Champion PODs: Unique players to find an edge, Round 9

With two months of footy behind us and a solid understanding of who’s hot and who’s not this season, many Supercoaches will be looking to initiate some attacking trades leading up to the bye round in a month’s time.



Below are my top five players (who in my opinion are under-owned) to buy leading into the next month of fixtures.



<ol type="1"><li>Tom Trbojevic</li></ol>



Yes, he has a 150+ BE. Yes, he’s returning from injury. Yes, the Tigers have been playing well, and, no, I don’t care.



If you have the money and your team structure allows it (without trading out another gun like Hynes or Paps), just bring this man into your team.



Not to mention there is indeed a precedent for Turbo returning from injury with a massive Supercoach score.



My advice to those ranked in and around the top 1,000 who have space for Turbo is to rewatch some 2021 highlights and then decide if you can afford to just ‘take a week to look at him’ – after all, what’s the point in making money if you aren’t going to spend it on the best of the best?



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2. Scott Drinkwater



The Cowboys have been putting on a clinic since the injection of Drinkwater into the fullback role, however, owners must beware he is extremely reliant on attacking stats.



In saying that, if the Cows continue to play like they did against Paramatta this week then the points will keep coming and Drinkwater owners will have nothing to worry about.



I should also mention that the Cowboys have back-to-back games against Melbourne and Penrith leading into the first bye round in which it’ll be hard to see Drinkwater going 50+ in.



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3. Tevita Pangai Jnr



Seemingly the perennial POD for Supercoaches leading into the bye rounds every season.



You should know exactly what you’re paying for by now when you cough up $550-600k odd for this livewire of a player.



TPJ will either rampage over his opposing number and have about seven offloads, or he will get sent to the sin-bin and leave you wondering why it was ever a good idea to buy him?



But alas, the dual positioning and round 13 coverage will have even the most risk-averse Supercoaches tossing up whether it’s a wise decision to anti-POD him for over the byes.



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4. Angus Crichton



When I see Angus Crichton beginning to offload to inside runners (which I did last week), that’s when I begin to formulate my plan to bring him in.



Visually we can see his fitness is starting to improve from the opening few rounds where he was playing off the bench and clearly had some niggles.



Origin around the corner is the obvious reason to wait on Gus, however he offers that invaluable high ceiling in 2RF that may outweigh the detriments of bringing him in this close to Origin.



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">LOOKING AHEAD</h2>



5. David Nofoaluma



I know Nofo is out this week, but keep him on your radar on return.



He has looked like the CTW staple Nofo of old over the last few rounds with some cheeky meat pies mixed in with a whole lot of runs and tackle busts.



If the Tigers can continue their momentum through the middle part of the season (as they are one of the least effected Origin teams), then expect Nofo to be a fantastic plug in your CTW over that period.



Jackson Hastings’ kicking game should also suit Nofo’s likeness for aerial acrobatics around the try line.

Champion PODs: Unique players to find an edge, Round 9

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