Alright fellas, what the hell was that? Pretty much a collective stinker thrown up by our table leaders, including myself. I had a shocker as the weekend progressed, but didn’t slip too much by some stroke of luck. A favorite, ManBearPigs is our new league leader, ousting the stalwart Steven Hawkin from the throne and climbing to 18th globally. Keep up the good work!
On a pretty high-scoring week we only had one 400+ point team in the new top 10, with ANGRY PIRATES swashbuckling his way up the table to the tune of 458 points. That man Bobas continued his meteoric rise and now sits in the top 10 tied with myself. Gotta say we’re on opposite but intersecting curves at the moment too Bobas. I was kicking myself for going with Vito, Diggers, and van der Heerden after being thiiiiiss close to plugging in Reid, Cooper and Guildford. That’s a difference of 118 farkin points! So completely ignore anything I say if you weren’t already… Here we go.
Blinders
- Quade Cooper, Reds: How good was he? Why didn’t I see it coming? Chucked up 93 points, which is this year’s 2nd highest total behind Schmoo’s 109 a couple weeks back. And Mitchell had to score 4 tries to get that many – Quade only had 1 which shows just how creative he was, getting many of his points from try and linebreak assists, busted tackles, and linebreaks.
- Ti’i Paulo, ‘Saders: Another good game for one of the quietly best hookers in the comp. Has relegated former AB Corey Flynn to the bench whether he’s been healthy or not. Only 1 bad game against the Chiefs in the rain and wind.
- Will Chambers, Reds: Put up the points in his opportunity to play outside centre. Perhaps a bit of right place, right time, but 2 tries is nothing to sneeze at. When the Reds get going like they did against the Sharks, anyone in their backfield can benefit.
- Stephen Donald, Chiefs: Shifted to inside centre with Delany taking over flyhalf duties. The move actually allowed him to be more of a ball runner, which the Duck did with some sneakiness. Scored a try while carving up the ‘Landers. Could be a good change if the Chiefs stick with it. Doesn’t hurt that he retains the kicking duties.
Flops
- Neemia Tialata, ‘Canes: Big tackle count. But fell off a few, got pinged a couple times, and lost 2 tightheads. Add it up and you get 1 point. In short, the ‘Saders mullered the ‘Canes front row good.
- Morne Steyn, Bulls: Only 10 points is a flop for him. Just was not involved enough in the game. In fact he’s been a little gun-shy for their entire tour and Bulls aren’t performing very well on the road as a whole.
- Gerhard van der Heever, Bulls: Another Pretorian not up to snuff this round. Showed his wheels plenty of times but rag-dolled off several tackles, especially in the kick chase. Didn’t get much pill either.
Bargain Bin
- Viliame Maafu, Blues: Has been a battering ram since the Aucklanders returned from the bye. Very consistent in the last 3 rounds.
- Chris Alcock, ‘Tahs: Debut was a screamer. Not sure if he’ll get the game time, much less similar results in the future, but he could be a good one.
- Chris O’Young, Force: Has been a real bright spot out west since coming on for the angry dwarf.
- Rob Horne, ‘Tahs: Worth plugging in if he comes back healthy this week, but it seems that’s still in question. Has been impressive in his return.
In other news, the Hurricanes and Sharks are on the bye.
