Bargain Basement: Weekly SuperCoach cheapie analysis

WHICH cheapies are must haves and who should you move on? Trent Copeland reveals all in this week’s SuperCoach cheapie analysis.

JAVID Bowen or Kerrod Holland? Or both?

There are huge choices to be made for money-making purposes this week.

There are a few newbies to grace the world of SuperCoach, and some who will definitely be the most traded in players of the year this week in Holland and Bowen. Does that mean they have longevity in their respective NRL teams? I’ll do my best to decipher that for you below.

The end of Round 6 marks the first big transition of the weekly Bargain Basement roundup. Four instalments of price-changes means that many of our initial cheapies have now reached well in advance of $250k (hallelujah) and as a result will no longer be covered in this article.

Jackson Hastings, Cody Walker* and Ashley Taylor are all in this category, and all should be in your teams for many rounds to come, Taylor’s huge score this week will take him perfectly to the round 12 bye hopefully around the $320k — $350k mark primed for an upgrade. You little beauty.

* If Adam Reynolds’ impending return this week means that Walker is dropped, and not Luke Keary as many believe, obviously he then becomes a sell.

FRESHIES

Javid Bowen CTW (Cowboys, 3.0% owned) — 63 points

We raved about his debut, and young Bowen was able to replicate the performance with another try in the Cowboys’ last-ditch win over the Panthers. What a shame he doesn’t have a completely clear path to stardom, with Kane Linnett likely to return either this week or next. Ahhhhh! Ideally, we would see Linnett return this week, with Bowen sitting on the bubble for us come round 12 when he will likely come into the side with JT and Morgan out.

Verdict: Bowen is a SuperCoach tempter. If he is named, I will likely jump on in the hope he gets one rise now, and plays the all-important round 12 bye. If not, wait until named to pounce!

Kerrod Holland CTW (Bulldogs, 2.2% owned) — 79 points

Well, we did rave about this youngster’s potential with the 44 on debut. Did anyone expect such an accomplished performance in game two? No way. A try to win the game, goalkicking duties (he looks a dead eye!), 24 tackles and a linebreak. There are no negatives here. Holland will see price rises with Chase Stanley injured, he will also play the games on Sundays where Will Hopoate will miss, and you would expect he plays the two Origin weeks where Josh Morris will vacate a centre spot.

Verdict: I would be shocked if he didn’t see at least three price rises. The kid is a gun. Must have.

Kerrod Holland is a must have for SuperCoaches. Picture. Phil Hillyard

Cameron Cullen HFB | 5/8 (Titans, 0.2% owned) — 51 points

A beautiful step and seriously elusive footwork around the defensive line saw Cullen notch a try on debut. Cullen’s 10 points in tackle busts shows how elusive he was, but -5 in missed tackles, and no real involvement in attacking raids when the game was in the balance (which is fair enough given he was on debut) means that he may not be relevant in SuperCoach.

Verdict: Nice debut, the kid has talent. Tyrone Roberts was only missing due to bone bruising so he will likely be back soon, but whack Cullen on your watch list.

Abraham Papalii FRF (Roosters, 1.1% owned) — 29 points

A steady debut for the young Roosters big man, and the fact that Taukeiaho was injured in this match along with the Roosters winning is a good sign for his place in the team. A linebreak, an offload, 2 tackle busts and all of his runs over 8m is a good sign, however only the 6 tackles and limited minutes are significant signs of caution. On top of this is the impending return of Mitchell Pearce, who would see Aiden Guerra move back to the back row, and Isaac Liu to the bench, meaning Papalii may in fact drop out of the side.

Verdict: Good start, but would need big minutes this week to be relevant.

Abraham Papalii had a good start for the Roosters.

Luke Bateman FRF | 2RF (Raiders, 1.3% owned) — 14 points

Not the debut SuperCoaches had hoped for, as Bateman has 6-8 weeks in the side with Iosia Soliola on the sidelines, plus the added bonus that the Raiders are playing the round 12 bye. Hopefully this week will see some increased minutes and Bateman can at least make an impact on the SuperCoach scoreboard. Otherwise he’s a no go.

Verdict: Watch again this week, but not looking like an option.

Will Pearsall 5/8 (Knights, 0.3% owned) — 10 points

Joined the Knights bench after the reshuffle, really has no avenue to minutes other than the bench utility role which we all know is SuperCoach poison.

Verdict: Ah … NEXT!

Nathan Davis CTW (Titans, 24.2% owned) — 0 points

Just a reminder that he is there. Back playing now in Queensland Cup, but with Will Zillman’s return seeing John Olive drop out, it may be a while before we get a third game out of Davis. The minute an injury/suspension happens though, Davis sits with a BE of -41 and is a must-have.

Verdict: Broken record … Watch team lists.

Current Crop

Te Maire Martin HFB | 5/8 (Panthers 15.9% owned) — 59 points

Played a very good game in a losing outfit for the Panthers. Martin looks lively every time he touched the ball and it definitely helps that he plays next to the #CartyParty in attack. 20 tackles, a last touch, 8 points in offloads, a linebreak and plenty of attacking runs tallied the 59 points without a try or try assist. Noooiiiiiicccceeee.

Verdict: Beat his BE of 16 comfortably, but with hooker James Segeyaro taking contact at practice last week, how long will this last? Fingers crossed for all of you that he stays in the side.

Te Maire Martin is looking good for the Panthers. Picture: Gregg Porteous

Latrell Mitchell CTW | FLB (Roosters, 60.8%% owned) — 39 points

Man, I feel like this is Jason Taumololo circa 2014 all over again. Every time Mitchell takes on the tryline he (or the bunker) somehow finds a way to come up short. The Rooseters are finding their groove in attack and winning last week against the Bunnies will no doubt help things. 12 points in tackle busts, an offload and 28 points in runs over 8m. The kid is going to go huge very soon, mark my words.

Verdict: There is another 40+ score in base stats with no try or try assist. Be patient, there is a big game coming.

Jayden Nikorima HOK | HFB (Roosters, 43.2% owned) — 18 points

Ownership percentage has dropped 7% in the last week, and rightly so. The only issue is who to go to with options few and far between. Nikorima could well be back to base price of $113,700 very soon and out of the Roosters side altogether once Pearce returns.

Verdict: Find a hole and crawl into it for a week or two. Hopefully when you resurface he has miraculously disappeared from your team.

Jacob Saifiti FRF | 2RF (Knights, 42.1% owned) — 32 points

Started from the bench which is disappointing given Robbie Rochow was a late withdrawal due to his broken arm. His BE will start to catch up with his average but with the Knights beating the Tigers on Sunday, both Saifiti brothers should be safe in the side for the near future at least.

Verdict: Not a huge score by any means, Saifiti is almost ready to be cashed in for H2H players, those who are playing overall too may want to hold for round 12.

Daniel Saifiti FRF (Knights, 7.0% owned) — 30 points

Did you take Sanga’s advice and see the late change coming to get Daniel Saifiti’s first price rise? Although he was named 18th man, Saifiti was always playing and showed some good signs when he was on. 16 tackles and 14 points in runs over 8m in minimal game time is enough to earn us some nice caaaaaash, and hopefully cover the round 12 bye.

Verdict: Those that jumped on should be happy, and those that missed out should avoid now that he has already jumped $35k in price.

Daniel Saifiti showed some good signs for the Knights. Picture: Gregg Porteous

Pat Mata’utia (Knights, 34.6% owned) — 29 points

Hmmm, #PatMat has let us down the last three weeks and could find himself as the most traded out player in all of SuperCoach this week given the Holland/Bowen hype.

Verdict: As with the Saifiti brothers, overall players should hold for round 12, but H2H players may want to take the cash and run!

Jordan Rankin FLB | 5/8 (Tigers, 11.2% owned) — 82 points

Last week I said … “I wouldn’t blame anyone for selling, but gee he could get a second wind of price rises against the Knights.” I hope you kept him! Two tries, two linebreaks, and also had the goalkicking duties while Mitch Moses nurses a sore groin.

Verdict: With this big score in his rolling average for the next 3 weeks, Rankin will peak in price perfectly to cover round 12. So handy.

Josh Aloiai FRF | 2RF (Tigers, 18.1% owned) — 29 points

The man we all know as ‘Aioli’ hasn’t set the world alight this year in limited game time, however, Aaron Woods’ 6-8 week timeline for his ankle injury opens up significant front-row rotation minutes. Tim Grant will be heavily relied upon but you would think young Aloiai would come to benefit.

Verdict: Could be a sneaky buy this week, with an eye on the great bye schedule for the Tigers.

Leivaha Pulu FRF (Titans, 2.1% owned) — 19 points

Disappeared in this one, minutes were down, no offloads and if you own him I would start putting any cheapies that pop up on your watchlist.

Verdict: If you own, sit tight. If not, he’s one to ignore.

Titans Leivaha Pulu is tackled during the Cronulla Sharks v Gold Coast Titans rugby league game at Shark Park, Cronulla. Pic Brett Costello

Eloni Vunakece FRF (Roosters, 0.4% owned) — 20 points

Now averaging 20 points after three games. Playing minimal minutes at a PPM of 0.9 which isn’t good enough for us. All of his runs were over 8m and looks a steady NRL prospect, just not for SuperCoach at this stage.

Verdict: No-go zone.

There we go, two of the year’s potential best cash cows in Holland and Bowen, but both have longevity concerns just as Te Maire Martin did. Who will you choose? I hope this edition of Bargain Basement helped you with that decision!

Good luck this weekend.