KFC SuperCoach Draft 2021: Daily Telegraph NRL expert teams revealed
The draft is over and now it’s time for our experts to face the music after some truly strange picks. But who managed to assemble the best team?
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With the pre-season trials done and the NRL season almost upon us, now is the time for KFC SuperCoaches to get their Drafts done if you haven’t already! There are always a few wildcards and crazy moments in a draft and this year was truly no exception for our league, with Jazz Tevaga going in the first round!
Let’s see how our ‘draft experts’ went in putting their teams together for the 2021 KFC SuperCoach NRL Draft season!
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1. James Tedesco 2. Angus Crichton 3. Apisai Koroisau 4. Daniel Tupou 5. Brian To’o 6. Brian Kelly 7. Josh Papalii 8. Josh McGuire 9. Alex Twal 10. Mitch Barnett 11. Corey Allan 12. Jamal Fogarty 13. Channel Harris-Tevita 14. Kotoni Staggs 15. Ben Hunt 16. Luke Thompson 17. Anthony Milford
With drafts in 2021 there is realistically only two players who should be taken with the first two picks, and Wilfred Zee understandably took the best player in KFC SuperCoach with James Tedesco. With a host of guns still on the board with his next picks he was tempted to just go hard and lock in Crichton and Matterson, but smarter heads prevailed and he went with Crichton but chose to nab a hooker, one of the lowest depth positions. After that Wilfred went against the crowd and really stuck into getting his CTW core, but it paid off as he ended up with one of the best backlines in the league. While he did grab a hooker early, he possibly left the rest of his spine a bit late and ended up with Fogarty, Harris-Tevita and Hunt as his halves options, which isn’t bad at all, but not the best in the league. Kotoni Staggs is totally worth drafting and holding until he returns so getting him in the 14th round was a steal. And completely unsurprisingly ended off the draft with Anthony Milford in the 17th!
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1. Nathan Cleary 2. Jason Taumalolo 3. Ryan Matterson 4. Payne Haas 5. Dylan Brown 6. Tino Fa’asuamaleaui 7. Brett Morris 8. Connor Watson 9. Latrell Mitchell 10. Luciano Leilua 11. Stephen Crichton 12. Adam Reynolds 13. Dylan Edwards 14. James Roberts 15. Jamayne Isaako 16. Paul Vaughan 17. Andrew McCullough
With Teddy going first the only logical pick was Nathan Cleary, not only being one of the best players in the game, but also the best at one of the skinniest positions in halfback. My plan was to get Taumalolo and then Koroisau, but after being snaked by Wilfred I decided to go with the strategy he passed over, grabbing Ryan Matterson, which combined with Payne Haas and Tino, gives me arguably the best forward pack in the league and really shoring up my base stats. After that I turned my attention to completing my spine with Dylan Brown, but I decided to leave my fullback till later seeing as everyone else had a fullback. However this backfired as Rob took AJ Brimson as his backup right before me. After being snaked again and missing out on the top hookers I decided I needed to lock in Connor Watson, one of the last good hookers remaining. While my other leaguemates sorted their CTW early, I decided to leave it late given it’s just a 6-person league and the vast depth at the position. With Payne Haas suspended for four weeks I needed a reliable FRF backup and nabbing Paul Vaughan in the 16th round was INCREDIBLE value.
1. Cody Walker 2. Kalyn Ponga 3. David Nofoaluma 4. Shaun Johnson 5. Tevita Pangai 6. Jake Trbojevic 7. Alexander Brimson 8. Addin Fonua-Blake 9. Dane Gagai 10. Joseph Tapine 11. Maika Sivo 12. Ken Maumalo 13. Victor Radley 14. Christian Welch 15. Nelson Asofa-Solomona 16. Cameron Smith 17. Luke Brooks
Rob had some incredible picks throughout the draft, proving that going first or second isn’t everything and it’s actually often the middle that yields some of the best picks … especially in a six man league. After nabbing Cody Walker and Ponga and SJ in the first four rounds his spine was nearly complete, however with all the best hooking options gone Rob was left to wait on hooker, getting one of his Roosters in Victor Radley extremely late. David Nofoaluma in the third round was ballsy, with Rob the first to take a CTW, before rounding out his forward pack with several of the lower end guns like Jake Trbojevic and Addin Fonua-Blake. While they don’t have the incredible averages of players like Angus Crichton or Payne Haas, they are still among the best at the position. Grabbing Tevita Pangai in the fifth was also risky, but looks like it will pay off with TPJ set to play big minutes at Brisbane. Rob also assembled one of the best backlines in the league, but compared to WIlfred’s, Rob’s certainly seems more boom or bust with players like Sivo and Maumalo. And finally Rob ended his draft by snaking me yet again, grabbing Cameron Smith with his second last pick … another risk, but on the odd chance he does play again, he is worth holding onto.
1. Damien Cook 2. Daly Cherry-Evans 3. David Klemmer 4. Jarome Luai 5. Isaah Yeo 6. Clint Gutherson 7. Nathan Brown 8. James Fisher-Harris 9. Valentine Holmes 10. Bradman Best 11. Tyson Frizell 12. Joey Manu 13. Euan Aitken 14. Jai Arrow 15. Jack Wighton 16. Jake Averillo 17. Reagan Campbell-Gillard
The SuperCoach Guru Tom Sangster has come a long way in the last few years, from taking ridiculous early picks in 2019, to coming out with the best spine in the league in 2021! Sangster was cheering that Damien Cook fell to him in the first round, before rounding out his other early picks, finishing his spine and assembling a monster forward pack with Klemmer, Yeo, Brown and JFH! Tommy was also wise to the huge amount of depth at CTW and left it late but still ending up with some really high upside players like Val Holmes, Joey Manu and the solid CTW base of Euan Aitken. Jack Wighton in the 15th round was great value, getting one of the best remaining backups.
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Logan Swinkels
1. Jazz Tevaga 2. Ryan Papenhuyzen 3. Jahrome Hughes 4. Tohu Harris 5. Junior Paulo 6. David Fifita 7. Luke Keary 8. Campbell Graham 9. Daniel Saifiti 10. Patrick Carrigan 11. Josh Addo-Carr 12. Charlie Staines 13. Peta Hiku 14. Kurt Mann 15. Briton Nikora 16. Moeaki Fotuaika 17. Ronaldo Mulitalo
There is always someone who takes a crazy pick in the opening rounds, and this league was no exception, with our resident video guru Logan quickly backflipping on his Harry Grant pick and going with Jazz Tevaga fifth overall! Luckily Loges quickly rebounded, targeting his spine and landing Papenhuyzen and Jahrome Hughes, before turning his attention to his forwards and putting together arguably the best forward pack in the league after me! With Harris, Paulo, Saifiti and Carrigan he has solid base stats locked in, while David Fifita give him some incredible upside.
1. Harry Grant 2. Cameron Munster 3. Tom Trbojevic 4. Zac Lomax 5. Cameron Murray 6. Sio Siua Taukeiaho 7. Mitch Moses 8. Josh Mansour 9. Brandon Smith 10. Marty Taupau 11. Viliame Kikau 12. Roger Tuivasa-Scheck 13. Kyle Flanagan 14. Kurt Capewell 15. Sione Katoa 16. Curtis Sironen 17. Alex Johnston
While some say drafting last can be a curse, in a six-man league it can be a blessing in disguise and for Copes it was certainly the latter. With Logan backflipping on Harry Grant, Copes was happy to pick him up and is clearly all in on the Melbourne in 2021, picking up fellow Storm gun Cameron Munster. As Copes pointed out it doesn't matter if you win your early H2H match-ups in draft, all that matters is making and winning finals, so he wasn’t afraid to take a punt on injured players like Grant and Trbojevic. Playing on the turn allowed Copes to take two players in a row each time and this helped him get some incredible back-to-back value picks, like Cam Murray and Taukeiaho, and RTS and Viliame Kikau. He might be playing for the Bulldogs in 2021, but Kyle Flanagan was another great value pick, covering both halves positions and kicking goals! He may not have Teddy or Cleary, but Copes still ended up with one of the most balanced teams in the league, and will have some amazing talent coming back after the early weeks of the season.
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