Captains Call
The days of your kicker being the king are over, bring on the captain!
Let’s assumed for the articles sake your competition has the standard scoring system including the new Meter Eater. Let’s have a look at what factors you need to consider when looking for your captain this year. Going to do my best to back up what I’m saying with stats but see how we go. Coming off my best year in CEO managing to win my Keeper league, finished runner up in my League of Legends competition and the first supporters league with a fourth place in my long standing league. I’d like to think my captain choices had a bit to do with my performance.
This week I picked Sam Burgess in 2 comps, Aaron Woods and James Graham as my captains. I’ve gone all forwards and see this trend continuing for me throughout the year. This year marks the death of hookers as captains as I’ll go through below and personally steering away from backs unless it is a bye round and I’m desperate. Don’t get me wrong backs still score a lot of points but with the interchange rule you should see an increase in starting forwards getting consistent WHs which coupled with ME makes their captain prospect that much juicier. Nothing worse than assuming a back will continue his form only to score you zero. Semi Radradra would have looked like a promising choice round 1 scoring 2 trebles in his last 2 season openers but failed to score a point this year falling short of a ME by 1meter.
Death of the Hooker
Gone are the days of your set and forget Hooker captain with only one them making it into the top 20 scores, Cameron McInnes who did so without a WH or playing close to the 80. Andrew McCullough was the second best hooker managing only 5 points, nothing horrible but being the 47th best score isn’t anything to bank on. The introduction of ME gravitates towards your running forwards. Despite what the season guide says hookers are capable of a ME with Isaac Luke scoring 11 of them last season, not sure why he didn’t make it into the season guide but I’ll forgive them for that with the second best being at 4 to Jake Granville and the rest 2 or below. Luke isn’t looking to play 80 minutes under his current coach but who knows how long he will last. Realistically if you’re picking a hooker to captain you’re hoping for a try or a handful of assists.
Meter Eater Effect
The introduction of the Meter Eater or Jason Taumalolo/RTS rule has had huge impact on the scoring system this year. That extra 2/4 points is huge especially when it’s your captain. Having a player score a double WH as captain has gone from 16 to 20 points not to mention with just an extra 50m it becomes 24, which was achieved by James Graham week one.
You really want to pick a captain that is going to get close to 150m each week or 100m depending on position. Personally I cannot see myself picking a centre, half or hooker as captain this year as the round shows the majority struggle to get close to the required meters with only 8 hitting the mark. The first round saw 50 MEs awarded to 46 players with only Graham, Woods, RTS and Uate getting doubles, which equates to an extra 100 points this round. Might not seem like a lot but when you have forwards going from their likely 4 points to 6 without doing any more work it reduces your need to gamble on a back to score a try.
Points spread
Week one saw the top 10 points range from 13 to 10 with a 5 way tie leaving us with a top 13. Ethan Lowe and Marika Koroibete snagged top spot with 13 apiece, Corey Oates missed out sharing the honours by 1 meter. Pretty even between forwards and backs at the top with it ending up 7/6. No back though was able to break the top without a try, the best back without a try coming in at 39 to Mitchell Moses. Looks pretty daunting if you pick a back as captain and he isn’t able to cross the line. That being said only 3 spots at the top didn’t require a try, James Graham, Greg Bird and Aiden Tolman.
The Try Trap
Nothing better than your captain crossing the line especially if it’s a forward and he’s on track for a WH. Have to be careful here though as the strike rate for most forwards is pretty shocking and the majority of backs aren’t much better. Players like Paul Carter and Curtis Sironen who made the top 10 won’t be back any time soon unless they manage to fluke over the line again. Careful picking a player as captain on the basis of his average being good this time of year due to an early try. Simmon Mannering scored 11 points with a try. However he manages to find the line better than most forwards and with a huge 59 WH involvements he’s good for a WH week in week out, just needs to run the ball more to push for those MEs being the only player to score over 10 points without one.
Players to watch round 2
The first round of the NRL has seen some huge injuries across the board. Paul Gallen and Ben Henry leaving the picture for 4-6 weeks and the season brings forward some great captain choices for round 2. Andrew Fifita finished week one on 6 points, only 3 involvements short of a double WH and place in the top 10. We see his work rate increase dramatically every year when Paul Gallen is on the side line and this year should be no different, expect him to flirt with a double WH and ME this week coupled with his ability to cross the line this makes him the ideal captain for your side if you have him. Bodene Thompson went into halftime with 3 involvements managing 30 in the second half. Last year one of the top backrowers in CEO and once again starting he should be a lock for a WH. Also loves a try and a run expect him to get around the 150m mark and secure the bonus points it comes with. Sam Burgess doesn’t look to obtain the duel position moving back to 13, he has expressed interest in playing more minutes and should be able to improve week in week out as he regains his league fitness.
Avoid
Should go without saying but the Knights players are not captain material. Their best forward last year Kane Snowden was hooked and named on the extended bench and their best player last week Daniel Saifiti finished rank 52 due to a try and not even close to a WH. Tyler Randell had a great game with 58 involvements but looks to share the duties this weekend. Not to mention they are playing Souths this week who may be missing their halfback had an amazing first game.
Next Week
Now that introductions are over and we’ll have more to go off in the coming weeks I’ll be looking to change the format and talk more about who’s hot and who’s not, long shots and take either or questions to help you decide on a captain. Will be sticking with my first round captains choices this week as I expect to see an increase in work from Sam and Woods n Graham are bankable.
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James Douglas
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