In this blog we will have a brief look at the previous and upcoming rounds of the NRL. In round 9, who's performances stood out for the right or wrong reasons and which players made the GDS Squad of the round. With round 10 of GameDay Squad Rugby League not too far away, who should coaches consider starting and which players have positive matchups. Have a read below and gain an edge over your competition. Let us know your thoughts on who we have down below on all of our social channels: twitter, facebook, instagram, discord.
GDS Squad of the week for round 9
HOK - Reece Robson (Cowboys) 73 points
MID - Connor Watson (Roosters) 96 points
MID - Reuben Cotter (Cowboys) 88 points
MID - Terrell May (Roosters) 73 points
EDG - Angus Crichton (Roosters) 100 points
EDG - Luke Garner (Panthers) 83 points
HLF - Nicho Hynes (Sharks) 72 points
HLF - Brad Schneider (Panthers) 67 points
CTR - Dane Gagai (Knights) 63 points
CTR - Joseph Manu (Roosters) 57 points
WNG - Jamayne Isaako (Dolphins) 81 points
WNG - Mikaele Ravalawa (Dragons) 72 points
FB - James Tedesco (Roosters) 86 points
BENCH FWD - David Fifita (Titans) 82 points
BENCH FWD - Isaah Yeo (Panthers) 63 points
BENCH HLF - Jackson Hastings (Knights) 66 points
BENCH BACK - Dylan Edwards (Panthers) 83 points
BENCH BACK - Reuben Garrick (Sea Eagles) 66 points
Squad Total 1371 points
How many of these players did you start?
The performance of the week
This award goes to Angus Crichton. Crichton has turned back the clock in the last couple of weeks with scores of 81 points vs Dragons and 100 points vs Broncos. These two performances have earned him a spot in the squad of the week in back-to-back weeks. In the performance against the Broncos, he terrorised their right defensive edge and in attack he had 2 tries, 2 line breaks, 1 line break assist, 1 try assist, 7 tackle breaks, 4 offloads for 63 points. He is now ranked as the 4th edge forward going by his average of 51 points. Crichton has now played for 77+ minutes in his last five games and averages 67 points over this period. If he continues to be an 80-minute player, I think he will become a must start and average 55+ points moving forward. With the injury to Cam Murray, we might even see him in the Blues squad for Origin.
Riser
This award goes to Connor Watson. The Roosters have been on fire the last couple of weeks and Watson has snuck under the radar of many GDS coaches. With back-to-back appearances in the squad of the week and averaging 52 points for the season, Watson is now very popular on the transfer market. The sudden rise of Watson is due to Radley being unavailable due to a hamstring injury. Radley is meant to be back in round 10 but with the Roosters going really well at the moment, I wouldn't be surprised if we see him rested another week. While Watson remains as the Roosters lock, I believe he is a good starting option as he will likely continue to play the full 80 minutes without Radley in the match day squad. Upon Radley's return, I expect Watson to move back to the interchange and go back to scoring around 35-45 points. With this in mind, now is a great time to sell high if you have enough depth in your squad.
Faller
This award goes to Izack Tago. After averaging 63 points over his first three games, Tago was one of the most sought-after centres on the transfer market. Since then, he has only averaged 29 points with one score north of 40 points. In his most recent performance, Tago was put on report and spent time in the sin-bin for a hip drop tackle. He only managed a score of 10 points. Tago was charged for this hip drop tackle and has taken an early guilty plea which means he will be suspended for the Panthers next game. When he returns from suspension, I would like to see him get a couple of games under his belt with Cleary being fit before I consider selecting him for my squad. Like many of the Panthers' backline, Tago is no exception to scoring better with Cleary in the team. This season with Cleary in the team he averages 49 points and 34 points without. Tago is a real talent and I believe he is one of the better options at centre. He only just turned 22 years old a month ago and I think now might be a great time to buy low on possibly one of the best young centres in GDS.
GDS Team to Beat - Round 10
HOK - Harry Grant (Storm) - GDS average of 50 points & positional rank of 1st
MID - Isaah Yeo (Panthers) - GDS average of 64 points & positional rank of 2nd
MID - Payne Hass (Broncos) - GDS average of 64 points & positional rank of 1st
MID - Addin Fonua-Blake (Warriors) - GDS average of 59 points & positional rank of 3rd
EDG - David Fifita (Titans) - GDS average of 66 points & positional rank of 1st
EDG - Angus Crichton (Roosters) - GDS average of 51 points & positional rank of 4th
HLF - Nathan Cleary (Panthers) - GDS average of 65 points & positional rank of 3rd
HLF - Nicholas Hynes (Sharks) - GDS average of 75 points & positional rank of 1st
CTR - Joseph Manu (Roosters) - GDS average of 61 points & positional rank of 1st
CTR - Valentine Holmes (Cowboys) - GDS average of 53 points & positional rank of 4th
WNG - Jamayne Isaako (Dolphins) - GDS average of 52 points & positional rank of 2nd
WNG - Reuben Garrick (Sea Eagles) - GDS average of 47 points & positional rank of 6th
FB - Dylan Edwards (Panthers) - GDS average of 66 points & positional rank of 1st
BENCH FWD - Jaimin Jolliffe (Titans) - GDS average of 52 points & positional rank of 9th
BENCH FWD - John Bateman (Wests Tigers) - GDS average of 41 points & positional rank of 25th
BENCH HLF - Daly Cherry-Evans (Sea Eagles) - GDS average of 55 points & positional rank of 6th
BENCH BACK - Phillip Sami (Titans) - GDS average of 44 points & positional rank of 9th
BENCH BACK - Scott Drinkwater (Cowboys) - GDS average of 53 points & positional rank of 4th
Players with positive matchups
Valentine Holmes
Holmes has been having a decent season and has made an appearance in the squad of the round on two occasions. One thing I've noticed about the Cowboys and Titans games this season is that they both tend to be in high scoring games. I believe this is a good match up for Holmes as he is the goal kicker for the Cowboys, and I think we will see plenty of points in this game. Holmes generally offers a high floor due to his goal kicking and only has season low of 29 points. This is pretty good with centre being such a volatile scoring position. Believe it not, the Titans have actually defended rather well against the left centres and allow an average of 36 points to this position. However, it was only in round five that these teams came up against each other and Holmes scored 64 points on this occasion. This has been the highest score by any left centre against the Titans this season and I think Holmes can score 60+ this time round.
Phillip Sami
I find that Sami is quite often overlooked by many GDS coaches but when you have a look into his game logs, he actually performs really well and does have a fantasy relevant game. He is averaging 44 points for the season and is ranked 9th at the winger position. He's a big strong winger that has crossed over for three tries and is averaging five tackle breaks over the four games that he has played. Over the last three weeks with Semi Valemei on the left wing for the Cowboys, they have allowed an average of 60 points to opposing right wingers and a total of five tries. This week we should see Sami matchup against Valemai and I think we will see a score of 50+ points from him.
Scott Drinkwater
Drinky has been having a solid season but has only made one appearance in the squad of the round. With all the wet weather predicted for NSW for this round, I believe playing fullbacks in these games can come with a lot of risk. This is one reason why Drinky stands out for me this weekend. The other reason is that the Titans are allowing an average 55 points to opposing fullbacks and they are the 3rd best matchup for this position. Only twice this season have the Titans allowed less than 50 points to opposing fullbacks and we may see Drinky score 65+ points this Sunday.
