Cronulla fullback Ben Barba is the Round 7 NRL SuperCoach spoiler

FIT and firing Cronulla fullback Ben Barba continues to go from strength to strength this season. Is it a mirage or is Dally M Ben back?

• Round 6: Taylor made for it
• Round 5: No love from Milf
• Round 4: Hunt or be hunted
• Round 3: Pass the Parcell

IN any given NRL round many players go large in terms of SuperCoach, scoring multiple tries, try assists and offloads.

Most of them are your standard SuperCoach superstars, owned by every team that’s not auto-selected. But others come out of nowhere or manage a huge jump in output.

These are our SuperCoach spoilers. The players whose success leads to the demise of countless SuperCoach teams.

BEN BARBA, CRONULLA, FLB-5/8, $316,000

In case you were wondering, the blood running down your screen is mine.

Did you see Ash Taylor get ironed out at the weekend?

A flick on the chin compared to how my SuperCoach team fared.

I was seeing stars from Thursday night and it only got worse.

The poorest player in my league would have gone close to stitching me up.

And I’m pretty sure they auto-filled their team and have since gone to jail.

But, as often happens, I didn’t play the bloke in cell block C — I played the guy who captained Milf, had JT, Oates, Holland AND played Mitchell and Barba on the field.

Although I’m one of nearly a third of coaches who signed Barba on I just didn’t see that performance coming.

ROUND 8 SUPERCOACH PODCAST

Sure, the livewire fullback is fit, svelte and in good form and we know he can carve up the opposition when he hits top gear, but in terms of SuperCoach I just didn’t see him as a keeper this year.

I had him pegged as a 50-tops type player, just hanging by his fingernails in my team because of an uncanny knack this season of bobbing up for tries.

And he did it again against the Raiders … twice.

Ben Barba celebrates after scoring a try against the Raiders on Sunday. Picture: AAP

Add to that a try assist, some good tackle busts and offloads and I thought I had jumped in the hot tub time-machine and wound up in 2012.

In fact I’d written a note to myself just last week which said “Get rid of Barba”.

It was written just above: “Bring in RTS”.

Dodged a 9mm there.

So is Dally M Ben back?

Does that performance see him push in to the keepers’ queue?

Probably not.

The former Bulldog and Bronco is growing in confidence and the Sharks are relying on him to weave his attacking magic but I still can’t see him averaging much more than 55 by season’s close.

But many coaches will now be happy to ride the Braba money train a little longer.

Then they’ll need to look trade option.

With RTS out, Tedesco is the standout SuperCoach fullback.

If you want a fullback on your bench to cover Teddy during the big bye rounds then your options are limited and they don’t include Barba.

In fact, Eels smoky Corey Norman, Roosters young gun Latrell Mitchell and Canberra winger Jordan Rapana look the best bets until after the Origin period.

There’s probably some others out there but Norman is the only option who offers full coverage for Teddy and the chance of some high scores.

Barba is an outside Origin chance and also misses Rounds 12 and 15, alongside teammates and SuperCoach fullback options Valentine Holmes and Jack Bird.

Bulldog ace Will Hopoate will miss Round 12 due to religious beliefs and may get an Origin call-up.

Dragons speedster Josh Dugan is a likely Origin starter, Manly wunderkind Tom Trbojevic will miss Rounds 12 and 18, as will Melbourne’s Cameron Munster.

Lachlan Coote and Michael Morgan’s Cowboys share the Round 12 and Round 19 byes with the Tigers.

Mitchell’s Roosters have the Round 12 bye and Rapana’s Raiders are out in Round 15.

I’ve almost talked myself into Norman but you’ll have to excuse me. My bandage needs changing.