NRL SuperCoach 2020: The Mastermind picks his five must-have forwards
He’s never slipped out of the top 1000 in NRL SuperCoach and The Mastermind doesn’t plan on doing so in 2020. Check out his must-have forwards for the season ahead.
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It’s aliiiive! NRL SuperCoach 2020 is aliiiiive and The Mastermind’s lab is in overdrive. The summer is no time for Bali brawls, Christmas or cricket. NRL off-season is for cracking the code and finding the formula for NRL SuperCoach success. My 2019 efforts took me to a top 1000 finish but there’s no satisfaction there. So let’s start with some FORWARD thinking. Here are five players I’m locking in for the season ahead.
PAYNE HAAS
Paul Gallen and his glorious ball-hogging ways slowed into his eventual retirement, Corey ‘SC God’ Parker can only tease us with a return in the 9s.
The days of SuperCoach gods seemed long gone until teenager Payne Haas smashed out an amazing 78.3 points per game average in 2019. No player had a greater gap to his positional rivals last year. The next best front row options David Klemmer 66.4PPG and James Fisher-Harris 66.3PPG well off his pace.
Haas’s incredible average comes with just four meat pies, including that barnstorming run against the Panthers on his way to his top score of the year of 112. Usually the top scoring SuperCoach prop is someone who hits a purple patch of try-scoring form.
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Who can forget these classic seasons from big men who found the line again and again: Paul Vaughan 8 tries, 67.8PPG in 2017; Ryan James, 11 tries, 72.9PPG, 2016; Andrew Fifita 7 tries, 73.4, 2015; and Sam Burgess 10 tries, 89.3PPG, 2014.
Haas bettered all but Burgess 2014 with an amazing consistency and minutes from a player who only turned 20 in the off season. While most young props are eased into the NRL, Haas played 80 minutes twice and averaged 63.5 minutes per game and his lowest score was 51.
He started last year at $181,100 and finishing at $686,200. This year he’ll cost you $728,200 and he’s worth every cent.
The only thing that could make Haas a more compelling selection is goalkicking. Give him a go coach!
JASON TAUMALOLO
My first picked player every year. Taumalolo has emerged from a battle with rival JT, Jake Trbojevic, as the undisputed top backrower in SuperCoach.
While Trbojevic lost his attacking spark in 2019, Taumalolo showed improvement in a couple of attacking areas with a career best 10 line breaks and 23 offloads in 18 games. Valentine Holmes had a field day feeding off the offloads from Andrew Fifita at the Sharks.
The Cowboys are surely looking for more of the same.
The Cowboys’ engine room has lost a lot of experience with Matt Scott and Scott Bolton moving on expect nothing but another stellar season following on from 77.8PPG in 2019, 70.3PPG in 2018, 75.3PPG in 2017. His 2019 average could have been 81.2 if you discount the injury-affected 19 he had against the Broncos. He’ll cost you $723,400.
DAVID FIFITA
Fifita’s form in the last 8 rounds suggest he could rival Haas and Taumalolo as the best SuperCoach forward in the game. It’s a small sample size but once Fifita had that 80-minute edge backrower spot secured he scored 615 points at 76.8PPG, including back-to-back scores of 121 and 116. His powerful defender-swatting fend is SuperCoach gold and in those centuries he had more than 30 points for tackle busts each time. Luckily for SuperCoaches he spent the first two thirds of the season playing limited minutes off the bench, so you’ll get a top tier player for just $501,900.
RYAN JAMES
James gets a massive discount after his 2019 started with some shoddy form and ended with an ACL injury and score of 9 in Round 6.
At his best, James finished as the second best prop in 2016 with 11 tries at 72.9PPG. I doubt we’ll see anything like that from him again but his 2018 form of 62.6PPG and 2017 average of 59.7PPG show he’s a reliable scoring option.
James has dual front-row/second-row so can help cover injuries and suspensions. The Titans play the first bye round, so he has the potential to hang around into the tricky part of the season and be upgraded for the run home.
He’ll cost you just $354,700 and should steadily climb close to his starting price of last season of $585,800.
BLAYKE BRAILEY
Cameron Smith or Damian Cook for your number one hooker spot? Mull it over in your mind, swap them in and out with every revision of your team and when the first game kicks off toss a coin, you’ll be OK either way.
For now, lock in Cronulla Sharks cheapie Blayke Brailey for spot No.2.
He played back-up to his brother Jayden last year and looked good in a couple of longer opportunities presented including 58 in 58 minutes against the Broncos.
The Sharks hooker role is his to grab with Jayden moving to the Knights. Expect him to at least double his starting price of $201,000 if he gets 60 minutes per game.
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