Final Word: Trades, tactics, tips, Round 22

Been a fair bit happening in the Supercoach world since I last wrote The Final Word in Round 19. Team depth and trades appear to be getting more valuable by the game.

It’s always a really tricky time of the year to predict NRL results with some teams at the bottom of the 8 like the Bulldogs and Tigers playing spoilers. Those teams at the top of the ladder particularly the Panthers don’t seemingly have a lot to play for with the minor premiership all but wrapped up. The Supercoach ramifications from this can be critical particularly with the SC finals upon us.

If you have players within teams that are in the thick of the top-4 and top-8 races that can certainly be advantageous because there is no question marks over their will and desperation to give 100% every week out on the field.

PRICE DROP! Our subscription package is down to $20 for the remainder of the season. Support the site, and more importantly your SuperCoach side’s title bid, with extra premium articles, access to our Whatsapp group chat with exclusive insights and feedback. SIGN UP HERE!

Embed from Getty Images

Personally I am playing for pride and trying to get a big finish to finish in the top 1000. Sitting 1,564^th place I am actually only 127 points away from 1000^th place so with a strong finish the goal is achievable.

One of my biggest concerns is I am down to my last two trades. Whilst my team isn’t the best I do have depth and am able to cover the outs this week of Joey Tapine and Taylan May. For the time being I think I’ll keep my last two trades in my pocket in case I need them out of necessity in the last three rounds. With injuries, covid and possible restings things could get very ugly!

Good luck to all those Supercoaches this week battling it out in their finals games!

Embed from Getty Images

PODs & SuperPODS

Here’s the players I’ve identified as PODs (Point of Difference players – less than 10% owned) and SuperPODS (less than 2% owned) that should be on your radar. I’ve listed them in ranking order of who I believe is the best to take the risk on:

PODs (My top-4 ranked)

1. Reuben Cotter – Forget weak-gutted dog, the Junkyard Dog is back! Named to start at FRF this week after two weeks off the bench, I fully expect Payton to give Cotter 70-80mins and that will translate to big Supercoach output.  
2. Shaun Lane – the way Parra used Lane last week is perfect for him. If he can be isolated on the half then it’s almost impossible to contain his offload. Expect more of the same moving forward.
3. Adam Elliot – With Tapine possibly facing an extended stay on sidelines with rib cartilage damage Elliott may benefit from more time on the field.
4. Josh Papali’i – Similar to Elliott the Tapine injury really means Big Papa might have to punch out bigger minutes leading to bigger SC scores. Papali’i is actually renowned for finishing the year much better than he starts it too.   

Have you ever wanted to invest in property but don’t know where to start? Join us and the Blue Wealth Property team for a free info session that will help you build your wealth through property. When: 17/8/22, 7pm (6:30pm rego). Where: Tradies, Gymea. We’ve kept aside a limited number of spaces for our SC Playbook Faithful, so please click the link below to register as spots will fill up fast. FOLLOW HERE

SuperPODs (My top-3 ranked)

1. Joshua Curran – ridiculously underpiced although at this time of the year I know price and value is not overly relevant, its all about output of big scores. I think Curran could average 70+ in the run home.
2. Briton Nikora – Hasn’t been a real long-term SC play since his rookie season but can put together a string of games. My theory is the Sharks have spent a lot of the year stretching the opposition defences across the field. Whilst that may continue to some degree I think they may be more direct and find success hitting the edge backrowers on both sides which should help Nikora get those attacking stats. 
3. Hudson Young – similar to Nikora I would never take Young as a season-long play but as a 4-week proposition I don’t mind him. Raiders have a soft draw and he is a definite scoring outlet in a team that struggles to score at times.

Embed from Getty Images

CAPTAIN

If you are wanting to really shake things up and take the risk that could see you move up or down the rankings really quickly the Captain option this week could be for you. The most popular captain will no doubt be Nicho Hynes and he will be very hard to go against given the favourable match-up of the Tigers. Matt Burton, Ezra Mam, Adam Reynolds, Ronaldo Mulitalo and Reuben Garrick are all examples of some left field options worth considering this weekend.

Is this the weekend to be bold and make your move or just stick with Nicho and the pack and make your move in the future?

FOLLOW EXCLUSIVE SC PLAYBOOK MARKETS! The crew at Topsport are offering markets picked out by our team of experts, with added value on top every single round. Check them out, and use the code ‘SCPLAYBOOK’ when signing up.

TOPSPORT BETs of the WEEK

Please Gamble Responsibly

2022 – Starting with $1000 bank  

Current Balance – $826 (-$174)

Round 19 Recap

It was three weeks ago now but for any of those loyal followers the same game multi of Suaaliim Crichton and Tedesco to score got up at a juicy price. In fact when Fifita scored against the Bulldogs it looked being a huge weekend on the punt but Murray Taulagi didn’t cross and that multi fell one leg short.

Round 22 Best Bets (Odds courtesy of TopSport)

Total Bets $50

Same Game Multi

T Koula/D Fifita/H Olakuatu @ $20 (TopUp) x $25

To score a try Multi

N Hynes/H Young/H Olakuatu @ $31 (TopUp) x $25