The Final Word | Round 19 NRL Supercoach Trades plans and strategy


<p>State of Origin is behind us, and the last Minor bye is in full swing.</p>



<p>If you’re a Blues fan like me, you won’t be talking much about the Origin result this week. Let’s just say I’m happy we have SuperCoach.</p>



<p>The Bye period has been a profitable one for the Jaromen Empire so far. From a rank of 3,442 before Round 12 I am currently sitting in 793rd overall.</p>



<p>Much like last year, this wasn’t built on an exaggerated bye planning strategy, but more so a direct result of having built up great team value and a deep squad which has meant that I’ve been able to field strong sides almost every week with minimal plodders.</p>



<p>Last year my ascent was even more dramatic during this time. I went from a rank of 20k to a peak of 3.5k just prior to the final Major bye. It’s certainly a strategy I’ll be trying to emulate every year as we move forward.</p>



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<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXcae8EPBlmD4C_hLfYRAeHMy4qqtwg3toSfVDCF5b2tzRsss-smVllZQ3lb-IH8lUCfu8ykZge5EGLZTZUBwGIRz5FZk3zRpVB907j1A28IwWTtm4qHBZ8Twf5qIQ_ee2ldmSzz?key=TxMexojodGdzDpkFIzFmGI4w" alt=""/></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><em>The Final Minor Bye</em></h2>



<p>The Final Minor bye round means we won’t have players from the Raiders, Rabbitohs or Sea Eagles.</p>



<p>There’s also some very tricky State of Origin backups for us to navigate as well.</p>



<p>I do think the Penrith stars will all back up (outside of To’o), but the Melbourne Storm boys I am expecting to be given some rest time &#8211; Cam Munster is already a confirmed out.</p>



<p>Regardless, it’ll be important to be glued to late mail this week to stay in touch with all of the team movement.&nbsp;</p>



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<p>And even if one of your players is a late out this week, with trades at a premium I will only be pushing trades this week for guys I would confidently play in my Final team each week for the run home.</p>



<p>A good exercise to conduct this week when assessing a trade target is to rank whether or not they’re in your best 18 players for the run home each week. And if they’re not, maybe just cop the reduced score for a week as the trade could become more valuable in the long run.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><em>End Game Strategy</em></h2>



<p>I normally am firmly gearing up for H2H by this stage as the thrill of beating my mates far outweighs any other reason I play this game. But with a decent rank so far this year I am keen to see just how far I can push in Overall.</p>



<p>And yes you can read between the lines of that statement to see that I am really just keen to beat Timmy and the Spy.</p>



<p>Here’s an image of my team as it stands before Trades. With only six left prior to any moves this week plus $372k ITB, I’ll give you a view of my current plans and how I’m feeling about each position in my team.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfFnA69qnBSiQaV-ejpwRGAAvRGCGv6Dx1OB-ms45gr1PtthBgehU6t8X4YP-DYEK_af9ndSwKOR5XI7rZTlkUeTQ93pWq_aSnaaTtmFoAOgCrpblnqebBkV5HpNpsr_atazzzfOg?key=Hp9mklwYh3-R87-0URLffw" alt=""/></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Hooker</strong></h2>



<p>At <strong>hooker</strong>, I’m currently without a starter. I nuffed out Ryley Smith two weeks ago and this week I will use one trade to bring in <strong>Connor Watson</strong>. I am more than happy just to run with one hooker on the run home, and will hold a trade in case Watson suffers a serious injury.</p>



<p>I don’t think I would ever play two gun hookers so I’m not focused on trying to land two big fish there.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Front row forward</strong></h2>



<p>In my <strong>FRF</strong>, I’ve got three keepers and am only missing <strong>Payne Haas</strong>. I can easily get to Haas this week via <strong>Haumole</strong>, but I’m likely to hold that move until Round 21 if at all.</p>



<p>I’m happy with the current FRF rotation and ideally I can open up a further dual in my second row which would allow me greater flexibility to shift <strong>Erin Clark</strong> and <strong>Keaon Koloamatangi</strong> between positions.</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Second Row</strong></h2>



<p>I’m proud of the second row I’ve pulled together. I own seven of the nine top averaging players at the position and I’ve got <strong>Hudson Young</strong> as a serious point of difference. Most weeks I could seriously play two reserves from the current crop however on team balance it does worry me having a lot of funds tied up there.</p>



<p>I will need to use one of those guns to pick up Haas. And I will need to ideally nuff out Zac Hosking to a dual to unlock the Clark/Keaon dpp functionality.</p>



<p>But there’s no one else I need to buy. So we are more or less set and the depth can help ward off any injury issues.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Halfback</strong></h2>



<p>A spot which could change this week &#8211; hopefully we hear that Nathan Cleary is all good to go!</p>



<p>When looking at the true averages of the big three halfbacks, Nathan is actually 10 points clear as the best option at the position. That fact, combined with a great run of games, has me excited to get Cleary back in as soon as this week.</p>



<p>My H2H bias has me leaning towards <strong>Nicho Hynes</strong> as the hold. But I’m very open to having my mind changed.</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Five-eighth</strong></h2>



<p>This is a spot where I feel like a POD could be interesting. <strong>Jayden Campbell</strong> has a good draw and a very SuperCoach friendly game. I feel like he is going to be a player in 18s every single week.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Realistically with my depth in the forwards, CTW and fullback there are not many weeks where I’d be playing a back-up five-eighth but I do love some of the POD options emerging.</p>



<p>The first guy I like is <strong>Blaize Talagi</strong> who has quietly punched out a 62 average this season with B+P stats of 33. If Penrith can come home with a wet sail, it’s not crazy to think he could lift that average close to 70 and challenge Campbell and <strong>Cameron Munster</strong> for best in position.</p>



<p>The second guy who interests me a lot is <strong>Tom Dearden</strong>. I promise this isn’t just recency bias either after his Wally Lewis Medal.</p>



<p>Dearden averages 69 when playing in the halves with Jake Clifford. He also has scores of 97, 143 and 114 this season &#8211; that kind of ceiling at the position is rarer than you might think. Yes, Kaeo Weekes also has games like that but I feel Dearden’s big games are arguably more predictable.</p>



<p>The Cows have the Dragons, Eels and Tigers all remaining in their matchups this year and you’d pretty confidently play him in all of them.</p>



<p>Regardless, any trades at five-eighth for me for the rest of the year are ‘luxury’ and I’ll prioritise other things first.</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>CTW</strong></h2>



<p>With a ‘best 5’ of Herbie, Kiraz, Lomax, Garrick and Mark I will likely be playing a reserve from this position each week. Bradley’s dual also lets me swing down Dylan Lucas if I need to.</p>



<p>I also consciously targeted Jesse Ramien when he was at bottom dollar knowing that 1) his game is built on base and power stats which are generally reliable and 2) the Sharks have a nice H2H draw which could see an uplift in his current scoring.</p>



<p>Outside of those five, only Val Holmes jumps out to me as a consistent option I could plug and play who I don’t own. Yes there’s some fun POD players I could jump on but there’s no one obvious.</p>



<p>As tempting as it is to try search for that one POD who could send me up the rankings, realistically I’m likely to just run the best five guys most weeks and will hold my trades here for any injuries that occur.</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Fullback</strong></h2>



<p>When you look at the season long averages for Teddy, Drinky and Papi there’s no case to trade any of them.</p>



<p>And as it stands I will likely hold all three of them for the year pending injury.</p>



<p>Yes there’s some fun PODs out there like Latrell, Dylan Edwards or Turbo but these three guys are the best and pending injury it’s likely I hold on.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Overall</strong></h2>



<p>Similar to what the Spy spoke about on this week’s podcast, my team is fairly template but the fact I have the depth is what sets me apart from others.</p>



<p>With six trades left I am only a few moves away from getting to the ideal side. The trades are thin but the depth should cover me in case of injuries.</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Trade Plans</strong></h2>



<p><strong>Sandon Smith -&gt; Connor Watson</strong><strong><br></strong></p>



<p>I only have 17 players pre-trades so shifting Sandon to Connor Watson makes complete sense.</p>



<p>I do have to play the likes of Ramien and King-Togia this week which is not ideal, but when weighing up the potential other trades I could make right now to improve my depth, I am not convinced any of them will be worth it.</p>



<p>I have toyed with the idea of trading <strong>Jahrome Hughes</strong> to <strong>Blaize Talagi</strong> via duals, which would allow me to upgrade Talagi to <strong>Nathan Cleary</strong> if he’s named.&nbsp;</p>



<p>But the best move this week (if at all) might be moving an injured <strong>Haumole Olakau’atu</strong> to an active player which would let me sit <strong>King-Togia</strong>. It’s just to “who” that I am struggling with. And if you’re not 100% sure in SuperCoach, sometimes the best move is to make no move at all.</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>NRL SuperCoach PODs and SuperPODs</strong></h2>



<p><em>Figures drawn from the Top 10% of coaches</em></p>



<p><strong>Pods at less than 10% ownership</strong></p>



<ul>
<li>Angus Crichton, $584,300, 8.3%</li>
</ul>



<p>Classic fallen gun. With Sam Walker back in the side there’s every chance he can lift that average up again towards last year’s mid 70s.</p>



<ul>
<li>Naufahu Whyte, $548,600, 7.7%</li>
</ul>



<p>Base and power stats have been off the charts of late, with a 3RA of 73.</p>



<p><strong>Super PODs at less than 5% ownership</strong></p>



<ul>
<li>Fletcher Hunt, $234,000, 4.5%</li>
</ul>



<p>A good downgrade option who could play all season for the Knights on the run home.</p>



<ul>
<li>Blaize Talagi, $552,600, 3.4%</li>
</ul>



<p>Really interested in him with his dual and draw for the next month. Averaging 62 and doing it without many noticing him. If Penrith improve, he could lift that and compete with the big boys at the position.</p>



<ul>
<li>Thomas Jenkins, $624,700, 3.4%</li>
</ul>



<p>I don’t get why people would think about selling him with his draw &#8211; and there’s three words as to why I feel like that. He scores tons. The bloke has 117 and 151 so far this season on the left wing. If it happened once, it can happen again.</p>



<ul>
<li>Kurt Donoghoe, $535,500, 2.8%</li>
</ul>



<p>Sneaky option at hooker whose won the starting lock role at the Dolphins due to their injury crisis. Ok base and power stats but in a great attacking side he can sniff a try out as well.</p>



<ul>
<li>Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, $568,400, 0.1%</li>
</ul>



<p>A good draw to come, B+P average of 41. There’s a lot to like.</p>



<ul>
<li>Patrick Carrigan, $600,600, 1.7%</li>
</ul>



<p>Always comes home strong post Origin. Not quite going to push Haas and May for best at FRF but could push a 70 average and is affordable.</p>



<ul>
<li>Isaiah Yeo, $549,800, 1.4%</li>
</ul>



<p>Much like Cricthon he’s had a quiet year. There’s always the chance of an early shower for Yeo if Penrith are well in front but otherwise he’s extremely undervalued.</p>



<ul>
<li>Jeremy Marshall-King, $460,100, 0.9%</li>
</ul>



<p>Has had a disrupted year with injury and illness but returned to his best last week.</p>



<ul>
<li>Bradman Best, $682,000, 0.5%</li>
</ul>



<p>I love the POD move at CTW of stashing Best whose averaging almost 50 B+P this year which is elite at the position. We don’t quite know how the Knights will go without Ponga or Sharpe but history has taught us he will become a focal point of their attack so the floor won’t go away.</p>



<ul>
<li>Jeremiah Nanai, $531,100, 0.4%</li>
</ul>



<p>A flat track bully, if you believe in the Cows, go and get Jeremiah.</p>



<ul>
<li>Phil Sami, $556,400, 0.1%</li>
</ul>



<p>Philthy Phil Sami is one of my favourite PODs who is boasting a B+P average of 46 this year. He’s playing right across the back five for the Titans &#8211; if he were to lobb on the left wing permanently he could do some serious damage.</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Captains</strong></h2>



<p>This is very much a week where the obvious thing is the thing to do. <strong>James Tedesco</strong> Is the obvious skipper and will be mine as well.</p>



<p>For a vice captain, <strong>Ryan Papenhuyzen</strong> or <strong>Jacob Kiraz</strong> jump off the page too based on matchups. The Knights are a good defensive unit which makes it appealing to get something on Kiraz who &#8211; we believe &#8211; will be on the right side again where I prefer him.</p>



<p>Again there’s some fun PODs around the Broncos and Panthers games but Tedesco is pretty irresistible against the Dragons.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Final Word</strong></h2>



<p>SuperCoach can get a little boring from here on in if &#8211; like me &#8211; you don’t have the trades to do what you want. If that’s you to, make your moves purposeful and with an end goal in mind.</p>



<p>Enjoy your Minor bye round football.</p>


The Final Word | Round 19 NRL Supercoach Trades plans and strategy

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