SuperCoach: unexpected relevance, injuries, cheapies highlight 10 things learned from NRL weekend

A BRUTAL opening weekend of NRL action may have taken a heavy toll on SuperCoach teams but it also revealed some hidden gems. Here are 10 things we learned.

Sharks Andrew Fifita looks for a gap between Cowboys co-captain Matthew Scott, left, and James Tamou, right, during their round 1 NRL match between the North Queensland Cowboys and the Cronulla Sharks at 1300 Smiles Stadium in Townsville, Saturday, March 5, 2016. (AAP Image/Michael Chambers) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

A BRUTAL opening weekend of NRL action may have taken a heavy toll on SuperCoach teams but it also revealed some hidden gems.

Here are 10 things we learned.

1- in a very refreshing change, the Newcastle Knights are now officially one of the most SuperCoach relevant teams in the competition. Sam Mataora (45), Daniel Saifiti (59), Jacob Saifiti (41) and try-scorer Pat Mata’utia performed best of the cheapies and will start next round with negative break-evens.

2 - round one saw a host of cheapies being named. Some got off to a great start while others are just going to cause a few headaches for their owners and require early trades to be burned. Apart from the above mentioned Knights, some of the others to start well included Ashley Taylor (40), Nathan Davis (42) and Zane Musgrove (47), whereas Adam Elliot (11), Vincent Leuluai (19), Jaelen Feeney (18), James Fisher-Harris (13) and Latrell Mitchell (13) have been slow out of the blocks.

3 - James Graham (80) played 72 minutes and will become one of the most popular front-row forwards in the game if he continues these big minutes. Potential owners have to take into consideration that Graham probably played extended minutes due to injuries. At least we only have to wait until Thursday night when the Bulldogs take on the Panthers to find out if his massive minutes were a one-off.

James Graham played some big minutes for the Bulldogs against Manly.

4 - Injuries have struck most teams this weekend and left a long casualty list. Among the big names to go down include Paul Gallen, James Segeyaro, Adam Reynolds, Aidan Sezer, Blake Austin, John Sutton and Ben Henry. SuperCoaches will have to keep an eye on team lists when they drop on Tuesday afternoon to see if these injuries present any opportunities for other currently non-relevant players to step up. One such player is Bunnies cheapie Cody Walker (58) who should now see time to develop into a nice cash cow due to the suspected broken jaw of Adam Reynolds.

5 - rookie SuperCoaches who own Paul Gallen need to know that Andrew Fifita averages far more points per game when Gallen isn’t playing. Fifita will be a popular trade-in target this week for Gallen, which will also leave an extra $35,500 in the salary cap to spend patching up wounds left from a brutal round one.

6 - with the introduction of the ‘shot clock’, new interchange rule and the bunker, we were able see a definite increase in game time. It will be interesting to see as the season progresses who the main beneficiaries will be. Will it be the fittest forwards or the elusive backs praying on fatiguing defensive lines? Either way, there is more footy being played which will mean higher scores all around the board.

7 - despite taking the two points on Saturday, the Raiders now have two injured halves, which could have horrible consequences for their attacking stats. Look for bottom dollar cheapie Lachlan Croker to be named in the halves.

Andrew Fifita may be a good source of points over the next few weeks.

8 - Shaun Johnson has been the highest scoring half of the round so far, however, he has given up the goal kicking duties to Tuimoala Lolohea, which will have a negative impact on his SuperCoach scores.

9 - the Sydney Roosters may have copped a hiding on Sunday from the Rabbitohs, but cheapie halves Jackson Hastings (57) and Jayden Nikorima (49) got off to a solid SuperCoach start and will continue to fatten as cash cows if they can continue these scores.

10 -while on the subject of halves, it was a slow start for some of the best in the business. Of the 10 most expensive halves, only three of them Shaun Johnson (95), Aidan Sezer (82) and Jack Bird (79) scored above their 2015 season average. Johnathan Thurston scored a handy 62 points but even the great JT was 15 points below his last season average. Daly Cherry-Evans (56) was next best, only scoring 5 points below, with the three worst performers being Michael Morgan (-32), Ben Hunt (-26) and James Maloney (-26). Owners should not panic and definitely show faith in their boys at least until after next weekend as it is after all only round one.