? I was getting Storm playmaker points. Vs the Titans. Rock, paper, scissors.

And surely that’s an easy ton for me with weeks of glorious Hughes points to follow…

Cleary who?

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But friends. Allow me to be a tale of warning. Because as I strolled through the city that fateful evening I was unfortunately, Blinded by the Lights.

Because now I have no Hughes and no Cleary and all I have to show for it is 22 points and a trade kitty that is rapidly depleting at an alarming rate…

And I am faced with the decision. To suck it up and death ride Cleary for the next 2 rounds or to suck it up and make yet ANOTHER trade. 

In other news – in some weird universe play – myself, Timmy, and my SC nemesis Spy, are coming into this round with only 9 points separating the three of us after 9 rounds.

I like to think that Spy hit the afterburners too early though and is currently on the downward trajectory.

Me and Timmy? We’re just getting warmed up. 

So, onto the Captains we go, and it’s hard to say no to a Captaincy on Nicho Hynes this week after his Princely behaviour over the last few rounds.

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So let’s start with him as the majority of owners will, and then move onto some other Vice/Captains you can take a punt on that could send you soaring up the rankings if they turn it on:

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Prince Nicho Hynes

At time of writing, 129 people have traded out our wet-haired Prince, and I cannot.

Because why?? What are you doing?? Please, talk to me. My DMs are always open (except if you are the person with the findoming requests, because then they are not – unless you want to give me gifts of SuperCoach trades or potentially top up my SuperCoach account so I can afford to straight trade Chan to Nikora this week?).

A 3-round average of 133 points. A quite respectable (mostly second-half) score of 97 last week.

Ranked 3^rd overall for points for the season so far.

Playing the Storm who are missing Lil’ Papi and  Jahrome “Purple Berries” Hughes…hopefully a bit of rain around etc etc…

Prince Nicho Hynes and his million-dollar glorious wet locks, ARE the Captaincy choice of the round.

Which leads us into your other choices:

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Dolphins vs Manly at the Bronco’s house

Playing at Suncorp (which, as Staggs eloquently reminded us, is the Broncos house, but also, sometimes AirBnB’d out to Dolphins), you’d want to look at a possible Vice Captaincy on a couple of players here if you’re lucky enough to own.

Jamayne Isaako – Equal top-scorer of Round 9 with ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-ONE points including THREE tries.

A 3-round average of 107 – if you are lucky enough to own him, would you really risk not Vice Captaining him for the potential rankings climb it could entail if he decides to come out and slaughter the Manly defence?

Tommy T – Okay, but I was almost guilty of flipping him to a certain Dolphin’s fullback cheapie, which would have been the cherry on top of what proved to be a terrible trade week for me – but thank god I did not.

And last week, Tommy T came through for patient holders… well, in the first half of the game vs the Raiders, at least.

In the second half he put the brakes on, like the entire Manly team.

But we will absolutely take his 92 points from last round and hope he plays the whole 80 vs the Dolphins…

Reuben Garrick – Okay, so actually I did trade in Garrick last week, so it was not all doom and gloom for the Friday Beers.

A casual 102 points vs the Raiders, and a three-round average of 95.

A tough decision if you fancy a VC on a Manly player this week – him or Tommy T?

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The Game also known as Clementine’s Deathride

Because friends, I’m not trading him back in. 

I have decided it in conjunction with one of Max’s most glorious spreadsheets.

I am not trading back in Cleary.

I will save my trades and suck it up and hold Hughes for those tantalising upcoming games over Origin when he’s back.

And therefore, instead I will watch one of the Vice Captains/Potential Captains of the round tear it up vs the Bulldogs behind my couch with my eyes closed.

Now he’s only played the four rounds this season, and with an average of 70, you’d be forgiven for taking a cautious approach to a VC on Cleary, especially as Prince Nicho Hynes is clearly going to be most SuperCoacher’s Captain of Choice.

And historical statistics tell us that he doesn’t really score that well vs the Bulldogs at the best of times, just casual 70s and things. 

But we know what Cleary can do.

So IF you are one of the few non-ghost ships who don’t own Prince Nicho, you may then consider a Vice Captaincy on Cleary.

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Reece Walsh 

As a complete aside, I’m finally getting my eyebrows done next week.

They will hopefully be glorious twins once again, not distant cousins that are fighting.

Reece Walsh, you are nothing but a complete inspiration.

Now, if you own Reece Walsh, here is the thing.

He is the funnest sparkiest player to watch on this earth, but you’re either going to get a 20 or a 200.

There is literally no in-between.

And that is okay. I love owning him for the sheer terrifying unknown of ‘what will we get this game?’

Points, plays, penalties, passes to nowhere, 10 try-assists? A casual send off? Cramps?? What will it be…?

Now last week he managed fifty-one points vs the Roosters, and his 3-round average is only 78, and even though the Broncos are playing the depleted Eels, you’re taking a massive risk if you take a punt of a Captaincy on Reece Walsh. 

But what’s better than a bit of risky fun for your Friday night. Put the Vice Captaincy on him and enjoy the ride.

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Literally Any of the Roosters 

They’re playing my Warriors. And of course, the Warriors are going to win…

But the Roosters are scoring tons for fun, so let’s look at some likely candidates:

Joey Manu – It is my favourite thing in the world owning Sir Joey M.

The second highest scorer in SuperCoach so far this season, a 3-round average of 79, the whisper of a potential ton vs the Warriors.

It’s just too tantalising to ignore.

Except I’m Captaining Nicho so I’m ignoring it, but if you want to you can Captain Joey M.

Angus Crichton – How is he not in 100% of teams?

The only forward in SuperCoach history to have three 150+ scores, whacked out a casual 151 last week vs the Broncos including a couple of tries to go with his 119 vs the Dragons the week before.

If you have him, you can take a bit of a punt on Crichton. He is in some form!

James Tedesco – 112 last week vs the Broncos including 2 try assists, 2 line break assists, and 2 line breaks.

If you are one of the ten people who own Teddy, honestly, think about a bit of a pod Captaincy on him.

Dom Young – Hi it is I, Queen of the Second Chance.

Because despite the -15 still burning in my brain, I will be trading back in that try-scoring rogue Dom Young this week.

And he is also a viable Captaincy choice this week, albeit a massively risky one.

But again, do we want to play it safe, or do we want to take a punt and potentially soar up the rankings?

Because despite the -15, we’ve also seen him score a 150 this season.

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Scotty D

The final game of the round throws us up a Captaincy option, even if the Cowboys are playing the team that are emphatically throwing back in my face every week, my claim of the obvious wooden spoon.

With an average of 77 and a 3-round average of 64, it’s a bit of a ‘should-I/shouldn’t I’ risk popping the whole Captaincy shebang on Scotty D.

You run the risk of ending up severely dehydrated come Sunday evening. 

But coming off a 96 vs the Dolphins last Saturday, if your Vice Captain has failed miserably and you want a bit of a pod choice which could send you soaring up the rankings if all the other Captain-choices fail, by all means, go for it. 

Verdict

I’m running with a Captaincy on Prince Nicho Hynes for the third week straight and hoping for a downpour in Melbourne.

And I’ll probably pop the VC on Tommy T just in case he plays both halves and scores that elusive ton.

Or maybe Reece Walsh just because it’s so fun.

But this week, there are so many rogue and poddy options you could do, that could send you soaring up the rankings or could just as easily send you into a freefall…

…but what is life without its risks.

And on that note, I’m off to comb the SuperCoach app for more purple berries.

I hope your weekend is as beautiful as Jakey T’s thumb…

Clementine xxx