NRL Supercoach | Clem’s Captains, Round 12 Skippers

Magic Round.

What a time to be alive!

And while my body is sitting in Sydney, Caxton Street still has my soul.

I just can’t remember where I left it – possibly making friends on the dance floor of the Caxton, or yarning SuperCoach with the best community in the carpark. It potentially could still be dancing to the live band at Lefty’s…  although there’s a good chance it’s singing Slice of Heaven and screaming Up the Wahs at the Lord Alfred. Or maybe it’s still sitting at Suncorp celebrating the Wahs win. There was a visit to the Pig and Whistle, so it could be enjoying a whiskey there… or it could still be trying to get that elusive win at the blackjack table at the Casino….

I’ll let you know when I find it…

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But wow, what a weekend and surely Magic Round is up there with the best weekend of the year – from the people you meet – the new friends, the old friends, to the footy, and of course Caxton Street…it’s better than LEGO and Christmas all rolled into one!

Now, as far as the Captain of the Round goes – I do believe Spy is going to give out the final points and award the winner on the poddy next week –, but for those who backed me, I promise I put in 3 full days and nights in the quest to get us the win…

And last week, my SuperCoach team put in for the Friday Beers too, scoring 1349 points and gaining 185 green arrows – stunning times. We are now in 1,674 place, and most importantly, we are still beating the Spy…

Glorious, glorious times.

Before we jump into the Captains, I would like to give a shout-out to anybody who Captained Herbie last round. 140 points. A round of applause to you.

Now, because there are only five games this round, we’ll pick a couple of likely VCs and Captains – keeping in mind that as half the comp is out this round, we have the FREE loop, so your VC doesn’t have to go quite as high as in a regular round to make it count (there’ll be no dropping 83-point players this round friends!)

(Also keep in mind that the bye rounds are weird, and there is likely to be one or two random players who pull a ton out of nowhere who won’t be in anybody’s teams)

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Jamayne Isaako

Panic rang out across the nation yesterday, with the news that our Lord and Saviour of the Bye Rounds was out – and cue the sound of 500,000 SuperCoachers collectively swapping out their VC.

But never fear – our hopes of back-to-back 140s from Herbie Farnworth might be dashed – but we have options this Thursday night…

And Jamayne Isaako is him.

Playing the Raiders, who can leak a try on their edges, don’t let the 56 of last round scare you, even if you were one of the millions of SuperCoachers who traded him in.

Instead, look to the 178 points the week before, the three tries, the 24 points in goals, the FOUR linebreaks…the fact that the Dolphins are humming, the fact that Bostock doesn’t have glue hands) … and the fact that there are very few other options this week…

…and put the VC on him.

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Jahrome Hughes

On Friday night, we have the Bulldogs vs Storm, and I LOVE a Jahrome Hughes play during the bye rounds!

Now the Storm have won two games in a row, and granted, it was the Tigers and the Eels, but this is the Bulldogs, so I guess we can call a spade a spoon.

And with Munster and Grant on Origin duties, there’ll be no paper, scissors, rock game in the shed to decide who gets to be playmaker – it will be Hughes, and by Friday 10pm, there’s a good chance we’ll all be wishing we brought him in.

14 try assists to his name this season, 15 line-break assists, 3 tons, and with the Great Lisati running off him on the edge…

VC with confidence friends.

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Any of the Warriors

Up the Wahs! And welcome to the show.

It’s the Warriors in The Slaughtering of the Dragons!

And I will be on the hill at the Colosseum Kogarah on Saturday for the bloodbath.

And honestly, is there a better Captain this round than the People’s Champion:

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General Maximus Decimus Meridius Jackson Ford

On Monday morning, 54,000 SuperCoachers breathed a sigh of relief as 46-year-old Casey McGuire was brought out of retirement to change state allegiance and run out for NSW in next Wednesday’s game, but one of the best players this season was snubbed for his NSW debut.

And I am enraged on Ford’s behalf. But NSW loss is every SuperCoacher’s gain – and if you don’t own Jackson Ford for this matchup against the Dragons, Monday morning’s Meeting at the Community Hall is for you.

A 3-round average of 93. SIX tons to his name so far in 2026. 4 tries. An average of 76 points in Base+Power this season…

The People’s Champion vs the Dragons – I know who’ll I’ll be backing to take the win.

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Or go a winger – left or right, AKP or DWZ:

And Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, aka the Flying Perm, is a stunning choice for a VC or a pod-Captaincy this week. 107 points last week vs the Broncos, including 2 tries – taking his total to 12 tries this season… playing the Dragons…

Or go Alofiana Khan-Pereira – I don’t even care that he scored a -1 last week – did I mention that this week the Wahs play the Dragons who literally LEAK tries to wingers. He’s worth the punt at least as a VC. His prior games saw him score 3 doubles in a row – could this be a Greg Marzhew 2.0 performance?  That is all…

Now, following the Slaughtering of the Dragons, we have a couple of games where we might find a bit of a pod-Captain that could send your score soaring up the rankings…

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Rueben Garrick

Our next game on Saturday sees Manly take on the Titans at Brookie.

And what a magical Round 11 it was for Fozball with Manly smashing the Tigers 46 – 18. And now they play the same Titans who lost to Newcastle 12 – 36…

While Garrick hasn’t exactly been the SuperCoach must-have of previous seasons, he did score an 88 last Saturday to back up his 93 from the week before – in good part because he kept the kicking tee despite Fogarty being back, to give his owners a nice 28-point boost.

And while this isn’t my favourite Captain of the Round, if he keeps kicking this week, his scoring has definitely been on the up, and he now boasts a 3-round average of 77.

He may not have scored that elusive ton… yet… but this round could be it…

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Scotty D

Only one game on a Sunday hurts my soul, and I have no idea what we’re supposed to do for the afternoon, but here we are, and what can we do? And if you own Scotty D, you can Sir Captain him with a wish and a prayer that he pulls out a ton at home vs the Bunnies, who had a loss against the Dolphins last week.

A 3-round average of 61 and a Round 11 score of 55 with a try does not exactly scream Captain me, but with slim pickings for Round 12, can Scotty D pull one out of the hat for the 6,000 coaches trading him in and score his third ton of the season?

A word of warning, if you go this route, he has to work so hard for his points this season, so don’t go into this game expecting Nicho/Cleary levels of unicorn points out of nowhere. In Round 9 vs the Bulldogs, he scored 2 tries for a measly 76 points – you’ve been warned.

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Verdict

Magic Round is Disneyland for adults, better than LEGO, heaps better than Christmas, and should be on everyone’s bucket list as a must-do.

But for your Captains this week, I can’t look past a VC on those Kiwi gods – Isaako or Hughes – into our Captain of the Round, who is any of the Warriors but especially our Origin Snubbed God – Jackson Ford (who as a Warrior is surely an honorary Kiwi too).

Now I must go, as I have to quickly fly back to Caxton Street to find my soul. I’ve just heard it is still dancing at Lefty’s… wish me luck!

And on that note, I hope you have a beautiful weekend, your Captain scores you a ton, and the bye rounds are kind to you!

Clementine xx