Croker’s Call: Strong week not enough to claim H2H honours

• FINAL WORD: Key trade and tactical advice, Round 6
• TAKING STOCK: Rating the best players in each position after five rounds

It’s been a crazy few weeks for the Stockmen in NRL SuperCoach.

Two weeks back we knocked out our best score of all-time to finish 126^th for the week, unfortunately it was backed up by a rubbish performance.

Round 5 saw a bounce back, scoring 1,226 points to rise into 6,166^th overall.

I’m also sitting 7/10 in the SC Playbook league, knocked off by Socceroos goal-keeper Maty Ryan in a tight battle.

David Fifita went enormous for me with 147 points, my captain Ryan Papenhuyzen delivered once again with 113, while Christian Welch hit triple figures in a massive boost to my score.

Let’s see if we can continue the rise in Round 6.

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TRADES

TESI NIU – BRIAN TO’O

Niu has made me over $100,000 which is excellent from the young Bronco. He’s been dropped from the top squad for the time being, but with his blossoming talent he’ll be back in the top grade in no time.

In comes Brian To’o from the Panthers who has a work ethic second-to-none in the outside backs.

He’s sitting on the end of one of the most potent attacking edges in the NRL and he looks like an outstanding recruit for the season.

He was strong last night for me with 70 odd points without scoring, including a silly amount of tacklebusts and runs. Good start Brian…

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TEX HOY – JAKE SIMPKIN

To afford the previous trade I’ve had to free up some cash. Hoy made me $125k before suffering an injury, great job mate!

There’s big wraps on young hooker Jake Simpkin at the Tigers who has been having a field day in the NSW Cup this season.

Jacob Liddle has shown plenty this year, so bringing in Simpkin to replace him shows what the club think of him as a prospect.

The trades leave me with some decent money to hopefully make a big move in the 5/8 position next week, but choosing between the likes of Munster, Luai and Walker will be tough going.

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CAPTAINS

I locked in Nathan Cleary as my captain last night for 110 points before any updates come into play.

I’m very happy with this considering the fight shown by the Broncos at Suncorp.

That late try from the work of Luai was magic to see from a SuperCoach perspective, so my week is off to a promising start.

Good luck to everyone in Round 6!