Captains Call: Round 1
Welcome all to another season of NRLCEO and the first edition of the year of Captains Call.
The break may have been too long, but it still managed to throw up plenty or NRL news during that time. For me the biggest thing to come out of the off season was the amount of list changes that occurred during last season and in the off season. There was an average of just over nine players gained at each club and almost eleven losses. It wasn’t just fringe players moving to different clubs some big names moved as well. The likes of Matt Moylan, James Maloney, James Graham, Aaron Woods, Ben Hunt, Cooper Cronk just to name a few, all found new clubs and it leaves you thinking how are they going to perform at their new respective clubs.
Now that most drafts are done for the coming season, we can all admit how hard it is sometimes to predict the starting line-up for some teams. Granted teams like Storm, Cowboys, Roosters and Sharks pick themselves, teams like Tigers, Knights, Warriors, Rabbitohs and Titans are very hard to predict and it makes it a bit of a guess sometimes. What doesn’t help is the 50 ‘Predicted Team Line Ups’ articles that circulate leading up to the start of the season as they’re always different for the teams people need most help with. Got to love the draft.
Getting on with the new season and the first edition of Captains Call, it will be the same as last year. Please don’t forget to vote or even give some feedback.
Let’s get on with it.
Jake Trbojevic – safe bet
One of the most consistent scorers of last season starts off this year as one of the most in demand players. He scored less than four in only one game last season. Although the first round is generally bad for workhorses, Trbojevic is one player you could bet a house on to get one in Round 1.
Matt Gillett – safe bet
Gillett has been one of the most consistent scorers for the last five seasons averaging over four points per game. Last season was his best season and I don’t think that will drop off this year as there is less of an effect during Origin. He is arguably the best second rower in the competition and I expect to see that again this year. Last season he managed an easy workhorse first round with a big 51 involvements.
Elliot Whitehead – safe bet
With Tapine’s impending move into the number 12 jersey, Whitehead will take up the lock position where he excelled last year. Although his attacking stats went down last year, he still managed 18 workhorses out of 23 games, remembering his first three were at centre – that’s a very good conversion rate. If he can add a few more runs and meters he could very well get some doubles.
Kyle Feldt – risk and reward
Feldt started last year poorly. He didn’t register a point until Round 10 but then went on to average four points for the rest of the year. He has started this year on fire. Even though it was a trial of sorts, he looked a class above against the Storm with very safe hands in a game that almost needed flippers. With the full team back on deck and Morgan calling more of the ball, I can see Feldt being the biggest beneficiary.
James Tedesco – risk and reward
By his own admission, Tedesco had a pretty poor year last year. One of the premier fullbacks barely cracked the 50-point mark. Being in a new team and surrounded by endless talent, as long as he stays injury free, he could be in for one of the biggest years from a fullback we’ve seen. Only 2013 he went injury free and you can see how he went that year, every other year has been injury interrupted and he has struggled. Granted 2014 he averaged six, but no point averaging that if you can’t pick him in your finals squad because he’s injured.
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Adam Hewat
Latest posts by Adam Hewat (see all)
- Captains Call: Round 24 - August 27, 2019
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- Captains Call: Round 19 - July 23, 2019
