TCT SuperCoach: Your Weekly Guide to Surviving the Season
(League Code: 704791)
Round 1 of the NRL season has wrapped up, and it delivered an unusually high-scoring week of SuperCoach. Opening rounds are typically quite low scoring as teams settle into the season, but that script seemed to flip this year. With an increased number of six-agains speeding up the game, points were flowing. Congratulations to Chris’ team, Senior Paulo, who topped TCT’s SuperCoach league this week with a massive 1,507 points!
My Team
I finished Round 1 with 1,409 points, landing me 3rd in the TCT SuperCoach league, which I’m fairly happy with overall. However, my score could’ve been even better had I chosen a stronger captain. I’d talked up Payne Haas as the safest captaincy option heading into the round, but he only managed 68 points. In a game riddled with 33 errors between the Broncos and Panthers, I don’t think this score affects Haas’ appeal as a captain moving forward.
Round 1 Review (Excluding Vegas)
Let’s break down the key SuperCoach takeaways from the other six games of Round 1:
Premium Guns
- Harry Grant (HOK – $606.3k – 94 points): Unfortunately, way too good for my Parra. Grant bagged two tries and made the Eels look like absolute amateurs. He was taken off early with what looked like a serious injury, but this appears to have just been cramps.
- Nicho Hynes (HFB – $749.3k – 131 points): Two tries for Nicho as well in a massive performance. Like Grant, it came in the form of a shellacking, so I’d like to see how he goes in a tighter contest before I make any moves.
- Tommy Turbo (FLB – $692.2k – 104 points): A very strong showing from Turbo despite the wet conditions. With the increase in six-agains this season, we could be seeing a return to 2021 Turbo… I’ll be watching for now, and I’ll definitely be interested if he backs it up this week against the Knights, especially with sub 10% ownership. That said, Manly have the bye in Round 3, so there’s no need to rush him just yet.
- Latrell Mitchell (CTW – $626.8k – 113 points): Two tries and a huge score. As the highest owned CTW gun, I thought about fading him. However, it was the fear of performances like this which made me lock him in my team.
Mid-Range Movers
- Sua Fa’alogo (FLB – $511.7k – 116 points): Two tries in a demolition job of Parra. Fa’alogo looked electric in attack, but the same can’t be said for his defence. He’s clearly capable of big scores when the Storm are rolling like this, but I’d like to see how he performs against stronger defensive sides. This week against the Dragons should be a good test in what I expect to be a close contest.
- Tanah Boyd (HFB – $574.5k – 131 points): Boyd produced arguably the best performance of his career. If he backs it up with another strong outing, he could become an interesting option over the next few weeks.
- Braydon Trindall (5/8 – $417.1k – 132 points): Possibly Trindall’s best game of his career as well. He usually needs to do a lot to rack up SuperCoach points, but that’s exactly what happened here (two tries, four try assists, one 40/20). Historically, Trindall averages quite low, so I’d expect that to continue outside the occasional game like this. One to avoid for now, but another solid score could see him become a quick cash grab next week.
- Cody Walker (5/8 – $399.2k – 104 points): A very strong performance from Cody. As expected, Souths’ left edge did plenty of damage in a high-scoring game. It could have been even bigger if the try was awarded to him. At under $400k, he looks to be incredible value in quite a dull SuperCoach position. Most importantly, he looked fit, so hopefully this continues.
Cheapies to Monitor
- Moses Leo (CTW – $235.6k – 95 points): Looked very impressive, but unfortunately not in my team. Similar to Sua, I’d like to see how he performs against a team with better defence. If he performs well against the Dragons this week, I’ll have to get him in my team.
- Noah Martin (2RF – $250.8k – 116 points): Last week, I’d heard that he had lots of try-scoring upside based on his games in NSW Cup, but he loomed as a trap with Matty Nicholson returning in reserve grade from a shoulder injury. Now that Nicholson has re-injured that shoulder (out for 12-20 weeks – NRL Physio), Martin shapes as a strong buy after a top performance. Forget about the two tries, the 60 points in base was the real standout for me. Beware though, if Timoko starts in the centres, Simi Sasagi will likely cut into Noah Martin’s game time.
- Ethan Sanders (HFB – $246.4k – 94 points): A great performance from the young halfback. He’s taken the early lead over fellow cheapie Daniel Atkinson. As an Atkinson owner myself, I won’t be making any rash decisions yet. Sanders has a tough run coming up, and with the prices of players based on a three-round average, this big score may only impact his price for one round.
Players of Concern
- Jacob Laban (2RF – $299.9k – 21 points): 46 minutes for just 21 points is very worrying for those who picked Laban as a cheap 2RF option. There was always a risk with Leka Halasima and Demitric Vaimauga waiting on the bench. I’d be selling ASAP to a better cheapie 2RF, such as Noah Martin or Ryan Couchman.
- Reece Walsh (FLB – $835.6k – 34 points): A performance to forget for most Broncos players. The team failed to score and finished with 33 errors. Walsh could bounce back against Parra, but another poor performance will create an enormous breakeven. Not ideal for owners who opted for the 3rd most expensive player in SuperCoach.
- Kayal Iro (CTW – $705.9k – 44 points): Unfortunately for Iro owners, the Sharks heavily favoured their right edge in attack. That meant no major attacking stats for Iro in a game where Cronulla piled on 50 points. If that attacking preference continues, it could become a real concern for owners.
- Tino (2RF/FRF – $687.6k – 44 points): Only 49 minutes is not what Tino owners wanted to see. I’d give it one more week, but if the reduced minutes continue, he could quickly become a sell, especially with the plethora of options at 2RF.
Team List Watch
- Josh Addo-Carr returns, pushing Brian Kelly to the reserves.
- J’maine Hopgood is out with a one-week suspension.
- Matt Timoko is named on the bench, so a late switch is possible. Something to monitor for those flocking to Noah Martin.
- Heamasi Makasini is named at centre. The appeal drops slightly without the wing spot, but he still looks like a very playable cheapie.
- Thomas Jenkins is named on the wing. It’s unclear whether Izack Tago has been dropped from the starting side, but he looms on the bench.
- As expected, Sandon Smith gets the halfback role following Fletcher Sharpe’s injury. It’ll be worth watching whether Smith takes over the goal-kicking from Ponga now that he’s starting.
- Arama Hau keeps his starting spot. Hopefully this confirms he’s won the spot, rather than Joshua Patston simply missing out due to a head knock.
- Bulldogs have the bye.
My Trades
For the reasons stated in my Cheapies to Monitor, I’ll be bringing in Noah Martin this week. I believe he’s a must-have, so it makes sense to get him in now rather than waiting until next week, when trades will be more critical.
I’ve also seriously considered trading out Drinky (as many others have, given he’s the most traded-out player this week), but I’m leaning towards keeping him for now. This gives me a week to see how he recovers from his injury without any price changes, while also giving me another week to choose from the most in-form players in the comp, since he’s currently in my flex.
Captaincy
As mentioned earlier, I don’t think Payne Haas loses much of his captaincy appeal. He’s coming up against Parramatta, and if they play anything like they did last week, Haas could be in for a big score.
That said, I’ll likely opt for a slightly riskier play this round. I’m leaning towards the VC on Latrell Mitchell against his old team, the Roosters. South Sydney’s left edge looks lethal and will be up against some new combinations on the Roosters’ right side with DCE defending there, who defended poorly last weekend. If that continues, Latrell could be in for a big night.
As for my captaincy, I’m leaning towards Herbie Farnworth at home against a struggling Titans side.
The Cumberland Throw has its own SuperCoach league (code: 704791). Jump in and see how your squad stacks up against me and the rest of the community!
I’m keen to hear your thoughts and questions – drop them below. See you next week!
SC Adrian
