TCT SuperCoach: Your Weekly Guide to Surviving the Season

Round 17 is in the books, and as always, it brought plenty of chaos, with injuries to several key players. With the final major bye round now upon us, it’s time to start preparing for the run home.

Congratulations to Shane’s side, Desert Bushranger, who topped the TCT league this week with an impressive 1,404 points. As for Chris’ side, Senior Paulo, he’s simply in a league of his own. Now sitting 500 points clear of second place, he’s now closing in on the top 100 overall.

My Team

This round, I scored 1,296 points, which I’m pretty happy with. It wasn’t one of the highest-scoring weeks we’ve seen, so my score was slightly above average for my ranking as I continue edging my way back towards the top 1% overall.

I traded Jackson Ford to Tom Jenkins and Kai Pearce-Paul to Tony Sukkar. Despite the Panthers unexpectedly being thrashed, Jenkins still crossed for two tries to score a handy 91 points. Sukkar also impressed, scoring the first try of his NRL career to finish on 78 points, with plenty more cash rises to come. Unfortunately, Sukkar came off with a knock after 66 minutes, so it could’ve been even more than 78. Thankfully, he’s been named this week, so there don’t appear to be any injury concerns.

I VC’d Herbie Farnworth, who scored 99 points. While that’s an excellent score, it wasn’t enough for me to take the loop, with Nathan Cleary looking set to explode against the Cowboys. Unfortunately, that didn’t eventuate, with Cleary managing just 62 points as the Panthers struggled to hold the ball and never really got themselves into the contest.

Heading into the final major bye round, I have 13 active players before trades, so I’m in a fairly strong position this week.

Round 17 Review

Let’s break down the key SuperCoach takeaways from Round 17.

Premium Guns

Payne Haas (FRF – $669k – 95 points)

Haas has made an immediate impact since returning from injury, averaging 86.7 points across his three games back. He’ll miss this week through Origin, next week with Brisbane’s bye, and then faces Penrith. Even so, he shapes as an outstanding Round 20 or 21 pickup for the run home.

Payne Haas looks to have returned to his damaging best

Haumole Olakau’atu (2RF – $815.3k – 113 points)

The number one 2RF in SuperCoach delivered again, producing a two-try masterclass against the Storm. Once he returns from Origin, Manly face the Cowboys, Titans and Sharks, making him a huge priority for non-owners. The only downside is the premium price tag and Manly’s Round 22 bye.

Mid-Range Movers

Phillip Sami (CTW – $678.8k – 128 points)

For whatever reason, Sami is one of those players I never seriously consider buying. However, after a hat-trick against the Bulldogs, he’s impossible to ignore. Over his past five games, he’s averaged 88.8 points, despite facing quality opposition including Manly, Penrith and Canterbury. Owned by just 1% of teams and with no more byes this season, Sami looms as a genuine POD option.

Tallis Duncan (2RF/CTW – $670.2k – 117 points)

A move to right centre did wonders for Duncan, who posted his third ton of the season after torching Parra with two tries, two line breaks, a try assist and a line break assist. Duncan also gained dual positioning this week, making him even more valuable. While Penrith would normally be a difficult matchup this week, they’ve now lost two straight and will be without their Origin stars.

Despite playing at right centre, Duncan was a focal point of the Bunnies’ attack

Stephen Crichton (CTW – $577.2k – 115 points)

Playing at 5/8, Crichton put on a playmaking clinic with three try assists, three line break assists, two forced dropouts and the goal-kicking duties. If he can keep this up, I quite like him as a run-home option, especially with eight of his final nine games in Sydney. However, it is important to note that his base scores in his two games at 5/8 have been only 15 and 20, meaning he’s heavily reliant on attacking stats and the goal-kicking to produce big SuperCoach scores.

Players of Concern

Kulikefu Finefeuiaki (2RF – $527.4k – 53 points)

Finefeuiaki lured plenty of SuperCoaches earlier this year with elite base stats and the occasional attacking play that would push his scores past 100. Since Round 10, however, he’s averaged just 52.8 points. As an owner, I’m not rushing to sell, but he’s definitely gone stale. Thankfully, missing Origin means he’ll be an important number this week, though he’s firmly on my trade-out list over the next couple of rounds.

Return to your best, Kulikefu. My team needs you.

Pascoe (HOK – $499.7k – 45 points)

Pascoe featured here last week, and unfortunately, nothing has changed. Once again, he split minutes with Sam Verrills, playing just 52 minutes. For me, he’s now either a sell to someone like Blayke Brailey over the next week or two, or he simply stays as your second hooker who you don’t play for the rest of the season. If you choose to keep Pascoe and are running Harry Grant as your sole hooker, you’ll need to play Pascoe in Round 24 when Melbourne have their bye.

My Trades

At this stage, I’m planning to make the following moves:

• Tom Chester >>> Tom Trbojevic
• Ativalu Lisati >>> Keaon Koloamatangi

Tom Chester has been an outstanding servant ever since I started with him in Round 1, but after scores of 29 and 48 in consecutive weeks, I think it’s time to move him on. That opens the door for Tommy Turbo, who, unfortunately as an Eels supporter, has a dream matchup against Parra this week before facing the Cowboys and Titans. At $557.3k, I think this is as cheap as we’ll see him for the rest of the season.

It’s also farewell to Ativalu Lisati, who departs through injury after being with my side since Round 1. While I’m not completely sold on the move, I’m currently leaning towards Keaon Koloamatangi, who finally looks fully fit again and is excellent value at $571.4k.

These trades leave me with 15 players for the final major bye round of the season.

Captaincy

VC – Nicho Hynes vs Broncos (A)

Nicho has produced six scores of 100 or more from 11 games this season, and I’m expecting another huge performance against a depleted and out-of-form Broncos side.

Captaincy – Tom Trbojevic vs Parramatta (A)

Manly are flying, while Parramatta simply aren’t. I’m expecting a monster score from Tommy Turbo. However, as an Eels fan, it genuinely pains me to captain someone playing against my own team. That said, I’m hoping Nicho goes huge on Saturday night so I can take the free loop.

Best of luck this week! Let me know your trades, captaincy calls and thoughts below.

SC Adrian

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