Jay Schubert
Bye planning: Strategy to come out on top
The bye period can make or break your Supercoach season, we look at clubs and players with the strongest and weakest schedules.
NRL
May 10, 2023
By Jay Schubert
The bye rounds can make or break your supercoach season and this year is made even harder with the odd number of teams and the bye rounds being more condensed than previous years.
A different approach to bye planning this year is to group the teams together that share the same bye schedule.
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Embed from Getty ImagesConsiderations before Round 13
There are three major bye rounds – 13, 16 & 19, only your best 13 players count towards your scoring on these rounds. No need to completely tear your team apart for these rounds.
When to maximise trades for your benefit through the bye schedule comes down to knowing which teams are playing when.
Dolphins & Warriors only miss round 16 but the Warriors also have the bye in round 12. Look at the team that play two of rounds 13, 16 & 19.
It is also important to note which teams share the same bye schedule for injury coverage.
Teams to avoid with this strategy in mind – Broncos miss rounds 16 & 19, Titans miss rounds 13 & 16, Panthers, Roosters & Storm miss rounds 13 & 19.
Embed from Getty ImagesGuns not to trade out early until origin teams are released that are playing key match ups in round 12:
- Roosters v Dragons (Manu & Tedesco)
- Sharks v Knights (Hynes)
- Cowboys v Tigers (Holmes & Cotter)
- Storm v Dolphins (Grant & Munster
- Titans v Bulldogs (Fa’asuamaleaui & Fifita)
- Sea Eagles v Raiders (T. Trbojevic & Cherry-Evans)
Round 13
Teams with the bye: Bulldogs, Sharks, Tigers, Titans, Panthers, Roosters & Storm
This would be the round to trade out non-essential origin players as they miss at least all 3 major bye rounds.
Teams to target: Warriors & Dolphins only miss round 16. Eels play all 3 major bye rounds.
Teams to think about: Cowboys, Sea Eagles & Knights play the first 2 major bye rounds.
Embed from Getty ImagesRound 14
Teams with the bye: Eels, Sea Eagles & Knights
Beware not to load up on these players before round 14 as you will need 17 active players to count towards your score.
Teams to target: Bulldogs, Sharks & Tigers play round 16 & 19.
Teams to think about: Panthers, Roosters & Storm as they play the next 5 rounds straight.
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Round 15
Teams with the bye: Cowboys
This is a round to save trades where needed.
Round 16
Teams with the bye: Dolphins, Warriors, Broncos, Raiders, Dragons, Rabbitohs & Titans
Embed from Getty ImagesRound 17
Teams with the bye: Bulldogs, Sharks & Tigers
Teams to target: Titans, Dolphins, & Warriors have no byes left in this window and Titans have none left all season.
Teams to think about: Raiders, Dragons & Rabbitohs all play round 19.
Round 18
Teams with the bye: Eels
This is a round to save trades where needed.
Round 19
Teams with the bye: Cowboys, Sea Eagles, Knights, Broncos, Panthers, Roosters & Storm
Round 20
Teams with the bye: Raiders, Dragons & Rabbitohs
Start to bring back origin players from this point if they aren’t being rested.
Major-Bye, Mini-Bye Groupings
When grouping the major bye round with the week following it (rounds 13 & 14, 16 & 17 and 19 & 20), these rounds will have more than one team on the bye; Dolphins, Warriors, Eels & Cowboys are playing 5 out of these 6 games whereas all other teams are only playing 4.
Origin & Non-Origin Player Considerations
Through the 8 rounds, non-origin players from the Dolphins & Warriors will play 7 out of 8 games (every other team plays 6 of 8).
Maximum number of games origin players will play during the 8 round bye period (excluding any possible team resting):
5 games: Dolphins, Warriors, Broncos, Titans, Panthers, Roosters & Storm
4 games: Cowboys, Sea Eagles, Knights, Raiders, Dragons, Rabbitohs, Bulldogs, Sharks & Tigers
3 games: Eels
Conclusion
By maximising this schedule to assist your team, you will be able to get through this period with minimal trades, saving them for the run home. Best of luck with your bye plans!
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Mate great article, I personally loved the last part about the amount of games Origin players will play over this period. My Trellmit pod at nearly a million dollars only plays 50% of the games, food for thought.
Nice one Jay. Another thought I would add to this is that it’s not just about numbers in tricky rounds. I think it’s also good to think about who you might be able to captain in those weeks as a good captain score when you’ve only got 13 players could help you rocket up the ranks!