SuperCoach NRL POD Watch: Forgotten guns edition

SuperCoach NRL is all about finding the point of difference players to set you apart from the rest of the competition. Former champ Dave Von Kotze looks at the forgotten guns leading into the new season.

SuperCoach NRL is all about finding the point of difference players to set you apart from the rest of the competition.

There’s no man who enjoys POD hunting more than former champion Dave Von Kotze, who looks at the forgotten guns leading into the new season.

Shaun Johnson’s stunning history hasn’t attracted SuperCoaches. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

1) Shaun Johnson HFB/5/8 ($603,000) - 13.3 per cent ownership

Shaun Johnson has moved to the Shire and the majority of SuperCoaches are reluctant to pay top dollar for him. Although owners of the past have had to endure numerous injury setbacks, he certainly brings a strong pedigree to the table ranking in the top three averaging HFB options for the past five seasons. Some may also argue that he is moving to a team with a forward pack that should lay a better platform for him to work his magic than in previous years. Pre-season mail suggests that he will rekindle his partnership in the halves with Chad Townsend who he played with at the Warriors in 2014 and 2015 and maintained healthy averages of 69 and 70. Potential owners will need to do their homework prior to locking him in for round one to make sure that he will be taking over the goal-kicking duties vacated by Valentine Holmes. His first four games will be against the Knights (a), Titans (h), Cowboys (a) and Eels (a).

2) Esan Marsters CTW ($568,500) - 13.7 per cent ownership

Marsters had a breakout year in 2018 scoring the second highest points of any CTW player but only 13 per cent believe he can back it up. His lethal offload (highest of any CTW) and accurate boot (76 per cent) saw him average 60 despite only crossing for three tries throughout the year. He will play his first three games at home against the Sea Eagles, Warriors and Bulldogs which is a pretty favourable opening to the season and with many SuperCoaches predicted to run with a heap of cheapies in their CTW, a couple of early 17-pointers could see Marsters give his owners a red hot start.

A move to the Roosters has turned coaches off Angus Crichton. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

3) Angus Crichton 2RF ($646,900) - 11.9 per cent ownership

For the second year in succession Crichton finds his way onto this list and as with Shaun Johnson, SuperCoaches may be a bit spooked by the switching of clubs and Bunnies fans probably won’t be picking him on principle. Sanga recently dished out a comprehensive ‘Player in focus’ article on Crichton so be sure to read it. It appears that whatever team he is playing in, if he plays big minutes, he is consistently one of the top performers in the game. In the past two seasons, in the 38 games in which he has played 70 minutes or more he has amazingly only scored under fifty three times and averaged a brilliant 72. Those stats are tough to ignore especially when we take into account that he only crossed for three tries in 2018.

4) Blake Ferguson CTW ($611,700) – 2.7 per cent ownership

The SuperCoach community, especially those who started 2018 with an overpriced Jordan Rapana, want nothing to do with the massive price tag that comes with Ferguson despite him scoring 111 more points than his nearest rival (Esan Masters) last season. He has left the premiership winning Roosters and coaches don’t feel he can replicate the 18 tries he scored last year on the end of the Parramatta backline. Whilst he did find the try line frequently, it was his base stats which stood him out from the rest of the pack and his ownership may increase again once his price drops if he can reproduce his 2018 work rate.

Rhyse Martin was a revelation at the Bulldogs last season. (AAP Image/Dan Peled)

5) Rhyse Martin 2RF ($634,300) – 10.7 per cent ownership

Martin had a ‘wow’ of a season in 2018 and there are a few stats that suggest he could actually offer some value even at $634,300 big ones. His price is based on a 68 average but if we look at the twelve games in which he played the full-eighty we see that he knocked out a 12-game average of 74 and if we take out his score of 10 in 17 minutes during round twenty four, it leaves him with 49 as his lowest score of the season. Not too shabby.

6) Paul Gallen 2RF ($539,000) – 1.2 per cent ownership

In 2017 the SuperCoach stalwart that is Paul Gallen finished the season as the highest scoring player in the game and the highest averaging 2RF option (76) despite only averaging 64 minutes a game. However, last year he took one hell of a nose dive averaging 58 points and 59 minutes so the big question is whether or not Gal has one more year left in those old legs or if it’s time to officially put a line through his name? It might be worthwhile keeping an eye on his minutes for the first five rounds just in case he climbs back up to the 65 minute mark because he still scored his points at just over a point per minute last year.

LISTEN! Resident SuperCoach experts Tom Sangster and Tim Williams have the lowdown on the players to target and avoid in 2019.

7) Anthony Milford 5/8 ($511,900) - 11.5 per cent ownership

Milford is another who suffered a big fall from grace averaging 54 in 2018 which was well below his season averages for the previous three seasons of 70, 67 and 65. He is over $100,000 cheaper than the currently more favoured Kalyn Ponga and will serve as a sneaky POD for the 11 per cent who have him on their roster if new coach Anthony Seibold can help the little wizard of Suncorp get his mo-jo back.

8) Nathan Brown 2RF ($582,000) – 6.3 per cent ownership

Brown spent a fair bit of time in the rehab group in an injury riddled 2018 but he still managed to score his points with a PPM of 0.91 and crack 60 points in nine out of his fifteen games (60 per cent). He certainly hasn’t shown the ability to rack up big attacking stats like the top 2RF’s but he is a genuine workhorse who won’t let owners down if he plays somewhere between 65-70 minutes a game.

9) Gareth Widdop 5/8/FLB ($553,400) - 8.2 per cent ownership

Gareth Widdop sat in this very same spot of 2018’s version of this yarn and for the second year in succession he came out of the blocks at a rapid rate and served as an incredible POD starting the year with scores of 106, 64 and 173 to sit with an opening three-game average of 114. In 2017, he was also outstanding at the start of the year and had an opening seven-game average of 82. He has a similar 5/8/FLB dual positioning to Kalyn Ponga for those looking to have a bit more flexibility. Potential owners need to know that he scored the above mentioned points in the halves and he is predicted to switch to fullback this season to accommodate new Dragon Corey Norman.

10) Damien Cook HOK ($726,000) 17.5 per cent ownership

He posted five triple-figured beauties, scored over 60 in 77 per cent of his games and 80 or over in 50 per cent of his match ups last year. However, an enormous price tag coupled with the unknown ‘Bennett factor’, the most dominant SuperCoach player of 2018 is sitting just outside POD range. SuperCoach is an incredibly competitive and tight game for overall players and there is very little room for error to secure some cash in the top ten so Cook scoring 246 points more than the second ranked hooker Cameron Smith despite playing one game less than him simply can’t be ignored. If he is anywhere near as good this season those who don’t start with him or at least put him atop their target list risk being left behind to flounder in the pack.

MORE SUPERCOACH:

Full SuperCoach News section / Cheapie Bible / Predicted round one teams / Sangster’s team / Champ’s team / Wilfred’s team / Tallis’s team / Copes’ team / Huge rule change / Top 10 rookies in NRL