Did you say hero or zeros?
This week we look at the big movers and shakers of the 2019 season so far. To do this we look at the top and bottom performers in comparison to this time last year.
We will be making a lot of CEOs proud that their recruiting hunch came to fruition. Unfortunately there will also be some names below that will be haunting our coaches who may have wasted an early draft round for what currently looks and smells like a potato and belongs in the spud pool.
Total Points:
In the first comparison we look at total points up to Round 8 in each year. To make the comparison fair we only include those who have played the first eight rounds in both years.
Most improved:
| Players | 2018 points | 2019 points | Difference |
| Cameron Smith |
23 |
53 |
30 |
| James Tamou |
16 |
45 |
29 |
| James Fisher-Harris |
19 |
46 |
27 |
| Ken Maumalo |
15 |
42 |
27 |
| Latrell Mitchell |
31 |
55 |
24 |
| Kurt Capewell |
4 |
26 |
22 |
| Reagan Campbell-Gillard |
12 |
33 |
21 |
| Joe Ofahengaue |
2 |
23 |
21 |
| Cody Walker |
49 |
69 |
20 |
| Mitchell Aubusson |
4 |
23 |
19 |
Cameron Smith
Unbelievably at 82 years of age Smith tops the improved rank. Love him or hate him you need to respect what he has achieved in the game. He has had more accolades stripped from him then most players ever receive. To top it off he also holds the all-time point scoring record and has refereed the most NRL matches.
When looking at his CEO stats the big tell is that he is back to his workhorse best with 10 compared to four this time last year. However don’t get too excited Smith owners, if you use him as your primary kicker the Storm’s performance and his injury preventing him kicking has resulted in 13 less goals for 2019.
Contributing to this CEO point gap was also his infamous send off in 2018 – easily the highlight of the 2018 season for many.
James Tamou
With Trent Merrin gone someone had to step up for the Panthers and Tamou is the man. He has been given the ‘C’ by coach Cleary and given his performance possibly also a ‘C’ by some CEO coaches. He would have been drafted low in many competitions but has rewarded those who showed faith or were watching is Maori game stats closely. His big movement is through eight workhorses compared to three in 2018. Panthers will be hoping this form can pull them out of the hole they are in and it will be needed given even more injuries to Kikau and Yeo on the weekend.
James Fisher-Harris
Similar to Tamou, JFH has stepped up to fill the void with increases across the board in nearly every category. Main increase coming with double the workhorses to eight in 2019 and also two meat pies for his effort.
With two out of the top three from Panthers anyone would think they are needing to do extra tackling this year…
Worst performing:
| Players | 2018 points | 2019 points | Difference |
| Apisai Koroisau |
44 |
10 |
-34 |
| Michael Lichaa |
36 |
5 |
-31 |
| Coen Hess |
38 |
8 |
-30 |
| Robert Jennings |
42 |
15 |
-27 |
| Siliva Havili |
36 |
13 |
-23 |
| John Sutton |
29 |
8 |
-21 |
| Corey Thompson |
34 |
14 |
-20 |
| Lachlan Fitzgibbon |
29 |
9 |
-20 |
| Euan Aitken |
42 |
23 |
-19 |
| Luke Brooks |
35 |
18 |
-17 |
Apisai Koroisau
Api has had a terrible start to the year and with Fainu breathing down his neck and stealing all his minutes I cannot see this slump turning around any time soon barring injury. I wouldn’t even be surprised if we see Fainu starting with Api on the bench for the tail end of the season.
The lack of minutes has hurt Api across the board but mainly in the WH stakes with only two compared to six last year and zero(!) try assists compared to five last year.
Michael Lichaa
Lichaa has had a bad smell about him for the last few years with constant threats of being moved on however it looks like he has finally turned rotten, finding himself on the pine for the Doggies in 2019.
Only one workhorse compared to six this time last year and only one measly attacking stat (LBA) in 2019. You definitely do not want him to be your starting hooker and it might be time to trade him in for some magic beans and hope for the best.
Of course all this might change if the rumours of the Roosters picking him up as a replacement for Jake Friend are true.
Coen Hess
Hess was a beast at the start of 2018 with four trys and four workhorses in the first eight games. Throw in a few attacking stats and he was a great prospect for any team. 2018 has not been kind with him really struggling with only a single WH and one meat pie to his name.
Is this just the outcome of a Cowboys team struggling to click? The arrival of McGuire? Or simply the entire North Queensland region still lamenting the loss of the original JT?
Average
To allow us to compare those players that have not played all eight games in each season we also look at change in average between 2018 and 2019. Obviously some players listed are irrelevant due to low matches.
Improved Average
| Players | 2018 played | 2018 AVG | 2019 played | 2019 AVG | AVG Difference |
| Payne Haas |
1 |
– |
4 |
7.00 | 7.00 |
| Clinton Gutherson |
3 |
1.33 |
8 |
7.50 | 6.17 |
| Justin O’Neill |
8 |
0.875 |
5 |
6.8 |
5.925 |
| Kenny Bromwich |
6 |
1.33 |
8 |
6.00 | 4.67 |
| Aiden Tolman |
4 |
1.00 |
8 |
5.50 | 4.50 |
| Daniel Tupou |
2 |
1.00 |
8 |
5.38 | 4.38 |
| Blake Lawrie |
1 |
– |
8 |
4.00 | 4.00 |
| Michael Oldfield |
1 |
– |
1 |
4.00 | 4.00 |
| Cameron Smith |
8 |
2.88 |
8 |
6.63 | 3.75 |
| James Tamou |
8 |
2.00 |
8 |
5.63 | 3.63 |
Decreased Average
| Players | 2018 played | 2018 AVG | 2019 played | 2019 AVG | AVG Difference |
| David Fusitua |
8 |
6.63 |
7 |
1.57 | – 5.05 |
| Gareth Widdop |
8 |
4.63 |
4 |
– | – 4.63 |
| Kyle Feldt |
8 |
4.50 |
1 |
– | – 4.50 |
| Apisai Koroisau |
8 |
5.50 |
8 |
1.25 | – 4.25 |
| Ryley Jacks |
4 |
5.25 |
3 |
1.00 | – 4.25 |
| Richie Kennar |
6 |
4.17 |
1 |
– | – 4.17 |
| George Jennings |
5 |
4.00 |
1 |
– | – 4.00 |
| Mason Lino |
3 |
4.00 |
3 |
– | – 4.00 |
| Nene Macdonald |
8 |
4.88 |
6 |
1.00 | – 3.88 |
| Michael Lichaa |
8 |
4.50 |
8 |
0.63 | – 3.88 |
| Greg Inglis |
8 |
3.88 |
3 |
– | – 3.88 |
Hero to Zero…
Lastly we look at the players who played consistently and scored well in 2019 and have not made the cut in 2019. We look at players who played at least 5 out of 8 games in 2018 and completely remove the 2019 games played restriction. This produces the list of players who have really burnt us coaches as they can’t even get a consistent start either due to injury, selection decisions or in the case of Inglis, retirement. A lot of us coaches would have drafted these “guns” expecting big things only to be to be left with a sour taste in our mouths.
| Players | 2018 played | 2018 points | 2019 played | 2019 points | Difference |
| David Fusitua |
8 |
53 |
7 |
11 |
-42 |
| Gareth Widdop |
8 |
37 |
4 |
0 |
-37 |
| Kyle Feldt |
8 |
36 |
1 |
0 |
-36 |
| Apisai Koroisau |
8 |
44 |
8 |
10 |
-34 |
| Aidan Guerra |
8 |
41 |
6 |
8 |
-33 |
| Nene Macdonald |
8 |
39 |
6 |
6 |
-33 |
| Michael Lichaa |
8 |
36 |
8 |
5 |
-31 |
| Greg Inglis |
8 |
31 |
3 |
0 |
-31 |
| Issac Luke |
8 |
44 |
6 |
14 |
-30 |
| Coen Hess |
8 |
38 |
8 |
8 |
-30 |
For those wondering some of the obvious under performers not listed above were ranked as follows:
- Robert Jennings – 12th
- Isaah Yeo – 13th
- Dylan Edwards – 14th
- Jack de Belin – 16th
- Herman Ese’ese – 18th
- Matt Dufty – 20th
- Matt Eisenhuth – 21st
- Ryan James – 26th
- Lachlan Fitzgibbon – 28th
I am getting some good Excel files together so if you are interested in me analysing anything in particular (within reason!) pop a comment below and I will see what I can do.
As always good luck, enjoy your football and car’n you mighty Illawarra Steelers!
Robert Sim
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