Captains Call: Round 5
Welcome to week five of Captains Call.
Its been one of those years where it’s a tipsters’ nightmare. So many surprise packets have come through, while there’s been the fair share of disappointment. While I’ve previously touched on the likes of the Tigers doing very well for where they were last year, I should also mention the current rise of the Dragons who are playing superbly. The biggest surprise for me though is the Warriors who are one of only two teams to remain undefeated. They look much fitter than last year and the addition of Blake Green has worked a treat. Although he doesn’t score well fantasy wise, his direction around the park has some people calling for him to play State of Origin.
Penalties have been a big talking point this season and while I’m neither for or against, it has made a difference to some of the scoring. Ill break it down for you and show you the difference from this year to last year:
- 2018: 592 penalties at 18.5 per game. 2017: 420 at 13 per game
- 2018: 198 workhorse tries at 6.1 per game. 2017: 205 at 6.4 per game
- 2018: 78 penalty goals at 2.4 per game. 2017: 44 at 1.3 per game
- 2018: 1,261 points scored at 39 per game. 2017: 1,295 at 40 per game.
Now read into this what you will but the increase in penalties hasn’t increased the total points, in fact its gone down slightly.
The increase in penalty goals means your kicker is more important this year than ever.
The increase in penalties and penalty goals has lead to a slight decrease in workhorse tries. One thing to keep in mid though is if teams work out how to adapt to the way the game is being officiated then there is a very real chance we will get that free-flowing football, with an increase in points per game and workhorse tries to follow.
Lets review last weeks five and I’ll start with Anthony Milford. The pressure has got to Milford and it shows. One line break and one line break assist in four games is terrible. To put it in perspective, even Tony Williams, who played his first game on Monday managed to pick up a point. I’d be trying to trade Milford out to someone who loves him while you can.
Gareth Widdop had a pretty quiet day with only a single line break assist. He did manage five goals so not all was lost.
Andrew Fifita and Aiden Guerra both worked hard for their workhorse as they usually do. The success or failure of the week, depending how you look at it was the Tigers and Eels games. What I thought would be a low scoring affair ended up being the highest scoring match of the round. It did still manage to produce five workhorse tries but the most frustrating part was there were six players to get between 39 and 37 involvements, could very well have been 11 in the game.
Lets preview five more. Don’t forget to vote or leave a comment below.
Damien Cook – safe bet
Back by popular demand, Cook has been the most dominant hooker in terms of fantasy we have seen for a while. He has four double workhorses in a row! As Geoff mentions in the Workhorse Watcher only Paul Gallen and Ryan James have equaled that. He has a tough ask this week against the ladder leaders but Cook has the ability to split any defence.
Angus Crichton – safe bet
Crichton has posted some decent involvement numbers this season and don’t expect this week to be any different. He is up against Tariq Sims this week who has had his troubles defending someone with foot work. If Crichton can add some to his game this week he could very well cross for his first try of the season.
Josh McGuire – safe bet
McGuire has easily posted a workhorse in each game so far with a meter eater in three of them. If McGuire can increase his involvements a little more he may even get a double workhorse to add to the three he got last year.
Ash Taylor – risk and reward
Taylor started the year with four try assists and over the last two weeks has managed one try assist and one line break assist in each game. The Titans opposition this week is the Sea Eagles who will be without Sironen and Tom Turbo due to injury. If the Titans can take advantage of this, expect Taylor to be leading the way.
James Maloney – risk and reward
Maloney has found his groove at the Panthers and after taking over the halfback spot he looked right at home. If the Eels play the way they did against the Tigers, expect Penrith to take full advantage of it with Maloney to continue his good form.
Adam Hewat
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