NRL SuperCoach POD Watch Round 14: Best point of difference buys

Former NRL SuperCoach champion Dave Von Kotze reveals the 10 hottest point of difference buys heading into the final bye.

Former NRL SuperCoach champion Dave Von Kotze reveals the 10 hottest point of difference buys heading into the final bye.

1/ Mitchell Barnett ($526,000/ 1 per cent ownership)

Barnett continues to press his claims as a POD to cover round 16. Two scores of 64 and an 81 in his last three games have him sitting with the highest three-game average (69) of any 2RF playing the second big bye round. Obviously his try with a line break helped give his score a significant bump but he has played over 70 minutes in seven of his last eight games and averaged 67 in the seven games this season he has played over 70 minutes. Tempting, especially with just one per cent ownership.

Former NRL SuperCoach champion Dave Von Kotze.

2 / Ryan Matterson ($600,000/ 11 per cent ownership)

Matterson is one of the best round 16 options and will take a spot in plenty of teams should he not find his way into the Blues’ 17 for game three. There is plenty to like about the highest averaging 2RF available for round 16 including a five-game average of 76 as well as the fact he has scored over 70 in 40 per cent of games this season. A breakeven of 71 allows overall players to sit back and see what effect the injury to David Klemmer has on the makeup of the Blues team but definitely put Matto somewhere near the top of your watch list.

3 / Matt Lodge ($506,400/ 2 per cent ownership)

Lodge is going about his business in solid fashion with three and five game averages of 69 and 60. Never avoiding the grunt work he has made up his scores in the last month with base stat performances of 50, 56, 56 and 49. He played 58 minutes last weekend whilst the Broncos’ Origin players recovered which suggests he will be called upon for big minutes during his game against the Sharks in round 16. He has a breakeven of 27 which would normally mean that this is the week to grab him but potential owners should also be wary he is on the short list of candidates to replace Klemmer in the NSW squad.

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4/ Anthony Milford ($488,100/ 5 per cent ownership)

He has scored over 70 in four of his last six matches but Milford sure knows how to raise the blood pressure of his owners. Sitting on a single-figured score at half time last week he came to life in the second half and scored a try with a line break in the last two minutes to post 71. He has what appears to be a favourable run for the remainder of the season but with Thomas Dearden out for up to six weeks, potential owners may be hesitant fearing he will return to the 45 average he had prior to the young half making his debut in round nine.

5/ Sio Siua Taukeiaho ($509,300/ 6 per cent ownership)

With his 14 from round 10 now out of his rolling average and JWH still out for the Roosters, SST is arguably one of the buys of the week for those looking for round 16 coverage. He only averaged 52 minutes for the first eight rounds but has seen a significant jump recently playing 67 minutes in round nine, 61 in round 11 and 63 last weekend for scores of 93, 73 and 62. He has a breakeven of 44.

6/ Agnatius Paasi ($495,500/1 per cent ownership)

Paasi has flown well under the radar and his recent form with three and five-game averages of 68 and 64 could see him play a role during the second big bye round. With dual FRF/2RF flexibility, Paasi has seen a little spike in his minutes averaging 45 minutes in his last five games as opposed to the 38 he averaged for the first six games. But it is his work rate that has stood out scoring his points with an average PPM of 1.4 in his last five games. It does need to be mentioned that contributing to that high PPM are two tries that included line breaks. For those interested parties he has a breakeven of 34 this week and plays the Titans.

7/ Tariq Sims ($504,500/ 5 per cent ownership)

Sims started the season slow but has found some form and has not scored lower than 50 in his last six games. With three and five game averages of 64 and 62, he is yet another genuine forward option around the $450,000-$500,000 mark who will cover round 16 but similar to a fair chunk of them his name has also been thrown into the ring as an Origin prospect, so tread carefully. He has a breakeven of 55 this week.

Tariq Sims has hit form. Picture: Brett Costello

8/ Nat Butcher ($452,300/ 1 per cent ownership)

Butcher is a cheaper 2RF option than the above mentioned players but he comes with the added bonus that there is no chance of him playing Origin. For his first five games of the season he only averaged 31 minutes but in the last four rounds he has seen a considerable jump in game time averaging 48 minutes. These increased minutes, coupled with his fantastic PPM has him currently donning respectable three and five game averages of 61 and 60. Adding to his appeal is the fact that last weekend he played 61 minutes for 71 points in the aftermath of Origin so he could play similar minutes in round 16. With his breakeven of 34 he could serve as a stepping stone to a 2RF keeper for the run home.

9 / Ken Maumalo ($492,100/ 5 per cent ownership)

Mentioned by Sanga and Tim Williams on the ‘Teams Podcast’, Maumalo with eight tries to his name so far this season is currently averaging the same as the more popular Esan Marsters and four points less than the 62 per cent owned Briton Nikora. However, consistency has been an issue with his four top scores of 106, 92, 81 and 74 offset by his four lowest scores of 27, 28, 33 and 34. Nevertheless he has scored above 60 in seven of his 12 matches so far and will come up against the Titans, Panthers and Knights in his next three games which could mean a few more 17-pointers. His breakeven for this weekend is 71.

10 / Cameron McInnes ($600,200/ 7 per cent ownership)

McInnes rounds out a forward dominated POD Watch and SuperCoaches need to decide this week whether they go for the safety and pedigree of the great Cameron Smith to cover round 16 and the remainder of the season or go with McInnes, who has over 32,000 less owners. At this stage of the season they appear neck and neck both with five-game averages of 69 and both with price tags around $600,000. Smith has his nose ahead by 15 points overall but McInnes still has a three-game average of 70 despite posting his second lowest score of the year (46) last weekend. It’s a crucial decision for SuperCoaches battling this conundrum.