NRL Supercoach Round 11 Wrap: 9 Things We Learnt

I am so back!

Everyone is on the downhill slide of the roller-coaster; I’m just on the way up! 

But it’s been 11 weeks of waiting in line whilst everyone else gets a good start on me, as my boys finally came to the party in Round 11.

Avoiding Drinkwater and some underperforming 2RFs made for an enjoyable weekend.

Captaining a player who scores 120+ is a very nice change from the previous trash I have been given.

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Round 11 had the lot, with big guns failing, PODs lighting the way and just for the fun of it, a surplus of injuries heading into the first major byes!

Team lists will determine whether our planning has been worth the effort.

The Reapers bounced back in a big way, scoring 1326, thanks to May and owning Keaon and Munster, and Pods like Lehi and Herbie finding the line.

Saw 6,685 arrows, into 24,260 overall, which isn’t all that great, but a hell of a lot better than what it was a month ago!!

1. Drink it, non-owners! 

14 points…

There are more letters in his name than the points he got on Saturday afternoon!

“Dry Townsville track”, “Most inform player”, “Has a really high floor this year” blah blah blah.

He just hadn’t taken on the might of the Manly Sea Eagles!

Its been a long 3 weeks for non-owners and Saturday night, not owning Drinky finally paid off.. and big time!

The form player of Supercoach so far couldn’t strike a single blow with passes hitting the deck, Manly defending well, and a no-try led to his lowest score in years! (Scored 9 last year from memory).

But in an even crueller blow, he was owned by 87% of the top 10k, and captained by far too many who thought they knew Rugby League.

These blokes haven’t seen enough winters..

But, like a scorned captainer before (Wiped Reece Walsh’s 9 from my memory), you just need it put it behind you and move on.

And quickly!

Oh, and don’t go looking for it, it’s likely dropped out in your flex replacement, and no captain for you!

2. Keaon is him

You get your hands off him, Laurie!

I haven’t gotten many things right this year…

Leaving the Caxton at 2am on Friday, a couple of weeks back was one of them, but starting the year with Keaon has finally come to fruition!

He has been solid all year without being fantastic, but since Wayne has given him the number 10 jersey, he has gone to Terrell May/Payne Haas levels!

Best on ground on Sunday night running for an incredible 329 metres!

Finishing with a huge 106 points that did not include a single attacking stat!

Not one!

At the time of writing, he had 50 points in tackles, 12 points in tackle busts and picked up 46 points in runs alone.

Won’t pick up dual position at this stage, but another game or 2 in the 10 and he will join the elite FRF/2RF.

If that happens, he is a must-have, and if you want to go now, he is as cheap as he will get.

Priced at $570k pre lockout, broke his BE by 50 so a touch over 600k, has the bye this weekend but will cover 15 and 18, barring no call up.

3. Haas and May deliver big time

For all those who avoided the Scotty carnage as captain, all eyes likely turned to Sunday and deciding which front row forward behemoth would take the armband 

And if you were really patient and waited till 6pm on Sunday, you would have been rewarded with May going ballistic!

Really showed Laurie what he is missing with his best game to date.

Finished the night with 123, a mere 107 points more than Drinky (sorry, sticking the boot in while I can) and gave all those who captained him a massive boost over the rest of the field

Haas too, was immense, but has since picked up a quad injury that may or may not rule him out of Origin.

It wasn’t looking good with 2 minutes left on the clock.

He was on about 50 but just turned in one of the all-time great 100-second performances to boost him to 82 with a line break and about 7 tackle busts. 

Even I couldn’t do that much work in 100 seconds.. And I’ve got 2 kids!

4. Marky Mark had one of the all-time nights to remember and forget 

When we are looking for PODs, look no further than the Roosters’ new million-dollar/one-dollar man!

Whatever he touches turns to either rocks or diamonds… nothing in between!

Had one of the all-time “nights” on Friday, dropping more bombs than a remote piloted drone but scored two tries, one that will be shown on highlight reels for years to come and set Toia up with a flick out the back, that will not be seen again as Toia did a Su’a and dropped it over the line costing him 20 or so points.

His issues under the high ball were very evident, but they can be fixed, and if teams want to keep kicking to him, that just means more involvement.

Bottom line is two great tries and another assist, his 97 should have been a lot more.

With word is Toia is making his Origin debut and Smith doing nothing since his return, a 2-for-1 Roosters swap might be on the cards.

Owned by only 8%, expect that number to soar come Friday.

Probably needs that wing spot though.

5. Bye carnage begins

Snowy Mountains Vets were busy this weekend treating all the calf injuries!

Anyone and everyone has picked up a lower leg injury it seems, and it’s had huge complications heading into the first major bye of the year.

Jacob Kiraz is the biggest name in the casualty ward, set to miss a few weeks with a calf complaint.

He joins Greg Marzhew and Dylan Egan as key bye numbers that won’t take any part in the opening few weeks.

Kiraz is a big loss for owners, with huge shoes to fill no matter who you bring in.

He has been unreal for the Dogs, and even when he scores poorly, he scores well.

Dylan Egan left the game early with a potential ACL injury. If so, that’s his season done and a trade out.

Thank you Dylan. You will be fondly remembered.

See ya next year when you have an 80-minute edge spot locked down for about $510k.

Team lists will throw some further spanners into our works, especially with some guns under injury clouds.

Might help out those who are locked in that $10-25k logjam!

6. The Knights… Less said, the better

What on earth is doing in the Hunter?

The Knights look stuck in second gear, they can’t score a point to save themselves, and we all own far too many of their players!

I escaped the Marzhew news, but just for the kicks of it, was impacted by Bradman Best and his twig-like hamstrings.

Another one of my PODs went right before the bye period, which just heaps further misery and trades heading into the bye rounds.

Ponga has locked down the fullback spot, but more for lack of competition than anything.

If there is a spare size 10 boots lying in the sheds come Wednesday week, there’s a chance Billy throws them on himself.

Probably a trade, but at this stage, I’m probably just going to hold and see if he can claw back any of the near-$350k he has lost me. 

Sharpe and Lucas were underwhelming, Sharpe barely seeing any good footy for his 25, and Lucas left the field with a shoulder injury late, according to NRL Physio.

They haven’t been tackling all that well in recent weeks, so he might still play next weekend!

7. Titans under the radar

I know they had 40 put on them, and they have just lost their number 1 player to Origin, as well as their front rower and best back rower, but are we looking past some of the Titans’ point scoring guns?

Foran returned on Sunday, pushing Brimson back to fullback, which was music to my ears as an owner.

Set up an early try with too much speed, but was barely sighted again.

He finished with 54, but coming off last week’s 100+, he should be considered by many more.

Dual-position and priced fairly reasonably, he is a nice downgrade option from a Kiraz or Marzhew, if you are still carrying.

Plus, he has pledged his allegiance to the King, so no calls from Billy.

I’ve owned him since Round 1, and it’s aged me considerably, but it is fun!

And that’s all you can ask for in Supercoach sometimes.

And then there is obviously Campbell.

I re-bought this weekend for Cleary and haven’t regretted it in the slightest.

He is one who picks up Supercoach points, putting his boots on!

Didn’t seem to do much, but still ended the game on 59 without an assist or contribution.

Feel like the Titans can score points, and these 2 will have a hand in most of them

8. Turbo.. Who’s in?

Last thought before we round out this week’s article.. But are we ready to be hurt again?

Turbo hasn’t been named in the sky blue, which is great news for both NSW and Manly, BE of 108 on the weekend and scored only 18, so he will be around $530k come lockout…

Plays a Latrell-less Bunnies at Brookie on Sunday afternoon.

Was a Robert Derby knockdown and a roll away in time from maybe 50, so things aren’t as bad as it seems.

I know who I would prefer between a Trbojevic and a Tracey… 

Hey, we have endured Ponga for this long, if it’s as bad as that, at least we are prepared for it!

9. Minute Watch

Knights v Eels
Cant 80, KPP, 70 (Sin Bin), Lucas 76, Smith 70, Samrani 31, Kautoga 80 

Bulldogs v Roosters
Kikau 80, Mahoney 80, Crichton 80, Whyte 44, Watson 80, Wong 80

Dolphins v Warriors
Finefeuiaki 80, Gilbert 30, JFH 56, Halasima 80, Clark 72, Egan 73

Cowboys v Sea Eagles
Hess 32, Bateman 80, Nanai 80, Bullemor 36, Tevaga 58, SST 47, Burbo 80

Sharks v Storm
AFB 67, Nikora 80, McInnes 70, Grant 55, EKat 80

Broncos v Dragons
Haas 55, Carrigan 71, Willison 48, Egan 4, Stewart 60, Liddle 52

Raiders v Titans
Tapine 50, Starling 80, Horsburgh 54, Hosking 68, Fermor 80, Tino 68

Tigers v Rabbitohs
May 80, Api 80, Hunt 31, Keaon 80, Aitken 80, Hubner 37