Unpopular Opinion of the Week – Round 10
Previously a segment on the weekly SC Report podcast, we’ve decided to bring in a bit of left-field, controversial thinking to our weekly lineup of articles. Who better than a Manly fan to deliver this one! Welcome aboard Matt West for the Unpopular Opinion of the Week. This one’s designed to stoke the fire, so don’t be afraid to fire back!
Say No To Turbo
And say hello to Gutho
Now it seems an easy fix. It seems like a no brainer. Papy’s crook and you will actually MAKE money with a trade to Tommy. Just do it right?
Wrong.
He hasn’t shown anywhere near his best of last year, in SuperCoach scoring or the way he dominated other teams. There aren’t going to be the 150 plus blowouts. Teams have tightened up and as per Talakai, they know how to play him. Next up for the Sea Eagles is the Talakai-nullifying Broncos.
Last week was his second-biggest score to date behind a try-assisted 87 against an ordinary Raiders outfit. At home, dry track, full house against the Tigers. No tries, 1 try assist. 78 points.

Compare that to Gutho’s 1 try, 1 try assist and 96 points against the reigning Premiers. Dylan Brown moving back to the halves has revitalised The King. That experiment is over (also, can we stop coaches putting their sons into their teams? Yea, Nathan’s good, but Arthur and Walters aren’t Cleary) and not likely to return anytime soon.
He has an average of 66.4PPG while the more- tempting King Gutho’s average is 63.4PPG and for a difference of $356k? That’s a Joseph Suaalli for free, or a bucket load of cash for a Round 13 keeper. His run isn’t great either. Broncos away, then Parra and Melbourne before Origin.
And over Origin last year, he played twice in six rounds. Can you really have $900k on your bench for that long?
Yes, Gutho doesn’t play 13, but will also not be rested post-Origin. He plays Canberra and the Bulldogs in the next 4, a run which also includes an out of form Roosters and a leaky Manly (go see the doctor, that should clear up in a week).

The Eels should remain relatively untouched for Origin, with the only caveat that if Paps is out for longer than 4 weeks, Gutho could come into consideration. There have been no rumblings of that yet and I think Nicho is ahead of him in the pecking order this year anyway.
Round 17 is against the Tigers and 18 the Warriors where he would have fattened in price to at least $750k. Nicely enough for an easy switch to a post-Origin Turbo or a now-healed Papy.
So I’m going to bypass Tommy T, save the cash and grab the King.
Good luck all.
ALL HAIL KING GUTHO
Definitely some sound logic in your arguments mattmobster.
Gutho acted like a tosser after Daine Laurie smashed him into the in-goal, but I’ll pick him anyway because Supercoach is more important!
Another likely very unpopular opinion. I’m trading out Cleary for the foreseeable, bringing in D.C.E. Cleary’s going to haemorrhage money whereas DCE won’t and he’s a big P.O.D.
Love it. Look out for next week’s article
I always await your articles like the other great contributors on here. All done for free which makes it even better.
Great blog. There’s some logic behind it.
Even had Gutho traded in before this (just haven’t decided yet). But, no Turbo is a frightening thought (brought Garrick in to help ease the pain).
PS: I won’t hold you being a Manly supporter against you.
I agree that Turbo could ba an issue but Gutho is hard to cop as a replacement. Over the last 4 weeks he has played Panthers for that 96, but just before that had a dismal Tigers for only 47, a clueless Knights for 35 and a mid range pack Cows for 27. I know his average says different but an injured Tommy does double those numbers against those teams easily. Reece is even cheaper and even though his side is terrible, will probably outscore Gutho in the same period for the bigger payout with the luxury of playing 13… Read more »