The History
Born in Singleton, New South Wales, Holland came through the rugby league ranks as a Newcastle Knights junior. Excelling at halfback and then fullback at club level, Holland was called into the Knights NSW Cup team in 2015, scoring 18 tries in 16 games and being named in the NSW Cup Team of the Year. At the end of that season, he signed with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. Holland began his career as a Bulldog in solid fashion, starting 25 games across his first two seasons as a professional rugby league player. Over this time, he averaged 49.9 and 48.8 SuperCoach points per start. When new coach, Dean Pay, took over from Des Hasler in 2018, Holland’s career stalled. He did not start a game for the first 15 rounds, playing primarily as an impact bench hooker. However, after some impressive performances off the bench, Holland earned his first start of the year in round 16, and he didn’t look back from there. From round 16 until the end of the season, Holland averaged an astonishing 71.8 SuperCoach PPG, entering the elite SuperCoach realm with a CTW PPM of 0.86. Over this stretch of 10 starts, Holland scored five tries, provided five try assists, burst 30 tackles, offloaded 22 times and averaged 100 run meters per game. In this SuperCoach hot run, it was Holland’s base stats and evasive stats that were most impressive. Indeed, he averaged 20.2 evasive points per game, and 31.9 base points per game. This form has seen Holland earn the reputation of a dangerous offloader, completing 2.1 offloads per 80 minutes. Amazingly, he only scored under 75 four times in his 10 starts, registering two tons.
The Comparison
Compared to other CTW options, Holland is right up there with the best in the business SuperCoach wise. In terms of average evasive points per game, Holland (from his first start in round 16), with his 20.2 point average ranked 4th out of all CTW players, only slightly behind Nick Cotric (20.5), Latrell Mitchell (20.4) and Jordan Rapana (20.4). In terms of offloads per 80 minutes, Holland ranks 1st out of all CTWs, beating out Esan Marsters (2.0 per 80 mins), Will Hopoate (1.8 per 80 mins) and Joey Leilua (1.6 per 80 mins). Furthermore, Holland’s base stats per game were equally as impressive, ranking 5th behind Blake Ferguson (35.8), Will Hopoate (33.7), Esan Marsters (32.6) and Euan Aitken (32.4). Please note that this is not including Ryan Matterson, Michael Chee-Kam, Marata Niukore and Jack Williams, who all averaged higher base points than Holland, but are all no longer classified as CTW. Overall, Holland ranked 1st for PPM in the CTW category (excluding Jack Williams who only played four games and is no longer CTW).
The Fixtures
Looking at the Bulldog’s fixtures, they start the season off with some favourable games for Holland, with the Warriors, Eels and Tigers being their first three opponents. Holland averages 81.0 against the Warriors in his three matches against them (81, 75, 87), and also enjoys facing the Eels and Tigers, scoring 84 and 111 respectively in his last games against them. Heading into the first major bye round in round 12, the Bulldogs play the Cowboys, Sea Eagles, Knights and Titans, who all ranked in the bottom six for points conceded last season. Importantly, the Bulldogs then play the round 12 bye where they face the Raiders at ANZ Stadium. Given the lack of depth, especially at hooker, in this bye round, Holland could be a valuable number.
The Prospects
Heading into the 2019 NRL season, Holland will have high hopes. He has stated that he wants to add more consistency to his game in 2019, and that can only be good for SuperCoach. With his already high base and evasive stats, even if Holland does not score or assist, as long as he keeps running the ball, the points will continue to flow. Despite having off season surgery in both ankles, Holland will almost certainly start the season as left centre in the Bulldog’s new look backline. With the dangerous Reimis Smith outside him, the creative Nick Meaney most likely to start at fullback and Kieran Foran and Lachlan Lewis set to partner in the halves, Holland should receive a lot of ball, regardless of who starts at left back row. This occurred in the Bulldogs trial against the Raiders, where Holland took a lot of runs, burst tackles, and scored two tries. Moreover, the Bulldogs are stacked with quality back rowers this season. Josh Jackson, Adam Elliot, Raymond Faitala-Mariner, Corey Harawira-Naera and Rhyse will all be vying for three starting spots. Currently, it seems likely that RFM and Jackson will start on the edges, with Elliott playing lock. Importantly for Holland, it seems Rhyse Martin is out of favour, with Dean Pay leaving him out of his trial squad, and not including Martin's name when talking about the backrow options at his disposal. So, if Martin is dropped, even at least to the bench, this will allow Holland to take over the goal kicking duties, providing him with additional SuperCoach points. He did so in the Bulldogs' trial game against the Raiders, and has been a quality kicker in the past. Priced at a 45.8 average this season thanks to his 10 appearances off the bench to start the season, Holland comes in as a CTW/HOK dual costing only $428,100. This price is well below what could have been his price had he been a starting centre all season. Last season, Holland started at $420,800, and by the end of the season was priced at $616,000. Thus, he if carries his 2018 form into the 2019 season, Holland should easily earn SuperCoaches at least $100k, and could even turn out to be a season keeper.
Therefore, given his price, dual positioning and point scoring potential, Kerrod Holland could be set for a big SuperCoach season.
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