NRL Supercoach Final Word | Round 20 trades and skippers


<p>As the dust settles from a chaotic bye period for another year, I still find myself going steadily backwards on the overall leaderboard &#8211; and I’m not just running out of trades, I’m running out of ideas as well.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Every aggressive play that I&#8217;ve made this season has just fallen totally flat. Chase points and the player goes on a dry spell, chase someone on a dry spell who is due and the dry spell continues &#8211; we all know the drill by now.</p>



<p>Sitting 5000th odd is a nice place to throw in the overall towel and focus on the many H2H cash comps that I’m somehow still alive in.</p>



<p>After double nuffing last week I’m going to bring in two out and out guns with the cash this week, which will then leave me with 3 trades for H2H finals as I see fit. The two guys that I’m grabbing will thankfully no longer plague my scores week in week out and as far as i can see, are non-negotiable endgame pieces.</p>



<p><a href="https://scplaybook.com.au/subscribe"><strong><em>Become a member of the SC Playbook community by subscribing for less than $2 per week! Gain access to additional premium articles on site every week, our Discord community, prize money and plenty more. Check it out here</em></strong></a></p>



<figure class="wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex">
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="576" data-id="2404006" src="https://blog.scplaybook.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Email-Gareth.w@cecal.org_.au-Phone-9559-4013-1-1-1024x576.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-2404006" srcset="https://blog.scplaybook.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Email-Gareth.w@cecal.org_.au-Phone-9559-4013-1-1-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://blog.scplaybook.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Email-Gareth.w@cecal.org_.au-Phone-9559-4013-1-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https://blog.scplaybook.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Email-Gareth.w@cecal.org_.au-Phone-9559-4013-1-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https://blog.scplaybook.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Email-Gareth.w@cecal.org_.au-Phone-9559-4013-1-1-640x360.jpg 640w, https://blog.scplaybook.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Email-Gareth.w@cecal.org_.au-Phone-9559-4013-1-1-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://blog.scplaybook.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Email-Gareth.w@cecal.org_.au-Phone-9559-4013-1-1-800x450.jpg 800w, https://blog.scplaybook.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Email-Gareth.w@cecal.org_.au-Phone-9559-4013-1-1.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 639px) 98vw, (max-width: 1199px) 64vw, 770px" /></figure>
</figure>



<p></p>



<p>The first will be the man the myth the legend, Milky Jenkins. I’m finally giving this the old if you can’t beat them join them approach. Am i joining the party 19 rounds too late? Only time will tell but it sure hasn’t been kind to me this season. Apologies to Milky owners in advance..</p>



<p>The second trade in will be the FRF GOAT himself Payne Haas. If Haas wants to go on an unstoppable supercoach scoring rampage to end his time at the Broncos then i dont see who is gonna stand in his way. He’s good enough to carry this Broncos team to at least some wins over the final 2 months and I’m sure he will have more white line fever than ever before. </p>



<a id='Kew3thfnRa5BI8hX9gN12g' class='gie-single' href='https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/1482375776' target='_blank' style='color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;' rel="noopener">Embed from Getty Images</a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'Kew3thfnRa5BI8hX9gN12g',sig:'sk6vQNP1GS-d-kdsUvufB6gjVagkCWPO_j_7Uam88dE=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1482375776',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});</script><script src='//embed-cdn.gettyimages.com/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async></script>



<p>Making way will be Greg Marzhew and Taniela Paseka, two guys that I just don’t see as endgame pieces for me personally. Marzhew sellers should be aware though, he averages 100+ with Ponga and Best in the side simultaneously, so it could definitely come back to bite us if Newy turns the screws.</p>



<p>At Halfback, if you don’t have both Cleary and Hynes there by now then I would suggest you rectify that first and foremost. These two guys have the capabilities to end your season any given game. We haven’t seen many enormous scores as of late, bar Hynes 196 last week. If you miss that sort of score in the final few weeks of the game then it could be make or break for your chance at the overall glory.</p>



<a id='ToPcci8oRlt4piNen7vZDA' class='gie-single' href='https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/2153502587' target='_blank' style='color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;' rel="noopener">Embed from Getty Images</a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'ToPcci8oRlt4piNen7vZDA',sig:'QtU8PiYA2mIPc7oYh_lJ0CA_bsNDEyPhXpRsMP6JLQM=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2153502587',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});</script><script src='//embed-cdn.gettyimages.com/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async></script>



<p>Two other guys who have the ability to score this sort of number are Sua Fa’alogo and Tom Trbojevic who have both looked likely without really exploding in a game just yet. Simply put these are not players you can afford to run without if they can get the fire lit underneath their respective teams for top 8 pushes.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Cronulla is the only other team I’m interested in outside back-wise in the realms of CTW PODs. We have Sione Katoa and Ronaldo Mulitalo on the wings, both relatively low ownership and both have enormous upside as long as Cronulla continue their seemingly downhill roll.</p>



<p>KL Iro remains the pick of the bunch due to his elite base and power, however the other guys should not be overlooked as a way to double down on Cronulla&#8217;s form.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Sit v Start isn’t something I talk about much, however I feel this is the time of year people begin to struggle. Just to give you some insight into what I’m doing with it I’ll give you my dilemma and my answer for this round. </p>



<a id='LjQ2KSAFSXhy5AQeYkxV-A' class='gie-single' href='https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/2267784616' target='_blank' style='color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;' rel="noopener">Embed from Getty Images</a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'LjQ2KSAFSXhy5AQeYkxV-A',sig:'YDos8LM1hXFUdoWyBdHniDuDGzmrwpyQg3UykmzVAxs=',w:'434px',h:'594px',items:'2267784616',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});</script><script src='//embed-cdn.gettyimages.com/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async></script>



<p>The dilemma is between play both Toby and Ryan Couchman for what is a safe 70pts each, likely 140-160 combined, or playing Tolutau Koula and Jayden Campbell who are anything but safe points and could easily go 40 each. However the ceilings on Tolu and JC make the decision for me.&nbsp;</p>



<p>It is a 2pm day game on the Gold Coast and it reeks of points galore to both teams, so even if just one of them has a good game (100+) then I should be in decent stead to combine for more than Touch and Rouch. Essentially, I will always play the upside guys in good daytime fixtures.</p>



<p>Captains this week are wide open. You can take the safe Cleary VC tonight against the struggling Broncos and hope he knocks out his usual effortless ton.&nbsp;</p>



<p>You could also wait until tomorrow night and slap the VC on Nicho against the Knights in hopes that he can repeat last week&#8217;s heroics. </p>



<a id='FX4QRVCUT319HrUqpDWi_Q' class='gie-single' href='https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/2154689128' target='_blank' style='color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;' rel="noopener">Embed from Getty Images</a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'FX4QRVCUT319HrUqpDWi_Q',sig:'KolvzwQCohQUw52egWc4O5t7sD_WiX_AuuF3L8XAf4A=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2154689128',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});</script><script src='//embed-cdn.gettyimages.com/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async></script>




<p>TMM has put himself into consideration for the C this week, at home against the Dragons owners couldn’t ask for a better fixture.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Finally, if you’re a sucker for punishment and still fishing to land that monster score that’s just around the corner, then look no further than Tommy Turbo on Sunday afternoon. The Titans have shown decent fight over the last few weeks so it definitely won’t be an easy game, nevertheless it will be a wide open game with lots of points one would have to think.</p>



<p><strong>Trades:</strong></p>



<p>Taniela Paseka -&gt; Payne Haas</p>



<p>Greg Marzhew -&gt; Thomas Jenkins</p>



<p><strong>Captains:</strong></p>



<p>VC: Nathan Cleary</p>



<p>C: Tom Trbojevic</p>


NRL Supercoach Final Word | Round 20 trades and skippers

Discussion (0)

NRL Round 20 team lists: Full squads + NRL Supercoach analysis

NRL Round 19 team lists: Full squads + NRL Supercoach analysis

NRL Supercoach Final Word | Round 18 trades and skippers

NRL Supercoach Final Word | Round 17 trades and skippers