Clem’s Captains: Round 27 NRL Supercoach Skippers


<p>Friends… We. Are. Here.</p>



<p>The final countdown…The last hoorah.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The call for last drinks has been made&nbsp;(I’m having a whiskey),&nbsp;Closing Time’s playing,&nbsp;the lights are about to come on, and in approximately 95 hours we will have a new&nbsp;SuperCoachChampion and will know if Round 27 sent us soaring up the ladder or saw us fall&nbsp;flat on our face&nbsp;at the final hurdle.</p>



<p>And as your Playbook Support Group&nbsp;Specialist,&nbsp;I&nbsp;truly&nbsp;hope everybody soars.</p>



<p>Except my forever SC nemesis, that dastardly SC Spy.&nbsp;</p>



<p>277 points. </p>



<p>That is all that separates us now.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong><em>Buying a house? Wanting to save on your mortgage? Need a quick loan? Refinancing?&nbsp;</em></strong><a href="https://www.instagram.com/mortgagechoice_scw/"><strong><em>Contact Mortgage Choice SCW</em></strong></a></p>



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<p>Coming out of Round 21, I was 1161 points behind him, and&nbsp;I have clawed and scraped my way&nbsp;over the past 5 rounds to gain 884 of those points back.</p>



<p>And now, with one round to go, there is still a chance. </p>



<p>It’s a Manly making the eight&nbsp;kind&nbsp;of&nbsp;miracle&nbsp;chance, but it’s still a chance…</p>



<p>Which is mainly hinging on more of Spy’s team being rested… Let the resting manifestation begin…</p>



<p>And what about the last round! It was raining tons!&nbsp;</p>



<p>It was like peak Oprah! “And you have a&nbsp;ton and you have a ton and you have a ton too!”</p>



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<p>15 of them, and some of them massive tons – and I would&nbsp;like to go on a quick tangent to&nbsp;tell you about my&nbsp;superstitious&nbsp;service to&nbsp;<strong>Mark&nbsp;Nawaqanitawase</strong>&nbsp;owners:</p>



<p>I owned around 50 Chooks players in that game. </p>



<p>And at around 30 minutes in, I thought, ‘ahhh&nbsp;well there goes my chance at a good round’ (at this point Sandon was on 0); I turned the game off and read my book instead. </p>



<p>And at around the&nbsp;45-minute mark, I checked my score and almost had a heart attack. </p>



<p>Because joy of joys! </p>



<p>What&nbsp;had happened&nbsp;since I turned the tv off??&nbsp;</p>



<p>And then, like any logical person would think, I concluded the correct answer was ‘I stopped watching the game’ – and so I sat there for the next&nbsp;30&nbsp;minutes watching the game through&nbsp;the&nbsp;SC app&nbsp;scores instead, not daring to turn the actual game back on… just in case I jinxed Mark and his try-scoring frenzy&nbsp;through the TV.</p>



<p>And you are very welcome,&nbsp;my&nbsp;friends. </p>



<p>I take my duties as Support Group Specialist very seriously.&nbsp;</p>



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<p>And is choosing who to use your last trade on literally the&nbsp;hardest&nbsp;decision in the entire SC year? </p>



<p>That, and choosing your final sit/starts? </p>



<p>I almost envy the Spy with his 17 players + Royce and his 0 trades.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Because&nbsp;I am a glasshouse of indecision!</p>



<p>And Round 27 hasn’t given us an easy finish on the&nbsp;Captains&nbsp;either,&nbsp;so with only a few hours left before the first game, let&#8217;s get into some choices – and let’s jump into tonight’s Thursday Night Blockbuster where Contention&nbsp;to Hold&nbsp;Fourth Place takes on Redemption for Losing Bellamy’s 600<sup>th</sup>&nbsp;Game:</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Storm vs Broncos</strong></h3>



<p>And here is the game where we ask ourselves the questions&nbsp;–&nbsp;do we choose a VC here, and more importantl,y&nbsp;can we ride the&nbsp;<strong>Reece Walsh</strong>&nbsp;rollercoaster one more time?</p>



<p>With Broncos playing to maintain their position in the top 4 after they cruelly&nbsp;helped&nbsp;knock the Wahs into&nbsp;6<sup>th</sup>,&nbsp;and the Storm basically full-strength and coming in hot fuelled by what was surely a Bellamy&nbsp;Blowup after last week’s second half battering by the Chooks – I’m not game to Captain in this game, but if you want to – here’s some VCs:</p>



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<p><strong>Reece Walsh</strong>: and let’s start with the Champion of H2H GFs everywhere, and I&nbsp;think this is the perfect time to give the man a round of applause – a 3-round average of&nbsp;154, three tries and 5 try assists in his last three games…</p>



<p>The giver of points, the saviour of H2Hs.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Your local plumber.</p>



<p>Thank you for your services to mine and every other&nbsp;owner’s&nbsp;team in the back end of the season sir!</p>



<p>Let’s just ignore the fact that he scored a 26 vs the Storm back in Round 23 and&nbsp;VC if you have a special feeling… it is&nbsp;final drinks&nbsp;after all – why not?</p>



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<p><strong>Payne Haas:</strong>&nbsp;Of course,&nbsp;you might like to play it&nbsp;more safe&nbsp;and have a go at a VC on Mr Safe as&nbsp;Haases.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Playing to maintain top 4, you’d think Haas is going to take to this battle like someone’s stood on his shoes.&nbsp;</p>



<p>He managed 83 vs the Storm back in that fateful game in Round&nbsp;23 and&nbsp;has managed a 98 point 3-round average since then. Okay if you like safe things – I prefer rollercoasters.</p>



<p><strong>Lil’ Papi:&nbsp;</strong>A 3-round average of 60 and a last score of 33&nbsp;might not exactly scream VC&nbsp;– but fuelled by the Bellamy Blowup, does he have one of those freakish games like he did back in Round 10 and pull out some&nbsp;Round-defining&nbsp;points&nbsp;for lucky owners?&nbsp;</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Manly vs Wahs</strong></h3>



<p>And as much as it pains me to say it, I think we can find a couple of likely VCs in this game in the form of Turbo and DCE.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Because Manly will be out for blood, and while the Wahs are playing to get back into the top 4 should Broncos lose tonight, it’s DCE’s final game for Manly, it’s being played at Brookie, and&nbsp;everything screams a&nbsp;fairytale finish.</p>



<p><strong>Turbo:&nbsp;</strong>A 3-round average of 113,&nbsp;scores of&nbsp;100 and 180 in his last two games, a hoodoo curse broken last week – if you have Turbo in your team, consider him for the VC, and sit back and watch him soar up the field like a beautiful&nbsp;sea&nbsp;eagle in front of the thousands of Manly fans&nbsp;who&nbsp;will be packing that hill and score a ton or two.</p>



<p>(I will also be on the hill – in my Wahs jersey – pray for me).</p>



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<p><strong>DCE:</strong><strong>&nbsp;</strong>His final game for Manly (unless&nbsp;there is a Round 27 miracle&nbsp;and&nbsp;they&nbsp;make the eight…a chance is a&nbsp;chance…)</p>



<p>But DCE. The man is playing out of his skin the last couple of games! </p>



<p>The third highest score last week at 157, 115 in his game before that, SIX try-assists in those two games… a crowd behind him for his final&nbsp;Manly&nbsp;game…it screams fairytale finish. </p>



<p>If you own, you should risk the VC.</p>



<p>I am not going to jinx any of the Wah’s players by calling them out as VCs in this article – I&nbsp;would&nbsp;just like to say that&nbsp;I&nbsp;am&nbsp;very&nbsp;sad Egan isn’t playing – my sign for Friday was “Doin’ the Egan Rock”.</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Roosters</strong><strong>&nbsp;vs Souths</strong></h3>



<p><strong>Teddy.&nbsp;</strong>Teddy is a VC on Friday night. </p>



<p>Or maybe even a Captain. </p>



<p>But please consider him for something.</p>



<p>There is nothing more glorious than a grudge match&nbsp;to get the blood pumping,&nbsp;and this is one where Teddy loves to&nbsp;come&nbsp;out to play. </p>



<p>101, 140, 135 – those are his last 3 scores vs the Bunnies.&nbsp;</p>



<p>In his last 4 games, he’s made non-owners cry with a 189 and helped&nbsp;pants the Storm&nbsp;with a 131 last round. </p>



<p>He’s had 4 tries and 8 assists. I could go on…</p>



<p>The Bunnies aren’t going to just roll over, but honestly. Teddy.</p>



<p>That is all.</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Panthers</strong><strong>&nbsp;vs Dragons</strong></h3>



<p>The gangs all back – and there’s Cleary, and Edwards, and everyone’s here… just in time to take on the might of the Dragons, who have lost their last 3 games and had 40 points put on them in their last two.</p>



<p>Outstanding timing.</p>



<p>And&nbsp;<strong>Nathan Cleary</strong>&nbsp;is clearly the Captain of the Round. </p>



<p>And it doesn’t matter if you sort the Coaches Choice on the SC to 1%, 5%, or 10% &#8211; he is the overwhelming favourite to Captain this week&nbsp;– and if you don’t want to take a risk, here is a Safer than&nbsp;Haases&nbsp;choice than Haas himself.</p>



<p>Three tons in his last 5 games, 175 points last time he played the Dragons – coming off a nice rest – it’s a slam, dunk… or is it?</p>



<p>Because I’m going to play Devil’s Advocate for a tic, and if we look at the team list, there’s a man named Schneider who lurks there in number 14 – so how many points can Cleary score in 60 minutes, because if the Panthers are giving the Dragons an absolute hiding, surely Cleary gets a nice early shower…</p>



<p>Just something to think about…</p>



<p>Of course, you may like to go for an&nbsp;<strong>Edwards&nbsp;</strong>pod Captaincy in this game, except I don’t own&nbsp;him&nbsp;and Spy does, so I will not be putting the potential for him to go large out there in the universe.</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Other Choices</strong></h3>



<p>And there are other Captains who are a bit&nbsp;more poddy,&nbsp;but if you want to take a risk that could send you soaring, why not have a go at:</p>



<p>A Dolphins player. </p>



<p>Coming up against a deservedly depleted Raiders side who are resting half their players&nbsp;because they’re winning the whole thing,&nbsp;the game is being&nbsp;played&nbsp;in Redcliffe, and if cards have fallen the&nbsp;Dolphins’&nbsp;way over the Round –they’re&nbsp;playing&nbsp;for a spot in the eight…</p>



<p>You could give&nbsp;<strong>Trai Fuller</strong>&nbsp;a look in if you have a final trade and think he can replicate the 113 he put on the Titans last Sunday.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>Herbie</strong>&nbsp;might be back for the ultimate pod choice, and you can’t disregard it being&nbsp;<strong>Hammer</strong>&nbsp;time a few times on Sunday afternoon…&nbsp;</p>



<p>And if you want to wait until the very last game of the Round – you might as well chuck it on <strong>Lomax</strong> – while he hasn’t exactly set the world alight with points in his last few games – the Knights had seven tries put on them by the Sharks last week – three of those to Mulitalo out on the wing, unfortunately not the edge Lomax will be running at.</p>



<p>This could be a points-fest.</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Verdict</strong></h3>



<p>My&nbsp;heart says I&nbsp;want to ride the Reece Walsh Rollercoaster one more time… but my head says Turbo or Teddy into Cleary…</p>



<p>And what a season! </p>



<p>Thank you for coming along on the Captaincy adventure where we’ve picked some winners and backed some…&nbsp;ahhh… not winners…&nbsp;It’s been the Reece Walsh of seasons over here &#8211;&nbsp;But whether we’ve been up or down,&nbsp;it’s been so much fun!</p>



<p>See you all at the community hall on Monday for a final celebration circle where Mariah will sing Hero to our Hero of the Round (and those of us who didn’t back them will sit in the corner&nbsp;in a lamentation circle&nbsp;and&nbsp;quietly&nbsp;weep into our bottle of whiskey… *whispers – ‘please be Spy’),</p>



<p>And then… see you on the other side&nbsp;for Finals! </p>



<p>How glorious is that we have a whole new game to go! </p>



<p>Just SO good!&nbsp;The&nbsp;SuperCoach&nbsp;Gods truly giveth.</p>



<p>And on that note, I hope your Captain scores you a ton, and you soar up the rankings, and you have the most beautiful weekend!</p>



<p>Clementine xxx</p>


Clem’s Captains: Round 27 NRL Supercoach Skippers

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