TCT SuperCoach: Your Weekly Guide to Surviving the Season

Round 24 has come and gone, and once again the scores were down. It’s rare to see this many low-scoring rounds in a row, and I can’t recall many stretches like it this season. Once again, the popular captaincy picks failed to deliver.

Congratulations to Moses Supposes, who topped the TCT league this round with a solid 1,300 points.

My Team

I scored 1,196 points last round in what was one of my poorer performances of the season. Unfortunately, that score knocked me out of my main H2H competition, leaving me with just the overall rankings to chase.

In an attempt to chase down my H2H opponent, I traded in Leka Halasima for Joe Tapine and Kalyn Ponga for James Tedesco.

Leka came home with a late try to punch out a respectable 71 points, although I expected more. Unfortunately, Tapine scored his highest score of the season with 116 points. However, I feel a lot better knowing that I wouldn’t have played Tapine anyway had I not traded him out.

I also really wanted Ponga for his matchup against the Titans at home, and he scored a solid 86 points. Unfortunately, though, I really want Teddy back in for his matchup against the Tigers this week. However, with Reece Walsh scoring just 1 point after suffering an early injury, I’m just short of being able to make the move straight from Walsh to Teddy this week.

I also kept my trust in Nicho Hynes as my captain, who unfortunately produced a very similar performance to the week prior, scoring only 58 points this week in what was quite a lacklustre effort.

Round 24 Review

Let’s break down the key SuperCoach takeaways from Round 24.

Premium Guns

Tallis Duncan (2RF/CTW – $737.6k – 99 points):

Left side, right side, second rower, centre, it doesn’t matter for Tallis Duncan, who is another one that just seems to get the job done. The Bunnies have quite a tough run home, with games against the Warriors and Roosters, although they do have a game against the Titans. However, Duncan seems to just get it done no matter the opponent.

Jamayne Isaako (CTW – $670k – 106 points):

An incredibly strong and versatile performance from Isaako last round, who grabbed a try, try assist, two linebreaks, an intercept, a try saver and 39 points in base. Even in a relatively low-scoring affair, Isaako gets the job done.

I get the feeling Isaako is set to explode against Parra this round.

Beau Fermor (2RF – $669.1k – 118 points):

A nice five-round average of 82.8 for Beau Fermor, thanks to his strong two-try performance against the Knights last round. Beau Fermor gets through a lot of work, with a base of 51 points last week, and to top this off, Fermor knows how to find the try line. Should you look to bolster your 2RF position for the final rounds of the season, I can definitely see the merit in buying Fermor as a POD play, with just 2% ownership, especially with the game’s top 2RFs like Hudson Young and Dylan Lucas out for the rest of the season.

Mid-Range Movers

Matt Dufty (FLB – $625.4k – 116 points):

Since officially taking over the fullback role from Round 19, Matt Dufty has averaged an impressive 80.7 points per game. He’s been outstanding for the Bunnies, offering a strong floor with clear upside for attacking stats. The one concern is Jye Gray lurking in the background, who could step in and replace Dufty at any given stage.

What a return to the NRL it has been for Matt Dufty!

Tallyn Da Silva (HOK – $472.9k – 97 points):

Shoutout to TDS, who grabbed his highest SuperCoach score since signing with Parra, with 43 points in base and power, along with two tries and two linebreaks. He’s not someone I would recommend picking up for SuperCoach, but he’s becoming much more of a pickable option in the future as he works closer to an 80-minute role.

Players of Concern

Nicho Hynes (HFB – $980.5k – 58 points):

Back-to-back scores of 61 and 58 see Nicho lose his status as the million-dollar man. While the Sharks have the best run home out of any team, with games against the Titans, Parra and Storm, I have genuine concerns that Nicho will struggle in these games without his halves partner, Braydon Trindall. Does anyone have the guts to trade him out with these incredible fixtures coming up?

Hynes was running around in circles last round once Trindall was taken off.

My Trades

I’ll be making the following trades:

• Reece Walsh >>> James Tedesco
• Nicho Hynes >>> Sam Walker

Now that I’ve been knocked out of my main H2H competition, I’m going all in with a hail Mary play, using my final two trades to get in James Tedesco and Sam Walker ahead of their mouth-watering matchup against the Tigers.

The most contentious trade here is obviously trading out Nicho Hynes, who has been a must-have in everyone’s side. Despite the incredible matchups still to come for Hynes, I’m going to go against him – he sits in 99.7% of all teams ranked in the top 1%.

While Hynes has had a poor couple of weeks, the main reason for this is not only because I want to go against the majority, but because I truly think that, with Braydon Trindall out, Hynes focuses too much on organising the side rather than playing what’s in front of him. This leads to fewer SuperCoach points.

Is it head loss from me? Possibly. But I simply have to make some hail Mary plays if I want to see rapid improvement in the final few rounds we have left.

Captaincy

VC – Jamayne Isaako vs Parra (H)

Similar to my thinking above, I think most people will look to VC Herbie Farnworth. Instead, I’m going to VC Jamayne Isaako, who I believe is about to explode, especially with a nice matchup against Parra this week at home.

C – James Tedesco vs Tigers (H)

Isaako would have to get 150+ if I’m to loop because, on the basis that Teddy does actually play this time around, I think he is simply a must-have and must-captain. This screams 180+ for Teddy.

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

SC Adrian

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