Captains Call: Round 18
Welcome to Week 18 of Captains Call. Just four weeks until NRLCEO finals for the majority of competitions.
Not many games were played over the weekend and for the Warriors I think they wished they had the bye too. It was a very lack lustre performance and it was a game where every player was looking at someone else to do something. They have a six point lead on the ladder above the Raiders and if they’re not careful that could evaporate very quickly and they could miss the finals.
Let’s review the five players from last week:
- Simon Mannering – 4 ✅
- Josh Jackson – 4 ✅
- Ryan James – 4 ✅
- Jamayne Isaako – 2 ❌
- Shaun Johnson – 0 ❌
Talking about the Warriors, Shaun Johnson went missing. He only made two runs and looked disinterested like most of the Warriors team which led to zero points. Isaako had a good game but it didn’t equate to points. He only made two line breaks but did kick seven goals to soften the blow. The other three in Jackson, Mannering and James all made a workhorse and that was it, with James just three involvements off a double workhorse.
Now that we are in the home stretch, most competitions will have a rough idea of their top two or three that will go through to finals. Usually the last remaining one or two spots don’t get decided until the last couple of weeks so its important to make sure you get every point possible.
Let’s preview five more for the week and don’t forget to vote or leave a comment below.
Jason Taumalolo – safe bet
Taumalolo is currently the games best forward. Makes meters for fun and has increased his engine to enable to play bigger minutes which means more workhorse’. Currently averages 45 involvements and a meter eater a game.
Elliott Whitehead – safe bet
Whitehead has had an inconsistent year in the workhorse stakes with only eight but has still managed to average five points a game. Only three zeros for the year and only four games with two points or less. He does have eight tries for year which has helped with his points.
Jake Friend – safe bet
Friend will do one thing, tackle. He averages 44 tackles a game and sometimes has that tackle count by half time. If you’re happy with eight points, then Friend is the safest to go with.
Bevan French – risk and reward
French hasn’t had the best year in terms of points. Injury, poor Eels performances and poor individual performances have contributed to that. He is starting to play some better football, as are the Eels so coming up against the worst defensive team in the competition he could get his first double of the year.
Nene Macdonald – risk and reward
Macdonald has become one of the, if not the best finishers in the game. His try last week where in the space on three meter he swapped the ball from his right hand to his left hand, so it didn’t get knocked out by the defender then back to his right hand to ground the ball while he was over the touch line is proof of that. Coming up against a Tigers team that has leaked 102 points in their last three games, Nene could have a field day.
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Adam Hewat
Latest posts by Adam Hewat (see all)
- Captains Call: Round 24 - August 27, 2019
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