NRL Finals Week 2 team lists: Full squads + NRL Supercoach analysis


<p>Note to self: don’t fade Herbie, in any format, of anything, ever.</p>



<p>If he were available in Supercoach Badminton, I’d probably buy him and straight captain.</p>



<p>Likely, in no shock to anyone who has played NRL Supercoach before, Herbie Farnworth reigned supreme as the number one player of finals week one.</p>



<p>A masterclass in New Zealand delivered a whopping 151 points, a ridiculous 35 points ahead of the next best score in Taine Tuaupiki on 116.</p>



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<p>The Cooma Stallions got a little too cute, opting for Latrell Mitchell over Herbie.</p>



<p>To be fair, losing Cody Walker 30 minutes into the game was a dagger for Trell’s scoring potential.</p>



<p>We finished with an okay 727 points to sit in 25k overall, but when you miss out on the big score in this format with the addition of triple captaincy and double vice-captaincy, you’re in trouble.</p>



<p>Those who nailed Herbie as skipper or VC will likely be up top of the rankings and can play somewhat conservatively due to their red-hot start.</p>



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<p>Those who missed out all of a sudden need to go on the attack a little more, eyeing off some point-of-difference plays and perhaps left-field captaincy picks.</p>



<p>It burns me to the core to do so, but I have to shout out my mate Guru, who finished 13<sup>th</sup> overall for the week!</p>



<p>Plenty of the analysis below will focus on the strength of edge defence for each club; check out statsinsider.com.au for more.</p>



<p>Keep in mind the stats come across the duration of the season, so personnel changes will have an impact.</p>



<p>Let’s take a look at the NRL Supercoach Finals week two teams analysis.</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>ROOSTERS vs SHARKS</strong></h3>



<p><strong>Saturday, 7:50pm, Allianz Stadium, Sydney</strong></p>



<p><strong>Roosters:</strong> 1. James Tedesco 2. Daniel Tupou 3. Billy Smith 4. Robert Toia 5. Mark Nawaqanitawase 6. Hugo Savala 7. Daly Cherry-Evans 8. Naufahu Whyte 9. Reece Robson 10. Lindsay Collins 11. Salesi Foketi 12. Siua Wong 13. Victor Radley </p>



<p>Bench: 14. Connor Watson 15. Spencer Leniu 16. Nat Butcher 17. Angus Crichton 18. Cody Ramsey 19. Tommy Talau </p>



<p>Reserves: 20. Taylor Losalu 21. Benaiah Ioelu 22. Toby Rodwell</p>



<p><strong>Analysis: </strong>The Sharks concede an equal amount of tries down each edge at 37%.</p>



<p>The edge to target in my view is probably their right, though, with Riley Jones at centre in place of the injured Jesse Ramien.</p>



<p>This would favour the left edge of Billy Smith and Daniel Tupou.</p>



<p>I don’t love Smith at centre, while Tupou is an okay option.</p>



<p>Mark Nawaqanitawase is a huge target, as is Rob Toia; I just don’t love their match-up with Iro and Mulitalo.</p>



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<p>While I’ll likely lock in Brailey, Reece Robson played 79 minutes at hooker largely due to injuries elsewhere.</p>



<p>If you think the Roosters win well, he’s a reasonable POD play.</p>



<p>In a side scoring just two tries, James Tedesco scored 96 points with just one try-assist to his name against the Panthers.</p>



<p>This included 19 runs and seven tacklebreaks, making him hard to ignore against far more appealing opposition this week.</p>



<p>From Round 9 onwards, Naufahu Whyte had a low score of just 48 points, before scoring just 45 against Penrith last week.</p>



<p>In that weak FRF pool, he’s a genuine POD play.</p>



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<p><strong>Sharks:</strong> 1. William Kennedy 2. Sione Katoa 3. Riley Jones 4. KL Iro 5. Ronaldo Mulitalo 6. Braydon Trindall 7. Nicho Hynes 8. Addin Fonua-Blake 9. Blayke Brailey 10. Jesse Colquhoun 11. Briton Nikora 12. Teig Wilton 13. Cameron McInnes </p>



<p>Bench: 14. Siosifa Talakai 15. Billy Burns 16. Oregon Kaufusi 17. Thomas Hazelton 18. Jayden Berrell 19. Toby Rudolf </p>



<p>Reserves: 20. Niwhai Puru 21. Samuel Stonestreet 22. Mawene Hiroti</p>



<p><strong>Analysis: </strong>The Roosters concede 40% of tries down their right edge, compared to 33% on the left.</p>



<p>Statistically, this favours the left of Cronulla, including Teig Wilton, KL Iro and Ronaldo Mulitalo.</p>



<p>I’d be reluctant to go with Mulitalo as it’s a game that he could go really low in if not scoring any tries.</p>



<p>He finished the season with scores of 24 and 22, before notching just 49 last week, which, without a try, wasn’t actually too bad.</p>



<p>Iro is safer because at least the base and power stats are there, but he hasn’t been great, with a five-round average of 52 to finish the season, into a 38 last week.</p>



<p>The battle with Rob Toia isn’t overly appealing either.</p>



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<p>Nicho Hynes pretty well picks himself in a relatively weak halfback pool this week.</p>



<p>I struggle to make a case to leave him out; if you want to go against the crowd, the play will be to leave the captaincy or vice-captaincy off him.</p>



<p>He played the Roosters twice this year for scores of just 50 and 61.</p>



<p>Blayke Brailey was disappointing last week with just 44 points, but remains the clear pick at hooker.</p>



<p>He averaged 10.6 points more than the next best pick in the position this season, which was Reece Robson.</p>



<p>Addin Fonua-Blake is a decent play in a weak FRF position, scoring 59 points while falling agonisingly short of a try.</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>WARRIORS vs KNIGHTS</strong></h3>



<p><strong>Sunday, 4:05pm, Eden Park, Auckland</strong></p>



<p><strong>Warriors:</strong> 1. Taine Tuaupiki 2. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 3. Ali Leiataua 4. Adam Pompey 5. Alofiana Khan-Pereira 6. Chanel Harris-Tavita 7. Te Maire Martin 8. James Fisher-Harris 9. Wayde Egan 10. Mitchell Barnett 11. Kurt Capewell 12. Jacob Laban 13. Erin Clark </p>



<p>Bench: 14. Samuel Healey 15. Tanner Stowers-Smith 16. Demitric Vaimauga 17. Eddie Ieremia-Toeava 18. Jett Cleary 20. Morgan Gannon </p>



<p>Reserves: 21. Makaia Tafua 22. Leka Halasima 23. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak</p>



<p><strong>Analysis: </strong>The Knights concede 43% of tries down their left edge, compared to 30% on the right.</p>



<p>This brings the Warriors&#8217; right edge of Jacob Laban, Ali Leiataua and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad into play.</p>



<p>However, I do feel the Knights&#8217; left edge is significantly better with Bradman Best on deck, who missed 10 games this season.</p>



<p>Te Maire Martin and Jacob Laban underwhelmed for me last week with scores of 48 and 49 respectively; however, I do still like them as picks.</p>



<p>TMM managed his 48 points without a major attacking stat, busting eight tackles in just eight runs.</p>



<p>He looks the play at five-eighth to me, while Fletcher Sharpe is of course an excellent alternative.</p>



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<p>Tuaupiki was outstanding, scoring the Warriors&#8217; only try, notching 24 points in conversions, 18 in tacklebreaks and an excellent 21 runs.</p>



<p>With the kicking duties to boot, he looks a great play this week after finishing the season with a three-round average of 91 points.</p>



<p>Mitch Barnett and James Fisher-Harris are both decent POD plays at FRF, especially with Jackson Ford unavailable due to injury.</p>



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<p><strong>Knights:</strong> 1. Kalyn Ponga 2. Dominic Young 3. Dane Gagai 4. Bradman Best 5. Greg Marzhew 6. Fletcher Sharpe 7. Sandon Smith 8. Tyson Frizell 9. Phoenix Crossland 10. Cody Hopwood 11. Jermaine McEwen 12. Francis Manuleleua 13. Mathew Croker </p>



<p>Bench: 14. Harrison Graham 15. Lachlan Crouch 16. Pasami Saulo 17. Thomas Cant 18. Fletcher Hunt 19. Toby Winter </p>



<p>Reserves: 20. Kyle McCarthy 21. Elijah Leaumoana 22. Dylan Lucas</p>



<p><strong>Analysis: </strong>The Warriors concede slightly more on their left edge at 42%, compared to 39% on the right.</p>



<p>This would statistically give a slight push towards the right edge of Jermaine McEwen, Dane Gagai and Dom Young.</p>



<p>That CTW pair fired against the Bunnies last week with scores of 114 and 96 respectively, aided by losses of Alex Johnston and Cody Walker to injury.</p>



<p>Either Knights edge can fire on their day; however when Kalyn Ponga and Bradman Best are on deck, I do like the left side.</p>



<p>Best appeals after averaging 69 points this season, scoring just four tries in 14 games.</p>



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<p>Greg Marzhew destroyed the Warriors in Round 26 in NZ, scoring 117 points with 12 men for the majority of the game.</p>



<p>Ponga was devastating last week, scoring 91 points with 12 tacklebreaks to his name; he’ll be extremely hard to go past.</p>



<p>Fletcher Sharpe will be popular for good reason; he finished the season with a five-round average of 81 points.</p>



<p>He failed to get in on the attacking action in the win over South Sydney, scoring just 42 points.</p>


NRL Finals Week 2 team lists: Full squads + NRL Supercoach analysis

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