SuperCoach: Daley Vs Lockyer - The Daily Telegraph (blog)

(L-R) League legends Darren Lockyer and Laurie Daley go head-to-head in NRL SuperCoach. Source: The Daily Telegraph

LAURIE DALEY: JUST when I thought I was doing OK at this SuperCoach caper, the fantasy gods threw a spanner in the works.

On Monday night I was feeling pretty chuffed with my score of 1058.

My grin spread even wider when the final scores came out on Tuesday afternoon and I was ranked in the top 10 per cent. Not bad for a SuperCoach virgin.

But then disaster struck and the grin vanished.

My key centre/wing purchase, Blake Ferguson, who I last week predicted was due for a breakout season (and appeared along that track with a great 60 on the weekend), was stood down indefinitely for disciplinary reasons.

Back to the drawing board.

Luckily, there was a decent replacement for almost exactly the same price, Darius Boyd. After a tough first year, Darius finally seems to have found his rhythm in the Newcastle side.

And as we saw in the Knights' massive win on Monday night, Boyd is a key part of their attacking structure and a highly influential member of the team.

While Ferguson had to go for reasons outside my control, my decision to cut Jacob Miller was based on money.

With no ball against the Knights, Miller scored just seven points and will likely drop in price.

For almost the same price I picked up the very talented Albert Kelly, who scored a more-than-solid 60 in round one and is set for a price rise.

South Sydney's monster prop George Burgess was also high on my shopping list following a brilliant 93. He brought incredible enthusiasm and made a huge impact in his best game for Souths and has now set a benchmark I hope he can beat.

The only problem is fitting him in. My front row of Robbie Farah, Trent Merrin, Martin Taupau, Sam Rapira, Jack Buchanan and David Klemmer all did well. But one of them will have to make way next week for big George .Possibly my biggest triumph from round one was defying SuperCoach pundits who said Paul Gallen was a spent force. I named him as captain for the mighty Daley Telegraphs.

Greg Inglis, Farah, Merrin and Johnathan Thurston earned plenty of praise from the coach after the game, while Matt Gillett (76) deserved special mention. He is a confidence player and finally seems to believe he belongs in the Brisbane back row.

My squad for round two (with round one scores): Greg Inglis (92), Matt Gillett (76), Darius Boyd (62), Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (32), Gerard Beale (31), Johnathan Thurston (106), Adam Reynolds (61), Robbie Farah (96), Trent Merrin (70), Sam Rapira (39), Paul Gallen (92 x 2), Feleti Mateo (43), Jeremy Smith (34). Reserves: Kurt Gidley (42), Tohu Harris (32), Dale Finucane (30), Justin Horo (30).

Both Laurie Daley and Darren Lockyer have jumped on the George Burgess bandwagon. Picture: Gregg Porteous Source: The Daily Telegraph

DARREN LOCKYER: IF there is one thing that hasn't changed since I retired from rugby league, it's that I hate losing.

Like any sportsman, I'm not a fan of being second best and I certainly can't take sub-standard efforts. While my NRL SuperCoach team performed well in round one, the 975 points they garnered for me just isn't good enough and coming second to Laurie Daley is, quite frankly, not OK.

The first thing I noticed when I saw my SuperCoach side's points on Tuesday was that I was missing a certain spark.

My Storm trio - Billy Slater, Cam Smith and Cooper Cronk - performed admirably and, with Greg Inglis, they were easily my best players. However, they needed more support across the board.

Really it's foolish I didn't opt for this earlier, but I believe that support will come most definitely from North Queensland Cowboys' Johnathan Thurston ($336,700).

I think JT could be well on his way to steering North Queensland to the top of the ladder and incite some of that Queensland magic for my SuperCoach side.

I know they say not to get too trigger happy after only one week, but I've made the transfer and swapped him out for Warrior Feleti Mateo anyway. While Mateo is a great SuperCoach pick-up, I think JT will last the distance and provide more consistency for my team.

My second transfer was to bring in Rabbitohs gun George Burgess ($105,400).

I also think Souths will be grand finalists this year so if Burgess can keep up his blistering efforts, he will be a worthy investment. Eels prop Darcy Lussick copped the axe to make room for Burgess. I feel this will benefit me in the long term. And, as I said, I hate losing.

My squad for round 2 (with round 1 scores): Billy Slater (90), Greg Inglis (92), Chris McQueen (74), Michael Gordon (44), Gerard Beale (31), Johnathan Thurston (106), Cooper Cronk (54), Jamie Buhrer (60), Cameron Smith (72), Josh McGuire (56), Greg Bird (66), Ben Te'o (43), Justin Horo (30), George Burgess (93), Albert Kelly (62), Lachlan Maranta (52), Mahe Fonua (48).