Sit v start: Who to play in your final 17, Rd 14?

We rank the fringe 17 players in your NRL SuperCoach squad to help you decide who to sit and start in your weekly team.

NRL

And so the dark age of the bye period is upon us! When depth is tested, late mail is our best friend and nerves of steel are needed.

Start/sit has a key role to play this time of year. Here are my thoughts for this week, with plays listed in priority order.

Thanks as always to the legendary nrlsupercoachstats.com, whose website I’ve utilised for position vs team analysis and various stats breakdowns.

A general note to keep an eye on the weather leading into the round and across the weekend. For rain affected matches I’d slightly favour forwards over backs.

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Start

RankingPlayerVsMatchupAvg3RABase + Power – NegsAvg Minutes
1MayKnights (A)1st70603880
2TagoKnights (A)1st60573780
3AitkenSharks (H)13th60535278

No need to get cute here. Lock in the Panthers young guns vs the Knights.

Aitken’s been one of the Warriors best this season. Easy play as long as he continues playing 80 mins in the back-row.

Consider

RankingPlayerVsMatchupAvg3RABase + Power – NegsAvg Minutes
4PenisiniBulldogs (A)10th55644379
5ArrowTitans (A)15th53555266
6MamRaiders (H)11th8503980
7SavageBroncos (A)9th32602055
8KirazEels (H)4th50484077
9King (J)Roosters (H)1st54414862
10ButcherStorm (H)13th52644558
11TuipulotuTigers (A)4th49483380
12King (M)Eels (H)9th47514741
13CoatesRoosters (H)13th50202080
14KoulaTigers (A)4th33372867
15IliasTitans (A)4th36351780
16Martin (T)Raiders (H)7th39431879
17SuaaliiStorm (A)13th48303077

I’m always fond of Penisini with his high floor. He has a nice matchup vs the Dogs too, albeit they’ve conceded less than you’d think to CTWs this season.

Arrow I like this week, with the prospect of extra mins, due to Souths’ players backing up from Origin. He’s followed by Mam, who’d be an exciting play to say the least. My only reservation with Ezra is the Raiders’ recent form turnaround.

Savage is another exciting option. Although I have him below Mam due to a lower floor.

Kiraz has slowed up over the last two weeks. However, the Eels have been surprisingly leaky to CTWs this season, making him a sneaky play option.

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Josh King is another who’s slowed up of late. Can be played if needed. I’ve got Butcher below him, based on the eratic minutes last week for the Roosters’ lock.

Tuipulotu is one who I’d be prepared to give another chance this week if you need. Nice matchup vs the Tigers.

Max King was solid last week at lock. Just keep an eye on the final team though. If TPJ lands on the bench, it’ll affect Ming’s output.

Coates has shown his low floor again in recent weeks. He can bust out a tonne at anytime though.

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I’m still hoping that Koula breaks out at some stage. I think you’d want to see it first, before starting him though.

Ilias has a nice matchup vs the Titans. Hard to play him based on the season to date though.

TMM I have a way down the rankings based on floor and matchup. Suaalii could come back from Origin camp beaming with confidence. Safest to avoid vs the Storm though.

Sit

RankingPlayerVsMatchupAvg3RABase + Power – NegsAvg Minutes
18RandallPanthers (H)15th46364366

Randall has been hard to catch this season. I couldn’t play him with any confidence unless he gets his minutes back up to 70-80 mins which is possible with Crossland out of the team, but let’s see it play out first.

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