Clem’s Captains: Round 25 NRL SuperCoach Skippers

Is Nicho’s hair really, really wet? 

Did Timmy actually nail the rain dance and stick the double backflip into a roly-poly cartwheel? 

Or did he somehow manage to sneak into the sheds with the hair gel??

Saturday arvo and I’m heading over to the city on the ferry to meet the girls from the Gold Coast, attempting to watch the Sharks game through the SuperCoach app, and my head is full of so many questions.

Because it’s not raining, but Nicho’s score keeps climbing like his locks have been drenched in an actual monsoon, and I know Timmy didn’t do the second backflip – because he’s never been able to nail it, and the Playbook’s WhatsApp Group Game Day chat is going nuts, and that’s another 10 points, and as my ferry arrives at Circular Quay we have it:

145 points. The VC Loop of the Round.

And I have the VC on him, happy days, and this would normally send me into levels of rapture previously unknown to man, but horror of horror stories – I have nobody to loop.

Not a single solitary soul. 

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And so what’s a girl to do when she has 20 minutes before diving into that first glass of bubbles to either use one of her last two trades to bring in a nuff or put it all on black and ride the Reece Walsh Captaincy Rollercoaster?

Well, you turn to the SC Playbook VC Loop Calculator, attempt to guestimate some scores (I used a worse-case Reece Walsh 80), and you land on this:

Is using one of your last two trades on a nuff worth 50 points?

And at that moment, I made the best decision of my whole season, which has been filled with questionable decisions:

No, no, it’s not. Don’t do it.

Take a risk instead.

And somewhere between my second and third glass of champagne, I checked my score to find I’d been served the biggest get out of jail free card of my entire SuperCoach history:

A Reece Walsh 155.

Sometimes you just have to take on the gambling gods and take a risk.  

And now let’s attempt to find this week’s Captain by skipping right over Thursday night’s game, which is apparently being played in a lake, and move to some of the most popular VC options of this round:

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Nathan Cleary

And I will start by saying, despite AI getting the Captains completely wrong last week, it was kind of right about Cleary not being an option last round. 

Because 74 points when every other popular option (except Turbo) decided to ton up really wasn’t it.

So do you take a punt on Cleary this week, despite him playing the Raiders who haven’t exactly let halfbacks make it rain with points against them this season?

And obviously, of course you do if you want to, especially as his 3-round average is 95 and historically, he goes good against the Raiders with his last three games vs them averaging a sweet 119 points. 

But as the 6pm game on a Friday and an entire weekend of games stretched out in front of us – for me, it’s a VC only.

Which leads us to a confusing period of three games in between Cleary and the Captain Obvious of the Round, James Tedesco, where, if we look hard enough, we might find another VC or two, in the form of:

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Jayden Campbell

And I would reiterate – VC only – because even though the Warriors were lucky to scrape back into the top four last round, the Titans aren’t exactly setting the world on fire either.

But Jayden did whack out 115 points against them back in Round 21, and an insane 170 points against them last year, and the Titans are playing at home (even though I speak from experience and not bias when I say CBUS feels like a Warriors home game whenever the Wahs play there)…

…so as a pod choice from the Cleary/Teddy route that most people are going – maybe just take a risk…but it’s not for me.

Which brings us to the most popular Captain of the Round and the most popular for a reason:

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James Tedesco

Here is some simple maths:

Teddy scored 189 points two weeks ago and 85 points vs the Bulldogs last week.

Teddy has a season average of 87. 

Teddy is on fire.

The Eels are not on fire – the Bunnies beat them last week.

Equals Teddy is the Captain of the Round and should be in everyone’s Round 25 plans somewhere – if not Captain at least VC.

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Reece Walsh

And here we have my new Lord and Saviour – Reece Walsh.

And look, I’ll be blunt – he can score 15 points just as easily as he can score 150.

But if I had to pick a player who is the most fun to take a risk on a Captaincy, it’d be Reece Walsh.

He can be on nothing and then in the next minute hit 60. Or he can be on -3 40 minutes in.

It is the Reece Walsh way.

And who are we to question it?

You just take a punt and hope it pays off when you do.

And with a 3-round average of 105, coming off a Round 24 top score of 155, and taking on the Knights on a Sunday afternoon, who are coming off a Scotty D slaughter of 151 points.

Ride the Reece Walsh rollercoaster.

Even if it doesn’t come off, you’re guaranteed a fun ride.

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Scotty D

And firstly, I would like to extend my condolences to every single person who traded out Scotty D for Tommy T. 

Because 151 points. And two tries, and two try assists. And wow.

And even though the Tigers looked good last week, if your VC fails and you’re looking to go against the popular Teddy Captaincy, you could do much worse then Scotty D.

Four tries in his last five games, six try assists, the kicking…

Not my fave Captain of the round, but one to ponder if you’re up for the risks that come with the potential rewards too.

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Verdict

I’m riding that Reece Rollercoaster for the second week in a row, and it’s Teddy into Reece Walsh for me.

I have eyes for nobody else.

That is all.

And on that note, I hope your Captain tons up and you win your H2H and you climb up the rankings and you have a beautiful weekend.

Clementine xx