Final Word: Round 8 skippers, tactics, weather

We have the final say on the major Round 8 plays, including weather reports, breakevens, super PODs, captains and more.

Final Word

Happy New Year to all, and what a chaotic period it’s been!

COVID did it’s best to throw a spanner in the works of everyone’s plans, so hopefully people weren’t too effected.

The rained out Sixers clash made for a tough round of scoring for most.

The Cooma Stallions got a little too caught up in NYE festivities and had a bit of a blip bringing in two Sixers players early on, leaving me short, keeping my ranking steady at 1,800th overall.

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The Melbourne Stars have the double this round, playing two games in two days. Monitor the final squad news like a hawk then reassess final trades.

With a skeleton squad for two games in two days, the opportunity to rest big name players probably won’t be afforded.

This is good news for SuperCoach as we can hopefully lock them in for both games despite the rapid turnaround.

Let’s take a look at Round 8.

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WEATHER WATCH

All weather is courtesy of the Bureau of Meteorology as of Sunday, 1PM. All times are in AEDT. Forecasts are subject to change.

SUNDAY

3:30PM: Stars v Scorchers, CitiPower Stadium, St Kilda

Forecast: Sunny, 28 degrees, 10% chance of rain.

Verdict: All clear

7:15PM: Thunder v Strikers, Sydney Showground Stadium.

Forecast: Sunny, 29 degrees, 5% chance of rain.

Verdict: All clear

MONDAY

7:15PM: Stars v Renegades, MCG, Melbourne

Forecast: Partly Cloudy, 21 degrees, 0% chance of rain.

Verdict: All clear

TUESDAY

7:15PM: Heat v Sixers, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast

Forecast: Shower or two, windy, 30 degrees, 60% chance of 1-4mm of rain, the chance of a thunderstorm.

Verdict: After the initial heavy rain forecast, things are looking slightly better, but rain may well still disrupt play.

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LOOKING AHEAD

The Melbourne Stars have the double in Round 8, while the Hurricanes have the bye.

With stacks of players out due to COVID, the final team named for game one will be a huge watch.

Round 9 will see the Scorchers and Strikers on the double, Round 10 will be the Hurricanes and Thunder.

The Scorchers have the bye in Round 11 which is the final bye of the season.

SUPER PODS

Each week one of our contributors will provide a full analysis on the point of difference (POD) players to consider.

In the Final Word, we’ll look at the super POD options, the players at under 5% ownership (or around about) that could send you soaring (or falling) up the overall ranks.

They come with big risk, but the reward is immense if it comes off.

Last week, George Garton flopped with 14 points, while Shadab Khan’s clash for the Sixers was washed out.

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Saqib Mahmood – 4.3% ownership

I had Mahmood a few rounds back in this section, and he’s still at just 4.3% ownership.

He remains a terrific pick up playing a key role for the Thunder, and he’ll be hugely popular in a few rounds time when the Thunder play the double.

Shadab Khan – 0.8% ownership

Khan’s last game was washed out, so at a miniscule ownership level we’ll keep him for another round.

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BREAKEVENS

Each week we’ll list the top 10 players with both the highest and lowest breakevens, plus a few additional players worth noting, to help track your cash movement.

LOWEST BREAKEVEN (Money-makers)

Jason Sangha (-57)

Sam Harper (-40)

Colin Munro (-36)

Matthew Renshaw (-35)

Ben Dwarshuis (-31)

Dan Hughes (-23)

Hayden Kerr (-20)

Mujeeb Ur Rahman (-14)

Jake Weatherald (-14)

Tom Rogers (-6)

Joe Clarke (-5)

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HIGHEST BREAKEVEN

Glenn Maxwell (183)

Josh Philippe (175)

Tanveer Sangha (141)

Rashid Khan (131)

Nathan Coulter-Nile (117)

Brendan Doggett (116)

Nick Larkin (116)

Mitch Marsh (109)

Haris Rauf (107)

Moises Henriques (107)

Ashton Agar (104)

Nic Maddinson (104)

Matt Wade (103)

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SKIPPERS

I’m going to keep the skippers section brief this week because I have no idea what Stars side will run out today or the roles they’ll play.

Glenn Maxwell will be the obvious option due to his exceptional role, and I can’t see myself looking elsewhere.

Other gun Stars players such as Stoinis, Zampa, Coulter-Nile aren’t available.

Haris Rauf has a huge ceiling and should bowl key overs, he’s a serious POD skipper option for anyone wanting to anti-POD Maxwell.

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