TCT SuperCoach: Your Weekly Guide to Surviving the Season

Round 13 marked the first mini-bye round of the season, and these weeks can be some of the trickiest to navigate. Despite careful planning, many SuperCoaches were caught out this week, with several Origin stars failing to back up and a host of late injuries to popular players.

Congratulations to Ben’s side, Poddington Bear, which topped the TCT league this round with a strong 1,380 points. Meanwhile, Chris’ side, Senior Paulo, continues to lead the way, retaining first place in the overall TCT standings.

My Team

Last round, I scored 1,289 points. With the likes of Nathan Cleary not backing up, along with Nicho Hynes and Kayal Iro both being ruled out throughout the week, I was left with just 17 active players, including Heamasi Makasini. The late withdrawals of Hynes and Iro were particularly frustrating, but considering I effectively played without the safety net of a flex score to absorb a poor performance, I was reasonably happy with how the week unfolded.

Makasini, who I was very reluctant to field but had no choice, actually started strongly before suffering a HIA and later a shoulder injury. It summed up what was a rollercoaster round. Despite plenty going against me, I still managed to post a respectable score and pick up some small green arrows in the overall rankings.

My trades this week were Cody Walker to Fletcher Sharpe, Jonah Pezet to Te Maire Martin, and Sialetili Faeamani to Reece Walsh. Sharpe and Walsh had very similar games, with both players underwhelming before salvaging their scores with a couple of late try assists. As for TMM, he continued his strong form with 76 points against the Panthers, which should see his price continue to rise.

As for my captaincy, I stuck with Jackson Ford. Given the form he’s shown this season, I was expecting something closer to 90+ rather than the 72 points he delivered. In a week where I was already short on numbers, a bigger captaincy score could’ve made a huge difference.

Round 13 Review

Let’s break down the key SuperCoach takeaways from Round 13:

Premium Guns

Dylan Lucas (2RF – $689.2k – 120 points):

Dylan Lucas continues to cement himself as one of the premier 2RFs in the game. This season, he’s averaging 60.3 points in base and power, which provides a very reliable scoring floor each week. To top this off, Lucas has huge attacking upside, which was on full display against Parra last week as he crossed for two tries, showing off his powerful running and surprising speed. Should Lucas continue to get selected for the Blues but simply sit on the bench, he should only miss the Round 18 match against the Dolphins, as the Knights already miss Round 15 anyway due to a bye. This leaves Lucas with a great run of games against the Storm, Dragons and Tigers in his next three.

Dylan Lucas knows how to produce an attacking stat!

Terrell May (FRF – $792k – 100 points):

Terrell May’s role may have changed this season, but his scoring certainly hasn’t. While he’s no longer regularly playing the 80 minutes each week, he’s compensated by taking his PPM to another level. Last round, May played just 64 minutes and produced 100 points entirely through base and power. If you don’t already own him, he’s simply a must-have. With Alex Twal sidelined through injury (4-6 weeks), it’s an easy flip straight to May.

Mid-Range Movers

Braydon Trindall (5/8 – $520.8k – 118 points):

As he always seems to do when Nicho Hynes is absent, Trindall stepped up, producing a try, three try assists and grabbing the goalkicking duties. With Hynes’ return date unclear, it makes Trindall a tricky buy. However, with a breakeven of -11 and an enticing matchup against the Dragons this week, he shapes as a strong short-term play for coaches with trades to play with.

Sitili Tupouniua (2RF/FRF – $608k – 117 points):

After featuring as one of my mid-range movers last week, Sitili delivered again. He scored 69 in base and power, while adding two try assists and three line break assists. The matchup against Parra this week is appealing, although missing the next two major bye rounds is a concern. At just 5% ownership, he’s still a very nice buy.

Xavier Willison (2RF/FRF – $607.7k – 104 points):

Willison was outstanding, producing 73 points in base alongside a try in an 80-minute performance. With Pat Carrigan expected to miss 3-4 weeks, Willison looks set to lock down the No. 13 role for at least the next month. For non-owners, Willison is a very appealing option who covers both of the remaining major bye rounds.

Across all starts at lock, Willison has averaged 100 points per game! (@sc_mattrix – Instagram)

Ethan Strange (5/8 – $610.3k – 96 points):

Fresh off his Origin debut, Strange continued his strong form with a try, try assist, seven tackle breaks, a line break and two line break assists. Barring his injury-affected game against the Tigers, Strange has averaged 91 points per game since Round 5. Should Strange continue to back up after Origin, something that becomes even more likely if Moses is selected at 5/8 for the Blues, he should only miss Round 15 against Parra due to Origin commitments, with his next absence not coming until Round 26 due to a bye.

Players of Concern

James Tedesco (FLB – $783.9k – 48 points):

Backing up just days after his Origin heroics, Teddy punched out another poor SuperCoach performance, despite recording a line break, try contribution and a try save. With scores of 21 and 48 now sitting in his rolling average, his breakeven has blown to 197 – one of the highest we’ve seen this season. It’s a difficult situation for owners. While a bounce back against the Raiders feels likely, even a score of 100 could still result in a price drop of nearly $100k. On top of that, he may miss the following two rounds due to Origin duties, causing even more headaches for owners. As long as you have the trades to buy him back later on in the season, he’s a sell for me.

All 56,000+ owners will need to make a call on Teddy this week

Scott Drinkwater (FLB – $678.6k – 29 points):

Drinkwater never really got involved against the Raiders, resulting in a disappointing 29 points. Fortunately, a home matchup against the Dolphins this week presents the perfect opportunity for a rebound, and I’ll be backing him to respond in what should be a high-scoring affair.

My Trades

At this stage, I’m only making one trade:

• Alex Twal >>> Terrell May

As discussed above, May is a must-have, and with Twal sidelined for 4-6 weeks, this shapes as one of the most straightforward trades this season.

As I’ve been alluding to over the last couple weeks, it’s time for me to start saving some trades and backing in my current players.

Captaincy

VC – Reece Walsh vs Titans (H)

Not that Walsh has done much recently to justify another VC pick, but it’s more out of the fear that he could explode – something I simply don’t want to miss out on.

Captaincy – Nathan Cleary vs Tigers (A*)

Cleary has been one of the safest captaincy options all season, and I’m backing him again here to deliver a strong score against the Tigers. That said, it’s worth noting the Tigers were much improved last week after some of their key players returned.

While I won’t be going this way, I can definitely see the appeal in captaining the following players:

• Sua Fa’alogo vs Knights (H)
• Scott Drinkwater vs Dolphins (H)
• Terrell May vs Panthers (H)

Best of luck everyone – drop your thoughts, trades and captaincy calls below!

SC Adrian

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