Resident expert The Mastermind tries to steer resident nuffie Brad Ricks towards SuperCoach glory

This week our expert The Mastermind helps The Courier-Mail deputy sports editor and SuperCoach newbie Brad Ricks with choosing the all-important front-rowers.

BR: OK Mastermind, so last week was a good start getting the team set up and sorting out my No.9 (even if it was the one spot I really had my mind made up on). Now I need some help with the middle men. You up for it?

M: Yes indeed. Getting the mix right in this position can be tricky business. The cash cows can take a long time to fatten up with NRL coaches easing young players into the engine room with a slow increase in minutes. Cross your fingers they fall over the line for a try early to boost that growth.

Is Jordan McLean a good SuperCoach choice? In short, no. Picture: Zak Simmonds

BR: So my first candidate is Jordan McLean. While I am reasonably certain being a handful is not a points category for SuperCoach, this guy is a beast! I dig the way he goes about it on the field and want to pick him. Problem with the Cows is they have more quality props than a Hollywood backlot. Should I be worried that he gets lost in the mix up there?

M: Yes, you should be worried. Unfortunately there’s no SuperCoach points for how many players it takes to bring down man mountain McLean. Jason Taumalolo, Josh McGuire, Matt Scott, even Scott Bolton will demand minutes. McLean only played more than 50 minutes once last season. He’d need to pump up his output dramatically to be SuperCoach relevant. Adding offloads to his game would help but Paul Green has never been a fan of it.

In that same price range as McLean’s $474,000 you could take your pick from the Broncos likely to make the most of McGuire’s departure. 47% of coaches are on Tevita Pangai Jr at $495,000, he showed last year how explosive he can be. Joe Ofahengaue is also worth a look at $481,300.

Paul Vaughan scores well when he scores tries. Without that he’s less impressive. Picture: Brett Costello

BR: OK that’s food for thought. What about someone like the Italian Stallion Paul Vaughan? I guess you could probably make an argument for this guy as well when it comes to having a bunch of decent front-rowers around him, but he has a big motor and racks up stats. Am I on the money here?

M: Paul Vaughan was the eighth best SuperCoach player in 2017. Scoring nine tries at an average of 67.8. Pretty amazing feat for a prop. Without those meat pies in 2018 he averaged 52.7 pretty close to his career average.

BR: OK you stat-happy smartarse. What do I look for then? What gives me the best numbers? Is it tackles? Metres? Where do I go?

M: Offloads my friend. Any big bopper can crash into the line and do their tackles for a solid 45-50 points a week. How many of them can consistently get their arm free and promote the ball. An offload is worth four SuperCoach points. The two top props in SuperCoach last year were Andrew Fifita (58 offloads) and Martin Taupau (47).

Josh Papalli and Ryan James are two others to consider for big men with an attacking flair.

Big Payne Haas is the man you want running off the bench. Picture: Peter Wallis

BR: This is hurting my head. What about off the bench? Do I go with someone like a Tim Glasby? Reasonable price, at a new club where he will need to step up. Or do you swing for the fence on a young gun like Payne Haas where you can do the whole trade stuff and make some cash money?

M: I feel the Payne. You Haas to have him. Sorry about that... Yes, get the young Bronco in. He looks a special talent at a bargain price. Glasby’s been a 40 minute man his entire career at the Storm an extra 10mins with the Knights and he’ll make you some coin. You could say the same for Leeson Ah Mau joining the Warriors. But I’d prefer to wait until team list Tuesday to pick up another cash cow up front.