NRL SuperCoach POD Watch round 15

SET yourself apart from the pack with these POD-a-licious gems from 2014 SuperCoach champion Dave Von Kotze.

SET yourself apart from the pack with these POD-a-licious gems from 2014 SuperCoach champion Dave Von Kotze — presented by hipages.

1/ Euan Aitken ($483,700/ 10.1 per cent ownership)

Aitken grabbed a try last week on the way to 78 points which has put him back on track from what was a low scoring three weeks previous. With Rapana going down last weekend, Aitken could serve as ‘Mr Fix It’ for dishevelled Rapana owners as his base stats are typically strong. This is shown in Aitken’s five-game and season averages of 59 and 58 respectively as well as the fact he is the third highest scoring CTW in SuperCoach. Potential owners will have to make the call this week as he has a breakeven of 44 and a nice upcoming draw playing the next two at home against Manly and Parramatta.

Euan Aitken has great base stats.

2 / David Fusitua ($423,700/ 4.9 percent ownership)

Another option for Rapana owners is try scoring weapon David Fusitua, who is $60,000 cheaper, has much lower ownership and will have 105 siting in his rolling average for the next few weeks. Whilst Fusitua has stung many coaches in the past, his numbers with Shaun Johnson in the team tell us he could possess strong POD potential. Fusitua has scored 15 tries so far this season and 11 of those tries have come in games in which Shaun Johnson has steered the ship. He has a seven game average of 66 with SJ in the team and a stinky six-game average of 33 without the star playmaker. There is some risk with this trade but he will cover round 17 and will start this weekend with a breakeven of 20.

3 / Nick Cotric ($556,600/ 5.1 percent ownership)

Cotric demands a significantly higher chunk of your cash to purchase but the young gun is in red hot form for the ‘Green Machine’ scoring six tries in his last five games to don very respectable three and five-game averages of 81 and 69. He has a breakeven of 25 and with the ‘Leipana Express’ currently de-railed, Cotric may see plenty more action on the left wing.

Nick Cotric is in a rare vein of form.

4/ Ryan James ($551,300/ 2.8 per cent ownership)

James’ 139 against the Bunnies last week has catapulted him right back into contention as a POD with strong pedigree who will help SuperCoaches continue scoring during round 17. Only a small population of players got to revel in his triple-figured beauty last weekend but with that huge score fresh in his rolling average he will make somewhere in the vicinity of $100,000 over the next two weeks if he can maintain his season average of 61. There is also the added kicker that James may play inflated minutes in round 17 while teammates Jai Arrow and Jarrod Wallace are more than likely on Origin duty. On the flip side it should also be mentioned that he appears to be only one injury away from an Origin debut, so that also needs to be considered……….sorry for the buzz kill.

5/ Cameron McInnes ($583,600/ 4.4 percent ownership)

Cameron Smith is currently killing it with 46 per cent ownership and a three-game average of 97. However, those looking for another option at hooker with low ownership would not be taking too much of a risk bringing in McInnes, who has been putting up consistent numbers this year. Covering round 17 with the Dragons, McInnes has not posted a score below 50 in his last eight games and is currently sitting with three and five game averages of 60 and 66. Potential owners don’t need to make the move just yet due to a breakeven of 84 this week, but he’s certainly one to keep an eye on for those who want to sway from the pack.

Cameron McInnes is an alternative for Cameron Smith. Picture: Brett Costello

6/ Tohu Harris ($520,900/ 12.2 percent ownership)

If Tohu Harris is still getting written about in POD Watch after round 16, I won’t be angry, just disappointed in SuperCoaches who don’t have him in their team. When it comes to consistency, Harris is one of the best in the business with season, three and five game averages of 61, 65 and 62 respectively. Similar to the majority of Warriors, Harris is a different beast with Johnson in the team and he has held together a tidy seven-game average of 71 with SJ calling the shots. He has a breakeven of 49.

7/ Cameron Munster ($579,100/ 12.8 per cent ownership)

The next few weeks will have a heavy focus on assisting overall players to limit the damage and hopefully help many players improve their ranking during round 17, so let’s throw a bit of love the way of head-to-head players and finish with a few solid options to keep them racking up the two points every week. After a slow start in the halves this season Munster has kicked into gear and the dual positioned FLB/5/8 has only scored below 50 once since round four on the way to a current seven-game average of 71. He is the third highest scoring option at five-eighth and the fifth highest scoring FLB.

8/ Josh Papalii ($576,200/ 2.4 percent ownership)

Papalii will more than likely be unavailable for round 17 due to representative duties but he will once again take the field at lock this weekend as he has done for five of the last six games. He has been rock solid in the ‘13’ jumper posting scores of 95, 50, 89, 57 and 82 for a five-game average of 74. Very decent numbers for a player with only 3,201 owners.

PODCAST! Tom Sangster and Tim Williams discuss the two cheapies to emerge in the round 15 teams.

9 / Nathan Brown ($552,700/ 6 percent ownership)

Brown will not feature in the Blues campaign this year but remains only an option for head-to-head players as he will sit out round 17 with the Eels on the bye. Coming back from injury in round 13, Brown only played 55 minutes for 41 points but looked back to his best last weekend against the Cowboys playing the full 80 and knocking out 71 points. Those who invest should see him remain a POD until after the representative period, which is an added bonus.

10 / Paul Gallen ($518,300/ 4.2 percent ownership)

Even though Gallen ripped out a 121 point special for his owners last weekend his ownership should still remain well below 10 per cent as overall players attempt to fill their team for round 17. Head-to-head players on the other hand need to consider whether or not Gal will feature in their final teams and if the answer is yes, you should not hesitate to jump on this week while his breakeven is -5. He did see an increase in game time to 69 minutes last week but will more than likely play somewhere around the 60 minute mark for the remainder of the season.