Clem’s Captains: Round 18 NRL SuperCoach Skippers

Picture this.

You walk into your local pub – familiar, comforting.

You head to the bar, ready to order your usual schooner of Super Dry (XXXX, if you’re a Queenslander), and you stop cold.

Something’s not right…

And then it hits you.

Where you normally see the taps of Hahn, Tooheys, VB, Coopers – if you’re feeling frisky – there’s pops of pastels and palm trees and unfamiliar names like Dandelions in the Sun Easy Hazy and Mullet Brewing Co Radler.

You panic, you wildly look around, but no one else seems to have noticed.

Pints are being poured, there’s the thunk of a ball hitting a pool cue, some old blokes placing a bet at the TAB.

And then you spot it.

Shining like a heavenly light.

A beacon of hope amongst the sea of craft beer,s which might taste good or might taste like soap.

The one you can rely on – the solid true blue Aussie lager that never lets you down…

James. Tedesco.

And in a weird week for Captains, where nobody is a sure thing and everybody is a risk and could go 20 or 120 – there is one reliable choice we can count on:

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Your Round 19 Captain

And of course it’s Teddy. 

Mr Reliable.

The one we can count on.

The one who is so reliable, that on this very day last year, was also my Captain of the Round in this very article.

And I quote:

“A 3-round average of 99. If you don’t own Teddy, please, fix it right now!

The SuperCoachApp notes say it best with their eloquently eloquent statement: ‘The best fullback in SuperCoach period’.

Just give him the armband and sit back and relax. Your job here is done. Period.”

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And on that Sunday, Round 18 of the 2024 season, vs the Dragons at Allianz – Teddy scored ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-NINE.

A try and 3 try assists, 2-line breaks, a line break assist.

And the week before? 116 points vs the Tigers – the very team he’s facing this Sunday, and there are so many omens here my brain is going to burst at the omenness of it all!

Because this season, he has a 3-round average of 98. He is the number one ranked fullback for the season.

He’s playing at Allianz.

He’s playing the Tigers, who are basically the Dragons, and his former club.

He is the best fullback in SuperCoach period.

And it’s Groundhog Day, because I will repeat last year’s verdict made on this very day, July 4th:

Just give him the armband and sit back and relax.

Your job here is done.

Period.

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Your Vice-Captains, because most of us have a free loop:

And just like coming face to face with a row of unfamiliar craft beer taps and you don’t know if they’re going to be delicious or disastrous addition to your weekend (dramatic licence), I cannot pick another Captain this week to save myself – because there is a bunch who maybe might go big or might go small.

And I only have eyes for Teddy.

Except we need a VC, and we have a free loop.

So let me briefly go over some options (please do not quote me on any of these as Lil’ Papi has been teetering on a disaster two weeks straight):

Ryan Papenhuyzen

We meet again. 

And, of course, we must have him as an option, even if his average over the last 5 games has gone down to 57.

Because of the mullet mainly, but also because he is playing the Cowboys, who have leaked 75+ points to fullbacks in their last four matches.

VC with average confidence.

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Jahrome Hughes

Well, here’s a player who knows how to ton.

A 3-round average of 98 and a 113 last week vs the Sharks as half of the Hughes x Ekat One Two Punch. 

Playing the Cowboys whom he scored 136 against a few rounds back in Round 14, and with Munster and Grant out for Origin, Hughes has won the ‘Storm top Supercoach points game of paper, scissors, rock’ by default.

VC with above average confidence.

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And of course, there are other VC options.

And they might go good for you if you want to take a risk.

Everybody is captaining Teddy anyway, so you might as well go rogue on your VC.

Tallis Duncan scored a 134 last weekend, and Zac Hosking whacked out 106.

It’s either going to be a delightful surprise, aka a Radler that tantalises your tastebuds, or you’re going to be left staring into a half-empty glass of floral regret.

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Verdict

The omens don’t lie (38% of the time).

It is Teddy. 

That is all.

And on that note, I hope you have a beautiful weekend, and your 13 players come through for you and your team wins – I’m already celebrating the Warriors bye win – beat us once, beat us twice, but you won’t beat us three times.

See you for the Teddy ton up at Allianz on Sunday!

Clementine xxx