reason why hes finally playing to his potential. from corse178's blog
The half-time hooter sounds this week on the first phase of the Super League season and I thought it was a good time to look at the standout performers so far. Authentic Raptors Jerseys . It is not easy to recall all of the action from the 66 games we have had so far, so I have chosen to look at the Opta scoring system as a guide. I will begin by saying that it is not perfect, but I would be interested to meet anyone in the world who has a better way of objectively measuring the performance of the players in our top league.The people at Opta watch every match and record every action, good and bad. They award points to each player for the positive things he does and take then off him for any obvious mistakes or errors. They then add a weighing to this dependent on the time in the game, the position on the pitch and the score at the time. Scoring a 50-metre try under the post in the 50th minute when your team are already 50 points in front does not earn you as many points as it would if you were five points behind with 50 seconds remaining. He is fit, fast and a tough competitor. More than anything else, he knows how to play, and would be my tip for Man of Steel at this stage. Phil Clarke on Wigans John Bateman The scoring system does not have any favourites or bias and is done the same for every game. So unlike the voting system for the Man of Steel, it is consistent and happens after every match.So, which players rank the highest at the half-way point? Some of the names might surprise you, you may disagree with it, but this is the team of the year so far according to Optas scoring.Full-back: Zak HardakerThe Rhinos have clearly struggled in 2016 and their full-back has not played as well as he did 12 months ago, but he is still up there as one of the best players in the competition. Despite not firing like he did in 2015, Zak Hardaker is still the best-performing full-back His three closest contenders are Tony Gigot from the Dragons, Matt Russell at Warrington and Dan Sarginson for the Warriors.Wingers: Denny Solomona and Dom ManfrediNot only is the Tigers left winger one of my favourite players, he is also one of the most improved players competition.On the other wing is a man who is perhaps the most enthusiastic player when it comes to returning kicks from his corner of the field. Denny Solomona is one of the most improved players in Super League Matt Russell is probably the only player who is more difficult to stop and put down than the lad from Leigh who plays for the Cherry and Whites.Ranking just behind these two with a slightly lower average game score are Jermaine McGillvary at the Giants, Corey Thompson at Widnes and a possible contender for Young Player of the Year, Tom Johnstone from the Wildcats.Centres: Leroy Cudjoe and Anthony GellingIt may come as a big surprise to many that the player with the highest game score after Round 11 is the Giants right centre. He has played in every minute of every match and been better this year than in 2015, according to the stats. I cannot wait to see him play against Wigan on Thursday night, especially if he is opposite Anthony Gelling. In spite of the Giants Super League standing, Leroy Cudjoe has been a top performer The next three players to rank below were Kallum Watkins, Josh Griffin at Salford - who has played both centre and wing this season - and Kirk Yeaman at Hull.Stand-off: Danny BroughSome might question how he has made it into this team when his side are at the bottom of the table. Well, his runs, passes, tackles and kicks have earned him more points than any other stand-off. Huddersfields Danny Brough has led his side well during a tough period Surprisingly Kurt Gidley ranks second and Kevin Brown sits just below.Scrum-half: Joe MellorAt 25 years of age, the Vikings No 7 is peaking. He has not missed a Super League game for over a year and is one of the main reasons why Widnes sit in fifth spot.The second highest ranked scrum-half is Richard Myler. His move to France seems to have helped him kick-on with his career, and he looked fantastic last week at St Helens. Joe Mellor has helped propel the Vikings in to fifth spot in the standings Luke Gale never fails to impress me and demonstrates a level of intelligence and understanding that is greater than most players in the sport.The fourth ranked player will surprise most people, but perhaps not Chris Chester. Liam Finn does not have the speed of his rivals but has set up lots of tries for the Wildcats and made many kicks which have helped his team to win almost half of their games. Props: Chris Hill and Adam CuthbertsonThe job description for most front rowers is quite straightforward but these two add a level of subtlety that sets them apart - the Wolves front rower is certain to be a candidate for Man of Steel.Adam Cuthbertson has tried as hard this year as last but it makes a huge difference when youre not on the winning side. He has not caught the eye as much as he is more closely monitored by his opponents but he is still the stand-out front rower in the Opta ranking. Leeds Rhinos Adam Cuthbertson has maintained his good form in 2016 Four other big men who have done well in the first half of Super League XXI are Craig Kopczak of Salford, Castlefords Andy Lynch, Adam Walker of Hull KR and Kyle Amor from St Helens.Hooker: James RobySome teams ask their hooker to do different things and as a result may not spend as long on the field or make as many runs and metres, which will obviously affect their ranking. However, if we consider them all to have the same time to attack and defend then it gives us a level field from which to compare them. Without James Roby, St Helens would have really struggled James Roby - It is perhaps as well that the Saints No 9 has not been one of their injured players in 2016, as they would have struggled without him.Just behind him sit Daryl Clark from Warrington, who has looked great for most of the season and has an incredible strength that allows him to push defenders away. Danny Houghton is Mr Consistency at Hull and deserves to be in a top four team. Will this be the year?In the absence of Paul Aiton, Eloi Pellisier has been given greater time and looked great in most of it.Second Row: John Bateman and Glenn StewartWigan used ex-Bulls back rower Bateman as a centre last week and he could almost get selected in any position - he is that good. He is fit, fast and a tough competitor. More than anything else, he knows how to play, and would be my tip for Man of Steel at this stage. Glenn Stewart has been part of a resurgent Catalans Dragons outfit in 2016 Glenn Stewart might just be the most important player Catalans have ever recruited. They have had loads of attacking player, but none who seem as determined to defend as he does.The next three players were Liam Farrell, Ben Currie and Brett Ferres.Loose forward: Jamie Jones-BuchananThe veteran Rhino has missed four of their matches, but performed well in the others. Jamie Jones-Buchanan scored a crucial try against Hull FC last week His three closest competitors are Michael Lawrence at Huddersfield, Ukuma Taai also from the Giants and Atelex Vea in the six games he has played for the Saints.Do you agree with Phil Clarkes views? Let us know your thoughts by commenting below if viewing on skysports.com. Alternatively you can tweet us @SkySportsR Also See: WATCH: Super League top 10 WATCH: Best of Boots N All St Helens v Leeds: Key battles Sky Live: Wigan v Huddersfield Cheap Raptors Jerseys .C. -- Calgarys Kevin Koe did it the hard way again. Raptors Jerseys From China . Each of Houstons starters scored in double figures as the Rockets improved to 2-0 against the Spurs this season, with both victories coming on the road. They also moved within 3 1/2 games of San Antonio (22-7) for the lead the Southwest Division. http://www.cheapraptorsjerseyschina.com/ . -- In one brief spurt, Brazil turned a close game into a rout and proved again it will be a strong World Cup favourite. HOUSTON -- Houstons defense hasnt fallen apart without star defensive end J.J. Watt.In fact, it has been the strength of a team that enters its bye week 5-3 despite inconsistent play by new quarterback Brock Osweiler.Theres always room for improvement, but I think overall guys have stepped up their play across the board whether its the d-line, the linebackers, secondary, veteran cornerback Johnathan Joseph said. Its hard to replace the production (Watt) brings to the table, but I think were more than capable with the guys we have on defense and that just has to be our mentality.The Texans ranked fifth in the NFL through Sundays games in allowing 316.2 yards a game . Coach Bill OBrien has been impressed with the way his defense has responded without Watt.Injuries do happen, but look we have lost the three-time Defense Player of the Year and those are hard injuries to overcome for some teams, OBrien said. But not for this team so far because we have a resilient locker room and we have a bunch of guys in there that play hard.Their pass defense is allowing the second-fewest yards in the NFL with 190.5. The Texans have done this despite playing several games without a variety of starters in the secondary. Joseph sat out large portions of two games, cornerback Kareem Jackson missed two games and safety Quintin Demps has sat out the past three.Joseph shared why he thinks Houston has been so good against the pass this season.Players playing the right technique, (defensive coordinator) Romeo (Crennel) making great calls in great situations, guys challenging throws, the pass rush getting there and harassing the quarterback all day, he said.The emergence of cornerback A.J. Bouye has helped Houstons secondary remain solid despite the injuries. Bouye, who was signed to the team as aan undrafted free agent in 2013, has 33 tackles along with nine pass break-ups and a sack. Womens Raptors Jerseys. Watt was placed on the injured reserve after three games and had season-ending back surgery a few days later. Without Watt, who led the NFL in sacks with 17 1/2 last year, the Texans asked Jadeveon Clowney to expand his role. And for the first time in his injured-plagued career, the top overall pick in the 2014 draft has responded.Clowney moved from outside linebacker to defensive end to fill in for Watt and has thrived. He has 30 tackles, three sacks and leads the team with nine tackles for losses .Hes started all eight games after not starting more than four in a row in his first two years in the NFL. That, OBrien said, is a big reason why hes finally playing to his potential.The fact that hes out there every day at practice, getting all the reps in practice and then having all the reps in the games. Theres no substitute for that, he said. When youre young and youre injured and youre in and out of the lineup or youre not in the lineup for a long time, its hard. Its hard to make up that lost ground and I think hes done a really good job of being out there every day and hes been one of our most productive players. No doubt about it.While the Texans have been great against the pass, theyre hoping to improve against the run when they return to play on Nov. 13 at Jacksonville after their bye. Houston is allowing 125.8 yards rushing per game, which is unacceptable to Crennel.I put all the pressure on myself ... they need to play better (and) I need to coach better, Crennel said.---For more NFL coverage: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL Cheap NFL JerseysCheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
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