Round 25 NRL Supercoach Wrap: 8 Things We Learnt


<p>It rained tonnes across NRL Supercoach round 25, with an extremely intriguing storyline emerging for the run home.</p>



<p>Firstly though, I’ve taken over from Nick Moon this week as the big fella had a best mate’s bucks party stretching across numerous days, so send your thoughts his way as he crawls into work this morning.</p>



<p>While we’re here, a shout out to Mooney for delivering this article each and every week, he’s as consistent at providing the goods each week as <strong>Jared Waerea-Hargreaves</strong>&#8216; judiciary record.</p>



<p>We’ll get Mooney up from Cooma and in studio for a podcast one day soon, as soon as he waivers his demand that SC Playbook foots the bill for his hair stylist leading into the show.</p>



<p>All jokes aside, the man’s done a brilliant job for a few years to lighten up everyone’s Monday morning.</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size"><strong>1. Battle of the No.1s</strong></h3>



<p><strong>Tom Trbojevic</strong> v <strong>James Tedesco</strong> v <strong>Kalyn Ponga</strong> has become such a fascinating battle to end the season, and they’ve all delivered.</p>



<p>This week, Turbo took the three votes in a losing team, scoring a hat trick, assisting another, and busting out of 12 tackles for 158 points.</p>



<p>With tougher games to end the season against the Sharks and Bulldogs, it’ll give Ponga (97) and Tedesco (130) a chance to bridge the gap against far inferior opposition.</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size"><strong>2. Tapine masterclass</strong></h3>



<p><strong>Joe Tapine </strong>owners would rightly have felt concern at his scoring potential up against the fierce Panthers pack who were coming off a rare loss at home.</p>



<p>Taps allayed said fears with a dominant display notching a try-assist, 32 tackles, five tacklebreaks, two offloads, two linebreak assists and 13 runs. </p>



<p>Superb!</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size"><strong>3. Dane Gagai &#8211; The Super POD</strong></h3>



<p>It’s remarkable how many times I’ve written the words ‘Gagai super POD’ without genuinely considering getting him into my team.</p>



<p>It pains me even more that Guru acted on the temptation and bought him for his 137 points! Well played big fella, too good.</p>



<p>What was once suspicion, is now fact, the Knights have become a right edge dominant team.</p>



<p>For whatever reason, they’ve gone away from that left edge dominance of last season (much to the dismay of Greg Marzhew owners).</p>



<p>The benefactor is Gagai who already has some of the best base stats at CTW in the competition, now he’s flourishing with the attacking upside.</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size"><strong>4. Roosters left side, strong side</strong></h3>



<p>Speaking of edges and the rapid demise of the Stallions, the Roosters&#8217; match-up with the Titans looked mouthwatering.</p>



<p>Particularly for the right edge who were coming up against one of the weakest defensive edges in the competition of Jayden Campbell, Brian Kelly and Alofiano Khan-Periera.</p>



<p>It had a<strong> Joey Manu</strong> (40) and <strong>Dom Young </strong>(35) field day written all over it, especially when Joseph Suaalii went off injured early on.</p>



<p>It wasn’t to be, with the Roosters sending all their attack down the left edge, and when they knocked out 48 points it’s hard to argue!</p>



<p><strong>Daniel Tupou</strong> was the big winner with 124 points, the veteran flyer is a genuine POD play for the run home if you don’t already own half of the Roosters outfit.</p>



<p><strong>Angus Crichton</strong> also benefitted with a hat-trick of tries for 132 points.</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size"><strong>5. Storm trio stand tall</strong></h3>



<p>The spine of<strong> Ryan Papenhuyzen</strong> (108),<strong> Harry Grant</strong> (129) and <strong>Jahrome Hughes</strong> (132) destroyed the Dolphins in Melbourne.</p>



<p>To hopefully brighten up your day, guess which spine player the Stallions owned?</p>



<p>If you said<strong> Cameron Munster</strong> would get 47 points, give yourself a pat on the back… The Mad Dog was also given an early shower by Bellyache for his big night out.</p>



<p>The purple trio were brilliant for owners who now wait eagerly to see if the club mass rest as speculated in round 26.</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size"><strong>6. Mixed bag for Cleary replacements</strong></h3>



<p>The big question last week was who to replace Nathan Cleary with?</p>



<p>For the most part, they all struggled.</p>



<p><strong>Daly Cherry-Evans</strong> mustered just 41 against the Tigers, <strong>Sam Walker</strong> 68 against the Titans and <strong>Jarome Luai</strong> 24 against the Raiders.</p>



<p>Instead, it was the super POD option of <strong>Adam Reynolds</strong> (122) who delivered the goods.</p>



<p>Remarkably, I guess, Reynolds was purchased by just 1 single Supercoach player among the top 10% of overall ranked teams. </p>



<p>Congratulations Sir/Madam.</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size"><strong>7. Sharks running hot</strong></h3>



<p>The Sharks have thrived with a softer draw of late, putting a number of teams to the sword.</p>



<p>Yesterday it was the in-form Dragons, with backline stars lining up to score points.</p>



<p>Centre pairing of <strong>Jesse Ramien</strong> (92) and <strong>Kayal Iro</strong> (91) got in on the action, while <strong>Briton Nikora</strong> (98) scored an exceptional solo try to continue his form.</p>



<p>With games against the Warriors and Sea Eagles to come they could continue to finish the season on a high, with Ramien in particular looming as a point of difference play.</p>



<p>If <strong>Nicho Hynes</strong> returns, that should only bolster his attacking ball on the right edge.</p>



<p>Speaking of Nicho, anyone tempted if named?</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size"><strong>8. Carnage begins</strong></h3>



<p>The final two rounds is where Supercoaches begin to get very nervous around injuries and restings as most run out of trades.</p>



<p>As mentioned above, highly popular Supercoach team Melbourne may rest a host of stars with the minor premiership sewn up.</p>



<p><strong>Kai Pearce-Paul </strong>suffered a nasty leg laceration and is likely to spend multiple weeks on the sideline, while the front-row slot could get tricky this week.</p>



<p><strong>Josh Curran </strong>remains in doubt to return from a shoulder injury, while<strong> Samuela Fainu </strong>and the Tigers are on the bye this week.</p>



<p>That also puts a line through <strong>Api Koroisau</strong> and <strong>Lachy Galvin</strong>.</p>



<p>Keep your fingers and toes crossed that coaches don’t look to rest players in the final weeks.</p>


Round 25 NRL Supercoach Wrap: 8 Things We Learnt

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