SuperCoach NRL: Some of the best, and worst, trades being made

With plenty of SuperCoaches hammering the trade button ahead of round two, Rob Sutherland takes a look at some of the best, and worst, moves being made.

• Teams: SuperCoach analysis ahead of round 2

• Sangster: Tom’s Top 50 SuperCoach players

With plenty of SuperCoaches hammering the trade button ahead of round two we take a look at some of the best, and worst, moves being made.

I‘ve separated this article into three sections — there are the no-brainers, the traps and then there are the trades that should come with a caveat.

We take a look at the quality trades and traps ahead of round two.

THE ‘NO BRAINERS’

I’d like to think those players listed here are pretty uncontroversial, and several were covered by knowledgeable colleague Trent Copeland in his excellent Cheapie Bible here, so I won’t waste too much of my word count trying to convince you of their merits.

Adam Keighran (5/8 | HFB) $168,100

The Warriors rookie was super impressive in his side’s opening round demolition of the Bulldogs. Despite filling a secondary role to Blake Green in the playmaking duties, Keighran still managed to score 87 points thanks to scoring a try, setting up another, breaking the line twice and kicking six goals. Don’t expect anything like that kind of production week in and week out, but he’s a must have.

John Bateman (CTW | 2RF) $400,000

The pre-season wraps were big on Bateman and the Englishman lived up to the hype in an 80-minute effort which saw him score 61 points in base stats. Played the last quarter of the game at CTW covering for an injured Bailey Simonsson (more on him below) which is a little bit of a worry as that indicates Bateman is the forward most likely to get shifted to the backs when injury strikes. Regardless of that, I think Bateman showed more than enough to suggest he’s the guy you want anchoring your CTW.

Briton Nikora (CTW | 2RF) $168,100

An 80-minute 2RF available at CTW for A base rookie price, Nikora scored 53 in base and threw three successful offloads. Madness that he is not owned by every single SuperCoach.

THE ’SURE, BUT HAVE YOU SEEN THIS STAT’ TRADES

All these players had big games in round one and are among the top trade in targets for round two as a result. However, each comes with some cautionary notes and it’s my job to bring them up.

Jason Taumalolo (2RF) $657,400

Speaking of big games, the Tongan wrecking ball had a whale in round one scoring 99 points. Great right? Well, keep in mind that his scoring in many categories — 37 points in hit-ups, two linebreaks (20 points) six tackle breaks (12 points) and a try assists (12 points) were well in advance of his past.

I’m a big believer that people can improve I just don’t think ‘Lolo’ can maintain those levels. Bouncing between edge and middle to accommodate Josh McGuire saw Taumalolo’s tackle number plummet and if, and when, his attacking stats revert to the mean that could cause trouble.

If you have the cash to trade up from an injured Nathan Brown then there’s no shame in this move. I’m not so sure I’d be trading out Marty Taupau (currently the fourth most popular trade in the game) for him though.

Taupau spent almost his entire first stint on the ground defending and barely got any time in attack as Manly kept dropping balls. I’m tipping the two to not have too dissimilar an average over next four weeks.

Jason Taumalolo was in awesome form against the Dragons. Picture: Zak Simmonds

Shaun Lane (FRF | 2RF) $508,000

The towering Parramatta recruit played the full 80 minutes on the edge for the Eels, frequently pushing in to the middle to take a hit-up and make a tough tackle.

His round one score of 73 points was inflated by a try assist/linebreak assist (20 points) but Lane still pumped out 45 in base and due to a couple of injuries at the club he looks assured to play the full 80 minutes for a few weeks yet. Lane’s offloading skills should prove a constant threat throughout the season so the TA/LBA were no fluke and he’d be a player I’d be happy to trade for.

Cameron Murray (2RF) $458,900

Murray lived up to all the hype, banging out 52 points in base stats in 63 minutes against the Roosters on a slippery SCG.

With that said, you need to bear in mind that his score is boosted by a try, and then ask yourself would you be rushing to bring him into your squad if he had scored 53?

I still think Murray should be a trade target but not one you drop a proven gun who happened to have a poor first round (Taupau etc) in order to get.

Michael Morgan (HFB | 5/8) $409,200

Now the dominant half at the Cowboys, Morgan delivered in multiple categories on Saturday night with a try, try assist, line break and even a 40/20 for a total of 72 points. I’m expecting the try assists to be sustainable, and perhaps even built upon. As for the rest, there won’t be a try every week and I’m confident there won’t be even close to a 40/20 on a weekly basis either. That said, 55-60PPG is more than acceptable at $409K and I’d be happy to own him. Would I be trading Nathan Cleary (424 trades at this point) or Shaun Johnson (383 trades) to get Morgan? Not on your life.

Luke Garner (2RF) $265,100

Just under 5,000 SuperCoaches have drafted Luke Garner into their side following the West Tigers backrower banging out 80 points against the Sea Eagles on Saturday. I hope none of you expect to see such a stonking score again.

Don’t get me wrong, if I had picked up Garner to start the season I’d be pretty happy, after all 40 odd points in base from an edge second rower with good job security is nothing to sneeze at.

However, that’s where you should park your expectations, as Garner scored 30 points in one play last week, that’s not going to keep happening. I think I’d prefer to pick up Jacob Host or even Braidon Burns (more on him below).

Was Braidon Burns’ (L) performance against the Roosters a sign of things to come? Picture: AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts

Braidon Burns (CTW) $286,000

How’s that for a segue … let’s talk about Mr Burns than shall we? Playing at centre on the Rabbitohs vaunted left edge, Burns was busy (16 runs, 12 of those over eight metres), bustling (six tackle busts) and creative (one try assist and a linebreak assist).

And leaving the stat sheet aside, a rarity for me I’ll admit, he just looked good on the eye. Back to the stat sheet, I feel it would be remiss of me not to point out that Burns has never put up numbers like those and it is unrealistic to expect it to continue.

Players should keep in mind that CTW is a notoriously unreliable position and they essentially get a free look at Burns this week. That’s what I’m doing. However, I can understand the 703 people who have traded Jordan Kahu to Burns because Kahu did not pass the eye test — except of course Justin Hodges’ eye who awarded Kahu a Dally M vote for his performance …

Cameron Munster (FLB | 5/8) $548,500

Currently the fifth most traded in player for the round, and it is not hard to see why with many coaches seduced by Munster’s 105 point effort against the Broncos. But say what you like about Munster becoming the absolute focal point of the Storm offence following the retirement of Billy Slater, I’m confident he will not have another game in which he scored three try assists and four linebreak assists. Also, keep in mind that in 2018, Munster scored 103 points in round 20 and followed up with a 23 the next round, he scored 98 in round 15 and followed that up with a 14 point game in round 16. There are tremendous peaks but plenty of troughs and buying in after a peak just exposes you to the trough in my opinion.

Corey Oates of the Broncos busted plenty of tackles against the Storm. Picture: Michael Dodge/Getty Images

Corey Oates (CTW) $504,000

Speaking of players who can take you to the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, meet Corey Oates. Actually, let me step that back a bit because Oates actually has a decent floor thanks to his high workrate bring the ball back after kicks and propensity to bust tackles.

But that’s what you’re paying $500K for. Oates scored two tries and busted nine tackles in round one. A more realistic season expectation is a little under half that in each category. If you really have $500K to spend on a CTW then wait a week, take a look at Jordan Rapana and grab him. Genuine gun and massive POD.

Jake Friend (HKR) $481,500

Those who bought Jake Friend as a bit of a cut-price POD did so hoping he would deliver his usual bucketload of tackles. And that’s exactly what the great man did knocking down 53 South Sydney attackers. What not even the most optimistic of owner would have hoped for is two linebreaks and a try. Friend just doesn’t run the ball all that much, he never really has so those attacking stats are very much an outlier. Sure, grab Friendy if you want a ‘safe’ hooker who will get you 55PPG but don’t do it expecting much more. Also don’t be fooled into thinking this is a purchase that will see you price up to Damien Cook easily as mentioned above first round scores roll out of a players rolling average awfully quickly and Friend will likely only see a $50-60K bump in price over rounds 3-5 as a result of his big early score — and that is dependant on him continuing to play out 80 minute games which past history suggests is unlikely.

Mitchell Aubusson of the Roosters reacts after scoring a try against the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Picture: AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts

THE ‘WHOA THERE SONNY JIMS’

Mitch Aubusson (2RF | CTW) $293,200

I won’t hear a bad word about Mitch Aubusson, which is an easy pledge to make because nobody really has a bad word to say about the guy. If they do have a less than glowing comment it might run something like this ‘Great bloke, great club man just not SuperCoach relevant … especially now that Angus Crichton is at the club’.

Well I’d agree with all that, except Aubbo went and had a blinder playing 75 minutes in round one, scoring 79 points of which 52 came in base — and Crichton was used for just 19 minutes off the bench. Aubusson is named to start again but I just can’t see him holding out a fully fit Crichton, and when he goes back to the bench the points will dry up. Don’t be the guy who falls for this trap.

James Tamou (FRF) $423,500

Rooster junior (c’mon I don’t get too many chances to write that) Big Jim Tamou, had a stonking game in round one. On the field for 60 minutes — and keep in mind the big fella had not played 60+ minutes since round 17 2015 — Tamou made 53 tackles, 14 hit-ups, busted four tackles and scored a try (with linebreak) for 106 points.

Now this career high score is either one of the most ‘outlier’ performances in history, or we have a must-own sub-$450K forward on our radar.

My money is on outlier, and I really hope Tamous reverts next week because if he plays another 55+minute game and scores 50+ in base you may have to seriously consider bring him in. Not this week though peeps — take the free look.

Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (FLB) $535,100

This one is a bit of an odd one because RTS was exceptional last week, scoring tries, setting up tries, busting tackles and just generally looking like the RTS of 2015.

But, guys, it was against the Bulldogs, in NZ, on a belter of a track.

At least wait to see how RTS goes against the Tigers this week before culling a proven gun like James Tedesco eh?

Gareth Widdop, Shaun Johnson, Nathan Cleary, James Tedesco and Martin Taupau

Speaking of segues … all of the above are proven guns who have consistently delivered top-five (or better) performances at their position for a number of years. All of them are among the 10 most traded out players for the round. Madness.

With regards to the first four, you have to give some discount for the soggy conditions. You also have to understand that one bad game to start the season is no indicator that they are ‘out of form’. Want proof?

Tedesco scored 35 in round one 2018, he scored 113 in round two. Never trade a gun. As for my man Marty Taupau, the big unit spent his entire first stint defending, he spent much of the second stint either under the posts watching the Tigers convert or watching his teammates fumble. And don’t buy Tommy’s hype about Des killing the offload.

Kapow only made nine hit-ups in torrential conditions at Leichhardt in round one, he normally averages around 15. With more runs and some drier weather I’m tipping the points to come. If they don’t Sangster will be even more unbearable than he normally is.