NRL SuperCoach Cheapie Bible Round 19: It’s time to trim the fat

AS we enter the run towards the NRL SuperCoach finals, resident stats nerd Trent Copeland delves deep to find the buff nuffs that could make or break your season.

HANDS up if you were caught napping and had either of James Tedesco or Jai Arrow (heaven forbid BOTH!) in your 17 this week and copped an Auto Emergency.

Yep, a lot of people were in that boat and as a result, lots of coaches in NRL SuperCoach — presented by hipages — copped the Kurt Mann 20 points off the bench treatment. So, it’s important that we now stop tinkering with money making and start trimming the ‘fat’ so to speak.

EARLY MAIL: Team news ahead of TLT

CASUALTY WARD: Updates on every club ahead of round 19

If you missed it last week … By way of definition, a ‘nuff’ is a player who you want to NEVER take the field in the NRL for the remainder of 2018. Season-long injuries, players who have left for the Super League in the UK or just sit well down the pecking order in a particular position are the order of the day. To top it off, we want to look for players who tick three specific boxes:

— Base price ($164k)

— Dual position flexibility

— Play in a team with a majority of late Saturday or Sunday fixtures (VC-loophole purposes)

For reference, the teams who have the best schedule for ‘nuffs’ are the Dragons, Warriors, Roosters and Sharks.

Let’s have a look …

Resident SuperCoach stats nerd Trent Copeland.

TRADITIONAL CHEAPIES

Manase Fainu HOK (MNL | $164,600) — 95 points

What a game from second gamer Manase Fainu! 39 tackles, a try assist, 20 points in effective offloads, a line break and 12 points in hit-ups in 77 minutes of action — that’s niiiiiice. But, sorry to be a downer here, surely you can’t be looking at Fainu? The BE of -70 and projected rise of almost $100k is alluring, but if you don’t have Smith and Cook in the two HOK slots you ' re just playing it wrong.

Even Robbie Farah and Josh Hodgson, you just can’t be playing the rest of the year out with a cheapie as your bench hooker let alone the impending return of Api Koroisau in round 21-22.

VERDICT — AVOID: Even if you’re flush with trades to trade him in AND back out, you’re FAR better off just nuff-ing someone like TPJ and then making your second HOK into Cam Smith/Damian Cook.

Lachlan Lewis 5/8 | HFB (BUL | $215,900) — 36 points

Up against the high flying Rabbitohs who have won NINE straight, it was hardly going to be a monster showing from young Lewis, but with the great base stats of 25 tackles once again he provides this score as a lowest possible outcome. Not bad for a rookie! The initial jump of $51,300 is nice, and with a BE of -17 he has a few more rises to go. Hopefully this weekend against the Eels he can push that 60+ point barrier yet again.

VERDICT — HOLD: Handy dual position flexibility if you’re a SJ owner, and match-ups against the Eels, Tigers and Sea Eagles to come in the next four rounds.

Marata Niukore CTW (PAR | $271,000) — 48 points

Well, the left-field POD option Niukore again played 75 minutes on an edge and again delivered around the 50-point mark in pure base stats. Does that make him a buy at $271k for the run home? Arguably, yes, but not for those teams who are low on trades. If we expect the run of 75 minutes to continue (which we do), Niukore is the perfect 7th CTW for the run home with numbers like 41 tackles and 11 points in hit ups as a worst-case scenario.

VERDICT — BUY: Risky play for sure, but a trade of Kurt Mann (named on bench) to Niukore could net $30k and quite a lot of points!

Jarome Luai of the Panthers looks to pass the ball during the Round 18 NRL match between the Penrith Panthers and the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. Picture: AAP Image

Jarome Luai 5/8 (PTH | $260,900) — 48 points

What a gun! Luai only scored 48 points this week, but man can this kid play. So much confidence taking on the line, tackle busting and solid last tackle options along with nice goal kicking mean that he is a very good first grader in waiting. What would I like to see? With DWZ out injured, let the kid play at fullback and shift Aekins to a wing … He’s earned it. But, in all likelihood we’ve seen the last of Luai for a while and thank him immensely for the $96,300 he made in just ONE week for us.

VERDICT — AVOID/HOLD: Don’t get tempted by the -86 BE, with Cleary, Peachey & Maloney back this young star in waiting will be waiting once more.

Luciano Leilua 2RF (STG | $239,400) — 48 points

After the stellar 69-point bomb in the big bye round, Leilua retained his spot on the bench for the Dragons (unfortunately for AE purposes). But, that didn’t stop the great man from producing as he went on to score 48 points in just 16 minutes of action including a line break and a beautifully worked in/out play for the try assist in the Dufty try in the second half. The worst part about this is that it probably solidifies his bench role and in most weeks that will see scores of under 20.

VERDICT — HOLD/SELL: It’s an annoying use of a trade, but if you ' re a VC- loophole enthusiast (like me) having ‘Lucy’ means your VC probably needs to go 120+ to even make it worthwhile — and how often does that happen?

NUFFS

No need for big explanations on types of players here, but the focus is on the Dragons, Roosters, Sharks and Warriors for the best late-in-the-round schedule until the end of the season for VC-loophole purposes. Here are some options covering all positions (except HOK).

Briton Nikora 2RF | CTW (SHA | $164,600)

Josh Kerr FRF | 2RF (STG | $164,600)

Tristan Sailor CTW | FLB (STG | $164,600)

Brock Gray FRF | 2RF (SYD | $164,600)

Zac Lomax CTW | FLB (STG | $164,600)

Kyle Flanagan HFB | 5/8 (CRO | $164,600)

Jai Field 5/8 | FLB (STG | $177,300)

FINAL VERDICT

Players that surpass $300k (or heaven forbid, start to lose cash!) will feature in this section with a summation of where they are at and what you should be looking to do in the future.

Reimis Smith CTW (BUL | $278,900) — 46 points

Smith crossed the stripe again (from one of the great man Hoppa’s beautiful 10 effective offloads) for the Bulldogs going on to score 46 points and increasing $52,400 in price. The BE has increased to 31 for this week so he’s right on the threshold of starting to plateau. Ideal world, playing against the Eels this weekend he scores nicely, but you probably need to plan a ‘nuff’ move next week.

VERDICT — HOLD: Smith has done his job, hopefully eclipsing the $300k barrier this week then becoming a sell.

* If players aren’t anywhere on the above lists it is because we deem them irrelevant at least for the time being.