We've made it to pretty much half way through the regular season, so it's the first time to pause and assess what we've seen so far, in the shape of my mid-term Dream Team.
I've only got two selection criteria for picking my team. Players must have played at least 6 Super League games this year, and then I must think them worthy of selection. It's very much a subjective exercise and I make no apologies that the side is dominated by the current top two. I hope some of the players who've just missed out at this stage can turn it on and make the next team I'll pick out, at the end of the regular season. Anyway, read mine then send us yours!
Full back Ben Barba
As easy a selection as there is in the side. He's been in sensational form for league leaders St Helens. He's 3rd in tries with 10, joint 2nd in try assists with 11 and top in combined tries and assists, with 21. Literally no player has had a greater direct involvement in getting tries over the line so far this season.
Unlucky to miss out: Sam Tomkins, Stefan Ratchford
Wingers Liam Marshall & Joe Burgess
Whilst wingers are expected to do more in the modern game, ultimately they're judged by their try scoring records and the best two regular wingers in tries per game this year are Liam Marshall (1.5 tries per game) and Joe Burgess (1.2 tries per game). Both also sit in the top 10 wingers for tackle busts, clean breaks and metres per game, as well as metres per carry.
Unlucky to miss out: Tommy Makinson, Fetuli Talanoa
Centres Mark Percival & Bill Tupou
Mark Percival is joint top try scorer in the league and has made the most tackle busts and clean breaks of any player in the league. He's such an attacking weapon that he has to make my team. Bill Tupou is a bit of a personal choice given the great work he's doing for me in my actual Dream Team! There were loads of centres to pick from that met the 6 games criteria who've impressed me this year, but none are working harder for their team than this guy. He has the most carries and metres per game of any regular centre, and is still top 5 in centres for metres per carry and tries/assists combined.
Unlucky to miss out: Kallum Watkins, Josh Griffin, Reece Lyne, Bryson Goodwin, Ash Handley, Krisnan Inu, Andrew Heffernan, Carlos Tuimavave
Stand off George Williams
Quite simply, I want my halves to get their hands on the ball, ask questions of the defence and create opportunities for their team. That's why I'm picking the stand off with the most try assists. His 11 assists is joint second of all players, and three clear of the next best regular no. 6. He's also a top three stand off in busts and offloads, and has more carries than any other stand off so far this year. In short, he makes things happen. He's also a strong defender, with a 95% tackle success, and he's got a low error rate so far this season too.
Unlucky to miss out: Jacob Miller
Scrum half Richie Myler
You have to go with the man who's made the most try assists in the league as your scrum half, I couldn't see past that stat when making this choice. 12 assists in his first 10 games has seen Myler really stand up for his Leeds side in his debut year there. I have to credit him too with having an improved defence this term, not that I'm selecting him based on defence, but he has the best tackle success of all regular scrum halves at this stage.
Unlucky to miss out: Danny Richardson
Props Luke Thompson & David Fifita
Thompson is having an impact is every game he plays this year, so much so that Saints are barely missing Alex Walmsley who is down with a serious injury. Even in his worst outing this year, Thompson still made the Our League man of the match vote shortlist (although decide for yourself how much those shortlists mean!). He's making more metres than any other prop so far this year. Fifita has been a beast for Wakefield so far in 2018. He's third in metres per game in the props, but significantly leads the way for props in both breaks and the big stat for the big men of tackle busts.
Unlucky to miss out: Chris Hill, Mike Cooper, Scott Taylor
Hooker James Roby
Cut all the key stats however you want to, he's in the top two spots of all regular hookers in them all. Stats support how much he creates, how hard he works, how well he defends. They also support how crucial he is to his side, with a 90% win success rate that puts him 2nd in all players who've played at least six times this year. But you don't need stats to tell you how good James Roby is, you just need to watch him play to see that.
Unlucky to miss out: Daryl Clark, Paul McShane
Second row Liam Farrell & Zeb Taia
Farrell almost always makes my teams. He's just so productive and consistent in both attack and defence that you'd have to hate Wigan and/or gingers to not pick him in your side. He regularly makes over 100 metres a game and has a 97% tackle success rate. 4 tries and 5 assists, for the combined 9 try/assists this year, which leads back row forwards. He's also sorted his discipline this year it seems, conceding only one penalty every two games. For someone who makes 34 tackles a game and 15+ carries a game, that's not bad going. Zeb Taia has been quite a weapon on that potent Saints left edge this year. He leads the way in tries for a forward with 6, has more metres and breaks than any other second rower and is ranked high in offloads too. I couldn't not include him based on what he's delivered so far in 2018.
Unlucky to miss out: Dale Ferguson, Joshua Jones
Loose forward Sean O'Loughlin
So what if I'm basically selecting him off the back of one game, a game where he played prop and stand off, rather than loose forward. There isn't a better and more influential 13 in the competition, still. He ranks top half of loose forwards in assists, busts, offloads and tackle success, and bottom half in errors and penalties. So he has some supportive stats as well to put him in the team, it's not just that he's Sean bloody O'Loughlin, as good a loose forward as you've seen in the last 15 years.
Unlucky to miss out: Greg Bird, Mark Flanagan
There's my team. Send yours to us by leaving a comment or sending a us
tweet, or however you normally hit up the show with your thoughts.
We'll discuss my side, co-host's Tim's side, and any sides you listeners provide us with on our next SLP episode, due in your ears early Tuesday 24 April. Until then, catch up on our latest show
HERE, (or
HERE if your an Apple Podcasts person).
Thanks for reading as always!
Mark
SLP
