NRL Finals Week 2 Teams: Supercoach Squad Analysis

The fast and furious NRL Supercoach finals are underway!



Over 50,000 participants joined up for the format, which is a ripping turnout to add some spice to finals footy, not that added spice was probably necessary for what week one of finals delivered…



Speaking of delivered, the Supercoach big dogs did just that.



I mentioned last week that following the template team of the top-averaging players from the regular season would probably work, but that you’d probably need to go against the grain in some spots to win the whole thing.



So far, I was wrong.



The guns stepped up with six of the top 10 most owned players last week – essentially the top averaging player per position – finishing in the top 10 scorers for the week.



On top of that, Nathan Cleary was 15th and James Tedesco 17th, with the two that missed out being Blayke Brailey and Harry Grant, both scoring well with 69 and 63 respectively.



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There was opportunity to thrive with some differential plays; Kotoni Staggs (111), Gehamat Shibasaki (95), and Stefano Utoikamanu (90) all put up strong performances.



The Cooma Stallions shot off to a nice start with 933 points to sit in 11k overall, with the overall leader on 1,084.



My lowest scorer was Ethan Strange with 61, who dropped out as flex, but when all the heavy-hitters fired, there was very little room to falter.



This week, there are just the two games, meaning we can select a maximum of three players per team.



Once again, I’ll focus below a little more on which players have the best match-ups based on the weaker defensive areas of teams.



Let’s take a look at NRL Supercoach finals week two, with squad lists courtesy of Fox Sports.



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading">RAIDERS v SHARKS</h3>



Saturday, 7:50pm, GIO Stadium, Canberra



Raiders: 1. Kaeo Weekes 2. Savelio Tamale 3. Matthew Timoko 4. Sebastian Kris 5. Jed Stuart 6. Ethan Strange 7. Jamal Fogarty 8. Josh Papalii 9. Tom Starling 10. Joseph Tapine 11. Hudson Young 12. Zac Hosking 13. Corey Horsburgh



Bench: 14. Owen Pattie 15. Simi Sasagi 16. Morgan Smithies 17. Ata Mariota



Reserves: 18. Matty Nicholson 19. Danny Levi 20. Trey Mooney 21. Ethan Sanders 22. Chevy Stewart



Sharks: 1. William Kennedy 2. Sione Katoa 3. Jesse Ramien 4. KL Iro 5. Ronaldo Mulitalo 6. Braydon Trindall 7. Nicholas Hynes 8. Addin Fonua-Blake 9. Blayke Brailey 10. Toby Rudolf 11. Billy Burns 12. Teig Wilton 13. Jesse Colquhoun



Bench: 14. Briton Nikora 15. Siosifa Talakai 16. Oregon Kaufusi 17. Braden Hamlin-Uele



Reserves: 18. Daniel Atkinson 19. Mawene Hiroti 20. Jayden Berrell 21. Thomas Hazelton 22. Hohepa Puru



Analysis: This shapes up to be another cracking game of footy, with questions around how a fatigued Raiders outfit on a six-day turnaround from a 95-minute epic will perform.



The night conditions could produce a dewy surface in the capital, and as it stands, the forecast looks pretty good.



Cronulla’s right edge of Hynes, Ramien, and Katoa concede 48% of all their tries, compared to 31% on the left.



It’s still a fairly solid defensive edge, so I wouldn’t go all-in on it, but if you are to target one side this is it.



This brings into play the Raiders&#8217; left edge of Ethan Strange, Hudson Young, Seb Kris and Savelio Tamale.



Young running at Hynes looks an enticing match-up that’ll be incredibly hard to ignore.



He tonned up against the Broncos despite spending 10 minutes in the bin.



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Tom Starling was exceptional against Brisbane with 79 points, including a linebreak as his only major attack stat.



He tore up their middles and is a genuine option here against Blayke Brailey, who will be more highly fancied.



Brailey is the safer play with 80 minutes locked in, but Canberra middles are rock solid, which will make attacking stats hard to come by.



However, he is the obvious hooking selection this weekend.



Canberra’s right edge of Fogarty, Matt Timoko, and Jed Stuart are significantly weaker defensively, conceding 52% of all tries, in comparison to 38% on the left.



This brings into play Cronulla’s left edge of Braydon Trindall, Teig Wilton, Kayal Iro, and Ronaldo Mulitalo.



Iro and Mulitalo are the two who stand out to me.



Iro scored just 41 against the Roosters, but it was almost entirely in base and power, with a ridiculous 22 runs and 19 tackles.



Mulitalo scored 85 last week with a pair of tries and is the more high-risk, high-reward play.



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading">BULLDOGS v PANTHERS</h3>



Sunday, 4:05pm, Accor Stadium, Sydney



Bulldogs: 1. Connor Tracey 2. Jacob Kiraz 3. Bronson Xerri 4. Matt Burton 5. Jethro Rinakama 6. Lachlan Galvin 7. Toby Sexton 8. Max King 9. Bailey Hayward 10. Josh Curran 11. Viliame Kikau 12. Jacob Preston 13. Jaeman Salmon



Bench: 14. Kurt Mann 15. Sitili Tupouniua 16. Harry Hayes 17. Reed Mahoney



Reserves: 18. Blake Wilson 19. Jake Turpin 20. Samuel Hughes 21. Marcelo Montoya 22. Stephen Crichton



Panthers: 1. Dylan Edwards 2. Paul Alamoti 3. Izack Tago 4. Casey McLean 5. Brian To’o 6. Blaize Talagi 7. Nathan Cleary 8. Moses Leota 9. Luke Sommerton 10. Lindsay Smith 11. Scott Sorensen 12. Liam Martin 13. Isaah Yeo



Bench: 14. Brad Schneider 15. Liam Henry 16. Isaiah Papali’i 17. Luke Garner



Reserves: 18. Thomas Jenkins 19. Matthew Eisenhuth 20. Daine Laurie 21. Mavrik Geyer 22. Mitch Kenny



Analysis: Penrith come into this clash as heavy favourites against a Bulldogs outfit with a number of injury concerns, including the loss of captain Stephen Crichton.



Two strong defensive outfits go head-to-head, which doesn’t overly appeal for attacking players; however, the day fixture should help aid scoring potential.



Penrith has no heavily weaker defensive edge based on the numbers, but it’s clear as day that Blaize Talagi will be the target for Cameron Ciraldo’s men.



The man this really brings into contention for me is Jacob Preston, who will be running at Talagi, who conceded a number of soft linebreaks against the Warriors.



Preston managed just 43 against Melbourne running at Cameron Munster, but I can see him finding some major attacking stats with this week’s match-up.



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Jacob Kiraz will again attract attention, he scored 87 in week one with 24 runs and five offloads despite looking slightly hampered, gun!



The tough Penrith match-up may keep potential owners away also.



With Stephen Crichton (extended bench) likely out, Matt Burton starts at centre with Toby Sexton into the team at halfback.



The Bulldogs&#8217; regular right edge of Lachlan Galvin, Stephen Crichton, and Jacob Kiraz concede 47% of all tries, compared to 36% on the left.



With Crichton likely out, Bronson Xerri likely shifts to the right edge in his spot, with Burton to play on the left.



The stats favour the likes of Talagi, Scott Sorensen, Casey McLean, and Brian To’o.



Granted, with new centres on each edge it&#8217;ll throw combinations out on both sides.



Penrith already scores 51% of tries down their left and now have the favourable match-up.



To’o becomes a huge play once again as a result, while McLean on his inside will be the point of difference selection.



While there are again strong halfback contenders, it’s probably just best to lock in Nathan Cleary and give him the captaincy or vice-captaincy.



Mitch Kenny has been named on the extended bench ahead of a potential return at hooker.

NRL Finals Week 2 Teams: Supercoach Squad Analysis

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