Bargain Basement: Weekly SuperCoach cheapie analysis

ARE those cheapies worth keeping or should you move on? Trent Copeland reveals all in this week’s SuperCoach cheapie analysis.

WELL that was a bit better! Aside from Milf and big Surgess (and briefly Teddy owners would’ve feared a zero was on the way with a concussion test) most of the guns performed well this week, it’s about time!

What really excited me this weekend though was the cheapies that have gone from strength to strength over the past few weeks.

Since the Ben Henry/Nathan Green debacle in week one we really have been blessed with this crop of youngsters not only holding their spots in their respective NRL sides, but doing the old hard yakka for our SuperCoach scores also.

I mean, we currently have Hastings, Taylor AND Cody Walker all starting halves AND kicking goals. How good.

Guys like Jacob Saifiti also spring to mind — all those 50+ scores for our teams. It’s just heavenly.

Freshies

Javid Bowen CTW (Cowboys, 1.4% owned) — 66 points

That was a debut to remember. A try, and more importantly no doubt from our perspective, an astute defensive performance in keeping the dragons scoreless.

Eleven tackles, 8 points in tackle busts, a linebreak and 18 points in hit-ups over 8m shows the promise, and in a seriously good side like the Cowboys lets hope he gets a good run at it without Kane Linnett. With JT and Morgan likely on QLD Origin duty in Rd 12 with a backline reshuffle we could see him play the all-important bye round regardless of Linnett’s health.

VERDICT: Very promising signs, Linnett will only be out a few more weeks though so let’s wait and watch for another week before needing to make a decision.

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Kerrod Holland CTW (Bulldogs, 2.2% owned) — 0 points

This one is speculative. We never wish injury upon anyone in professional sport, but last night’s hamstring injury to Chase Stanley — the first thing that sprung to mind as he walked up the tunnel, Kerrod Holland! Forty-four points on debut without a try, and kicked goals ahead of Mbye that night, hopefully this is the CTW cheapie we have been crying out for if Stanley has a prolonged absence on the sidelines.

VERDICT: If Stanley is out for any amount of time, watch his second game this week but with coverage of the round 12 bye, plus $$$$$$ to be made, it’s on!

Cory Denniss CTW (Knights, 4.3% owned) — 0 points

Got dropped in a late change with the return of Uate. Hopefully you listened to my “avoid” verdict last week, although the 0% to 4.3% ownership change suggests some of you may well be very disappointed ...

VERDICT: AVOID. Needs a long term injury to be relevant.

Cory Denniss scores against the Raiders.

Jake Marketo 2RF (Dragons, 1.7% owned) — 14 points

Has now played two games, and has scored 14 points in both, which gives you a good indication that despite the Dragons great byes, Marketo is not an option.

VERDICT: No way.

Eloni Vunakece FRF (Roosters, 0.1% owned) — 18 points

Scored 24 points on debut last week, and a steady 18 points this week. Whilst the points tallies aren’t enough to warrant a trade in, the PPM of 1.0 is enough to suggest he would be an option if minutes opened up. That is unlikely at this stage however.

VERDICT: Not now. If an injury was to happen to Moa, Evans or Dylan Napa then maybe.

Nathan Davis CTW (Titans, 24.2% owned) — 0 points

His ownership jumped 4% this week, despite no being named ... That tells me there are some money hungry SuperCoaches out there! Will he be back this week?

I hope so, but Zillman may also be back, and is Davis in front of Olive/MacDonald in the pecking order? Let’s hope these questions are answered for us this week!

VERDICT: Broken record … Watch team lists.

Current Crop

Te Maire Martin HFB | 5/8 (Panthers 6.2% owned) — 32 points

Did you jump on despite the lingering risk of James Segeyaro’s return? Sangster did! Well, if you did you will still be in for a significant price rise this week, and next, at the very least after 22 tackles and 10 points in hit-ups over 8m (nice base stats for a young half). The bad news is that after this week, his first-up 90 on debut will drop out of his rolling average and he’s up against the Cowboys this week. Not ideal.

VERDICT: If you didn’t buy him last week, it’s a situation to avoid in my opinion. If you did, you’d better hope for a big performance this weekend.

Te Maire Martin could be one to avoid. Picture Gregg Porteous

Jackson Hastings HFB | 5/8 (Roosters, 57.1% owned) — 72 points

Hastings’ goal-kicking was outstanding and is no question his for keeps which is great news for us, as was the fact that this score did NOT include a try — backing up his solid 63-point effort last week he is in for some huge rises in coming weeks. Building nicely despite the Roosters’ struggles and he is an indefinite hold.

VERDICT: Ownership has dropped five per cent in the past week, what are you doing people!? HOLD, for a long time yet.

Latrell Mitchell CTW | FLB (Roosters, 61.1% owned) — 41 points

Is now the most owned player in the game, and with good reason. Lost his try assist in the score readjustments, but Mitchell has scored only one try in five matches, yet he is now averaging just under 40. His 10 points in tackle busts, eight in offloads, to go with a try assist gives us a great indication that his role is growing and the connection with the new-look spine at the Chooks is starting to click. May well peak post-Origin, which would be perfect!

VERDICT: Locked in for the long haul.

Jayden Nikorima HOK | HFB (Roosters, 50.8% owned) — 19 points

He’s done as a SuperCoach player - 10 last week, 19 off the bench again this week. I feel for the 50 per cent of you as there are limited options at the HOK position now that Parcell is $250k+ and Garvey has been dropped.

VERDICT: SELL! If you aren’t selling due to lack of options, switch to halves ASAP (as if you have an injury you can cover with your other bench half — at HOK you can’t do that) and hopefully a cheapie arrives at some point.

Jayden Nikorima is a sell. Picture Gregg Porteous

Cody Walker HFB | 5/8 (Rabbits, 26.1% owned) — 65 points

Averaging 60 now through five games, that’s keeper territory — we all know he won’t be a keeper, but man he’s going to make us a lot more coin yet. Scored a nice meat pie, was kicking goals, and made 20 tackles. All fantastic news and should be in your best 17 conversation each week.

VERDICT: Going to reach $300k+ in no time, but the end is nowhere in sight. I hope you didn’t sell to Te Maire Martin last week …

Jacob Saifiti FRF | 2RF (Knights, 42.1% owned) — 59 points

My team name could well be the Saifiti Salvation in coming weeks (can I even change that?), how bloody good is this guy going - 59 points including a try and 34 tackles. If Nathan Brown drops (or even benches) him this week with Tariq Sims back there will be hell to pay!

VERDICT: This 59 will kick Saifiti on for price rises up until almost the round 12 bye, at which point he’ll be primed for an upgrade.

Pat Mata’utia (Knights, 34.6% owned) — 38 points

That’s two low scores in a row from #PatMat — which was always coming at some point given how bad the Knights are. No offloads the past two weeks has hurt, but the hit-ups are still there in the 20s and hopefully against the Tigers this weekend he can sniff out a try.

VERDICT: #PatMat is nowhere near a sell as yet, hold until the round 12 bye.

Ashley Taylor HFB | 5/8 (Titans, 36.1% owned) — 44 points

I figured Taylor would go under 20 this week up against the formidable Broncos. But playing at home with no Tyrone Roberts, the Titans, and Taylor in particular showed they have some serious game. A try assist, the goalkicking duties, 19 tackles and a forced dropout this week all point towards more price rises yet, hopefully a big one against the Sharks this weekend.

VERDICT: 100% HOLD.

John Olive CTW (Titans, 3.1% owned) — 13 points

Yuck. I fear after this shocker he may be on the chopping block either with Zillman’s calf resurrection or Nathan Davis coming back in. Six missed tackles, a penalty and an error add up to -10 points, no thanks Johnny.

VERDICT: No go zone.

Titans player John Olive is a no go zone.

Jordan Rankin FLB | 5/8 (Tigers, 11.2% owned) — 22 points

Rankin is unfortunately the first cheapie of interest to the large majority of us this season to have failed to reach his BE (23), meaning we have a decision to make. But, Rankin plays the Knights this week. If there’s anyone you’d back a winger to score against, it’s the Knights!

VERDICT: Wouldn’t blame people for selling, but the game vs. Knights offers a potential second wind of price rises. What will you do???

Craig Garvey HOK (Bulldogs, 3.8% owned) – 0 points

Like Denniss, Garvey was dropped with the return of Michael Lichaa. We broke the news that this would likely happen prior to lockout in Sangster’s Late Mail, and on the LIVE Countdown Show so hopefully you weren’t caught out!

VERDICT: This was always the danger, so you can’t say you weren’t warned. SELL is on the cards to a keeper like Cam Smith if he was on field, or Nathan Peats for bye coverage.

Leivaha Pulu FRF (Titans, 2% owned) – 33 points

Could be anything with minutes on offer, but at this stage his price, and scores in tune, will be capped. Zeb Taia, Greg Bird, Ryan James, Agnatius Paasi and Chris McQueen are just killing his game time. Love his game for SuperCoach though so wait and watch if an injury occurs.

VERDICT: Not at this stage, unfortunately.

Felise Kaufusi FRF (Storm, 1.6% owned) – 24 points

The role expansion we saw last week as a result of Kevin Proctor being out, and Tohu Harris spending time in the centres didn’t eventuate this week. Hence we can cross him off our list as a trade-in option.

VERDICT: AVOID.

There we go, a decision to be made on Jordan Rankin this week, and fingers are crossed for the Te Maire Martin owners out there for teams lists each week until Seggy returns.

Good luck this weekend!

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Originally published as Bargain Basement: Weekly SuperCoach cheapie analysis