KFC SuperCoach NRL Plus: These are the stats that matter to you

Looking for that extra edge to beat your mates at KFC SuperCoach NRL? Well, this is going to be right up your alley.

Whether you are after that statistical edge on the competition, need to know the latest injury news or are keen to know what the boffins at back office predict a player will score over the next few rounds then SC Plus is the place for you.

Subscribe now and not only will you get access to all the stats that matter you also have exclusive access to one article each week in which we will identify the statistical quirks for the upcoming round.

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1. Don’t be shocked if Teddy makes a ‘slow’ start

James Tedesco is outrageously expensive to start 2021, which seems fair when you consider that last year he scored three of the top-10 single game scores. But those making the big investment may have need to hold their nerve, as SC Plus reveals that Teddy has a horrible (for Teddy) history when it comes to two of his early opponents, averaging just 54.7PPG against the Wests Tigers (Rd 2) and 49.4PPG against the Sharks (Rd 5).

Now there are extenuating circumstances here, Tedesco has played the Wests Tigers just three times for scores of 61 (Rd 15, 2020), 68 (Rd 8, 2019) and 35 (Rd 1, 2018). And his early form against the Sharks was a mixture of horrible and injury affected. Tedesco scored 12 points against Cronulla in his NRL debut, a match in which he lasted just 30 minutes before suffering a season-ending ACL injury. A series of less personally devastating, but still underwhelming, scores followed with a 40 and 23 in 2013, 51 in 2015 and 14 points in just 38 minutes in 2017. Of course it’s not ALL doom and gloom with Tedesco scoring 76PPG each time he faced the Sharks in 2018 and 2019.

It doesn't matter which of Cody Walker or Cam Munster but you'll want one to start 2021.

2. It doesn’t matter which superstar 5/8 you pick but you should pick one

Cody Walker and Cameron Munster are priced apart from the rest of the five-eighth pack and SC Plus suggests finding the funds to start with one of them is well worth it. Munster is forecast to average 83.7PPG over the opening three rounds with Walker not far behind at 80.3PPG. The next nearest at the position are Luke Keary at 65.7 and Dylan Brown at 65PPG. You don’t want to drop 15PPG at one position so while it’s a lot of money to find I thin kit is worthwhile.

3. Here’s why cheapies matter, and how to use them

Of the ten top money makers from 2020 (based on price at end of season), nine started the season priced under $300K. The sole outlier was Patrick Carrigan and he was not too far outside the ‘cheapie’ price point with a starting price of $326,300.

Player	Starting price	End price	Rd peak	Final 5 Rd (played) avg
Talakai	$171,900	$562,800	19	73.2PPG
Luai	$257,400	$638,900	20	86.8PPG
Grant	$184,900	$546,300	12	64.4PPG
Fa'asuamaleaui	$217,500	$564,300	13	70.6PPG
Fogarty	$171,900	$470,000	19	56.8PPG
Starling	$201,00	$480,700	20	74.4PPG
E Katoa	$171,900	$430,000	13	58.4PPG
Rudolf	$171,900	$428,000	19	54.6PPG
Mann	$287,100	$524,000	12	63.6PPG
Carrigan	$326,300	$555,100	17	69.6PPG

The stats show that those who moved on the likes of Eliesa Katoa and, dare I say it, Harry Grant, at or around their mid-season peaks benefited. Rookie Katoa struggled with injuries as the season progressed and while Grant did not face away he was significantly outscored by the likes of Cam McInnes and those that made the pivot mid-season benefited considerably. Then there’s players like Toby Rudolf at the Sharks whose price peaked in Rd 19, but had made 98.5% of their profit by round 13 and were not producing top-flight scoring. Sometimes you need to ask yourself whether near enough is good enough and take what profit you deem reasonable at a midpoint of the season if it allows you to upgrade to a player averaging significantly more. And sometimes you stop caring about the money made and just enjoy the ride that players like Jarome Luai, Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and Siosifa Talakai take you on.

Luciano Leilua is a far superior SuperCoach player to Elliott Whitehead.

4. The busy bee gets the KFC SuperCoach NRL honey

I know this perhaps goes without saying but let me say it any way – don’t confuse real life NRL class with SuperCoach savoir faire. As a case in point let’s compare Elliot Whitehead and Luciano Leilua. Whitehead is a veteran of 24 Tests (20 for England and four for Great Britain) and 300 combined games in Super League and the NRL. He’s a trusty, crusty, veteran forward leader for one of the best packs in the NRL. Leilua is still finding his way in the NRL, far from a rookie with 63 games to his record and one Test for Samoa, but still developing his talents. if you were picking a team for 2021 and could only have one of these players I would expect the veteran Whitehead to go first.

But that’s real life, and this is SuperCoach, and in this game ‘Lucy’ is a class above the Englishman. Averaging almost identical minutes, and playing a very similar second-row role, the Wests Tigers hulk outworked Whitehead making more tackles and more hit-ups. Leilua was also more efficient with his work, converting his runs to over 8 metres at a greater rate, busting more tackles and throwing more offloads. Whitehead did assist in more try-scoring opportunities and, surprisingly, for me anyway, broke the line more but Leilua more than made up for that by scoring tries.

5. There’s power in picking a POD

SC Plus allows you to keep an eye on your competition which is an invaluable edge in this game. During the pre-season this means we can check the ownership rates of every player. When the footy begins in earnest you can keep an eye on which player is being targeted by your fellow SuperCoaches, which are being dropped and – crucially – the popularity of every player as captain.

When there does not appear to be much between players, as is the case with the equally talented Cody Walker and Cam Munster at 5/8 I’ll always take the player with the lower ownership. It seems plenty follow that plan too as just a week ago Walker was languishing with around 7% ownership while over 40% of coaches were picking Munster. Since then Munster has slipped to 35% ownership and Walker has more than doubled in popularity.

During the season I like to play it pretty safe in the early rounds with my captaincy choice sticking with Nathan Cleary, Angus Chricton, Ryan Matterson or, back in the day, the safe as houses Cam Smith.

But once we reach the final 8-10 rounds your tactics can change. If you are defending a high ranking then it never hurts to stick with the safe picks. If you are chasing a big green arrow then look outside the more popular picks and find a captain with big upside and low ownership.

6. Too busy to check ‘Teams’ we’ve got you covered

We get it, life gets in the way of KFC SuperCoach NRL sometimes. But never fear, SC Plus is here. There’s nothing worse than being forced to cop your automatic emergency just because you missed the latest selection news. If you have SC Plus we do the work for you flagging who’s in, who’s out and who’s injured.