New era: Redefining the value of a trade

• STAT ANALYSIS: Vital numbers to beat the best in NRL SuperCoach
• TAKING STOCK: Rating the best players in each position after five rounds

It is no secret that I have always been a fan of chasing points over cash, but recently more than ever I am leaning towards starting to prioritise points at all costs.

In years gone by your Jake Trbojevic type players were the crux to any good SuperCoach team by locking up 60 points in base stats each and every week – unfortunately for Jurbo, 80 is the new 60 and base stats alone won’t cut it anymore.

Of course, there will always need to be a balance between cash generation and points, but in the current era where attacking upside and base attack (offloads and tackle busts) are the most important scoring outlets, I think prioritising points needs more attention from the get-go given that it is near on impossible to chase down the leaders once you fall more than 500-600 points behind.

Sign up to SC Playbook for hundreds of extra premium articles across the NRL season, including access to our subscriber special question and answer podcast.

Embed from Getty Images

I am very much of the opinion we need to throw out terminology like ‘sideways trade’ because simply put, there is no such thing anymore.

Every player you trade in is essentially a totally different player to the guy you trade out, with an entirely different set of fixtures.

A perfect example of this very phenomenon is the Teddy to Latrell trade that many people made last week.

No doubt it is probably a downgrade more than anything, but the consensus among many long-time SuperCoach players is that it is/was a waste of a trade.

I put forward that this is simply incorrect given that people who made the trade are now 90 points ahead of those who did not.

Do not get me wrong, saving trades is a huge part of the game, however, if you can make up points by making a trade then you should always make it.

Embed from Getty Images

Good friend and fellow SC Playbook contributor Walson Carlos got me thinking along the lines of not where you are ranked as a number, but where you sit in actual points behind 1^st place on the rankings.

I believe this to be a much better indicator as to how you are going, and what measures you need to take in terms of points vs cash generation.

Setting rivalries against the top 10 teams on the rankings every week will help you understand exactly what positions you can attack to make up ground on these teams.

This year more than ever we see the gap between the top and bottom teams further expanding, and I think the new rule changes to speed up the game have exacerbated this to the point where SuperCoach paradigms have had a massive overhaul.

GET ONBOARD WITH TOPSPORT! Back your knowledge, and follow our NRL market previews throughout the season using their exclusive markets. Use the code SCPLAYBOOK when signing up. Check them out here ahead of the upcoming round of NRL.

The idea that you need to save trades and focus most of your attention on building your salary cap in the lead up to the bye rounds needs a massive revisit.

Speaking from experience, I did not save any trades until all bye rounds were over the year I won, and still had a trade up my sleeve in the final round.

This is proof that if you time your trades correctly and build a solid enough squad by the end of the State of Origin period you can get away with not using any trades for multiple weeks in a row towards the back end of the season.

This is as long as you don’t get absolutely crippled by injury (easier said than done).