SuperCoach NRL: Did Tom Sangster make a blunder or have a blinder?

The ‘experts’ SuperCoach draft is over after four gruelling days and there were some truly questionable picks, including one of the most ridiculous selections ever seen. WHO DO YOU THINK CAME OUT ON TOP

After four gruelling days the SuperCoach NRL experts draft is over, and oh boy it did not disappoint! While drafting before trial matches or the first teams list Tuesday can be risky, we like to live dangerously and decided to do it early.

While some of the experts followed my draft advice by covering key positions early and getting some amazing value picks, others well and truly threw the book out the window with some absolutely crazy picks — I’m looking at you Tom Sangster.

Who won The Daily Telegraph team's SuperCoach NRL 2019 draft?

There are always a few wildcards and crazy moments in a draft and this year was truly no exception. There was even one round where 11 players whose names started with the letter ‘J’ were drafted in a row, until David Campbell spoiled all the fun by making a rational pick. Booooo, renaming Waqa Blake ‘J’Waqa’ doesn’t count, Dave!

We took our draft offline due to an inability to get everyone together at once. That dragged the process out over four days and also saw a few sneaky, sneaky SuperCoaches changing picks after they’d already been made — something you can’t do in a live draft.

Forgetting about Jordan Rapana’s injury, someone took him in the ninth round before quickly changing. Scandalous!

Our SuperCoach experts are eager to see who I think drafted the best teams and start the trash talking before the hard slog of a draft season kicks off, so let’s dig in!

Damien Cook was the first person picked in the DT draft.. Picture: Brett Costello

TEAM RANKINGS

1. Wilson Smith

Draft Position: 1st

Team: Damien Cook, Roger Tuivasa-Scheck, Cody Walker, Adam Reynolds, David Klemmer, Paul Gallen, Aiden Guerra, Aiden Tolman, Josh Mansour, Suliasi Vunivalu, Tim Lafai, Michael Gordon, Raymond Faitala-Mariner, Adam Blair, Kodi Nikorima, Jordan Rapana, Sione Katoa

As much as I hate giving myself the top ranking (I actually love it), looking across all the teams, mine is definitely a standout as arguably the best in the league, with a solid spine, great base in the forwards and high upside in the outside backs. Paul Gallen in the 6th round and Aiden Tolman in the 8th round were great value picks, while I also have flexibility on the bench. The only downside of my team is its reliance on the Rabbitohs playing well, but given they were the best attacking team in 2018 I’m not too concerned.

Up the Beecroft Bandits!

Cooper Cronk has never been the most SuperCoach relevant halfback.

2. Nick Campton

Draft position: 8th

Team: Josh Papalii, Gareth Widdop, Esan Marsters, Jarrod Croker, Felise Kaufusi, Isaac Luke, Matt Lodge, Corey Oates, Junior Paulo, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, Tyrone Roberts, Gavin Cooper, David Fusitua, Cooper Cronk, Iosia Soliola, Ethan Lowe, Shaun Fensom

Campton is probably the most experienced at draft of the SuperCoach experts, and definitely assembled one of the best teams, taking multiple players that I had my eye on. A great mix of gun forwards and outside backs will carry his side, but his biggest weak spot is Cooper Cronk in the halves, who has never been too SuperCoach relevant. Tyrone Roberts is an interesting pick here, given his man of the match Indigenous All Stars performance.

Predictably he also picked his favourite player (Shaun Fensom) in the 17th round, who I considered taking out of spite, after missing out on Corey Oates, but realised there were much better options.

*Nick wants me to point out that he has won our private draft league ‘The Real Talk Cup’ twice, so I can’t wait to thrash him in the Daily Telegraph league this time.

Joe Barton landed Phillip Sami of the Titans in the 16th round. Picture: AAP Image

3. Joe Barton

Draft position: 2nd

Team: Jake Trbojevic, Latrell Mitchell, Matt Moylan, Jake Friend, Ben Hunt, Moses Mbye, Paul Vaughan, Matt Eisenhuth, Jesse Ramien, Elijah Taylor, Dane Gagai, Aaron Woods, Joel Thompson, Sione Mata’utia, Jaemon Salmon, Phillip Sami, Tom Burgess

Considering I pretty much drafted half of his team while he was away, Joe owes me a lot if he goes on to win this year, and if he beats me I’ll be kicking myself. He rounded out the great spine I set up for him with some solid base, great CTW options and some great value picks like Phillip Sami in Round 16. If I somehow miss out on finals, at least I’ll have a second team to root for!

Mahe ‘The Mullet’ Fonua was a risky pick for Tim Williams. Picture: AAP Image

4. Tim Williams

Draft position: 3rd

Team: James Tedesco, Martin Taupau, Viliame Kikau, Apisai Koroisau, Joseph Tapine, Boyd Cordner, Corey Norman, Dale Finucane, Jake Clifford, Mahe Fonua, Euan Aitken, Robert Jennings, Jack de Belin, Campbell Graham, Nathan Peats, Te Maire Martin, Michael Oldfield

Tim managed to draft a decent spine with Teddy and Koroisau, backed up with some really great base and a strong bench, but his outside backs are very risky, given Mahe Fonua and Euan Aitken could miss out, while Robert Jennings is still in contract limbo.

His halves are also iffy, with Corey Norman moving clubs, and Jake Clifford competing for a starting spot. While a controversial pick, Jack de Belin is a proven fantasy gun forward and a great value pick if he plays in 2019.

Manly's Tom Trbojevic leads Dom Burke’s SuperCoach side. Picture: Phil Hillyard

5. Dominic Burke

Draft position: 4th

Team: Tom Trbojevic, Angus Crichton, Cameron McInnes, Nathan Brown, Ashley Taylor, Jesse Bromwich, Matt Gillett, Joey Leilua, James Roberts, Nelson Asofa-Solomona, Greg Inglis, Brian Kelly, Scott Drinkwater, Ben Hampton, Josh Reynolds, Kurt Mann, Enari Tuala

Anyone who can manage to grab one of those top tier spine players like Tom Trbojevic is going to be in a pretty good place for the rest of the draft. Combine that with some solid forwards, great CTW options and awesome value pics like Greg Inglis and you have a great SuperCoach team. The only real question mark for Dom is the halves, with Ash Taylor and Josh Reynolds his best options. Dom might want to try and trade with someone else for a better option pretty early on.

6. Huw Bonello

Draft position: 9th

Team: Jason Taumalolo, Daly Cherry-Evans, Andrew McCullough, AJ Brimson, Lachlan Fitzgibbon, Manu Ma’u, Lachlan Lewis, John Bateman, Jarrod Wallace, Joe Stimson, Peni Terepo, Alex Johnston, Kyle Feldt, Payne Haas, Bryce Cartwright, Bevan French, Ryan Hall

Huw started off the draft on fire, with some solid forwards, a good spine, backrowers for his CTW, and getting some great value with Jarrod Wallace and Joe Stimson. After this though Huw made some questionable picks, and will be jumping on board the Carty Party in 2019! Someone had to take him eventually, I’m just glad it wasn’t me.

Tom Sangster took Jahrome Hughes of the Storm in the third round. Picture: AAP Image/Daniel Pockett

7. Tom Sangster

Draft position: 7th

Team: Nathan Cleary, Anthony Milford, Jahrome Hughes, Ryan James, Robbie Farah, Shaun Lane, Josh Jackson, Kurt Capewell, Joe Ofahengaue, Reimis Smith, Zac Lomax, John Sutton, Alex Twal, Curtis Scott, Corey Thompson, Scott Sorensen, Michael Lichaa

JAHROME HUGHES IN THE THIRD ROUND! What on earth where you thinking Sangster? It’s a good thing Tommy managed to draft pretty well elsewhere, because this is most ridiculous pick I have ever seen. A gun halves combination and some solid base forwards will help carry Sangster’s team, but his bench and outside backs let him down. He’d better hope Jahrome Hughes starts and fires for Melbourne in 2019, otherwise this could go down as one of the biggest blunders in SuperCoach history.

David Fifita in the 17th round is a win. Picture: AAP image, John Gass

8. Fatima Kdouh

Draft position: 11th

Team: Andrew Fifita, Cameron Munster, Blake Fergusson, Dylan Edwards, Luke Keary, Nick Cotric, Ryan Matterson, Luke Brooks, Josh Dugan, Jordan McLean, Jake Granville, Nene MacDonald, Agnatius Paasi, Addin-Fonua Blake, Issac Liu, Solomone Kata, David Fifita

Fatima must have been cheering during the All Stars match, after picking up David Fifita in the 17th round of the draft! If he starts and plays anything like that in 2019, he will be the kind of value pick that completely changes a team. The main problem with this side is the lack of base stats across the park, with lots of players that are dependent on jagging tries for good scores.

Kalyn Ponga headlines Rob Sutherland’s squad - which is much better than Wilson’s! Picture. Phil Hillyard

9. Rob Sutherland

Draft position: 5th

Team: Kalyn Ponga, Tevita Pangai Jnr, Sam Burgess, Clint Gutherson, Daniel Alvaro, Mitch Moses, Isaiah Papali’i, Kerrod Holland, Joey Manu, David Nofoaluma, Jordan Kahu, Corey Harriweara-Neara, Reed Mahoney, Kevin Proctor, Dylan Brown, Tim Glasby, Chris Lawrence

While Rob has some consistent base and high upside with Ponga, his hooking combination of Kerrod Holland and Reed Mahoney does not excite me at all. Rob will also be banking heavily on Parramatta in 2019 with five Eels players!

The resident Kalyn Ponga truther was always going to take him with his first pick, but he must be feeling somewhat nervous after a mixed showing for the Maori All Stars. David Nofoaluma was a great value pick in the 10th round, while Jordan Kahu’s move to the Cowboys could be huge for Rob.

10. David Campbell

Draft position: 12th

Team: Josh Hodgson, Michael Morgan, Connor Watson, Tohu Harris, Jack Wighton, Josh McGuire, Cameron Murray, Jack Bird, Waqa Blake, Herman Ese’ese, James Fisher-Harris, Paul Momirovski, Charnze Nicholl-Klokstad, Jaydn Su’a, Anthony Don, Brodie Croft, Luciano Leilua

Josh Hodgson and Michael Morgan in the first two rounds while Cameron Smith and Daly Cherry-Evans were still available was pretty damn crazy, Dave! His team is stacked with left-field options that on paper look questionable, but also have some amazing upside. Also Waqa Blake and Herman Ese’ese in the ninth and 10th rounds were incredible value picks given their 2018 averages, and were probably the best of the draft.

Shaun Johnson spearheads Louise’s squad, which is also stronger than Wilson’s. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

11. Louise Abihanna

Draft position: 6th

Team: Shaun Johnson, Jai Arrow, Coen Hess, Jamayne Isaako, Victor Radley, Chad Townsend, Tyson Frizell, Will Chambers, Josh Addo-Carr, Jarred Waerea-Hargreaves, Daniel Tupou, Brett Morris, Dylan Napa, Jason Bukuya, Danny Levi, Daniel Saifiti, George Burgess

Victor Radley is getting plenty of hype this pre-season, but taking him at hooker over the likes of Robbie Farah or Isaac Luke is a bit of a head scratcher! While SJ is a super-reliable SuperCoach gun, he probably won’t carry the team, which will struggle to get consistent points out of the halves, forwards and outside backs! Brett Morris could be a decent value pick after his impressive World Club Challenge performance.

12. Angus Mead

Draft position: 10th

Team: Rhyse Martin, Cameron Smith, Will Hopoate, James Maloney, Mitchell Pearce, Elliot Whitehead, Tariq Sims, Isaah Yeo, Jazz Tevaga, Tyrone Peachey, Sio Suia Taukeiaho, Leeson Ah Mau, Josh Morris, Peta Hiku, Curtis Sironen, Alex Glenn, Moeaki Fotuaika

Gussy may have drafted God 2.0 and the ever-reliable Cameron Smith, but there isn’t really enough base from his other players to give him reliable points every week. Isaah Yeo and Tyrone Peachey are good value picks, but there were better options available when Hopoate and James Maloney were taken. Now that I’ve said all this, he’ll probably end up winning the whole damn league somehow!