NRL Supercoach | Clem’s Captains, Round 21 Skippers

Friends.

I have a confession.

I did a thing.

I sat the Couchman twins last week.

And if Spy is allowed to have 100 boys, the Couchman twins are mine, and I don’t know what I was thinking except I was spoiled for choice with only one player not playing in the entire team and therefore I made some:

VERY bad decisions.

Very bad indeed.

And so while they whacked out 97 and 81 points like the absolute elite workhorses they are – I chose to run out a 38-point Lehi and a 51-point Sua instead. Throw in a trade-in of a 38-point Cleary too… because haha lol why not… add a dash of a Turbo Captaincy… and welcome to Round 20.

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When it rains it pours.

I thought it was the bye rounds that were supposed to be tough.

BUT friends. A stunning development.

Whoever runs the numbers at SuperCoach headquarters is clearly as bad at maths as me, because in some absolute stroke of luck, despite throwing up only 1,187 points, I only dropped 34 places.

So now the Friday Beers are in 84^th place overall, and we will absolutely take that.

Who am I to question the mathematics anyway…

Now onto the Captains, and we have a literal smorgasbord of options this week, so let’s start your Thursday night VC with a very important disclaimer:

You have a loop – only Captain if you have a special feeling and a crystal ball.

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Nathan Cleary

What’s a little scoring blip between friends?

Especially when it’s Nathan Cleary, he’s playing the Eels, and you don’t actually have to loop your VC.

Thursday night curse? Maybe. Worth the punt? Definitely.

Everyone else – enjoy your spot behind the couch.

(As someone who’s spent plenty of time watching Cleary there, I really don’t recommend it – make sure you pack copious bottles of whiskey and an eye mask for when things get really tough).

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Thomas Jenkins

If you don’t go Cleary, or you don’t have Nicho in your Flex and you’re eying him up as Captain this week – you could take a punt on the great Thomas Jenkins in his new role of fullback as your VC.

It’s risky as we haven’t seen him play fullback yet, but if Silky Milky Jenkins plays fullback anything near the level he plays out on the wing – eg. scores about a thousand tries – those who took a punt with the sneaky VC could be laughing all the way up the rankings.

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James Tedesco

With 13% of the top 1% trading him in, but barely anyone giving him an armband of any colour at the time of writing – is Teddy a sneaky pod play for a VC?

With a dip in scoring of late with a 5-round average of 49, my gut says watch this week and see – but he is playing the Knights who love to give up a point or two to fullbacks, the crew’s all back together over at Chooks, and he did throw up 162 last time he played the Knights (albeit that was against a depleted Ponga/Best/Lucas-less team).

If your balls are bigger than mine, and you don’t want to VC Cleary because last Thursday’s game against the Broncos, the ref, and the rain scared you, or if you’ve just brought in Teddy so you want to give your shiny new toy a real go – you can give him the blue armband and save the gold armband for Nicho.

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Kalyn Ponga

Over on the other side of the field, we have Ponga getting his chance to take a run at the Chooks for the first time this season.

And the Chooks – they don’t like giving points to fullbacks, only giving up an average of 41 points to the last four fullbacks who took them on. It’s going to be a tough matchup for the Knights, but if I was VCing in this game, I’d probably look here.

Ponga’s 5-round average is 85. He’s the top-averaging fullback for the season so far on 89 points. He’s put up 4 tons this season, scored 3 tries in his last 2 games, and is running out in front of the home crowd on a fine Friday evening.

Let the attack flow. Just please leave the dinner suit at home.

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Sua Fa’alogo

Hughes is back, and this is a stunning development for Sua Fa’alogo owners, who watched him score just 51-points in a Munster/Hughes-less team last week.

He came so close to upping that 51-points a couple of times, but now owners can all let out a big sigh of relief and consider the VC or Captaincy on him.

Because he’s running out against the Bunnies. The same Bunnies who have lost Tallis and Fifita and Murray for this game. The same Bunnies who have given up 80-points on average to the last four fullbacks who faced them.

And after losing to the Chooks last week, the Storm will be out to make a statement.

And Sua’s the second-averaging fullback of the season on 83-points, second only to Ponga. We know what happens when he gets the ball – SuperCoach points happen. And while the attacking stats have been a little on the lower side in his last 3 games, he’s still managed a 3-round average of 72.

At only 5.5% Captained in the top 1% and only 1.4% VC’d – is an armband on Sua the play that’ll see you pull out in front of the pack?

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Reece Walsh

All it took was one game and his first ton of the season, and the Reece Walsh effect is in full swing.

It’s a phenomenon that’s swept the SuperCoach world three times already this season – and surely Reece is going to be the most traded-in and out player and in player by season’s end.

Am I jumping on?

I’ve been asked that question so many times this week, and while I would normally respond with “is water wet?” “is Gerringong the heartland of rugba leeg?” “is Reece Walsh and his toilet bowl the sole reason I leapt up 10,000 places in the backend of the season last year?” – this time, I’m not quite sure…

…until 7.34pm hits on Saturday night and the FOMO gets too much, and I trade him into my team.

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And look, he looked like the Reece Walsh we all love last Thursday night against the Panthers. Millions of touches of the ball, actually getting the ball, putting on 3 try assists against the Panthers… getting some kicking points too…

And he is playing the Cowboys who love to leak some points to the opposition fullback.

But I’ve been burnt twice this year, friends. TWICE. I’ve used 3 trades already on this man. I’ve turned on games telling myself that THIS is the game where he goes big. I’ve manifested and prayed and performed rituals – I’ve watched the TV with the sound off and the sound on and turned off and turned on – just in case it was me that was causing him to not score good (I’m a literal slave to superstition – (you should have seen me wave my hairbrush at the tv to try get my brother some Fletcher Sharpe points the other week).

So, what’s a girl who’s not shy of giving second and third and fourth and… well… you get the picture… chances?

At 7.34pm Saturday night, we flip the lucky handbag dice: is what we do. 1 – 3 I’m staying away… 4 – 6 he’s in my team.

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Nicho Hynes

The final game of the round. Manly vs Sharks at 4PP.

Is there a better man than Nicho Hynes to put your Captaincy armband on? For those of you with the luxury of Cleary or Nicho in the Flex – no – you put that armband on, you be grateful you can, and you watch your rank climb, and your H2H final dreams come true.

For the rest of us plebs running the Cleary VC with our silly 3 fullbacks and our silly team setups – it’s time to get uncomfy; we’re watching this one from behind the couch.

Our only saving grace is going to be that surely Manly lift for this game, and the heartwarming fact that they literally starve halfbacks of points – they’ve only given up 57-points on average to halfbacks in the past 4 games.

…either that – or paper, scissors, rock in the sheds pre-game, sees Trindall the lucky receiver of ALL the points.

Nicho Captaincy death riders unite. We need him to go sub-100. (Okay, we’ll allow a 102).

NOBODY do the rain dance – I need to tan – and if I see a drop of rain around Manly on Sunday arvo – Nicho Captainers, I’ll know it was you.

Anyway, if I could do it, I’d have a go at a Nicho Captaincy here – but as we saw last week with his 61-points, he can go massively massive, but in a stunning parallel to the Sharks – he can go massively low too.

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Verdict

I do not know.

It is 1.54pm, and I have not a clue.

What I would like to do is VC Cleary into Captain Nicho – but I cannot. So so far, we’re sticking with the Cleary VC.

Apart from that, I’m eying up Ponga or Sua for a go as the Captain. But honestly, I should really be giving it to Toby in penance for benching him last week.

And on that note, I must run. I have to head to the Community Hall to lead the practice session of the anti-rain dance and recall all the tubs of V05 Wet Look Gel across the Northern Beaches.

May your VC score you a ton and your Captain score you a ton too…

Clementine xxx