And just like that… 

Round 12, the first major bye round, the one where I will now try and convince you to go a bit rogue on your VC because every man and his dog is on Nicho for Captain…except Spy. 

Who is going to put it all on red with a rogue Captaincy on Erin Clark – and if you had told me that Erin Clark was going to be someone’s Captain at the beginning of the season, I would not have believed you.

But here we are.

And honestly, it’s not a bad shout because I just checked the weather, and it’s sunny in Gosford on Saturday. And I’ve run out of hair gel.

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Now this is actually a really nice round for me. It is the first round in a long time where I won’t have to spend 80 minutes behind the couch praying Nathan gets sent off or temporarily forgets how to kick. Plus, the Warriors are 2^nd on the ladder and yes, I am in the process of preparing my sign for the Grand Final – MetCalves it Up.

And let us quickly touch on the Support Group(s) that went down at the Community Hall on Monday morning. With all the 14 point Captains and the 35 point Captains – we very quickly ran out of whiskey, (although I did see Spy in the corner smiling to himself as held his ownlittle Celebration Circle with his Captain Terrell “90+ in base stats” May – so that might have been where all the whiskey went). I’m not bitter.

Regardless, I’d like to thank Mariah for turning up, although I promise I did not know she was going to Captain May too, and that rendition of “Hero” was NOT on the morning’s program:

“And then Terryl comes along/ with the base stats to carry on / and you cast your fears aside/ and you know your team’ll survive”. 

Honestly, if I’d known, I would never have invited her. I guess she’s Spy’s now.

And without further ado, let’s move on to the two Captains that literally 156% of SuperCoachers will Captain this round, but let’s first shake our fist like an angry little man at the heavens and bemoan the fact that they are playing each other and so we must choose one or the other… and won’t somebody think of the SuperCoachers when they make these draws up…

Roosters vs Sharks – Saturday

Okay, but who do you choose if you own both? On the one hand we have Prince Nicho Hynes, playing in a team that hasn’t been hit by the Origin stick, and boasting a 3-round average of 85 and a respectable score of 63 vs the Storm last round. 

And then on the other side of the field you have potential Captain two – Teddy, playing in a team that has been decimated by Origin picks, but boasting a 3-round average of 109 and enjoying the 5^th highest average of SuperCoach 2025.

Nicho is looking good and involved and there’s a good chance the Sharks run amuck and make it rain points out at Gosford; but Teddy will have to do so much of the work for the Chooks with so many players out… and it’s not supposed to rain…

“I don’t think you bring in Teddy for 900k, if you’re not comfortable Captaining him”. So said a wise man who actually is my little brother, and now my brain is confused because when did he get so philosophical – he’s literally 12 years old – and also, I am bringing in Teddy but I wasn’t going to Captain him because Nicho.

So now I don’t know what to do, except go buy a tub of gel at the Chemist Warehouse down the road, make the trek up to Gosford, sneak into the sheds, and attempt Operation VO5.

I am a glasshouse of emotion and indecision.

And on that note, let’s move onto the Vice Captains and let us quickly remember that we get TWO goes at a Captain this round, so your VC could very easily become your Captain – so this is where we can go nice and rogue (except I won’t, but you can).

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Your Vice Captains

Herbie:

Herbie Farnworth is hot property. A 93 last round including a try vs the Warriors; five tries in his last five games; a 3-round average of 85; ranked number 1 for CTWs for the season so far – no wonder over 10,000 SuperCoachers who don’t own are trading him in (and whoever the 18 are who are trading him out – why pls?). 

Playing the Bulldogs who are looking pretty decimated this round – if you own Herbie, take a punt on VC. Those who don’t own (aka, me) its time to spend a nice Thursday night behind the couch and pray til the very last minute that he doesn’t find the line – there is no rest until the final whistle blows, he loves a bit of junk.

A Manly Player: 

I will now turn to the Spy’s voice notes he has left me:

“Taking on an Eels side without Mitch Moses and Zac Lomax and with a new centre –Garrick, is it his time to score 4 tries in 17 minutes again?” 

(sidenote from me – he isn’t having a baby this weekend – I checked).

Back to Spy:

“Tommy T with the Captaincy for the Sea Eagles – looks like he can barely run 100 metres at the moment, but by god we know he can play, so maybe he’s an option as well.”

(sidenote from me – there will be no races up the Corso then).

Back to Spy:

“Or do you throw it on Hopoate and maybe he has a field day on the left edge – definitely only VC there.”

(sidenote from me – 89 points in Round 11, which could have been so much more…I would VC him if I owned).

Back to Spy:

“Origin snub, or on the fringes looking to impress, could Olakau’atu go large in damp conditions and run straight over the top of a few Eels defenders?”

(sidenote from me – an Eel would beat a Sea Eagle in wet conditions except if the Sea Eagle swooped on top of him and plucked him out of the water to devour him on the rocks – so therefore Spy might be on to something here – I never knew he was so good at physics).

Panthers vs Knights:

Do the Knights get up on Saturday arvo in Bathurst? Well, if they can, you might like to take a sneaky punt on Fletcher Sharpe – switching to Fullback with Ponga out for QLD, the birthday hat-trick still fresh in the memory, and playing a Panthers side who has leaked 90 points on average to the last four Fullbacks…will we see a bounce back game against thePanthers whose big guns are out with Origin? 

BUT if the Knights can’t get up there’s a chance a couple of Panthers could do it for youinstead. 

Enter Alamoti who has tonned up twice this season in Round 3 and Round 7 – beautiful bookends to the middle 3 rounds where he scored an average of about 40 aka: the three rounds I actually owned him. If he’s kicking you might like to take a punt, particularly if he can jag a try (or two). 

Then you have Blaize, he of the FOUR try assists during the draw nobody saw coming vs the Cowboys in Round 10. If you own him (and not many do) do you take a sneaky punt that he can pull out a back-to-back ton up for you?

Verdict

I do not have the balls to Captain anyone in the Sunday game, so therefore I’m going to spend the next 72 hours in my head debating Teddy vs Nicho and hope that Garrick randomly has another baby or something and scores a ton so I can just loop and be done with it.

And with the beauty of having two bites at the Captaincy cherry or apple or whatever the saying is – you basically get a free go at a Captain, so please, go a bit rogue if you feel it. Put that VC on that winger you have who might score a hatty. Take a punt on Tommy T. Captain Erin Clarke.

And whoever you choose, I hope you have the most beautiful weekend, and you win all your H2Hs and you soar up the rankings…except if you’re Spy – because you stole Mariah and you’re 100s of points ahead of me and I need to beat you.

Clementine xx