NRL Supercoach Finals Week 2 | Final Word


<p>Week two of NRL Supercoach finals is here, with the big guns standing up in style in the opening week.</p>



<p>Was last round a lesson in simply backing the proven Supercoach players, or do we look for an edge with low-ownership options to potentially skyrocket up the rankings?</p>



<p>It won’t take much to make moves, at all…</p>



<p>Only 38 points separate the top 10 from the top 1,000, while 167 points separate the top 10 from the top 10,000!</p>



<p>With triple skippers that can be made up very, very quickly.</p>



<p>As the clock ticks down to Saturday night’s opening fixture between the Raiders and Sharks, it’s time to lock in a Supercoach squad for the weekend.</p>



<p>Here’s the Final Word ahead of NRL Supercoach finals week two.</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Strategy</strong></h3>



<p>Could combinations be the best play in week two?</p>



<p>Finding the players that frequently combine for major attacking stats is a popular Supercoach tactic, and with just one week to worry about and no concerns any further ahead, it looks as viable as ever.</p>



<p>We know the weak defensive spots of each side, so do we simply go all-in on the players hitting those spots?</p>



<p>Linking a halfback-5/8 with their edge back-rower is the obvious move, or perhaps a fullback with the winger on their preferred attacking edge.</p>



<p>This week, it’d be players like Blaize Talagi into Casey McLean, Braydon Trindall into Teig Wilton, Blayke Brailey into Addin Fonua-Blake, take your pick!</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Match-ups to target</strong></h3>



<p><strong>Penrith’s left edge attack at the Bulldogs right edge defence</strong></p>



<p>The Bulldogs right edge concedes 46% of all their tries, compared to 37% on the left, while Penrith’s left edge scores 50% of all their tries.</p>



<p>Further, Stephen Crichton is likely out, meaning Bronson Xerri shifts to the right edge, which adds to further disruption, granted he’s an extremely underrated defensive player.</p>



<p>As per last week, this brings into calculations <strong>Casey McLean</strong>, <strong>Blaize Talagi</strong> and <strong>Brian To’o,</strong> who played left wing last week.</p>



<p>I feel the Bulldogs are fairly tight in the middle third of the field, and Xerri is solid in contact himself, so To’o on the flank is the standout to me.</p>



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<p><strong>Cronulla’s left edge attack at Canberra’s right edge defence</strong></p>



<p>The Raiders&#8217; right edge concedes 52% of all tries, compared to 37% on the left, while Cronulla scores 47% of all tries on their left edge.</p>



<p>This brings into contention <strong>Braydon Trindall</strong>, <strong>Teig Wilton</strong>, <strong>KL Iro </strong>and <strong>Ronaldo Mulitalo</strong>.</p>



<p>I find that all are extremely viable options this week and will be in POD range, with Iro catching my eye most of all.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>POD plays</strong></h3>



<p>It’s hard to know exact point of difference players as we only have ownership stats for the top 10 players, but we can have a bit of a stab at those who will be avoided by most.</p>



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<p><strong>Tom Starling</strong></p>



<p>Blayke Brailey is 62% owned, I suspect that number would be higher among top-ranked Supercoaches.</p>



<p>He comes up against the Raiders&#8217; middles, who defend extremely well, so finding attacking stats will prove hard to come by.</p>



<p>They’re likely to be fatigued, so it’s not to say he can’t have success, but it does open the door for the in-form Tom Starling, who outscored him by 10 points last week.</p>



<p>Starling’s running game seems to improve with each game he plays. </p>



<p>Currently, at sub 25% ownership (no exact % given), he’s a great alternative to Brailey.</p>



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<p><strong>KL Iro</strong></p>



<p>Iro had 22 runs and 19 tackles last week in a great show of work rate which he’s well-known for.</p>



<p>He scored in nine straight games prior to injury but has yet to find the line in three games since.</p>



<p>He’s come very close and is a huge chance to capitalise with plenty of ball expected down the left this week.</p>



<p>With elite base and power, a great try-scoring strike-rate and a great match-up he looks an excellent option.</p>



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<p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="822" height="1024" class="wp-image-2402412" style="width: 650px;" src="https://blog.scplaybook.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-18-at-1.33.35 PM-822x1024.jpg" alt="" srcset="https://blog.scplaybook.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-18-at-1.33.35 PM-822x1024.jpg 822w, https://blog.scplaybook.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-18-at-1.33.35 PM-241x300.jpg 241w, https://blog.scplaybook.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-18-at-1.33.35 PM-768x957.jpg 768w, https://blog.scplaybook.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-18-at-1.33.35 PM-1233x1536.jpg 1233w, https://blog.scplaybook.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-18-at-1.33.35 PM-640x798.jpg 640w, https://blog.scplaybook.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-18-at-1.33.35 PM-1200x1495.jpg 1200w, https://blog.scplaybook.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-18-at-1.33.35 PM.jpg 1308w" sizes="(max-width: 639px) 98vw, (max-width: 1199px) 64vw, 770px" /></figure> </p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Captains</strong></h3>



<p>As we know, captain scores are multiplied by three while vice-captains are multiplied by two.</p>



<p>I’ve discussed it across multiple shows during the week and in the article last week, but I feel the safety-first approach to skippers could be the smart play.</p>



<p>The final month of the NRL season is when we see enormous scores as teams that are flying put the sword to decimated sides that have a ticket booked to Bali.</p>



<p>Don’t have short memories, this isn’t going to continue.</p>



<p>NRL finals are a different beast, with the cream of the crop on the field and everything to play for.</p>



<p>The ceiling of the best attackers reduces, while the ball in play will only enhance the work rate of the best forwards.</p>



<p>This was reflected last with Walsh the outlier with 128 points, aided by 95 minutes of footy and one of the great individual finals performances you’ll see.</p>



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<p>Of the popular Supercoach players, it was forwards in Payne Haas, Eliesa Katoa and Hudson Young who delivered the best scores.</p>



<p>All that being said, Haas and Katoa aren’t in action this week, which makes it a little harder to target forwards.</p>



<p>People will flock to <strong>Nathan Cleary</strong>, and it’s hard to ignore the star halfback.</p>



<p>While the Bulldogs&#8217; defence is great, he’s pretty well match-up proof and is one of the few players this weekend (based on weekly match-ups) that has a high ceiling in my opinion.</p>



<p>I’d be very reluctant to go against him, the play could be to lock him in as vice-captain rather than captain if you’re wanting to play a little differently.</p>



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<p><strong>Joe Tapine </strong>is the safe option, he’ll play big minutes, get through a tonne of work, and hopefully free the arm for a few offloads.</p>



<p>He should be good for a safe 60-70 points, but he does lack upside, barring a try or assis,t which would edge him towards the 90-100 mark.</p>



<p>Teammate <strong>Hudson Young</strong> is different; he won’t guarantee you the safe 60-70, but he can go 100+ on any given day.</p>



<p>He has a great match-up running at Nicho Hynes and the weaker edge of Cronulla and will be fired up after the controversial sin-binning last week.</p>



<p>Lastly, <strong>Dylan Edwards</strong> up against the Bulldogs.</p>



<p>He hasn’t set the world alight of late and may potentially be carrying a niggle, but he’s also a proven Supercoach gun.</p>



<p>He’ll get through tonnes of work and needs only one major attacking stat to propel himself towards a 75+ score.</p>


NRL Supercoach Finals Week 2 | Final Word

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