NRL SuperCoach hipages Trade Comparison: Two best trades of round 13

LOOKING for some SuperCoach NRL — presented by hipages — trade advice? Our stable of experts nominate their two best acquisitions of the round.

LOOKING for some SuperCoach NRL — presented by hipages — trade advice? Our stable of experts nominate their two best acquisitions of the round.

ROB SUTHERLAND

Jesse Ramien

No position has seen such a dramatic changing of the guard in 2018 as the CTW. In the past plenty of ‘keepers’ at the position weren’t really CTW but sadly the days of being able to load up on fullbacks/halves such as Tommy Turbo and Cam Munster or forwards such as Tohu Harris, Manu Ma’u (and even Simon Mannering back in the day) are long gone — blame Tom Sangster.

As a result the CTW is one of the weakest I’ve ever seen with just three players (Ryan Matterson, Esan Marsters and Mahe Fonua) currently averaging over 60PPG — and Matterson is a 2RF! Young Shark Jesse Ramien falls short of the 60PPG mark currently, but he has a 5RA of 59.8 and 3RA of 68.3 and thanks to his two try 113 point barnstormer last week a BE of -28. The Sharks have a pretty kind draw coming up with the Rabbitohs, Tigers, Broncos and Warriors (absent all Test stars) and none of those teams have defended CTW particularly well so far. He may yet be a keeper to the end, and if not you’ll be able to enjoy the bye round points, a nice cash bump and then trade him out for a round 17 player like Euan Aitken.

Jesse Ramien scored a ton last week against the Knights.

Daniel Alvaro

A PPM beast, Alvaro has really stepped up his minutes this year (averaging 47 MPG in 2018 as compared to 37 MPG in 2016/17) and as a result his scores are nearing keeper territory. Averaging over 50PPG in base the only knock on him is that he provides minimal attacking stats. There is talk that his minutes might drop off when/if Nathan Brown is fit again but I just can’t see the Eels relegating their best defensive worker when they are fighting to avoid the wooden spoon. Available for just $493,400 I’m tempted to grab him over Andrew Fifita (yes I don’t own Fifi yet) as the $200K would come in handy and who is to say Fifta won’t be rested again around the Test window.

PODCAST! Teams are in for the toughest round of the year so far. Get the lowdown with Tom Sangster and Tim Williams.

TIM WILLIAMS

David Nofoaluma

Nofo is an absolute bargain purchase, with keeper credentials and round 13 coverage. The Tigers winger is the definition of a base-stat beast as a CTW, while boasting season averages of 63.5PPG and 59.9PPG over the past two years. Nofo is having his worst SuperCoach season in years yet hasn’t scored under 30 on any occasion in 2018. He has just two tries to his name this season, with both coming in the past three weeks. Across his nine games Nofoaluma has: 39 tackle breaks, 17 offloads and 155 runs (17 per game). There is a slight concern on job security due to his reoccurring defensive lapses, but the risk is one worth taking due to his impressive pedigree. Rocking a three game average of 62.3PPG and a breakeven of 23, he’s on the up and would be a handy addition to any team.

Enari Tuala

I’ll openly admit I don’t know much about the young Cowboy. What I do know is he’s almost basement priced at $177k, has won a starting role and therefore looms as a great downgrade for a player in squads that won’t offer any bye coverage (think Kennar, Katoa, Capewell etc). Forget Tuala’s two scores this season of 28 and 25 as they’ve come in limited minutes as a bench forward for North Queensland. The fact he’s played his minutes in the forwards so far suggests three things: he has size, strength and can break tackles against smaller defenders out wide. The Cowboys are all but gone for 2018, so they won’t rush to drop a highly regarded rookie in the hope of rescuing any hope of playing finals football.

DAVID CAMPBELL

Sam Burgess

A poor man’s Martin Taupau. Burgess is at his cheapest price so far this year as his price corrects from an injury-affected 15 a fortnight ago. He’s therefore available at a $60,000 discount on his starting price and is approximately $80,000 cheaper than Taupau. Burgess is a proven keeper until the end as long as you’re willing to ride the emotional rollercoaster each week as runs the fine line between big hits and suspensions, impact and injury.

Lachlan Fitzgibbon

One of the most underrated players in the competition, producing a Beaver Menzies-like success rate of 15 tries in 26 games over the last two years. The Newcastle edge backrower, who occupies the plum role outside Kalyn Ponga, has scored six tries this year — the most of any forward and equal 12th of any player. This has translated to a keeper-like 64.5 average, yet he is owned by just seven per cent.

TOM SANGSTER

Jason Taumalolo

Now is the time to bring in the big guns. Taumalolo is the most popular player in SuperCoach for a reason — he is the single best player to get you through this week’s tough bye. He will command huge minutes this weekend in a pack missing Scott Bolton (rib cartilage), Matt Scott (suspension), Jordan McLean (foot), John Asiata (pectoral), Coen Hess (Origin) and Gavin Cooper (Origin). Taumalolo’s switch of allegiance to Tonga means he won’t play the Denver Test for New Zealand and is therefore almost certain to play round 16 which, despite not being a bye week, is a surprisingly tough round as players race to back up from the representative weekend.

Martin Taupau

The crisis at Manly has been the making of Taupau. Amid the Sea Eagles’ struggle with injury, the salary cap and Jackson Hastings, Taupau has taken it upon himself to lead the pack. He has produced the second highest five-game average of any prop in the competition (73.6) and has averaged 60 minutes over that time, well up from 47 minutes over the opening rounds. The biggest drawback is that he probably misses both round 16 (Denver Test back-up) and 17 (bye).