In this blog we will have a brief look at the previous and upcoming rounds of the NRL. In round 11, who's performances stood out for the right or wrong reasons and which players made the GDS Squad of the round. With round 12 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 11
HOK - Harry Grant (Storm) 65 points
MID - Isaah Yeo (Panthers) 68 points
MID - Max King (Bulldogs) 62 points
MID - J'maine Hopgood (Eels) 62 points
EDG - Dylan Lucas (Knights) 86 points
EDG - Hudson Young (Raiders) 80 points
HLF - Cody Walker (Rabbitohs) 81 points
HLF - Jayden Sullivan (Wests Tigers) 79 points
CTR - Justin Olam (Wests Tigers) 83 points
CTR - Reimis Smith (Storm) 69 points
WNG - Reuben Garrick (Sea Eagles) 87 points
WNG - Selwyn Cobbo (Broncos) 79 points
FB - David Armstrong (Knights) 110 points
BENCH FWD - Eliesa Katoa (Storm) 70 points
BENCH FWD - Damien Cook (Rabbitohs) 64 points
BENCH HLF - Nicho Hynes (Sea Eagles) 74 points
BENCH BACK - Latrell Mitchell (Rabbitohs) 95 points
BENCH BACK - Dominic Young (Roosters) 74 points
Squad Total 1388 points
How many of these players did you start?
The performance of the week
This award goes to David Armstrong. Armstrong scored a hat trick as the Knights went on to beat the Titans 28-24 at Magic Round. After coming into the Knights squad to replace the injured Kalyn Ponga, Armstrong has looked right at home at fullback. In this performance on attack, he had 3 tries, 1 line break and 11 tackle breaks for 67 points. Armstrong is now the third ranked fullback with an average of 61 points. Due to the roller coaster of the fullback position, proceed with caution if you are considering starting him. Prior to this game he was averaging 45 points and had not made an appearance in the squad of the round. The Knights are on the bye this week but after that they have games against the Bulldogs, Storm and Panthers. The Storm and Panthers are the best two teams at shutting down opposing fullbacks and collectively allow an average of 39 points to fullbacks. Even though the Knights are on a four-game winning streak, I think it will be hard to start Armstrong when you look at his next few games. If you don't have Armstrong in your squad, the door has been slammed shut on buying him low, but you might see his value decrease if he has a couple of low scores over the next month. With Ponga likely being out till round 22, there might be the odd game where Armstrong can be considered a starter this season. In my opinion, there will usually be more proven fullbacks in GDS available for selection each week. However, Armstrong might become a very good dynasty asset if you were to acquire him.
Riser
This award goes to Jayden Sullivan. Sullivan is a name that has never really been mentioned in GDS circles but with back-to-back scores on 65+ points, he can't be ignored with all the injuries at the HLF position. With Aiden Sezer halfway through his four-game suspension, Sullivan should have at least two more starts. These two games will be against the Cowboys and Dragons. The defence for both teams hasn't been great at times this season and Sullivan might be worth a start if you feel like taking the risk. His dynasty prospects aren't that great with Luai arriving from the Panthers next season, but Sullivan might be able to keep Sezer out of the team if he puts in a couple of decent performances. He is a very risky starting option as his average was only 25 points prior to his last two games. Looking ahead to round 14, we may see some halves not back up from Origin. If this was to happen, Sullivan might just be a very handy card to have as a depth piece for your squad. If you don't already have his card, it might pay to check out the transfer market if you are lacking depth in the halves or are after a POD for the next two games.
Faller
This award goes to Cameron McInnes. McInnes is in a very good footy team that sits at the top of the NRL ladder. Even though he puts in solid performances each week, these performances are not making him an elite middle forward starting option in GDS. After Dale Finucane's retirement I was hoping that we might see an uptick in minutes for McInnes but that has not been the case. Finucane's minutes have been split between the middle forwards on the Sharks interchange and McInnes is still only seeing an average of 62 minutes a game. Hats off to the Sharks who are playing extremely well and while they do, I can't see an increase in McInnes's minutes. He can go the full 80-minutes and has done so twice this season for scores of 59 and 69 points. He is a safe option each week but with him not playing the full 80-minutes on a regular basis, I prefer the likes of Haas, Yeo, AFB and Hopgood. Now might be a good time to consider buying low on McInnes as there may become a scenario this year where he becomes an 80-minute player again.
GDS Team to Beat - Round 12
HOK - Damien Cook (Rabbitohs) - GDS average of 50 points & positional rank of 1st
MID - Isaah Yeo (Panthers) - GDS average of 65 points & positional rank of 1st
MID - Payne Haas (Broncos) - GDS average of 62 points & positional rank of 2nd
MID - Addin Fonua-Blake (Warriors) - GDS average of 58 points & positional rank of 3rd
EDG - David Fifita (Titans) - GDS average of 68 points & positional rank of 1st
EDG - Angus Crichton (Roosters) - GDS average of 53 points & positional rank of 4th
HLF - Daly Cherry-Evans (Sea Eagles) - GDS average of 54 points & positional rank of 6th
HLF - Nicholas Hynes (Sharks) - GDS average of 75 points & positional rank of 1st
CTR - Joseph Manu (Roosters) - GDS average of 58 points & positional rank of 1st
CTR - Valentine Holmes (Cowboys) - GDS average of 50 points & positional rank of 5th
WNG - Dominic Young (Roosters) - GDS average of 52 points & positional rank of 2nd
WNG - Reuben Garrick (Sea Eagles) - GDS average of 49 points & positional rank of 4th
FB - Latrell Mitchell (Rabbitohs) - GDS average of 62 points & positional rank of 2nd
BENCH FWD - J'maine Hopgood (Eels) - GDS average of 54 points & positional rank of 5th
BENCH FWD - Jaydn Su'A (Dragons) - GDS average of 49 points & positional rank of 8th
BENCH HLF - Sam Walker (Roosters) - GDS average of 41 points & positional rank of 21st
BENCH BACK - Selwyn Cobbo (Broncos) - GDS average of 50 points & positional rank of 6th
BENCH BACK - Reece Walsh (Broncos) - GDS average of 51 points & positional rank of 10th
Players with positive matchups
Latrell Mitchell
Mitchell put on his best performance of the season for GDS coaches as he scored 95 points against the Cowboys. In this performance he showed coaches why he is still one of the best fullbacks in GDS. Even though he has been inconsistent this season, he is still ranked 2nd in the fullback rankings with an average of 62 points. He is up against an Eels team this week that have just had their coach fired. In five of their last six games, the Eels have allowed 30+ points to be scored against them. They have actually not been a great match up for fullbacks this season but are still allowing an average of 45 points to this position. I believe the Rabbitohs will take some confidence from last week's performance against the Cowboys and aren't far away from breaking their six-game losing streak. I think Latrell has every chance to put in another big performance this week, a performance that might see him secure a starting spot for NSW in Game 1.
Jaydn Su'A
Su'A being started ahead of Olakau'atu may surprise a lot of coaches, in fact I even surprised myself by selecting him for the GDS team to beat this week. I'm not going to argue with anyone that has Olakau'atu ranked above Su'A this week, but this is why I don't. The Storm have only allowed an average of 38 points to opposing right edge forwards. The Storm and Sea Eagles have a lot of history and I think this will be a close encounter. Olakau'atu can perform well in close games, and he showed this last week against the Broncos. However, the Storm are not the Broncos, and I just don't like this match up for Olakau'atu. The Bulldogs on the other hand allow an average of 56 points to be scored by opposing left edge forwards. They have also allowed 85 points to be scored by Luke Garner and 80 points by Hudson Young in the last two weeks. I think we are in for a big Dragons performance with them coming off the bye and I'm expecting Su'A to have a good game in a favourable matchup.
Joseph Manu
Other than being the top ranked centre in GDS with an average of 58 points, Manu has a really good match up on paper this week. The left defensive edge for the Raiders of Kris and Savage are at a size disadvantage to the Roosters right edge of Manu and Young. The Raiders are also allowing the most points to opposing right centres with an average of 44 points allowed to this position. Even though the Roosters went down to the Sharks last week, their attack has been very good, and they are averaging 42 points per game over their last four weeks. In this game I think the Roosters will be able to score plenty of points and Manu should put in a decent performance for GDS coaches.
