NRL Supercoach Round 18 Wrap: 8 Things We Learnt

Well, the major byes are in the rearview mirror and thank the lord PVL for that!

Each major bye had one or 2 absolute studs tearing it up, and this week it was Nick Meaney and Kaeo Weekes’ turn!

The pair put on over 300 points between them, and if you found either of them in your side, you would be feverishly clicking the refresh button on the app, waiting for the lockout to be over.

And if you were to pair one of those players with a Garrick and Marky Mark, then you would see more green arrows than I have all year!

Appears the SC Playbook crew had a day out in Sydney!

Looked an absolute ball, and a good game of footy to watch also!

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Hearing Timmy might have the next one at the Cooma Showground, watching the actual Cooma Stallions on the hill.

I’ll definitely be there for that one! 

The Reapers were left a few short with Paps and Smith being cut late, so had to make a couple trades I didn’t want to, and it didn’t really pay off although I do now have Teddy and Katoa firmly in my side.

I managed only 981, after the downdaters decided Garrick was undeserving of those extra points.

Despite this low score, I saw 1.493 green arrows into the top 20k!

Flying…

Anyway, here’s what we learnt from the last major bye round of the season…

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1. He’s making me Weekes at the knees

Kaeo Weekes take a bow.

And those 5,299 players that brought him in, take a deeper bow!

A weekend-defining performance from the Raiders’ fullback, who scored 3 tries and set one up in a monster 156-point game! 

Covered more metres on Saturday night than a trip from Cooma to Kununurra, and the Dragons spent most of the night looking at the back of his jersey and flowing mullet.

He was touted by a couple as a bit of a wild gamble, and if we are all being honest, the stats really didn’t stack up.

Three 100+ point games in 16 games played so far, but on the flip side of that, has 10 scores under 50!

Add to that, doesn’t play this weekend coming, and has another bye before the season’s end – in the middle of H2H Finals, if you are that well-prepared.

So whether this game was a breakout performance and a sign of many to come, or just a flash in the pan, I don’t think new owners really care. 

They’ve got 156 points and most of us don’t!

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2. Marky Mark leaves his Mark 

I don’t remember a man who has had such a meteoric rise as Mark Nawaqanitawase!

Mind you, anyone coming from Rugby Union would be relishing the exposure and freedom that comes with playing the 13-a-side game!

Was the talk of the Supercoach world this week after the bye last week and many coaches did what they could to get him in.

The CTW spot is becoming awfully packed with some big names coming back into the fold, but you must surely now have seen enough to get him in whatever it takes!

He scored two, one of them from downright nothing, and this was after being moved into the centre spot! 

Teddy had a field day singing Steeden out to the right where debutant Rodwell was situated, so what could have been had Billy Smith not been ruled out.

Not to worry, he still jinked, busted and offloaded his way to 107.

Not sure whether he lands in the centre spot moving forward, or parks himself back on that wing, but if he is a winger that’s going to be a lot of fun to own.

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3. Teddy’s Roosters get cooked

Thought Teddy was meant to turn one on for the SC Playbook faithful up there in the bleachers on Sunday afternoon!

He would have heard Maxy, Spy and certainly Clem screaming at him for the full 80 minutes.

He decided at the 79^th minute that he had heard enough from the dribblers in the blue and white shirts and scored one himself.

Thankfully he did because it was looking like a very underwhelming day out for the number 1 man.

Finished with 77 – not nearly enough as a popular captaincy choice.

Sandon Smith played like he knew Walker was back next week and Savala couldn’t match his previous bye round heroics, but did cross for a try.

They will be a whole different team with Walker back at the helm, but if they are to pay finals, they will want to catch fire and quickly.

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4. Late outs making us headless chooks

Pulling out late can cause drama in regular life.

And didn’t it send some Supercoaches into the spins this weekend!

We all planned our numbers carefully, with that extra one or two in case things went bad, but as the weekend went on, the hits kept on coming!

Kiraz was pulled into Blues camp meaning he was a no-show, but that was only the beginning.

Ryan Papenhuyzen was, out of nowhere it seemed, cut from the side citing calf tightness.

A bit of a concern for owners, and there are a lot of us, to see if that hampers him in the coming weeks or it’s more serious than expected.

His lean run of 5 games didn’t help, and some may have been trigger-happy and let the Storm fullback go.

To rub further deep heat into the calf tightness, Nick Meaney went on and played the game of his life!

Amassed a career-best 165, scoring 2 tries and making 4 line breaks, to go with his 5 goals.

I don’t think he will give the tee back in a hurry, but that will be for Bellamy to work out. 

Just imagine if that was Paps…

Billy Smith did a Billy Smith and also picked up an injury which he is quite attuned to.

He was on the chopping block at some stage, failing to do anything of note outside his opening two games, so that gave me a good enough reason to flick him.

Euan Aitken then got ruled out, meaning those who bought for bye coverage a few weeks back, have seen a $20k price drop, not a single score over 60 and now doesn’t play next week.

And we haven’t gotten to Origin 3 yet!

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5. Fainu brothers give hope for the future

I’m used to writing about brothers scoring tries in the same team..

And no, SC Playbook wasn’t around when the Morris brothers were getting about their work!

But it was a nice change to see 3 brothers, all playing for one club (don’t get me started on where they were at a couple years back) and all finding the line!

The Tigers faithful, despite being dragged through the mud of late – and by late I mean 5 years, have unearthed some gems in the Fainu brothers.

All three were superb on Sunday afternoon, guiding their side to victory.

Of note was Latu Fainu who played in the number 7 and looked like a 150-game veteran.

If he can muster up any sort of combination with Luai they might just make a fist of it. 

Scored 68 including his try, I wouldn’t be rushing to buy, but he is priced at only 330K, as a downgrade in a 5/8 spot that is pretty terrible, it’s not a bad shout. 

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6. Hooker problem looms

I mentioned it last week, but there is a big hooking problem on the horizon that might break many a team.

Sandon Smith was so-so in the Roosters’ loss to the Tigers, and Sam Walker is looming large for a return.

He will take back the #7 jersey, but if they go with the team they did before Walker was ruled out again, we can expect to see Hugo Salava in the no. 6.

Sandon Smith coming off the bench does not excite me at all. In fact, playing him will do more harm than good despite the lowest score coming out.

Starling had his quietest game in a long time, only scoring 36 in the 68 minutes he was on the field.

It’s worked for them so far, but does Owen Pattie start to see some more minutes?

Next week when 3 teams are on the bye (Rabbits, Raiders and Eagles), we will need all hands on deck as there may be some mass resting after Origin.

If Watson and Grant rest after Wednesday’s match, I might have to grab Chris Randall and run with that for the time being, which will just be the icing on some pretty bad decisions I have made this year!

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7. Bulldogs’ back rowers 

It seemed so long ago, but the Broncos and Bulldogs game was a Supercoach killer!

Plenty had eyes on either Kikau or Preston, and if not for diving on a ball in the in-goal, both would have gone sub 45.

Kikau was lucky enough to pounce on that ball, but new owners of either wouldn’t have had the best night on Friday.

Kikau’s base output was good, but in a game that didn’t reach any attacking flair, he was found a bit short on some offloads, whilst Preston couldn’t get any clear ball on the right, with his 45 points coming in base alone. 

Might need to sort out their halves and get back to winning ways.

Minute Watch

Bulldogs v Broncos
Kikau 80, Preston 80, Mahoney 80, Piakura 66, Willison 68

Raiders v Dragons
Hosking 80, Horse 55, Starling 68, Su’a 80, Liddle 53, Cook 80

Cowboys v Storm
Bateman 80, Hess 52, Katoa 80, NAS 24, Blore 80, 

Roosters v Tigers
Whyte 73, Foketi 80, Sa Fainu 80, Seyfarth 31, May 70

Sea Eagles v Rabbitohs
Tevaga 57, SST 46, B Smith 37, Keaon 80, Hubner 40