Predicted Line Up
1. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, 2. Nick Meaney, 3. Reimis Smith, 4. Will Hopoate, 5. Jayden Okunbor, 6. Brandon Wakeham, 7. Lachlan Lewis, 8. Aiden Tolman, 9. Sione Katoa, 10. Dylan Napa, 11. Corey-Harawira-Naera, 12. Josh Jackson, 13. Adam Elliott. Interchange: 14. Kerrod Holland, 15. Dean Britt, 16. Renouf To’omaga, 17. Joe Stimson.
Relevant Injury/Team news
At the start of December 2019, Jeremy Marshall-King underwenta right posterior shoulder stabilisation (type of shoulder reconstruction). The expected recovery range for such an injury is 3-6 months, meaning that he is in some doubt for round 1. When he returns, he will most likely start at hooker, pushing Sione Katoa back to the bench.
Kerrod Holland has been training at hooker in pre-season, so he could fill in there at times this season.
Kieran Foran is expected back from his shoulder surgery in round 15, meaning that one of Brandon Wakeham or Jack Cogger will definitely get an extended run in the starting side.
Josh Jackson suffered a broken nose at training in late January, but is expected to be available for the trial games.
Raymond Faitala-Mariner suffered a syndesmosis injury at training in late January, and will be out for 8-10 weeks.
Goal Kickers
1. Nick Meaney, 2. Brandon Wakeham, 3. Kerrod Holland
The Guns
Will Hopoate ($531,700 | CTW) – The Bulldogs centre is a picture of consistency, averaging 59, 59 and 57 in the past 3 seasons. This consistency comes from his massive base. In his games at centre over the past 2 seasons, Hopoate has averaged 38 PPG in hit ups and tackles alone. Last season, he scored 40+ in base 11 times and 50+ in base twice. Moreover, in games at centre without a try/try assist over the past 3 seasons, Hoppa averages 45 PPG. They’re some serious stats for a centre. He has upside too though, averaging 69.9 PPG over the final 11 games of last season.
The PODs
Aiden Tolman ($557,200 | FRF) – Aiden Tolman, aka ‘TolPOD.’ Last season (excluding his injury affected round 17 game), Tolman averaged 62.2 PPG. He scored 60+ points in 61% of his games and amazingly, he averaged a huge 60.6 PPG in pure base alone (tackles + hit ups). If you want a consistent performer who you can bank on scoring 60 points each week, TolPOD is your man.
Josh Jackson ($538,300 | 2RF) – Jackson scored at a PPM of 0.80 last season, which is up there with the best edge backrowers in SuperCoach. Once he nailed down a fulltime 80 minute edge role, Jackson went on a scoring spree, averaging 64.9 PPG and 52.5 pure base PPG over 10 games. If he can maintain that 80 minute role, Jackson will be an option.
Jayden Okunbor ($526,000 | CTW) – Okunbor averaged 57 PPG last season. He made 16 hit ups per game and averaged the 3rd most evasive PPG out of all CTWs. Moreover, he managed to still score nearly 40 PPG in games where he did not score a try.
The Players of Interest
Joe Stimson ($343,100 | 2RF) – Stimson’s PPM of 1.13 last season was higher than usual due to a run of tries off the bench. He usually operates at around 0.75 PPM, which is still solid. Stimson will come into contention if he can earn a starting spot of 60 minutes or more. Stimson’s career average as a starting backrower is 55.6 PPG. He’s also adept at finding the try line, and has scored 1 try every 4 starts across his career.
Nick Meaney ($366,700) – Meaney averaged 45 PPG on the wing last season, compared to 36 PPG at fullback. His base slightly dropped after moving to the wing, but this was offset by an increase in tries/line breaks, as well as picking up the goal kicking duties. He averaged 61.6 PPG over the final 5 games of last season (3/5 scores 50+), and if he retains the goal kicking, could be a decent option with reasonably high upside.
The Cheapies
Brandon Wakeham ($277,600 | HFB) – Wakeham has scores SuperCoach of 54 and 53 in his only NRL games. In his International games for Fiji to end the season, he registered SuperCoach scores of approximately 48 vs Lebanon, 96 vs Samoa, and 96 vs Papua New Guinea. Starting cheap and potentially kicking goals, he’ll be a near must have if he starts.
Avoid/Be wary of
Corey Harawira-Naera ($557,600 | 2RF) – CHN has lost his dual 2RF/CTW positioning this season. Although he was the NRL’s most prolific offloader last season, he doesn’t have the work rate to be relevant for our 2RF in SuperCoach. He had 11/21 scores of <50 last season, which is not good enough for a player that costs over $550k.
Dallin Watene-Zelezniak ($332,200 | CTW/FLB) – DWZ has an average of only 38.1 PPG over 22 games at fullbacks. His highest score in the #1 jersey is 68 points, with his lowest being 5 points. He doesn’t have the prolific try scoring ability nor the creative passing game to be a SuperCoach relevant player. There are better options out there.
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