TCT SuperCoach: Your Weekly Guide to Surviving the Season

The final minor bye round of the season is behind us, meaning the Origin disruptions are finally over. The run home is now officially underway, with trades becoming more valuable than ever.

Congratulations to Dave’s side, Tangas, who topped the TCT league this week with an outstanding 1,560 points. Chris’ side, Senior Paulo, continues to lead the TCT overall. With only a handful of rounds remaining, the TCT community is going to have to produce some huge scores to chase him down.

My Team

I scored 1,388 points this round.

It was great to have Nicho Hynes’ enormous 196-point performance. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the VC or captaincy on him, but it’s still an incredible score to have sitting in the team.

While Zac Hosking was a player I planned on selling over the coming weeks, he went on to score a hat-trick against the Bulldogs from lock to post an outstanding 130 points. He also got through plenty of work in that new role, and with him named at lock again this week, he could end up saving me a trade if he keeps producing scores like this.

Last week, I traded Oliver Pascoe to a nuff after Pascoe lost his big-minute role due to Sam Verrills returning. That freed up the cash for me to upgrade Tony Sukkar to Haumole Olakau’atu. Haumole did exactly what I hoped, scoring a try on his way to a handy 90 points. However, it was a little frustrating to watch Pascoe unexpectedly play the full 80 minutes and score 89, which was better than any score he managed while I actually owned him. Still, I wouldn’t have been able to afford Haumole without making that move.

My Te Maire Martin VC prediction was spot on, with him posting a brilliant 107 points against the Tigers. Given how big I thought Sua Fa’alogo could go against the Titans, I decided against looping TMM. Sua struggled to get involved for most of the game but somehow still managed 78 points, so I definitely got away with one there. Looking back, I probably should’ve just taken the free loop, but I was chasing the higher ceiling to try and make up some ground in the rankings.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with how my squad looks. My biggest frustration at the moment is my CTWs, with players like Greg Marzhew and Kayal Iro struggling to produce consistently over the last few weeks. I’d also love to strengthen my second row with another premium gun alongside Haumole. Having a dual-position CTW/2RF would make life much easier, but unfortunately, I don’t have that flexibility at this stage.

Round 19 Review

Let’s break down the key SuperCoach takeaways from Round 19.

Premium Guns

Nicho Hynes (HFB – $867.6k – 196 points):

Two tries, three try assists, three line break assists, a line break and a perfect 11/11 off the boot saw Nicho Hynes produce the biggest score of his career. That’s now seven tons from just 13 games this season. If, for whatever reason, you’re still not an owner, now is the time to buy, with the Sharks having arguably the best run home in the competition. With a breakeven of just 5, he could be unattainable after this week alone.

The wetter Nicho’s hair gets, the more SuperCoach points he scores

Dylan Lucas (2RF – $824.9k – 100 points):

Mr Consistent strikes again. Lucas now has a five-round average of 102, with his lowest score in that stretch being 93. While he’s always capable of finding attacking stats, what is most appealing is his incredible floor. Against South Sydney, Lucas produced 88 points in base and power alone. If you can afford the premium price tag, he’s an easy buy.

Mid-Range Movers

Zac Hosking (2RF – $619.3k – 130 points):

Hosking shifted to lock last week and produced 69 points in base and power in just 66 minutes, while also crossing for a hat-trick. Owners, myself included, will be thrilled with the extra cash he’ll generate, making the eventual upgrade to a premium second rower much cheaper than expected. That said, with Hosking named at lock again this week, I’ll be watching his role closely. If he continues getting big minutes through the middle, he could genuinely become a season keeper.

Hosking gets through a mountain of work whenever he plays through the middle

Matt Dufty (FLB – $463.4k – 125 points):

Dufty exploded with three try assists, four line break assists and a line break. What’s even more impressive is that he’s now averaging 92.8 points across his five 80-minute games this season. He’s been named at fullback again this week with a nice matchup against Canberra, and a -61 breakeven makes him a very tempting option. The obvious concern is job security. Jye Gray is still widely viewed as South Sydney’s preferred fullback, and from my understanding, Dufty was a tactical selection last week. His performance may have earned him another game, but it’s still far from certain how long he’ll keep the role. If you’ve got the trades available and are happy to gamble on a couple more starts, there could be some serious cash to be made.

Players of Concern

Herbie Farnworth (CTW – $780.6k – 36 points):

Herbie gets the award for the most appearances in my Players of Concern section. To be fair, 36 points is actually respectable considering he spent most of the game under the sticks in a 66-0 shellacking. While scores of 55 and 36 over the past fortnight aren’t ideal, there’s no need to panic. Every time Herbie gets a ridiculous breakeven, like his 167 this week, he somehow manages to get close enough that he never really becomes cheap. I don’t expect anyone to seriously consider selling him, but if the thought has crossed your mind, just remember his next three games come against the Cowboys, Dragons and Broncos.

Jacob Kiraz (CTW – $644.4k – 32 points):

Canberra’s demolition of the Bulldogs made it difficult for Kiraz to get involved. With a breakeven of 140, he should comfortably fall below $600k over the next week or two. If you’re an owner, I’d be holding, especially with a great matchup against the Tigers this week. However, if the injury concerns continue and he looks restricted over the coming weeks, I’d be looking elsewhere.

If Kiraz is unaffected by injury, I’ll be looking to pick him up at a discounted price in the coming weeks

Greg Marzhew (CTW – $532.4k – 20 points):

Marzhew’s afternoon was cut short after being collected by a catapulting David Fifita. That leaves him with a five-round average of 41.8, which is a genuine concern, and I completely understand why nearly 6,000 SuperCoaches have already traded him out this week. That said, given he’s lost all value, is selling him really the best play? He could simply become a matchup-based CTW for the remainder of the season. It’s also worth noting that Marzhew averages 106.6 points in games this season where both Kalyn Ponga and Bradman Best play. Without Best, the Knights often rely on Fletcher Hunt to play left centre, who refuses to pass the ball to Marzhew.

My Trades

Believe it or not, I’m actually happy to save trades this week.

I’m fielding a very strong side, with players like Joe Tapine, Kulikefu Finefeuiaki, Fletcher Sharpe and Greg Marzhew all missing my starting 17.

I’ll be keeping a close eye on Hudson Young. His reduced minutes last week should see his price continue to fall, and I’m hoping to pick him up at a significant discount over the next couple of rounds.

I’ll also be looking to bring in Payne Haas over the coming rounds, though I’ll need to assess whether it’s worth spending a trade on him given my FRF is already quite strong.

Captaincy

I’m still undecided on my captaincy this week.

If Nathan Cleary was playing later in the round, I’d simply slap the captaincy straight on him and not think twice. However, with Penrith playing on Thursday, it just doesn’t feel right. Maybe it’s just superstition, but I’ve never liked captaining Thursday players.

At this stage, I’m leaning towards:

VC – Nathan Cleary vs Broncos (A)

Captaincy – Tom Trbojevic vs Titans (A) or Te Maire Martin vs Dragons (H)

If I do decide to VC Cleary instead of locking him in as captain, it’ll come down to Turbo or Te Maire Martin.

Turbo feels like he’s due for a monster score, but he hasn’t really shown enough recently to fill me with confidence. On top of that, while everyone, myself included, sees the Titans as an easy matchup, they’ve improved a lot defensively over the past month or so.

Then there’s Te Maire Martin, who’s in outstanding form and comes up against the Dragons. The only hesitation there is that the Dragons, much like the Titans, have tightened things up considerably compared to earlier in the season.

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

SC Adrian

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