NRL Supercoach Finals Week 3 | Final Word


<p>Week three of NRL Supercoach finals is here, with two blockbuster clashes on the cards for footy fans to soak in.</p>



<p>It was a number of low-ownership point of difference plays that set sides apart last round, with Paul Alamoti, Brian To’o, and Jacob Preston sizzling in week two.</p>



<p>Finding this week’s differential can very quickly propel any Supercoach into overall title contention.</p>



<p>As the clock ticks down to Friday night’s opening fixture between the Storm 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 three.</p>



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



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



<p>Statistically, Penrith’s left edge isn’t substantially worse off than their right, while Brisbane’s right edge are typically their weaker attacking edge.</p>



<p>I’m going against the stats though, because I think it’ll be all systems go at Blaize Talagi.</p>



<p>The rookie playmaker is a potential star in the making, and there are few concerns over his attacking prowess.</p>



<p>His defence however, has struggled early in his career, which is only natural. </p>



<p>It was exposed last week heavily by Lachy Galvin and Jacob Preston.</p>



<p><strong>Jordan Riki</strong> lines up on him this week, while I feel Brisbane will look at getting <strong>Kotoni Staggs</strong> one-on-one with him.</p>



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



<p>Cronulla’s left have sizzled this season and it hasn’t looked like slowing down in the finals.</p>



<p>Their left score 46% of all tries, compared to just 29% on their right.</p>



<p>Melbourne’s right edge concede the majority of their tries at 47%.</p>



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



<p>Melbourne tends to leak points very wide, so <strong>Iro</strong> and <strong>Mulitalo</strong> look the best targets to me.</p>



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<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>



<p>KL Iro and Tommy Starling got the job done last week, so let’s hope we find a few more this week.</p>



<p><strong>Kotoni Staggs</strong></p>



<p>As above, I feel Kotoni Staggs will be the target for the Broncos in isolating Blaize Talagi.</p>



<p>They did this perfectly in Canberra getting Staggs on Fogarty for the opening try.</p>



<p>This time around, Staggs doesn’t have to go to the other side of the field to isolate the weaker half.</p>



<p>He’s been in scintillating form in the back end of the season and should relish the big stage.</p>



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<p><strong>Ryan Papenhuyzen</strong></p>



<p>I’m not so much suggesting people should go against Reece Walsh here, more that Papy could be a sneaky play in the flex position.</p>



<p>A slightly disrupted back end of the season has seen Papy’s Supercoach best drop off, along with losing the goal-kicking duties, but on his day, he’s still elite with huge upside.</p>



<p>The big stage won’t worry him, while there is potential that the Storm’s superstar spine light up and put a score on Cronulla.</p>



<p>Should this happen, Paps will be in everything and could go 100+ at tiny ownership.</p>



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<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>Once again <strong>Nathan Cleary</strong> looms as the obvious option as captain.</p>



<p>The differential play would nearly be to vice-captain him and lock in a skipper elsewhere.</p>



<p>Cleary put 129 points on the Broncos in their only fixture this year, and will relish the daytime conditions.</p>



<p>I’m not even going to try to talk people out of him unless you’ve started horribly in the opening rounds, in which case just leave him out entirely and hope for a miracle!</p>



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<p>It’s wide open elsewhere for options, with <strong>Payne Haas</strong> the safety-first play with upside.</p>



<p>The week off will do the big fella wonders.</p>



<p>He’s the locked 60-70 point play, with an 80-100 point outing more than likely.</p>



<p>If Brisbane get behind on the scoreboard he’ll also offload at will.</p>



<p>Reece Walsh also appeals, and despite the daunting match-up with Penrith you simply can’t ignore his ridiculous numbers over the past two months.</p>



<p>The huge differential plays would be going for a high-upside back such as Brian To’o or Dylan Edwards who are both reliable and only need one major attacking stat to go 80+.</p>


NRL Supercoach Finals Week 3 | Final Word

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