Round 8 Dream Teams
Looking at the best performances each week to determine the Team of the Week and using the player’s season totals to determine the overall Dream Team for 2016 on a week by week basis.
Round 8 Team of the Week:
Stop the fight! Will we see a better NRLCEO return than 27 points this year? Or ever?
Jordan Rapana did everything asked of him and more over the weekend. In the highest scoring NRLCEO score of all time, Rapana scored four tries, a try assist, five line breaks and a double metre eater from 215 metres. He almost scored a fifth, but Leilua was inside him and picked it up himself.
Alongside him was a high on confidence BJ Leilua. He had a smile a mile wide scoring his first two tries ever for the Raiders, setting up two try assists, four line break assists and a metre eater. He’ll be up and down all year though. If you took a punt on him in your side, you’ll be hoping there are more ups. Also, I can’t help but post this picture that popped up over the weekend…
Continuing the Raiders dominance (can you tell I’m loving this?), both English imports Josh Hodgson and Elliott Whitehead also made the Team of the Week.
Hodgson was outstanding yet again! If he goes on to win the Dally M it would almost be on par to Leicester City winning the Premier League. Ok, maybe not quite that far, but he had 13 try assists for all of last year and already has nine to his name after eight rounds this year including an incredible five against the Tigers. He was literally turning everything to gold. It’s a shame he fell nine involvements short of a workhorse too.
Whitehead played his role again without being outstanding. His English counterpart put him over for the easiest of crash ball tries, but he still managed a superb flick ball to Rapana for a try assist, two line breaks, a line break assist and workhorse to boot.
Lastly, it would be remiss of me to lose myself in the Green Machine glory and not mention the oustanding efforts of super sub James Fisher-Harris. The strapping young Panther played 54 minutes, scored two of the most wonderful tries you’ll ever see and registered his first ever workhorse with 42 involvements. Bravo young cub.
Here is the Team of the Week for Round 8:
1. Cameron Munster (11)
2. Jordan Rapana (27)
3. BJ Leilua (18)
4. Michael Jennings (6)
5. Semi Radradra (12)
6. Michael Morgan (12)
7. Ben Hunt (6)
8. Paul Vaughan (11)
9. Josh Hodgson (16)
10. Jake Trbojevic (10)
11. James Fisher-Harris (14)
12. Elliott Whitehead (13)
13. Tohu Harris (13)
Note: points are based on tries (4), workhorses (4), double workhorses (8), try assists (2), line breaks (1), line break assists (1), metre eaters (2), double metre eaters (4), field goals (1), 40/20’s (1), sin bins (-2) and send offs (-4)
Overall Dream Team:
Each week we will accumulate the points for each player to come up with the Overall Dream Team for 2016.
Two Raiders are new to the Dream Team on the back of their 60-6 thrashing of the Tigers.
Anthony Milford is still the MVP at this stage despite having his quietest NRLCEO performance of the year. Just three points on the back of a touch up for the Rabbitohs disappointed many who captained him once again, but you can’t be upset with 75 points from eight rounds!
Not far behind is James Tedesco and James Graham. The Raiders might have the Tedesco antidote though as he turned in his first NRLCEO donut since Round 19 last year! He tried hard with 16 runs, but they kept him to just 129 metres for the whole game and didn’t let him run riot. Typical of James Graham, he quietly turned in another quality workhorse performance, although I did receive a text message from a frustrated Graham owner when he finished with 59 involvements, to fall one short of a double workhorse. A 202 metre eater performance is a good consolation though…
Jordan Rapana was always going to climb the leaderboard after his incredible performance this week. His four try haul gives him six for the season so far – just one behind his career best season (seven tries in 2015). Although he debuted in 2008, he has still only played 35 career games in the NRL and there is talk he could be a shot for New Zealand in the upcoming test. As a Raiders fan I couldn’t find room for him in our best 17, now I can’t imagine our team without him.
The other Raider is a bit more of surprise. Elliott Whitehead was touted as an NRLCEO smokey by a few keen eyes preseason, but no one could have predicted he’d be the second highest scoring back rower in the entire competition after eight rounds. The gifted Pommy ball playing back rower has scored well across the park so far. A known try scorer in the English Super League, he has two tries, three try assists, two line breaks, four line break assists and six workhorses so far this year. He’s only missed workhorses in two rounds when he finished with 34 and 37 involvements. A great return for a smokey.
Here is the full Dream Team after eight rounds:
1. James Tedesco (64)
2. Jordan Rapana (54) – NEW
3. Solomone Kata (46)
4. Will Hopoate (44)
5. Corey Oates (47)
6. Anthony Milford (75)
7. Ben Hunt (51)
8. James Graham (60)
9. Cameron Smith (52)
10. Jake Trbojevic (47)
11. Ethan Lowe (49)
12. Elliott Whitehead (45) – NEW
13. Ryan James (44)
Note: points are based on tries (4), workhorses (4), double workhorses (8), try assists (2), line breaks (1), line break assists (1), metre eaters (2), double metre eaters (4), field goals (1), 40/20’s (1), sin bins (-2) and send offs (-4)
JB
Latest posts by JB (see all)
- 2022 NRLCEO Position Updates - August 24, 2022
- NRLCEO HQ – No Pride in Manly (Ep #273) - July 27, 2022
- NRLCEO T-Shirt Competition - May 10, 2022
