Here’s our NRL SuperCoach wrap up for round 18! We’ll look at SuperCoach performances from Broncos vs Sharks, Eels vs Panthers, Bulldogs vs Storm, and Cowboys vs Sea Eagles. Head on over to www.nrlsupercoachjunkies.com for more NRL SuperCoach articles!
Brisbane Broncos
In a Herculean effort for the Broncos in round 18 prop Josh McGuire scored a massive 108 in an 80 minute performance. He made 55 tackles, 5 tackle breaks, 2 offloads, a line break and scored 29 from hit ups. That’s two great scores in a row for McGuire and he’ll be easy to upgrade to a stud 2RF or FRF after he’s played a couple more games. Josh Hoffman had another massive game scoring a try, breaking 7 tackles, making 2 line breaks and picking up 33 points from hit ups for a total score of 89. Cheap option Corey Oates scored a try with a line break for a great score of 65. Alex Glenn played the full 80 minutes and scored 60 on the back of 27 tackles and 32 from hit ups. Jordan Kahu played his first game since round 13 and jagged a try on his way to a handy score of 55. Scott Prince scored 54 thanks to 12 from goal kicking, 22 tackles, 2 offloads and a line break assist. David Stagg played 80 minutes in his first game since round 10 and made 41 tackles for a score of 52.
Lachlan Maranta scored a total of 20 points, 20 of which came from hit ups. Fullback Corey Norman was quiet with a score of only 30. Lama Tasi played his first game for the Broncos but only saw 23 minutes on the field for a score of 34.
Cronulla Sharks
Todd Carney had his second 100+ score in two weeks, putting an absolute clinic on the Broncos to the tune of 112 points. He picked up 3 try assists, 12 from goal kicking, 8 tackle breaks, 2 line breaks and a line break assist. Michael Gordon played his first game since 13 and rewarded his patient owners with a score of 78 which included a try, 7 tackle breaks, 2 line breaks and 30 from hit ups. Unfortunately he didn’t retake the goal kicking duties from Todd Carney. Jayson Bukuya played 80 minutes and had his second good score in a row with 72 points. He scored a try and made 43 tackles. Cheap option Tyrone Peachey (68 minutes) and Ben Ross (43 minutes) were both good with scores of 60. Peachey could be in for a good run over the next month or so thanks to the injuries to Wade Graham and Paul Gallen. Chris Heighington played 65 minutes and was OK with a score of 49 (his owners were definitely hoping for more, though). Sosaia Feki scored a try and finished on a respectable score of 47.
Wade Graham played only 12 minutes before suffering a shoulder injury. He scored only 20 and is set to spend at least a few weeks on the sideline. Mark Taufua played his first game for 2013 but only saw 20 minutes off the bench for a score of 15. Jeff Robson surprised no one with a score of 20. Stewart Mills played in the centres but was quiet for a score of 27. Hookers John Morris (32 minutes) and Isaac De Gois (48 minutes) once again negated each other and scored 32 and 37 respectively.
Parramatta Eels
The Eels had a new look line up in round 18 and Daniel Harrison was their best, scoring 63 in 66 minutes which included 41 tackles. Joseph Paulo (who was named to play in reserve grade) played 55 minutes off the bench for a score of 60 thanks to 37 tackles, 2 offloads and 15 from hit ups. Darcy Lussick had his fourth solid score in a row with 57 in 61 minutes. Cheap option Brayden Williame scored a season high 56 on the back of a try and a line break. Reni Maitua played the full 80 minutes and made 22 tackles and a line break for 55 points. Tim Mannah scored 54 (almost entirely from tackles and hit ups) in his usual 51 minutes. Centre Ryan Morgan had a try assist and a line break assist on his way to a score of 53. Luke Kelly scored 48 (his highest since round 9) thanks largely to a try and 2 forced drop outs.
Junior Paulo saw just 14 minutes off the bench for a score of 19. Willie Tonga played his first game for 2013 and was invisible with a score of 25. Peni Terepo (32 minutes) and Kaysa Pritchard (21 minutes) scored only 25. Semi Radradra made his debut on the wing but didn’t impress with a score of 24. Jake Mullaney’s horror run continued with him scoring only 32. Ben Roberts played the game at five-eighth but could only muster a total score of 32.
Penrith Panthers
Another week, another dose of huge SuperCoach scores from the overachieving Panthers. Their best was Kevin Kingston who played 80 minutes and scored a season high 97 thanks to a try, 50 tackles, 7 tackle breaks and a line break. David Simmons scored 2 tries with 2 line breaks for a score of 87. His season continues to be surprisingly brilliant. Dean Whare scored well again with 64 points which included a try assist, 21 tackles, 4 tackle breaks and a line break assist. Tim Grant played 38 minutes (down from his season average of 51.7) and was OK with 49 points. Clint Newton started in the back row and played 68 minutes for a solid score of 47. Luke Walsh and Nigel Plum (44 minutes) were OK with scores of 45. That’s Plum’s lowest score since round 10.
Isaac John’s poor scoring continued with him finishing on 21 points. James Segeyaro played only 44 minutes and scored a season low 23. Second rower Matt Robinson played 41 minutes and was quiet with a score of 23. Lewis Brown started but played only 51 minutes for a disappointing 27. Matt Moylan didn’t do much and scored 27. James Roberts couldn’t back up his monster round 17 performance and scored only 28.
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
The Bulldogs lit up an under strength Storm team in round 18 and produced some amazing SuperCoach scores in the process. Centre Tim Lafai was unstoppable and scored 118 on the back of a try, try assist, 8 tackle breaks, 3 line breaks and 30 from hit ups. Ben Barba scored a season high 105 which included a try, 4 line breaks and 2 line break assists. His price will have sky rocketed after his next two games. Krisnan Inu scored a season high 99 thanks to a try assist, 8 tackle breaks, 2 line breaks, a line break assist and 22 from hit ups. Mitch Brown rewarded his owners with 2 tries, a line break and a line break assist for a score of 88. Sam Perrett got in on the action with a hat-trick of tries for a season high score of 84. Trent Hodkinson scored a great 77 which included 2 try assists, 23 tackles and 2 line break assists. His goal kicking has been unusually wayward over the last fortnight. Tony Williams played 80 minutes and scored a season high 75 on the back of a try, line break and line break assist. Aiden Tolman was his typical self with a good score of 60 in 60 minutes. Josh Reynolds was solid with a score of 57 thanks to a try assist, line break assist and a 40/20.
After two good games Dene Halatau returned to an afterthought, seeing just 27 minutes off the bench for a paltry 17 points. Martin Taupa played a mere 10 minutes off the bench for a score of 19. Tim Browne (33 minutes) and Greg Eastwood (41 minutes) weren’t impressive with scores of 26. Josh Jackson played 59 minutes but didn’t score well with just 41 points. James Graham made it three pedestrian scores in a row with only 41 points in 57 minutes.
Melbourne Storm
Ouch. The Storm were belted by the Bulldogs in round 18 and failed to score a single point which badly affected their SuperCoach scores. Tohu Harris played 80 minuted and scored an OK 54 on the back of 35 tackles and 16 from hit ups. Kevin Proctor also played 80 minutes and scored 50 which included 34 tackles. Jesse Bromwich scored 48 almost entirely from base stats in 46 minutes. Ryan Hinchcliffe made 32 tackles in 65 minutes for a score of 42. Cheap option Slade Griffin played 41 minutes off the bench and was solid with a score of 39. Mitch Garbutt (32 minutes) and Jordan McLean (22 minutes) chipped in handy bye round scores of 32.
Brett Finch was horrible with a grand total of 10 points. Ben Hampton played fullback in his second game for the season and scored only 17. Sisa Waqa scored a season low 18. Mahe Fonua played his first game since round 10 and finished on a measly 19 points. Justin O’Neill played in the centres but was quiet with a score of 23. Maurice Blair filled in at five-eighth which curbed his high scoring ways. He finished on a disappointing 32 points.
North Queensland Cowboys
There wasn’t a whole lot to smile about from the Cowboys in round 18. Joel Riethmuller was their best with a score of 59 in 75 minutes which included 30 tackles and 28 from hit ups. Gavin Cooper played only 36 minutes off the bench and was solid with a score of 51 thanks to 25 tackles and 18 from hit ups. Centre Kane Linnett broke 4 tackles, made 2 offloads and picked up 22 from hit ups for a total score of 50. Michael Morgan played five-eighth in his first game since round 13 and scored 47 which included a try. Cheap option Ethan Lowe scored a handy 47 in his second game for the season. He notched 12 from goal kicking, 17 tackles and 3 tackle breaks in 63 minutes. Glenn Hall played 49 minutes and made 25 tackles for a score of 46. Matt Bowen played his first game since round 11 and was OK with a score of 44 which included a try and a line break.
Ray Thompson’s days of being fantasy relevant appear to be over. He played only 25 minutes off the bench for a score of 18. Ashley Graham put up another dud with 24 points. Scott Bolton played just 33 minutes off the bench for 24 points. Anthony Mitchell saw his first action since round 5 and started at hooker but could only manage 26 points in 55 minutes. Boom or bust Robert Lui had a down week with a score of 27. Antonio Winterstein played in the centres but was quiet with a score of 29. Tariq Sims continued to underachieve with just 33 points in 51 minutes.
Manly Sea Eagles
Jorge Taufua had his second massive game in a row, racking up an impressive 96 points thanks to a try, try assist, 6 tackle breaks, 2 line breaks and 30 from hit ups. His price will continue to rise for a couple more weeks but with performances like this it’ll be hard to trade him out. Brett Stewart also scored well again, picking up 3 try assists, a line break and 2 line break assists for a massive total of 91. Jamie Lyon continued to impress with a score of 90. He played the game at five-eighth and scored a try, picked up 18 from goal kicking, made 24 tackles and broke the line. Steve Matai had his highest score since round 1 with 76 points which included a try and 2 line breaks. Matt Ballin scored a try and made 44 tackles for a total of 66 in 76 minutes. Justin Horo (65 points in 72 minutes) had a quiet game but saved what would have been a shocking score by jagging a try with a line break. Glenn Stewart once again played 80 minutes and produced a season high score of 61 thanks to 32 tackles, 2 offloads and a line break assist. His form has been poor since returning from injury but he’s well worth keeping an eye on as he’s dirt cheap and former SuperCoach royalty. Peta Hiku played in the centres and rewarded his owners with a handy score of 59. Richie Fa’aoso played his first game since round 7 and saw 41 minutes off the bench for a season high score of 58. David Williams scored a try and totalled 55 points. Kieran Foran scored a respectable 53 points (his lowest since round 11) thanks to a try assist, 18 tackles and a try assist. Jamie Buhrer played 50 minutes off the bench and was solid with 50 points on the back of 31 tackles and 21 from hit ups.
Ligia Sao played his first game for 2013 but only saw 8 minutes of game time for a score of 11. Cheap options Nick Skinner (19 minutes) and James Hasson (35 minutes) didn’t excite with scores of 13 and 32 respectively. Brenton Lawrence’s early season domination seems an eternity ago. He finished on a score of 49 in 41 minutes.
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