Hilfestellungen » season with goals from Florian Thauvin, Bafetimb

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. 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 Todd Ewen Jersey . - Connor McDavid scored 53 seconds into overtime as the Erie Otters came from behind to defeat the visiting Guelph Storm 4-3 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. Teemu Selanne Jersey . -- Derrick Rose shook off poor shooting early to hit clutch shots late and Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 104-95 preseason victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night. https://www.cheapducks.com/657c-sam-carrick-jersey-ducks.html . Despite dominating possession, Schalke needed an own goal from Nicolas Hoefler for the breakthrough a minute before the interval. The Freiburg midfielder misjudged Jefferson Farfans corner and bundled the ball into his own net. Andrew Cogliano Jersey . The 29-year-old Baines has established himself as one of the top attacking full backs in the country and was the subject of two bids from United during the last off-season. Everton manager Roberto Martinez says that keeping Baines at the club is a "massive boost and exciting for the future" because he brings "maturity and football knowledge in a very specialized position on the pitch" and an "infectious and positive influence to the rest of the squad. Ruslan Salei Jersey . Reigning world champion Eve Muirhead of Scotland opened with a 12-2 rout of Winnipegs Jennifer Jones in a battle of teams bound for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. PARIS -- Former Brazil international Dante delivered two assists -- one with his right foot, one with his left -- as Nice claimed back top spot in the French league with a 3-0 win over Toulouse on Sunday.The elegant defender is one of the astute purchases made by Nice during the offseason, alongside Mario Balotelli and Younes Belhanda. Balotelli is still injured and did not play against Toulouse while Belhanda, a midfielder with excellent technique, made it 2-0 after Alassane Plea broke the deadlock.Jean-Michael Seri completed the win with an angled right-footed shot.Nice has a three-point lead over Monaco, which thrashed Bastia 5-0 on Saturday. Defending champion Paris Saint-Germain is lagging four points behind Nice in third place following its shock 3-0 loss against Montpellier.Dante found Plea with a long ball to the back of the Toulouse defense in the 23rd minute, and the forward fired a low shot between `keeper Alban Lafonts legs to put the hosts in front.Three minutes later, Belhanda beat the offside trap and made the most of another lofted ball delivered by Dante, this time with his left foot. Belhanda controlled the ball and lobbed the powerless Lafont, who also lost his one-on-one with Seri in the 65th minute.---RENNES 2, SAINT-ETIENNE 0Rennes players needed time to shoot on target before Paul-Georges Ntep scored his first French league goal this season and inspired the Brittany side to a 2-0 win over Saint-Etienne on Sunday.Rennes, which climbed to fourth, dominated the first half but missed several chances. Christian Gourcuffs teeam was more efficient after the interval, with Kamil Grosicki making it 2-0 in added time after Ntep had put the hosts in front in the 54th minute.ddddddddddddYoann Gourcuff had been denied at 0-0 while Ntep and Adrien Hunou both missed chances. Rennes efforts were finally rewarded when France international Ntep went inside the box, dribbled past defender Kevin Theophile-Catherine and fired a low shot at the near post.Grosicki then scored a possible goal of the season with a superb finish from Ludovic Baals cross. The Polish forward connected with the ball just inside the area and flicked it into the top right corner.Rennes trails Nice by 12 points and has five more than Saint-Etienne.---MARSEILLE 3, NANCY 0Marseille secured its biggest win this season with goals from Florian Thauvin, Bafetimbi Gomis and Clinton Njie.After producing just one win and two goals in six matches under new coach Rudi Garcia, Marseille gave a convincing display of attacking football against a side which came to the Stade Velodrome to defend.The win lifted the nine-time champions to 10th place, 18 points behind Nice.Thauvin opened the scoring just after halftime with a shot into the top corner, Gomis netted his first goal since Garcias arrival 10 minutes from time and Njie completed the rout in added time.Gomis was insulted by his own Marseille fans during the game for recent positive comments he made about Saint-Etienne, his first club. ' ' '