Well we made it team! We have arrived at Round 25 and if you and your side aren’t limping in then you are lying.

There were some vastly different scores coming out of Round 24 with some massive efforts, whilst others failed to break 1200.

Tommy Turbo was a popular captaincy option and he delivered again with a massive 170 which should have been 240, but more on that later.

Teddy couldn’t replicate last week’s massive score and was barley sighted in his side’s loss on Friday, whilst if you were patient and held both AJ and To’o you were handsomely rewarded!

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Round 24 was also the preliminary finals for all those head-to-head player out there.

I hope you all grabbed a win and made the right call in benching some players. If you have any trades left they will be gold this week and we will see how serious some teams are in resting some players!

It could be a horror show on Tuesday afternoon so tune in to the Podcast with the Overlord and co to see what it means for your side!

2021 will a massive learning curve for most with not burning through all your trades and holding onto some guns so you are not left to play Feagai and Nofoaluma in a head-to-head prelim final like yours truly.

Good luck to you all in the final round and all the best to those in finals, may you win by a point.

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Knights v Titans

Not a bad way to kick the weekend off with an end-to-end game that was decided in the last minute.

Teams would have been sweating on Kalyn Ponga to produce a big score and he somewhat came to the party.

The fullback scored a try and set another up to finish with 80 points, his highest score since round 20 but just didn’t get his hands on the football as much as he should.

Jake Clifford has stifled him since he joined the club and, like a liberal staffer, just doesn’t like the left.

Watson played big minutes again and got through a mountain of work but the attacking stats didn’t come for him, whilst Brailey was in the same boat. The pair finished with 49 and 44 respectively.

The two popular centres in Best and Kelly had a night to forget, both being starved of any space as neither was able to break 30.

David Fifita must have had a good look at himself and worked out that if he ran hard on an edge he might just break through. He top scored for the night with 85, putting to bed any thoughts of anti-podding the big back-rower.

Minute Watch – Watson 70, Fifita 48, Tino 61

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Warriors v Raiders

Another week, another judiciary charge levelled at Matt Lodge! My God this bloke just cannot keep his nose clean! He might need to marry a lawyer if things keep going the way they are.

Hopefully he challenges the hip drop charge and gives us owner’s another number for Round 25.

He and AFB were solid through the middle but both failed to break 60 as the Raiders locked up the middle and stopped any offloads from the pair.

Josh Curran had a very quiet game scoring only 38 for owners and playing only 59 minutes. He failed to jag any attacking stats which has been a rarity for him of late. Hopefully for non-owners that continues next weekend.

Jordy Rapana was enormous and I’m sure got some owners over the line in their head-to-head matches. His 124 was his highest score of the year and comes after two rounds of sub 50 scores.

Minute Watch – AFB 53, Lodge 55, Curran 59, Papali’i 58

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Roosters v Rabbitohs

The rivalry is well and truly alive and kicking! Despite the blowout score line, I was on the edge of my lounge for most of this match.

Despite the final score line, you just have to hand it to the Chooks they continue to turn up despite the massive injuries they have incurred this year. If RPA don’t come on as a major sponsor next year they’re missing out!

The huge talking point out of this match was the suspension to Latrell. He still managed 106 which included a sin-bin, but that’s lights out for 2021 for him. Not the way he or Rabbits fans would have wanted to end the year.

It was all Souths apart from a 10 minute period after half time and the Supercoach scores reflected that. Alex Johnston bounced back from last week’s quiet game to bag three tries and 125 points. Hats off to those patient owners who held and now have the score to justify it.

A bet's a bet ‼️ Jack Biilmann, Mark Nicholls' old roommate, is off the tattoo parlour to get a 🐐 with Nicho's South Sydney Club number after the big man scored a double last Friday✌️🔥#GoRabbitohs ❤️💚 pic.twitter.com/hW6wA2anJb
— South Sydney Rabbitohs 🐰 (@SSFCRABBITOHS) August 30, 2021

Cody Walker’s hot form continued scoring a huge 107. Let’s hope for mine and everyone else reading this article he isn’t rested next week when they play the Dragons.

Sammy Walker tried his guts out but just couldn’t crack the defence of Souths as he finished the night with 36, whilst last week’s hero James Tedesco is this week’s fish and chip paper, plummeting from 182 to a measly 18. Still, an even 200 in two weeks, you take that every time.

Quick Shout to the GOAT Marky Nicholls! An avid reader and supporter of the SC Playbook crew, he had a monster game on Friday, crashing over for two tries and a massive personal best which he will never replicate of 116 Supercoach points. Onya Nosey!

Minute Watch – SST 61, Tupouniua 76, Murray 64

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Dragons v Cowboys

This game had a real Country Rugby League feel about it. The players, the skill level and the ground looked a treat, albeit for the long grass.

Browne Park in Rockhampton put on a spectacular afternoon but the bloke who mows it must have had an RDO on Friday because it looked very odd compared to what we are used to seeing. Did anyone else notice that or am I going mad in lockdown?

I had eyes on Zac Lomax for this week but just couldn’t afford him and whilst he didn’t go ballistic, his score of 75 is a good indication of his late season from.

Owners would have hoped for more against a Cowboys side who have leaked points for fun this year, but a solid score nonetheless

The Cowboys shocked most when they grabbed the two points in a match that pretty well sums up the Dragons year. Taumalolo returned from a broken hand to score a solid 58 for owners in 61 minutes, whilst owners of Val Holmes might as well kiss Supercoach Season 2021 goodbye as he was moved to the centre and didn’t see much open space and only finished with 34, giving him a 3RA of 42.

Minute Watch – Taumalolo 61

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Sharks v Broncos

Credit to the Cronulla boys here, I didn’t have them winning this one! They stuck it to Brisbane and hung on in a better match than I imagined.

Payne Haas was Haas like again and his form since Origin is something to behold. Thankfully he was dirt cheap so most jumped on, but if you didn’t you are missing out. 76 for the big fella and like your favourite child, he’s one you just don’t have to worry about.

Fanitesi Niu was strong finding the line twice and has sparked this Brisbane side and might have found himself the number 1 jersey for 2022 where he will be a popular choice to kick next year off.

And Anthony Milford?! What’s going on there? He must be playing for a contract. Two try-assists and 93 points, I would love to see someone play him next week v the Knights!

Minute Watch – Talakai 45, Nikora 72, Haas 60, TC Robati 59

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Storm v Eels

And the Streak is broken! No I’m not talking about Brock Lesnar beating the Undertaker at Wrestlemania 30, that’s another article for another day, but the Eels have toppled Melbourne and the top 4 is still open!

They turned up to play and caused a massive boilover. If they were a racehorse the stewards would be asking some serious questions.

They contained Melbourne’s attacking output very well with no player being able to break 80.

Munster backed up last week’s performance with another 74 whilst Hughes and Smith worked their way to 65 and 62.

Ryan Papenhuyzen had his second game in the 1 jersey and still looks a tad out of sorts. He still looks dangerous, but his cohesion with Hughes, Munster and Grant looks a little lost.

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Melbourne adapted so well to the way Hynes played and they reaped the wins there, but since Papenhuyzen has returned, they haven’t been able to replicate it.

He hopefully has one more match to bang out a big score but to me he still looks underdone. He scored 71 on Saturday night. He’s still cheap for a goal-kicking fullback, but wait till team list Tuesday to see if he is named (I’m assuming yes).

For the Eels as good as they were, I think they may have played their grand final and as I said on Twitter, I’m going to call it and say that will be their last win for 2021.

They put everything into Saturday and I can’t see them doing a similar job on Penrith next week.

Gutherson looks set to miss it with a lower leg injury. He was busy setting two tries up and finished with a six week best of 71.

Minute Watch – Grant 77, Smith 68, Hynes 32, Welch 52, Papali’i 73, Paulo 64

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Sea Eagles v Bulldogs

Trent Barrett must have spent all week showing his side highlights of the Dogs from the 80s! This side turned up to play and credit to them.

As a Turbo captainer I was very worried for most of that match. They slid well in unison in defence and shut down a number of Manly’s sweep plays, I couldn’t tell you the amount of times I thought Turbo was through, only to be held back by his shorts.

The ‘yet to be anointed’ Dally M winner for 2021 still managed three tries and four linebreaks to finish the afternoon with 170. Can you believe the guy I played in a head-to-head preliminary final didn’t have Turbo?!

Jason Saab was the winger to benefit for Turbo instead of Reuben Garrick, with Saab crossing for two (and dropping a third) for a score of 70, whilst Garrick finished with 59.

DCE was superb steering the side around and finished the weekend as the highest scoring half/five-eighth for Round 24. He scored 132 taking his three round average to 104 and he takes on a Cowboys outfit who will most likely be worrying about who they will be dressing up as for Mad Monday.

Minute Watch – Schuster 80, Olakau’atu 80, Lawton 24

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Panthers v Tigers

Well Nathan Cleary found his unicorn again and updated nicely to an even 100, justifying all those who traded in the gun half for the week.

He was a popular buy despite the price tag and showed why on Sunday setting up three tries and kicking five goals. He has dropped to under $900k but I wouldn’t want to be playing a head-to-head final without him.

And what a return from Brian To’o! What a luxury to have this bloke still sitting in your side. He scored 94 with a try, certainly showing no signs of that injury to his ankle barging and bashing his way through the Tigers defence.

The Tigers were pretty good considering their best player Adam Doueihi is injured. They were well served by Utoikamanu and Twal with the former showing he has a massive career in front of him. 83 points including a runaway try, he looks like my first up pick for 2022.

David Nofoaluma was moved from the wing to fullback after Mybe was injured and actually looked solid there, getting his hands on the footy and setting a try up after a kick.

Despite this he has had a horror month and hasn’t broken 50 since Round 20. I’d trade him out but his $375k price tag isn’t worth it. He takes on the Bulldogs in his final match for the season so some points could be coming his way.

Minute Watch – JFH 50, Yeo 53, Kikau 67, TPJ 34, Twal, 80, Utoikamanu 56

Weekly Wrap: Highs, lows and shocks, Rd 24

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