Team Announcement: Raiders captain Jarrod Croker names side

• TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: 2019 champion Dez Creek reveals his Round 1 team
• SQUAD BREAKDOWN: Round 1 NRL SuperCoach team insights

Croker’s Stockmen are back for another crack at NRL SuperCoach in 2021.

The season kicks off tonight, and I can’t wait. I’ll be writing a weekly column for SC Playbook once again, hopefully nailing a few more trades this season.

Our club are full of confidence of putting together a big season, and although I’ll miss the clash, hopefully we get off to a strong start against the Tigers on Sunday.

My rookie SuperCoach season had merit, finishing 17,000^th overall which isn’t too bad for a first crack.

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Now that I’ve got my head around the game, I’ll be looking for a solid climb up the ranks.

As per last year, I’ll be avoiding any Raiders players in my side to avoid any drama.

It’s cost my Bailey Simonsson who is cheap as chips, and my big mate Papa who I’d love to have in my front-row.

Here’s what I’ve landed on to start my new campaign, all feedback is very welcome.

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FULLBACK

JAMES TEDESCO

Tedesco picks himself pretty easily and will be my captain most weeks.

ROGER TUIVASA-SHECK

Roger is such an outstanding talent and will be primed for his last season in the NRL.

The Warriors sacrificed plenty last year coming out and basing themselves in Australia as they’ve done again this season, it’s a credit to their entire organisation.

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CENTRE/WING

KURT CAPEWELL

The Queensland rep has been named to start for Penrith, and the fact you can get him at centre is perfect for SuperCoach.

Hopefully he plays the full game, but either way he should score well and should provide some stability in a tough position.

REIMIS SMITH

Smith moves from the Bulldogs to the Storm where he should get more attacking opportunity.

He’s cheap and should make some decent coin if Melbourne start where they left off last season, which they tend to do in Round 1 as we know.

CHARLIE STAINES

Penrith have a friendly draw to begin the year, and Staines has already shown his ability to find the try line.

Hopefully he keeps this up in a strong Panthers outfit.

DYLAN LAURIE

Laurie looks like a strong ball-runner with a big future. As starting fullback for the Tigers he should score fairly well.

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DAVID FUSITU’A

We all know the Kiwi winger has a stunning ability to sniff out a try. At a bargain price I’ll be hoping he does so early on in the year to make some money, outside of Round 3 of course…

JASON SAAB

Saab will start for Manly and is very cheap, with a tough draw ahead for Manly I won’t play him in my starting team.

TESI NIU

It was a tough start to young Tesi’s career in the NRL, but he clearly has plenty of talent about him. If Brisbane can find improvement from last season, he should be able to capitalise on plenty of extra attacking opportunities on a fast Suncorp Stadium surface.

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5/8

DYLAN BROWN

Brown is such a classy footballer and will only go from strength-to-strength as his career progresses. I’ve avoided some big name 5/8s to get him in, but I’m confident he won’t let me down.

TEX HOY

Hoy gets a crack at Kalyn Ponga’s fullback role to start the year. It’s a shame for my SuperCoach side he’s not expected to goal-kick, but hopefully he does enough damage with ball in hand to make some cash.

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HALFBACK

NATHAN CLEARY

An easy option despite the big price tag.

MICHAEL MORGAN

Morgs has had a tough run of injuries in recent years, hence why he’s so cheap in Round 1. He’s such a quality footballer as we’ve seen time and time again. The Cowboys will improve significantly if he stays fit, as will my SuperCoach side.

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SECOND-ROW

RYAN MATTERSON

Matterson is ultra-consistent and is playing in a strong Eels side. As we saw last year, he’s a lock in for 60-70+ points each week.

JAKE TRBOJEVIC

Jake is such a hard-worker which obviously lends itself to SuperCoach scoring. Add in a few attacking stats and you’re onto a winner.

JORDAN RIKI

Riki starts at Brisbane and looks like a player with a big future. At that $277k price he’s straight into my side.

JACOB HOST

Host has won the edge spot at the Rabbitohs and is very cheap. I’m not sure what his game time will be like with Jai Arrow on the bench, but hopefully he finds the odd try or two running off Cody Walker before being upgraded to a gun.

TYRELL FUIMAONO

Fuimaono will start at lock for the Dragons, and while I have no idea what sort of minutes he’ll play, hopefully it’s enough to score well.

SHAWN BLORE

Blore is out for a few rounds, but he’s very cheap and looks a promising talent on what we’ve seen in a short sample size.

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FRONT-ROW

SIO SIUA TAUKEIAHO

One of the game’s premier props who is now kicking-goals for one of the best sides in the competition, seems a pretty logical choice to me.

CHRISTIAN WELCH

Welch has had injury troubles in the past, but he strung plenty of games together last year which earned him a run in Origin.

With a few big injuries at the club, I’m hoping he continues to increase his game time.

SPENCER LENIU

Leniu has a hard task getting minutes at Penrith in a seriously loaded pack, but hopefully he gets enough to bump up his value.

STEFANO UTOIKAMANU

Very cheap with huge wraps, get in my side.

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HOOKERS

API KOROISAU

As mentioned earlier, Penrith have a nice draw early on in the season and I’m backing Api to do plenty of damage through the ruck.

The forward pack should set a platform for his running game to carve through the middle, in turn punching out plenty of SuperCoach points for the Stockmen.

CONNOR WATSON

Watson has so much ability, I’m just hoping he can stay fit and show us what he’s capable of.

An easy pick in my side at such a cheap price.

That’s it for Round 1, here’s hoping Croker’s Stockmen are in for a big year.

Good luck to everyone and bring on the footy!