NRL SuperCoach Bargain Basement: Slim cheapies pickings after Cleary bonanza
NATHAN Cleary rewarded owners last week with a huge $73,500 rise but this week it’s a lot less clear-cut in terms of cheapies options writes Trent Copeland.
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NATHAN Cleary rewarded owners last week with a HUGE $73,500 rise, and no doubt plenty more to come.
Almost 21 per cent of all SuperCoaches jumped on board the young gun before watching him not only play well, scoring a try, but also assume the goal kicking duties! Thank you Anthony Griffin, thank you.
This week, it’s a lot less clear-cut in terms of options — I mean, we can’t just have gun youngsters killing it every week. Let’s get into the best of the bunch!
Keep in mind while trading from now on that the Panthers, Sharks, Eels and Roosters have now finished their byes for the year and should be highly sought after.
Here we go …
Freshies
Mitch Barnett FRF | 2RF (Knights, 0.9 per cent owned) — 94 points
BARNETT! How good was he? Busting tackles for fun, 28 tackles, a try, two linebreaks and 21 points in hit-ups over 8m. Huge game. The man with the mid-season switch from the Raiders has made an immediate impact and as I mentioned last week has earned significant minutes from the outset (game one he played 58 minutes, this week? 70 minutes!) therefore he is by far the safest cheapies option this week in terms of job security. Two main downsides though; the round 18 bye and he is priced at an awkward $157k.
VERDICT: BUY *. Easily the best prospect this week for money making, however ... *Only buy if you have 12+ trades in my opinion as you will need to trade him out again, and misses round 18.
Jaydn Su’a CTW | 2RF (Broncos, 2.6 per cent owned) — 0 points
Two games played — 160 minutes played. Those are good signs when it comes to youngsters under Wayne Bennett in terms of trust. However, with Alex Glenn returning this week Su’A drops back to the bench and with a PPM of a disappointing 0.6 thus far, it doesn’t suggest big scores are on their way (52 and 42 so far). Dual position status is very handy, however that’s not enough to warrant the trade. Make sure you’re making at least $50k+ from the trade down to him as you won’t get the price rises of others this season — also known as bringing in a ‘NUFF’.
NRL PODCAST ROUND 17
VERDICT: I’m on the fence, which doesn’t help you I guess! It’s a no for me. I think you would only bring him in IF you’re OK with him potentially never playing again after this week when Sam Thaiday returns in round 19 (Broncos miss round 18 also).
Jacob Host FRF | 2RF (Dragons, 1.2 per cent owned) — 68 points
Host earned a starting gig last week after impressing in 45 minutes against the Storm in Wollongong in round 15 and didn’t disappoint, delivering 64 points in 54 minutes — it was against the Knights though! A BE of -22 looks great after two good scores, but this week’s prospects? Tariq Sims returns, and with Will Mathews listed as 18th man I wouldn’t be surprised to see Host either play under 25 minutes, or as the one who drops off the bench come final teams.
VERDICT: I said AVOID last week, and I still think that’s the right way to go despite the good game. Bumped back to the bench and Tariq Sims back hurts his prospects.
Tautalatasi Tasi CTW | 2RF (Rabbitohs, 0.6 per cent owned) — 25 points
Scoring 25 points on debut is nothing to be sneezed at, particularly the impressive PPM of 1.4 (for the mathematicians out there that’s a total of 18 minutes played) — 10 tackles, eight points in tackle busts, and seven points in hit-ups. Hard to get excited unless we see an increase in minutes this week, but his game does lend itself to being “SuperCoach friendly”.
VERDICT: Watchlist, no price rise until after the round 18 bye. Definitely not a buy for this week.
Danny Fualalo 2RF (Bulldogs, 0.8 per cent) — 23 points
The big fella played well in 30 minutes on the weekend, but really, the scoring potential isn’t there given the mass minutes Aiden Tolman, James Graham, Josh Jackson and David Klemmer eat up. The reason he even earns a mention is that he may see an expanded role in the round 18 bye round and then become a non-playing reserve. Certainly low on the priority list though.
VERDICT: Ah, no. No. No. Nooooooo.
Joseph Manu CTW | FLB (Roosters, 2.3 per cent owned) — 0 points
Pita Godinet HOK (Sea Eagles, 0.1 per cent owned) — 0 points
Brodie Croft HFB (Storm, 0 per cent owned) — 0 points
Curtis Scott CTW (Storm, 5.9 per cent owned) — 0 points
Jahrome Hughes FLB | CTW (Cowboys, 1.9 per cent owned) — 0 points
Cameron Cullen HFB | 5/8 (Titans, 5.2 per cent owned) — 0 points
Reimis Smith CTW (Bulldogs, 0 per cent owned) — 0 points
These guys are not named week, but keep them in the back of your mind.
VERDICT: Decent prospects given an opportunity, but not named for their respective sides. Watchlist.
Current Crop
Nathan Cleary HFB (Panthers, 27.8 per cent owned) — 61 points
It really is the SuperCoach gift that keeps on giving. Unbelievably great bye coverage, great base stats and, much like Kerrod Holland, Cleary has not only solidified his place in a strong Panthers outfit, but also assumed the goal kicking duties last weekend. I’ve also listed Cleary a buy below for those that didn’t jump on last week, with Widdop (Round 18 bye), Matterson (potentially dropped) and Ben Hunt (High BE) owners needing to potentially move on. I think with a BE of -69 he still presents great value.
VERDICT: HOLD/BUY. How good is he! Another try, and coverage of the all-important round 18 and 19 bye rounds.
Bevan French CTW | FLB (Eels, 28.1 per cent owned) — 0 points
Can the tryscoring record continue? Coming off the bye last week, and sitting with a BE still in the negatives at -8, French is a definite hold through the crucial round 18 bye. BUT. Do not play him in your 17 this week is my advice.
VERDICT: HOLD through the Eels great coverage of rounds 18 and 19, then upgrade to a gun or downgrade to a dual position nuff at that point.
Tevita Pangai Jr FRF | 2RF (Broncos, 18.0% per cent owned) — 31 points
Pangai probably played in a large majority of SuperCoaches scoring 17’s this week as an AE through the use of the VC loophole being their lowest playing benchie! Some of you have no idea what I’m talking about, so let’s move on. Pangai now has a BE of 38 to go along with a season average of 41.8PPG — You know what that means? It’s time to think about moving him on. Yes, already. He’s going to be a slow burner, but with the Broncos missing round 18 can you afford to hold on to him for another four or five weeks?
VERDICT: HOLD for conservative/low on trades SuperCoaches. SELL for aggressive coaches (or silly ones like me).
Dale Copley CTW (Roosters, 6.9 per cent owned) — 0 points
Gooooone. Don’t buy him! Base price will entice a few but a season average of 20.3PPG after 6 matches is hardly enticing.
VERDICT: PASS/SELL. Copley is only ever one try away from kickstarting price jumps, but in one of the worst teams in the comp, when will that be??
Ryan Matterson 5/8 (Roosters, 16.5 per cent owned) — 0 points
Well, this is awkward! Who would’ve thought that post bye the Roosters would returning, Matterson finds himself on the outer — named as 18th man! I hope no one passed on Cleary to hold Matterson for round 18 and 19 coverage. Well, if you did, as the Roosters play in the first match of the weekend this week you can make an informed decision knowing exactly what has happened with final teams.
VERDICT: If Hastings drops out for Matterson in late mail, HOLD. If not, I would SELL to Cleary. If you already own Cleary, then hold Matterson as he will provide owners with great coverage of rounds 18 and 19 if selected.
Vai Toutai CTW (Eels, 6.5 per cent owned) — 0 points
Toutai is on the outer at the Eels, and seemingly regardless of what plays out with Semi and Michael Jennings’ Origin prospects, Toutai is no longer safe to play Round 18.
VERDICT: SELL. Move him on if anything takes your fancy between now and round 18/19.
Thomas Leuluai 5/8 | HOK (Warriors, 2.5 per cent owned) — 46 points
Leuluai has jumped in ownership by over 2000 teams the past three weeks, and it will have been soothing for owners to see him not only play after the injury-affected seven-point game last week, but to get across the tryline and register 46 points. That’s scores of 66, 47 and 46 in the three full games in the past four weeks and, to be honest, that’s all we want from him in terms of a backup hooker making a little bit of cash.
VERDICT: HOLD. Keep him for a rainy day (AKA Cam Smith missing a game) and sell after round 19 at some stage.
Jake Marketo 2RF (Dragons, 3.2 per cent owned) — 37 points
Marketo saw a dip in minutes last week to 34 (from an average of 58.4 MPG the previous four rounds), which is alarming given Tariq Sims and Mike Cooper weren’t even in the rotation against the Knights. With a BE of 39 and the looming round 18 bye Marketo is a sell ASAP, and now drops out of the cheapies frame.
VERDICT: SELL. Like now! Before he starts dropping cash quicker than Sanga backflips on trade plans.
Nathan Davis CTW (Titans, 12.7 per cent owned) — 2 points
Poor old Nathan Davis was just never destined to be the great cash cow we all thought he could be. A horrific ankle dislocation/break on the weekend spells the end to his debut season, and we wish him well in recovery. No room for sentiment in SuperCoach however and after a price drop of $13.5k, he must be moved on at the first available opportunity at a very minimal profit.
VERDICT: SELL.
Craig Garvey HOK (Bulldogs, 2.3 per cent owned) — 23 points
This one isn’t about how well Garvey played on the weekend, or that he is a must buy this week but purely a memo to all SuperCoaches … Garvey is now priced back at $113k — Bottom dollar! So, why should we care? We know Hasler will play his hooker big minutes, and if anything happened to Lichaa that kept him out long term, Garvey would become a MUST.
VERDICT: Watchlist. Well, really Lichaa is the one to watch.
Javid Bowen CTW (Cowboys, 36.1 per cent owned) — 0 points
Sit tight with Bowen in the knowledge that he will play for you in round 18 when numbers are extremely thin.
VERDICT: HOLD.
That’s it for this week of cheapies, which ones will you take a punt on? Maybe it’s the week to sit on our trades and wait for round 18 to come along.
Good luck this weekend.
Originally published as NRL SuperCoach Bargain Basement: Slim cheapies pickings after Cleary bonanza
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