Teams of Most Over-rated and Under-rated Players.

[steeliz]

Link: The 2021 NRL all-underrated team of the year

The POPE has blessed the 2021 NRL team of the year. Today we look at the most underrated NRL players of 2021.
There are no eligibility criteria for this team. State of Origin and international players are very unlikely to make an appearance, but they’re not precluded.
It’s simply analysis of performance compared to my observation of a player’s place in the rugby league zeitgeist.
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Click here for my POPE ratings.
Fullback: Nick Meaney, Canterbury-Bankstown (677 POPEs)
Meaney’s POPE rating suffers a little from spending some time on the wing, not to mention playing for one of the worst teams of the ARL/NRL era. It’s hard to make an impact when you play for the 2021 Bulldogs.
Meaney’s underlying numbers compare well to players like Reece Walsh, Will Kennedy and Dane Laurie. It’ll be fascinating to see what he can do at Melbourne.
Winger: Greg Marzhew, Gold Coast (689)
Marzhew has played only eight NRL games so it’s a very small sample, but his incipient career has displayed considerable potential.
Some have called Marzhew a budding Brian To’o. I wouldn’t go that far, yet. The run metres and tackle busts in those first eight games are very encouraging.
Centre: Murray Taulagi, North Queensland (657)
Taulagi’s rating comes with a caveat: he spent quite a bit of time on the wing in 2021. He looks like he’s going to be a centre, though. He could be a very good one.
Unlike most Cowboys, he didn’t make many mistakes or miss many tackles. In possession, he made a big impact in terms of run metres and tackle busts. He’s one to keep an eye on.

Centre: Patrick Herbert, Gold Coast (578)
I don’t know what to make of Herbert. He could be a better defender but he’s not bad. He could be more involved but he’s not a guy doing unusual things in a small sample.
The Gold Coast has a very talented and very raw squad of players. Can they take another step in 2022?
Winger: Mikaele Ravalawa, St George Illawarra (673)
Say what you will about Ravalawa – he’s about as quick as Aaron Woods in high heels and has roughly the same turning circle – but he gets it done.
If the Dragons ever return to respectability, they probably can’t carry Ravalawa as a winger. For now, they could be doing a lot worse.

Five eighth: Drew Hutchison, Eastern Suburbs (516)
It’s easy to look at Hutchison and wonder what might have been at the Dragons. Then again, I doubt he’d be as effective as he is today if he’d stayed. Easts could probably have figured out a way of making Corey Norman an effective footballer.
Hutchison is a good playmaker and a strong defender. While he doesn’t run the ball much, he’s very good when he does. Come home, Drew.
Halfback: Jake Averillo, Canterbury-Bankstown (513)
Consider me astounded. There wasn’t much difference between Averillo and Mitchell Moses in terms of their POPE rating and underlying numbers in 2021.
Moses is a better ball player, Averillo runs the ball just as well as Moses and is a better defender. Canterbury should give Averillo a chance at halfback. If that doesn’t work out, he could make a very good dummy-half.
Prop: Taniela Paseka, Manly-Warringah (508)
Where do Manly keep finding these big boppers? By way of comparison, Daniel Saifita scored 510 POPEs in 2021.
Dummy-half: Mitch Rein, Gold Coast (458)
This is not to say I think Rein’s a good player. One of my favourite pastimes when Rein was at the Dragons was complaining about him.
He’s a handy player as part of a dummy-half rotation. Rein and Erin Clark were a decent one-two punch for the Gold Coast in 2021. Rein could be a handy part-time player for Parramatta if rumours of his pending arrival are true.
Prop: Aaron Woods, Cronulla-Sutherland (491)
There’s still value in the old warhorse. Woods gets through a mountain of work, most of it good. He brings loads of experience and seems like a nice guy. He should be a positive contributor for the Dragons next season.
Second row: Euan Aitken, New Zealand (536)
A theme’s emerging here. Former Dragons who’ve found a place and their mojo elsewhere.

Second row: Hudson Young, Canberra (493)
By way of comparison, Kenny Bromwich and Angus Crichton were both worth 496 POPEs in 2021.
Lock: Alex Twal, Wests (496)
Fun fact: in 1,351 minutes of NRL game time, Twal did not record a single error. Based on Wests’ recruitment, Twal will be a prop in 2022 – a good one.
Bench prop: Toafofoa Sipley, Manly-Warringah (542)
The poor man’s Nelson Asofa Solomona.
Bench second rower: Brodie Jones, Newcastle (495)
Jones was a solid contributor in most facets off the bench for Newcastle. He might push Mitch Barnett for a starting spot next season.


Bench utility: Jeremy Marshall-King (462)
I’ve always liked Marshall-King and I think he could be a good utility for a decent team.
Utility back: Connor Tracey, Cronulla-Sutherland (617)
Produced very good numbers primarily from the wing in 2021. He can do a job in just about any position in the backs.
https://www.theroar.com.au/2021/10/25/the-2021-nrl-all-underrated-team-of-the-year/#comments-section

 

[steeliz]

Link: The 2021 NRL all-overrated team of the year

Before you ask, yes, there is a Dragons player in this team – and he’s there on merit. But let’s face it, it’s hard for most of the current Dragons roster to qualify as overrated. Not even I rate them.
For those not familiar, here’s the POPE rating system.

Fullback: Reece Walsh, Warriors (688 POPEs)
Walsh will have a good career. But his 2021 season wasn’t what many made it out to be.

There were lots of errors and missed tackles, which is to be expected from a 19-year-old.
My main concern is his running game, which was well below average for a fullback. I’m not yet convinced Walsh will be a fullback in the long term.

Winger: Xavier Coates, Brisbane (629)
By way of comparison, Corey Thompson scored 747 and Sione Katoa scored 710.
Coates doesn’t produce the run metres expected of an NRL winger. Thompson ran for 152.6 metres per 80 minutes. Coates ran for just 99.5.
Centre: Jarrod Croker, Canberra (469)
Croker’s season was interrupted by injury, but even so his attacking output was almost non-existent.
Throw in uncharacteristically poor defence and it’s starting to look like Croker’s in terminal decline.
Centre: Campbell Graham, South Sydney (542)
While I’m ducking under the parapet, I’ll just say this. Graham is a rock-solid defensive centre with some attacking value. But not much.
As far as the POPE is concerned, Graham and Tom Opacic are almost indistinguishable.
Winger: Jason Saab, Manly (659)
There’s a small vanguard who regard Saab as one-dimensional, an athlete rather than a fully formed footballer. It’s hard to argue.
He doesn’t do much other than score tries and miss tackles. He’s two-dimensional then.

Five-eighth: Jake Clifford, North Queensland and Newcastle (419)
We should probably cut Clifford some slack on account of having to adjust to a new environment during the season.
That said, his actual performance doesn’t align with the reviews he received late in the season. He had too many errors and not enough facilitation compared to other halves.
Halfback: Chad Townsend, Cronulla and Warriors (376)
The Clifford defence doesn’t apply here. Townsend spent most of the season with Cronulla.
I won’t mince words. Townsend was the worst half of the 2021 NRL. He didn’t run the ball and his defence was atrocious. Even I was surprised by how badly he rated. Enjoy, Cowboys supporters.


Prop: Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Roosters (466)
Waerea-Hargreaves gets through as much work as any prop not named Payne Haas. But it looks like the law of diminishing returns is starting to kick in.
Tom Burgess (516), a comparable player in terms of minutes and work rate, produced far more run metres and tackle breaks, and conceded far fewer penalties.
Hooker: Josh Hodgson, Canberra (407)
I don’t think a down year in what seemed a tumultuous environment in Canberra necessarily signals Hodgson’s irreversible decline. His ball-playing still compares well to a player like Api Koroisau.
The problem is Hodgson’s running game. He doesn’t engage the line enough and, from my qualitative observation, doesn’t pick his moments well. Hodgson is better suited to lock.

Prop: Joe Ofahengaue, Wests Tigers (480)
He is by no means a bad player, just below average. His selection for Queensland this year was more indicative of Queensland’s depth than Ofahengaue’s form.
Second rower: Tariq Sims, St George Illawarra (467)
Sims is another case of diminishing returns. He and Angus Crichton (496) are very similar in terms of minutes and work rate.
Sims does far less with his involvement. He’s still a strong defender but just doesn’t threaten opposition defences like he once did.

Second rower: Kurt Capewell, Penrith (442)
The way Penrith deploy their three primary second rowers – Capewell, Viliame Kikau and Liam Martin – seems very calculated. They’re the kamikaze kids.
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Capewell and Martin played an almost identical number of minutes in 2021. Kikau played a small amount more, for obvious reasons.
They all play at a high intensity work rate, make mistakes and miss lots of tackles, until they’re spent. It looks like a trade-off. They can live with mistakes if they’re hurting their opponents.

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Capewell is the least valuable of the trio and his numbers don’t compare well to other representative second rowers. Maybe that’s not the point though.
Lock: Victor Radley, Roosters (429)
When Radley wasn’t suspended, he was largely ineffective. When he wasn’t committing illegal tackles, he was missing them. When he ran the ball, not much happened.

Bench prop: Jesse Bromwich, Melbourne (496)
I know Bromwich isn’t a bench prop but the format I’ve used to date doesn’t work here. Who rates your typical bench player highly?
In the case of Bromwich, he had diminishing returns and too many missed tackles.
Bench second rower: Elliott Whitehead, Canberra (441)
Whitehead is not running the ball often or well and he’s missing tackles like one of Penrith’s kamikaze kids. I’m not sure that’s what Ricky Stuart has in mind.
Bench utility: Moses Mbye, Wests Tigers (439)
I don’t think anybody’s high on Mbye right now, but he has just been signed by an NRL club who presumably had a choice in the matter. Hopefully, he’s just depth.
Bench utility back: Corey Allan, Canterbury (506)
Compared to where he was 12 months ago, it’s been quite a fall for Allan.

 

[B-Train]

There are way more deserving players on both of those lists.

Meaney and JMK are not underrated. Capewell is an Origin player and Premiership winner who is consistent as. Can't see how he's overrated.

Mbye should be captain/coach of the overrated team.

 

[Bulldogsteve]

reece walsh overeated, LMAO, he will be a sensation

 

[bradyk]

These POPE stats look quite irrelevant looking at the players in each category. The eye test is the most important thing. E.g. Walsh would have at least 1 big x-factor moment every game (that's at least 1, he actually had multiple each game more than not) whereas Meaney had 1 big x-factor moment the whole season. Meaney wasn't good this season, Walsh was a superstar. Coates, Graham, Saab, JWH, Capewell, Radley and Bromwich are some of the best players in the NRL for their positions.

 

[Dognacious]

reece walsh overeated, LMAO, he will be a sensation

They got mbye right but that was a really obvious one. A few other picks are suspect. Yeh I think the Walsh comment was more about his cocaine bust than his form, he was good for his first year.

 

[Dogmonster]

The prize for most overrated player of the year for 2021 goes to Charlie shit Staines, the Forbes flyer, his best metres are still in the minus, Has Andrew Voss stopped rubbing his doodle over this fraud yet.

 

[Typical dog]

The prize for most overrated player of the year for 2021 goes to Charlie shit Staines, the Forbes flyer, his best metres are still in the minus, Has Andrew Voss stopped rubbing his doodle over this fraud yet.

Nah bro, he caught the ball and ran untouched for like 4 tries. He must be a weapon.......

 

[Greenmachine121]

What a shit list …. Although I agree the raiders players mentioned all suck huge bags of dicks

 

[Flanagun]

What a shit list …. Although I agree the raiders players mentioned all suck huge bags of dicks

You have Elliott in 2022. help is on its way, Fam. Namaste