NRL Supercoach 2026 Round 24 Wrap: 8 Things We Learnt


<p>My football team sucks, my cricket team appears to be even worse, and for the life of me I can&#8217;t work out whether the Supercoach Gods are playing silly buggers with us, or lulling us into a false sense of hope as we round into H2H finals!</p>



<p>Round 24 is, and we can all agree on it, gone and put to bed! I don&#8217;t remember a week where so many guns failed to score any decent points! </p>



<p>Of the 10 most highly owned players, Payne Haas top-scored with 79! Cleary and Herbie, the top 2 most owned, combined for a total of 90 points, so that gives you an idea of how bad a week it was!</p>



<p>Koula than Kaeo found some ground, it seems after bringing in Leka and Val Holmes, scoring 1288 and finding a bit of momentum as the season draws to a close. Not sure how many green arrows, but hopefully enough to launch me into that top 30k. Tim said he would talk to me if I made it there.</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>1. Half headaches</strong></h3>



<p>About 2 weeks ago, we couldn&#8217;t talk more highly of the halfbacks in the NRL; fast forward to this weekend and I&#8217;m starting to wonder if they&#8217;ve caught the hooking bug! </p>



<p>Hynes was the most popular Captain choice since Pat Cummins was appointed to the role, and despite all the signs pointing to a Sharks&#8217; demolition, Canberra weren&#8217;t in the mood to roll over and sprung the Sharks&#8217; second loss in as many weeks on them. </p>



<p>Hynes was nowhere, scoring only 58, leaving many Captainers scrambling on Saturday afternoon as Head-to-Head knockouts played out.</p>



<p>He has now had two scores of sub-62 in back-to-back weeks, which is usually cause for concern, but at this stage, with limited trades and him being owned by everyone, we are sort of all in the same sinking ship together </p>



<p>Takes on the Titans next week but now doesn&#8217;t become the automatic Captain choice. </p>



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<p>Cleary too was subpar in the Panthers&#8217; loss to the Roosters, getting outplayed by his opposing halfback and the 37-year-old five-eighth. He scored only 43 and has Melbourne and the Dogs to turn it around.</p>



<p>The wheels aren&#8217;t falling off the Panthers, but there may be a bolt or two that is coming loose.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Sammy Walker was the only half to leave with their head held high, scoring 85 against the Panthers, which would have been a blessing for owners who had probably pencilled in a sub-40-point performance. </p>



<p>The high-flying chooks now roll into the Tigers, which will have many owners salivating and non-owners watching from afar. </p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>2. Teddy woes</strong></h3>



<p>It&#8217;s been more than a patient hold for owners of Tedesco, with the Roosters fullback owing owners roughly a 250-point performance against the Tigers, should he be named!</p>



<p>Owners were in a flap as Teddy was ruled out for the second week running. Leaving many owners with Sua short a fullback for the weekend. And in such a crucial time of year, the fact he was named and then withdrawn is more a blight on the NRL than it is on us poor suckers&nbsp;</p>



<p>Prior to Origin, Teddy went on a tear scoring 481 points in a 4-week period. We all made the call and jumped on him then, and since then he has had two 100-plus scores and very little else!</p>



<p>Many sold off post Origin, but those who held have had two games since round 17, which garnered 216 points, mind you, but it is 2 games in 7 weeks. </p>



<p>As I said at the top, if he plays this weekend, owners deserve a swag of points, but with the chooks in top spot, a depleted Tigers, do they give him another week?</p>



<p>The last time I tipped Tedesco to have a week off, he didn&#8217;t, so I&#8217;m not that confident I’ll be right this time around.  </p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>3. South&#8217;s heating up</strong></h3>



<p>There was a wry smile on Wayne Bennett&#8217;s face post their Friday night victory, which I read as one thing. He has timed his run to perfection! </p>



<p>They have had 3 years’ worth of soft tissue injuries in the last 3 months; Latrell hasn&#8217;t been sighted since around 10, yet here they are, in the middle of the top eight, winning games but yet to put it all together.</p>



<p>Their supercoach stars Duncan, Fifita, Walker and Keaon all had very big games, with Duncan again being a beneficiary of a tip-on to AJ. He bagged 101 points and arguably hasn&#8217;t had a bad game since round three. </p>



<p>And David Fifita probably had his best game in the red and green since he arrived and seems to be warming up at the right time of year. That mid-season layoff was probably the best thing for him as he terrorised the Bulldogs, scoring 85. </p>



<p>Owners would be very pleased with his output in the last few weeks, and he has a chance to put a big score on in his remaining three games.</p>



<p>Smith is plugging along, being pretty mediocre for many owners who may require a VC loophole in the coming weeks. 46 on the weekend, and there&#8217;s nothing you can do about it now. Just wallow in your decisions.</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>4. Gun buyback</strong></h3>



<p>I got a bit excited on Sunday night when I saw on the news the NSW Government was offering gun buybacks.&nbsp;</p>



<p>I haven’t heard back on how much they are going to give me for Reece Walsh, Terrell May, Blake Brailey and Harry Grant, but even a small amount is something!&nbsp;</p>



<p>With so many low scores over the weekend, it&#8217;s easy to look at our guns and wonder where all the points went!&nbsp;</p>



<p>Walsh’s 2026 season of misery is all but done picking up a syndesmosis injury, after scoring a solitary point. He becomes an immediate trade, however, at roughly 550k, there isn&#8217;t much to choose from </p>



<p>The hooker woes continue with Brailey managing only 46 in the Sharks&#8217; loss to the Raiders. When 12 other players in your position have better Supercoach games than you as the number one gun, you know you&#8217;ve had a rough week. </p>



<p>At his points, seems we are all just surviving. </p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>5. Ponga unites Steel City</strong></h3>



<p>Those who bucked the trend on going with Nico as a captain likely landed on the Knights&#8217; fullback to see if he could put on a clinic against the Titans. </p>



<p>It was less of a clinic, but he had a hand in a couple of special plays, scoring 86, giving those who went against the tide a small leg up. </p>



<p>Not goalkicking is hurting his output somewhat, with that 86 easily turning into close to 100 should he have banged over the goals Sandon managed to do.&nbsp;</p>



<p>He seems to be bubbling away and probably tried too hard on Sunday afternoon, but I feel there is a big score in coming. And it will probably come against Manly next weekend in Newcastle.&nbsp;</p>



<p>For those with trades, though, I would start looking at an exit strategy, especially if you are like me and own Sharpe, Marzhew and Ponga with their Bye in Round 27. By then, who knows who will be rested, meaning Makasini might be in a few sides whether we have a choice or not. It&#8217;s a bold move to trade any one of those players before a Manly matchup, but it might have to be done.</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>6. Last throw at the stumps</strong></h3>



<p>A couple of very popular trades amongst coaches this week fell flatter than a day 2 pitch in Darwin </p>



<p>Of all the trades made this week, Fletcher Sharpe was number one and Ponga 2. They both did a job for owners, but as we head down the list, it looks like buyer&#8217;s regret.</p>



<p>Dom Young was brought in by 4134 people and managed only 23 after last week&#8217;s 140-point performance. It was a bold move to bring any Knights players in, as they only play in the next three games. </p>



<p>Manuleleua was another who was most sought after, and after I gave him a huge wrap last week, he couldn&#8217;t find any attack despite scoring 50 points </p>



<p>Scotty Drinkwater was the fourth most traded in, and well, bad luck is all I can say. If you said that the Cowboys would score 30 points against the Eels, you would buy with confidence. </p>



<p>However, he could muster only 56. He hasn&#8217;t had a 100-plus score since round 16 and, since then, has only had two scores above 70. Does Timmy even know what he&#8217;s doing?</p>



<p>And Metcalf owners, good luck in 2027.</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>7. Blackbooker&#8217;s</strong></h3>



<p>None of the horses in my black book seem to do any good, so maybe putting some Supercoach guns in might flip the script? </p>



<p>Hamish Stewart will be the first bloke picked after owning the Dragon&#8217;s left edge. He will likely be running off Kodi Nikorima next year, and we know what he has done for Lemuelu and Kuli this year. </p>



<p>Barged over for a try, finishing with 91, and hasn&#8217;t had a score under 74 since round 14. </p>



<p>We can add Owen Pattie to that list, just so long as Ricky comes out and says exactly what he&#8217;s going to do with his hookers next year&#8230;Wouldn&#8217;t it be a refreshing change if Ricky came out and said he would play Pattie 80 minutes week in, week out.</p>



<p>Blake Mozer looks like a hooker who could play 80 minutes and base 60 odd points, whilst the more time Jacob Liddle spends on the field, the better the Dragons will go. </p>



<p>Maybe our hooking stocks are looking ok for 2027!?</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>8. Minute Watch</strong></h3>



<p><strong>Panthers v Roosters</strong></p>



<p>IPap 80, Alamoti 76, Smith 52, Foketi 80, Watson 25</p>



<p><strong>Sea Eagles v Dolphins</strong></p>



<p>Ola 80, JMK 76, Kuli 80</p>



<p><strong>Bulldogs v Rabbitohs</strong></p>



<p>Preston 80, Kiks 80, Thompson 48, Fifita 79, Murray 73, Keaon 71</p>



<p><strong>Sharks v Raiders</strong></p>



<p>Nikora 80, Wilton 80, Brailey 80, Hosking 80, Pattie 54, Nicholson 80, Taps 57</p>



<p><strong>Eels v Cowboys</strong></p>



<p>Williams 80, Pryke 53, Luki 70, Mahoney 54</p>



<p><strong>Broncos v Warriors</strong></p>



<p>Willison 66, Haas 66, Carrigan 71, Walsh 19, Barnett 60, Laban 80, Clark 49</p>



<p><strong>Knights v Titans</strong></p>



<p>Manuleleua 80, Crossland 71, Tino 80, Pascoe 68</p>



<p><strong>Tigers v Dragons</strong></p>



<p>Api 80, May 64, Stewart 80, TCouchman 63, RCouchman 50</p>


NRL Supercoach 2026 Round 24 Wrap: 8 Things We Learnt

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