Squad breakdown: Bulldogs, Sharks 2024 Supercoach analysis

Dogs started off strong then were fumbling around like a virgin on their first date. So much competition in positions means no one is settling in to build trust and confidence in their combinations. Going to be a hard watch an an unpredictable one with the dogs.

Agree with everything Timmy, Curran is out of my side until i see the minutes

Canterbury-Bankstown and Cronulla played out a low-scoring trial in week two of the Pre-season Challenge.



As we edge closer to the opening round of the season, I still have a few more club previews to get through, along with a few other articles, so I’ll be combining the remaining ones into dual previews.



Starting with the Bulldogs, I was fairly keen on a number of their players heading into round 1, but I’ve gone fairly cold on them following the trials.



While we can’t read too much into trials, they didn’t exactly set the world alight.



That being said, they’re still one of the most relevant Supercoach teams heading into the season.



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They have a fairly tough opening draw to start the year, but also no top four teams or a bye in the first five rounds, so it’s not hard enough to be a major deterrent.



The Sharks also weren’t overly impressive in the trial, however they were missing their King Pin in Nicho Hynes so I’m not reading too much into it.



The Sharks have a terrific early draw to start the season, although the round 5 bye is a little awkward.



With minimal movement in their top 13 there’s not a tonne of Supercoach relevance with most players priced towards their peak, but the draw is appetising.





<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs predicted team</h3>



1. Blake Taaffe 2.&nbsp;Josh Addo-Carr 3.&nbsp;Connor Tracey 4.&nbsp;Stephen Crichton 5.&nbsp;Jacob Kiraz 6. Matt Burton 7. Drew Hutchinson 8.&nbsp;Max King 9.&nbsp;Reed Mahoney 10.&nbsp;Liam Knight 11. Jacob Preston 12.&nbsp;Viliame Kikau 13.&nbsp;Josh Curran



14. Kurt Mann 15.&nbsp;Poasa Faamausili 16. Chris Patolo 17.&nbsp;Sam Hughes



Unavailable:&nbsp;Karl Oloapu (neck), Ryan Sutton (early season)



Analysis



The make-up of the backline is completely up in the air leading into the trial period.



Stephen Crichton, Blake Taaffe and Connor Tracey are all vying for the fullback role.



I’d love to see Critta in the No.1 jersey, with Tracey at centre, but it’s sounding more and more like it’ll be Taaffe at fullback.



Bronson Xerri has impressed in the pre-season may return via NSW Cup after fours years out of the game, but could push his way into the team after solid trial performances.



If cleared to return from injury, it’ll likely be Connor Tracey though.



Toby Sexton may have been edged out as the front-runner to start at halfback, with Roosters recruit Drew Hutchinson impressing at his new club.



The forward pack largely picks itself, with although strong trial performances has recruit Jaeman Salmon and fellow recruit Josh Curran fighting to start at lock.



Sam Hughes has impressed throughout the pre-season and is firming for a bench spot for round 1, potentially even a starting berth.



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Draw</h2>



Eels (A), Sharks (A), Titans (H), Rabbitohs (A), Roosters (H), Storm (A), Knights (H)



First five round rating: 5/10



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Guns</h2>



Stephen Crichton (CTW, $649,600)



Not goal-kicking, playing centre, coming from a gun team, I’m not keen on Crichton to start the year.



Whether he’s carrying a niggle, or Blake Taaffe is just highly regarded, I can’t believe he’s not seemingly been more considered to play fullback or at least spent time there in trials.



Anyway, hopefully he gets a nice price drop then either picks up some goal-kicking or the fullback spot later on for a bargain price.



Jacob Kiraz (CTW, $605,100)



Kiraz is so unique in that he’s almost the only winger in the competition whose Supercoach credentials aren’t overly tainted in playing in a side that are anticipated to struggle in attack.



He’s an absolute bast stat beast, knocking out an immense amount of runs, tacklebreaks, offloads, and everything you want from an outside back.



He was a near must-have early last season, averaging 80 across the first six games with just two tries to his name prior to getting injured.



He’s priced on a 59 point average after playing half the season hurt.



If the Bulldogs do fire in attack he could be the best CTW in the game, if they don’t, he should be a reliable scorer with keeper potential.



Matt Burton (HFB-5/8, $586,900)



Burto stayed down his left corrider in both trials, with Drew Hutchinson taking the reigns as Chief organiser.



For this reason, I can’t go near Burto.



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Mid-rangers</h2>



Viliame Kikau (2RF, $468,500)



I was very keen on Kikau throughout the pre-season, but I went a little cold during his trial hit out.



He looked so lean, like incredibly, so you can’t say he hasn’t put the work in during the off-season.



Due to an injury impacted 2023 season he’s priced on a 46 point average from 73 minutes per game.



Even as a strike-weapon at Penrith he only averaged 59-65 in the three seasons prior.



I do still think he’s starting at value and could score well, but his base isn’t great meaning he’s fairly reliant on attacking stats.



My biggest concern though is the Bulldogs ability to get the best out of him in attack.



Cooling big time, but will be an early season monitor.



Max King (FRF, $547,800)



I’m not overly keen on King, but out of a sheer lack of middle depth he could be forced to play big minutes.



He’s a good footballer with a strong work-rate who could score well enough to act as a stepping stone to a FRF gun when the time is right.



The concern is that he already averaged 52 minutes per game in 2023, so to warrant buying he probably needs 55-60 which to be fair is possible in this team.



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Josh Curran (2RF, $421,700) &amp; Jaeman Salmon (2RF-CTW, $317,100)



Curran is another that’s cooling in my side due to the emergence of Jaeman Salmon as a ballplaying lock.



Salmon started at lock in the trial, with Curran on the bench.



When you add in another ballplaying middle in Kurt Mann to the bench it’s very hard to predict where the minutes will fall.



Curran came on and got through a mountain of work against the Sharks, so perhaps he’ll be more utilised as just a hard working middle forward rather than the ballplaying lock role?



If so it could be beneficial to his Supercoach scoring, but the minutes will be a huge concern, as they will be with Salmon.



This one is a big watch on the round 1 team named, but I’m getting less and less interested.



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Cheapies</h2>



Drew Hutchinson (HFB-CTW, $354,900)



Hutchinson looks to have scored the starting halfback role over Toby Sexton.



Importantly, he was very much the dominate ballplayer in the halves over Matt Burton in the trials.



He finished last season with three games in the halves for the Roosters, notching scores of 42, 130 and 48. 



Most impressive though was his base of 44 and 50 in those final two games.



While I&#8217;m not expecting anything near the 130 score, he looks to be a reliable enough scorer that you can plug into your CTW to start the year.



Job security is a huge concern, but I think it&#8217;s a risk I&#8217;m willing to take.



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Bronson Xerri (CTW, $345,100)



If Tracey is fit I suspect he’ll partner Crichton at centre, however Xerri was rock solid in both trial hit outs.



His return after four years was fairly impressive, especially defensively, so he’ll be right in the frame for a round 1 spot.



He looks willing to take plenty of carries and we know the speed and strength he possesses to hopefully jag some attacking stats.



If he does get named in round 1 he looks a decent cheapie play.



Sam Hughes (FRF, $238,900)



Hughes was a standout from the trials, and with the Dogs lacking middle forward quality he could be set for decent minutes this season.



He’s locked into my round 1 team, but the big question is whether that’s in a starting 17 spot to save big money elsewhere, or if I just plug him in the reserves as a cash cow.



He looks like he has a strong motor on him, a nice offload, and some tacklebusting ability that can all hopefully aid his Supercoach output to be a potential starter if the minutes arrive.



Poasa Faamausili (FRF, $238,900)



Faamausili looked strong in the trials in patches, but I do question whether he has the motor to play enough minutes to make any Supercoach cash.



Pending a skinny round 1 bench, he’s one I’m likely happy to watch early on.



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Cronulla Sharks predicted team</h2>



1. Will Kennedy 2.&nbsp;Sione Katoa 3.&nbsp;Jesse Ramien 4.&nbsp;Siosifa Talakai 5.&nbsp;Ronaldo Mulitalo 6. Braydon Trindall 7.&nbsp;Nicho Hynes 8.&nbsp;Braden Hamlin-Uele 9.&nbsp;Blayke Brailey 10.&nbsp;Toby Rudolf 11.&nbsp;Briton Nikora 12.&nbsp;Teig Wilton 13.&nbsp;Dale Finucane



14. Cameron McInnes 15.&nbsp;Royce Hunt 16.&nbsp;Tom Hazelton&nbsp; 17.&nbsp;Jack Williams



Unavailable:



Analysis



A team that largely picks itself, with the big question being around Siosifa Talakai and whether he stays at centre or shifts back to the forwards.



The Sharks are pretty flush with forward depth, but if Craig Fitzgibbon opts to move Sifa to the pack he would either start on the edge pushing Teig Wilton to the bench, or play off the pine himself, likely the latter.



This would see Kayal Iro start at centre, although based on the trials it looks like Sifa will get the job.



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Draw</h2>



Warriors (A), Bulldogs (H), Tigers (A), Raiders (H), bye, Rabbitohs (A), Cowboys (H)



First five round rating: 7/10



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Guns</h2>



Nicho Hynes (HFB, 970,000)



With a fairly soft draw to open the season I find it tough to make a case to not start with Prince Nicho.



Further, there’s just no HFB options that catch my eye that I’d move to outside of him and Cleary.



Returning last season in round 4 from a calf injury, Nicho belted out scores of 180, 102, 89, 97 and 126.



All that in just his second year as a halfback at a new club.



He’s been the top scoring Supercoach players two years running, and had nine centuries in his 20 games last season, along with a further five scores of 85+.



There’s some concern after the All Stars clash that Braydon Trindall may take over some of the attack, but I’m not too fazed.



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Briton Nikora (2RF, $710,400)



Nikora was a Supercoach revelation last season after years of pushing gun status.



Attack has never been an issue, but he was able to up his base stats to an impressive 47 per game last season.



With the attacking ability on top of that he was able to average 70 points per game.



With all the quality mid-range 2RFs we have to start the season I’m not paying up for a gun, but I’ll be looking to get him into my side at some stage.



Jesse Ramien, Siosifa Talakai, Ronaldo Mulitalo and Sione Katoa



Cronulla are a very well balanced attacking team across the field which makes it hard to pick which outside back will fire.



I’ve chopped and changed between these reliable scorers in recent years, and while they’ve all been solid, picking the one to go big is hard to do.



They’re all priced fairly expensive so I’ll be avoiding early.



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Mid-rangers</h2>



Braydon Trindall ($439,000)



Trindall was firmly on my radar throughout the pre-season, then he won man of the match in the All Stars game alongside Nicho, before struggling in the trial against the Bulldogs.



With all that, I’m still interested in him at a nice rate of just $439k to plug that difficult 5/8 position.



In his 10 games of 80 minutes last season he averaged 50.5 Supercoach points.



That included a 13 against Penrith in round 22.



With the nice early draw, I’d ideally look to own him for four rounds, get two price rises, then try and turn him into a gun like Dylan Brown when the Sharks have their bye.



There’s danger in the play as he can go low, but he was very ball dominant in the All Stars game alongside Nicho, so maybe he plays a greater role in 2024 to take some pressure off his halfback?



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Cheapies</h2>



Kayal Iro (CTW-FLB, $219,900)



Iro isn’t likely to start the season, but if he can propel himself into the starting team he’ll be a great cheapie prospect.

Squad breakdown: Bulldogs, Sharks 2024 Supercoach analysis

Discussion (2)

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