Champion PODs: Rd 3, unique players to find an edge

No doubt about it, this week is going to be the most brutal Round 3 in NRL SuperCoach history.



Confirmation came earlier today that both Nathan Cleary and Ryan Papenhuyzen are going to miss Thursday night’s blockbuster, which leaves many SuperCoaches in a tricky predicament given that most of us also need to trade out Ryan Matterson due to the concussion clouds hanging over his head in the short to medium term.



Hence, this article will solely focus on illuminating the best 2RF replacements for Matto that are under 10% ownership.



Isaiah Papali’i ($408,100) &#8211; 1.8% ownership



Papali’i is likely going to be one of my trade-ins this week. Not only does he boast dual 2RF/FRF status, he is also likely to play 80 minutes on an edge for however long Matto is out.



Isaiah has averaged just over 1PPM on 55-56 minutes in the middle for the Eels so far.



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Whilst a shift to the edge will see this drop slightly, the potential for enormous upside outside Mitch Moses is too hard for me to look past in the short-term.



Papali’i will also make a good amount of cash over the next two to three weeks before we can look to shift him on to a genuine keeper or perhaps even hold him long term for squad depth.



Sitili Tupouniua ($410,000) &#8211; 8.3% ownership



Sitili was a close second choice behind Isaiah Papali’i given that he is likely going to hold 80 minutes outside Luke Keary for the remainder of the season, which means he will have plenty of attacking opportunities – as demonstrated over the opening two rounds.



A breakeven of -18 means that many will jump on Tups this week, which moderately deters me from getting him (coupled with the fact his base is only 45PPG).



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Hudson Young ($464,200) &#8211; 4.6% ownership



What an incredible start to the season for Hudson with back-to-back tries.



However, much like Sitili, Hudson seems to only be producing around 45-50 base per game.



In saying that, he seriously passes the eye test for SuperCoach pedigree and seems to have a bit of John Bateman about him when he runs the ball in the attacking third, bouncing off tackles and looking to offload the ball which is crucial for upside in 2RF PODs in SC.



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Tyson Frizell ($556,300) &#8211; 7.3% ownership



The Friz looks a fantastic buy to lock up 70 points each week and has room for upside with the Knights very easy upcoming draw (Tigers, Dragons, Titans, Sharks).



The most promising thing about Friz has been the consistency of his base attack over the opening two rounds, with a solid four offloads and six tackle busts.



It’s easy to forget Friz averaged 63 points last season for the Dragons, so he may be able to increase that by up to 10PPG at the Knights with enough attacking ball.



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Josh Jackson ($439,400) &#8211; 2.8% ownership



I must confess Josh Jackson wasn’t even on my radar coming into this season given that he plays in a very poor Bulldogs outfit, however the first two weeks have proven that he must come into serious consideration after an incredible output of 132 points all in base!



Jackson looks set to play 80 minutes as a middle forward in a similar role to Jake Trbojevic, and for $439k the buying opportunity is not going to be any better as time goes on.



I can see Jackson ending the season around $600k if he can continue these sort of numbers and minutes.

Champion PODs: Rd 3, unique players to find an edge

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