The Mastermind: SuperCoach is the science of luck and love ... and discovering the Todd Particle

Dropping out of school aged 14 to pursue a career in fantasy sports, The Mastermind discovered the formula of W=JT² and that he should always trust the Todd (Carney) Particle. Meet our new SuperCoach guru.

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A devastating Jason Taumalolo run leaves a trail of defenders scattered behind him.

It’s rugby league at it’s best – amazing athleticism, bodies clashing and crunching.

For the average fan that’s more than enough excitement, but us SuperCoaches have our own crunching to do. Number crunching that is.

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Each one of those defenders on the ground is a tackle bust for Taumalolo, there’s points for the run, points for the linebreak, points deducted for the poor defenders whose heads are still spinning, and more points coming as he steamrolls the fullback and slams the ball down for a try.

Once SuperCoach has its hooks in you it will change the way you watch rugby league forever – the numbers pop in your mind every play of every game.

It’s how I discovered the now famous formula of W=JT². Or WIN=Jason Taumalolo x Johnathan Thurston.

Number crunching and planning will certainly help your team climb the SuperCoach rankings, but a little luck comes in handy when you make big decisions – like the time I discovered the Todd Particle.

The Todd Particle in all his glory during the 2010 season, well before the ... incident.

In 2010, my SuperCoach team was sitting comfortably in the top 20 overall rankings after just the second in a seemingly endless Maroons Origin series streak.

I was ready for the race home with the top prize and glory well within reach.

Using careful planning I had close to a full team on the paddock through the notoriously difficult bye rounds surrounding Origin and crept my way up the rankings.

As my team’s form was peaking, the Todd Particle was fizzling.

After being sacked by the Canberra Raiders in 2008, Carney spent 2009 playing with the Atherton Roosters then found his way back to the NRL with the Sydney Roosters.

He returned to NRL SuperCoach at a rookie price and players snapped him up. An experienced NRL half, who kicks goals and is cheap as chips? Yes, please.

Mitchell Pearce and Todd Carney together after the Roosters beat Carney’s former team, the Raiders, in 2010.

With Mitchell Pearce and Braith Anasta nailed down in the halves, Brian Smith started his own experiment and gave Carney a shot at fullback.

It produced mixed results.

Carney had a monstrous 133 point haul as he scored two tries in a 25-6 win over the Broncos, either side of that were scores of 34 and 31.

Come Round 14, Smith gave Carney a chance back in his natural state and shifted Anasta to lock.

Without the tries and points for hit-ups he was getting at fullback it was time to research into the Todd Particle.

I was searching for a POD (point of difference). Only a few of my rivals had NSW captain and Newcastle Knights fullback Kurt Gidley. He was a goal kicker with an insatiable appetite for work and a higher average than Carney.

Kurt Gidley just after he got to the blueberry pie bit of Wonka’s three-course dinner gum.

Bringing Gidley in was the logical move. In my mind, it was the right chemical tweak to edge me further up the table.

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Carney scored tries in 8 of the last 11 games, and won the Dally M after a year out of the NRL and half a season out of position.

My team limped into the top 50 as the Todd Particle exploded in my face – so to speak.

I’ve never been closer to the title and I’ll keep coming back to the SuperCoach lab every year until it’s mine.

That one regrettable decision will bubble away in my mind forever. I’m sure Carney knows what I’m talking about.