SuperCoach NRL teams analysis Round 21

IT IS the final round of the regular SuperCoach season and there are some season saving PODs available for those coaches with trades left to spend. Updated teams analysis here …

IT IS the final round of the regular SuperCoach NRL season and there are some season saving PODs available for those coaches with trades left to spend.

Read all the SuperCoach NRL — presented by hipages — analysis of the team lists for round 21 below:

SUPERCOACH: 10 things we learned from Round 20

HEADING OFF: Will French quit club to pursue fullback ambition?

KENT: Too many stars, only two Immortals

WINNERS AND LOSERS

WINNERS:

— Josh Dugan has been named in the reserves for Cronulla but is expected to play against the Sea Eagles on Sunday. Valentine Holmes will retain the fullback role despite Dugan’s return.

— Penrith prop Reagan Campbell-Gillard (jaw) has been named in the reserves but it is expected to move into the starting 17 should he successfully complete a full contact training session later in the week

— The Raiders welcome back Aidan Sezer (hamstring) and Shannon Boyd (calf)

— Warriors Shaun Johnson and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck. While a game against the Dragons, away, may look bad on paper, the Dragons have been leaking points to halfbacks and fullbacks like no other team of late. Early season gun Tohu Harris (knee) makes his long-awaited return from injury for the Warriors

— St George five-eighth Gareth Widdop. The Warriors are as generous to five-eighths as the Dragons are to halves and fullbacks. Widdop was safely held last week by the Roosters but I’d expect him to go large against the Warriors at WIN.

— The return of George Jennings (groin) sees Jarryd Hayne shift to his preferred position in the centres

— Lachlan Fitzgibbon crossed for a try in round 19 and two in round 20. There’s every chance ‘Fitzy’ breaks the line again as while the Wests Tigers are the fifth most miserly defence in the game in 2018 they have been generous to second-rowers all season.

— North Queensland’s Johnathan Thurston* boasts a career average of 84.8 against the Roosters, is in fine form with a 99-point game last week and for all their defensive prowess the Chooks have been awfully generous to opposition halves of late, conceding 122 to Ben Hunt last week and a try and try assist to Daly-Cherry Evans from Manly in round 19.

* This “winner” is considered a “loser” by Tim Williams but he is wrong.

— Wade Graham (groin) returns in the back row, greatly boosting the Sharks’ left-edge attack

— Tevita Pangai Jnr. Matt Gillett was ruled out for the remainder of the season on Wednesday, ensuring TPJ should continue with strong minutes pending his personal fitness concerns.

LOSERS:

— The entire South Sydney squad. The Rabbitohs are the most SuperCoach friendly squad in the game but the match-up against the Storm does not bode well. The Storm are the most miserly team in the comp and their ability to slow down the play the ball will dent even captaincy “lock” Damien Cook by curtailing his ability to run after quick pay the balls.

— The Bulldogs will have to face the Broncos without their best forward in David Klemmer (suspension)

— On paper the matchup is a “minus” for Manly’s Tom Trbojevic as the Sharks have been defending fullbacks better than any other team this year. However, the Roosters are second best to position and Tommy Turbo carved them up for 115 points two weeks ago so maybe the young gun is matchup proof

— Ryan Matterson moves to five-eighth for the Roosters to cover for the injured Luke Keary (knee). Matterson will get through less defensive work than he would have as compared to playing 80 minutes in the second row earlier in the year.

—At the Eels, Reed Mahoney starts at hooker for Kaysa Pritchard (shoulder) in just his fifth-ever NRL game, Mahoney’s backup Jaeman Salmon is to make his debut.

BULLDOGS v BRONCOS

Thursday 2nd August, ANZ Stadium, 7.50pm

Bulldogs: 1 Will Hopoate, 2 Brett Morris, 3 Josh Morris, 4 Kerrod Holland, 5 Reimis Smith, 6 Lachlan Lewis, 7 Jeremy Marshall-King, 8 Aiden Tolman, 9 Michael Lichaa, 10 Danny Fualalo, 11 Josh Jackson (c), 12 Rhyse Martin, 13 Adam Elliott

Interchange: 14 Fa’amanu Brown, 15 Greg Eastwood, 16 Ofahiki Ogden, 17 Chris Smith

Reserves: 19 Renouf Toomaga, 20 Matthew Frawley, 21 Francis Tualau, 23 John Olive

Team news: Danny Fualalo replaces David Klemmer (suspended) in the starting side. Mid-season recruit Chris Smith to make his club debut off the bench.

SuperCoach analysis: Just not a whole lot of SuperCoach relevance with the Bulldogs this year outside of Rhyse Martin — who is aviable POD armband choice for the brave willing to captain a player who plays in the first game of the round. Aidan Tolman has scored well the past two weeks (59 and 72), but the veteran very rarely musters an attacking stat to augment his big base and so is outside the top tier we are filling our teams with at the pointy end of the season.

Broncos: 1. Jamayne Isaako, 2 Corey Oates, 3 James Roberts, 4 Darius Boyd (c), 5 Jordan Kahu, 6 Anthony Milford, 7 Kodi Nikorima, 8 Matthew Lodge, 9 Andrew McCullough, 10 Sam Thaiday, 11 Alex Glenn, 12 Tevita Pangai jnr, 13 Josh McGuire

Interchange: 14 Kotoni Stags, 15 Joe Ofahengaue, 16 Korbin Sims, 17 David Fifita

Reserves: 18 Gehamat Shibasaki, 19 Patrick Mago, 20 Sam Tagataese, 21 Troy Dargan

Team news: The Broncos have named an unchanged 17, though Matt Lodge may swap roles with Joe Ofahengaue on game day as has happened in recent weeks.

SuperCoach analysis: I’m expecting a big game from Corey Oates this week — and that’s not said just because I’m slightly frustrated with his output of late. The Bulldogs’ right-edge defence has leaked huge scores on occasions over the past month and there’s a fair chance they let through a few more scores in this one. SuperCoach stud Tevita Pangai Jr had a bit of an odd game last week in that his score of 54 points in 72 minutes consisted almost entirely of base stats. The big rig’s time on ground was boosted by the injury to Alex Glenn and barring further injury I would expect less minutes this week. No word as yet regarding whether Jamayne Isaako will resume goalkicking duties this week — watch for late mail.

KNIGHTS v WESTS TIGERS

Friday 3rd August, McDonald Jones Stadium, 6pm

Knights: 1 Kalyn Ponga, 2 Ken Sio, 3 Sione Mata’utia, 4 Cory Denniss, 5 Shaun Kenny-Dowall, 6 Connor Watson, 7 Mitchell Pearce (c), 8 Herman Ese’ese, 9 Danny Levi, 10 Daniel Saifiti, 11 Lachlan Fitzgibbon, 12 Mitch Barnett, 13 Aidan Guerra

Interchange: 14 Jamie Buhrer (c), 15 Chris Heighington, 16 Josh King, 17 JJ Felise

Reserves: 18 Nick Meaney, 19 Sam Stone, 20 Jack Cogger, 21 Luke Yates

Team news: Connor Watson (groin) replaces Jack Cogger at five-eighth. Cory Denniss replaces Nathan Ross at centre. JJ Felise makes his club debut on the bench, with Herman Ese’ese starting at prop and Jacob Lillyman out.

SuperCoach analysis: Lachlan Fitzgibbon has back-to-back tons for the Knights and has to be considered some chance to near the triple figures again as the Wests Tigers are particularly bad at defending against his position — Wests half Luke Brooks can expect to be targeted. Five-eighth Connor Watson is back after missing round 20. Watson put up big scores in the three weeks before he was injured and scored 102 on the Wests Tigers in 2017 — a big game on his return is possible.

Wests Tigers: 1 Moses Mbye, 2 David Nofoaluma, 3 Esan Marsters, 4 Kevin Naiqama, 5 Corey Thompson, 6 Benji Marshall, 7 Luke Brooks, 8 Russell Packer, 9 Robbie Farah, 10 Ben Matulino, 11 Michael Chee Kam, 12 Luke Garner, 13 Elijah Taylor (c)

Interchange: 14 Alex Twal, 15 Suaso Sue, 16 Robbie Rochow, 17 Matt Eisenhuth

Reserves: 18 Jacob Liddle, 19 Chris McQueen, 20 Pita Godinet, 21 Malakai Watene-Zelezniak

Team news: Robbie Rochow has been named to replace Chris McQueen on the bench in the club’s only change.

SuperCoach analysis: Wests Tigers boast just the one SuperCoach stud in Esan Marsters. The bullocking CTW has a 3RA of 77.7, averaging near to 40 in base over that period. That’s excellent for a player in his position and he should be locked into your squad. Fellow backline star David Nofoaluma was very disappointing last week against the Bulldogs and averages just 44 PPG in his career against the Knights, I would not be confident playing him this week.

RABBITOHS v STORM

Friday 3rd August, ANZ Stadium, 7.55pm

Rabbitohs:

1 Alex Johnston, 2 Campbell Graham, Hymel Hunt, 4 Dane Gagai, 5 Robert Jennings, 6 Cody Walker, 7 Adam Reynolds, 8 Tom Burgess, 9 Damien Cook, 10 George Burgess, 11 John Sutton, 12 Angus Crichton, 13 Sam Burgess (c)

Interchange: 14 Adam Doueihi, 15 Cameron Murray, 16 Jason Clark, 17 Tevita Tatola

Reserves: 18 Billy Brittain, 19 Kyle Turner, 20 Dean Britt, 21 Braidon Burns

Team news: No Greg Inglis as yet with Souths unchanged from their last-start win over the Eels.

SuperCoach analysis: The Rabbitohs are the most SuperCoach friendly squad in the game but the match-up against the Storm does not bode well. The Storm are the most miserly team in the comp and their ability to slow down the ruck will dent even Damien Cook — a man whose reliability has him marked as normally the safest of captaincy options this year. One Rabbitoh who does go well against the Storm is Sam Burgess; the big man has a career average of 71.9 against Melbourne and must be considered a good chance to reach or surpass his 5RA of 69.6 PPG, making him a must start in your front row.

Storm:

1 Billy Slater, 2 Suliasi Vunivalu, 3 Will Chambers, 4 Curtis Scott, 5 Josh Addo-Carr, 6 Cameron Munster, 7 Jahrome Hughes, 8 Jesse Bromwich, 9 Cameron Smith (c), 10 Nelson Asofa-Solomona, 11 Felise Kaufusi, 12 Ryan Hoffman, 13 Dale Finucane

Interchange: 14 Joe Stimson, 15 Tim Glasby, 16 Christian Welch, 17 Kenny Bromwich

Reserves: 18 Justin Olam, 19 Tui Kamikamica, 20 Albert Vete, 21 Cheyse Blair

Team news: Ryan Hoffman (shoulder) returns in the back row with Joe Stimson dropping to the bench and Cheyse Blair to the reserves. Dale Finucane starts at lock with Kenny Bromwich back to the bench.

SuperCoach analysis: The Storm demolished Canberra in round 20 and the easy win saw skipper Cameron Smith sent for an early shower, not that the skipper would have needed much of a washdown though as he made a minuscule, for him, 17 effective tackles in the game and not one hit-up. If it were not for 32 points in goals, Smith would have scored his lowest-ever score. With a 3RA of 51.0 there might be some thought to not playing Smith this week — dismiss it as CS9 loves playing the Rabbitohs and is sure to bounce back in this match. Melbourne’s Cameron Munster is currently the third most traded-in player for the week, no doubt plenty of owners seduced by the Origin star’s 103-point effort against the Raiders. Munster has scored over 60 PPG in over 53 per cent of games so far this season which is better than average for his position and, while he does have three games where he failed to pass 25 points, he also has five games of 80 points or better. Not as safe a selection as Nathan Cleary for mine but there are certainly strong arguments in favour of the move.

DRAGONS v WARRIORS

Saturday 4th August, WIN Stadium, 3pm

Dragons: 1 Matt Dufty, 2 Jordan Pereira, 3 Euan Aitken, 4 Tim Lafai, 5 Jason Nightingale, 6 Gareth Widdop (c), 7 Ben Hunt, 8 James Graham, 9 Cameron McInnes, 10 Paul Vaughan, 11 Tyson Frizell, 12 Tariq Sims, 13 Jack De Belin

Interchange: 14 Jeremy Latimore, 15 Kurt Mann, 16 Leeson Ah Mau, 17 Luciano Leilua

Reserves: 18 Patrick Herbert, 19 Blake Lawrie, 20 Zachary Lomax, 21 Mitchell Allgood

Team news: The Dragons are unchanged from last week’s loss to the Roosters.

SuperCoach analysis: This match, at home on a sunny Saturday afternoon, screams “bounceback opportunity” for St George five-eighth Gareth Widdop. The Warriors have allowed some big scores to opposition five-eighths of late, most recently 99 points to the Gold Coast’s AJ Brimson, and with the Dragons hurting after their round 20 beating by the Roosters I’d expect their captain to be in the thick of it here. Surprisingly, the Warriors have been much better defending halfbacks all year but despite this I think Ben Hunt is quite the sneaky POD pick-up — thanks in no small part to the Dragons’ very favourable draw for the run home. Tariq Sims has been on a tear since State of Origin with a 3RA of 73.3 PPG, making up what he lacks in base with bucketloads of attacking stats. One for the brave.

Warriors:

1 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, 2 David Fusitu’a, 3 Gerard Beale, 4 Solomone Kata, 5 Ken Maumalo, 6 Blake Green, 7 Shaun Johnson, 8 James Gavet, 9 Issac Luke, 10 Agnatius Paasi, 11 Isaiah Papali’i, 12 Tohu Harris, 13 Adam Blair

Interchange: 14 Jazz Tevaga, 15 Simon Mannering, 16 Leivaha Pulu, 17 Bunty Afoa

Reserves: 18 Peta Hiku, 20 Mason Lino, 21 Sam Lisone, 22 Joseph Vuna

Team news: The Warriors are boosted by the return of trio Tohu Harris, Issac Luke and Adam Blair. Jazz Tevaga and Simon Mannering drop to the bench, Sam Lisone and Joseph Vuna to the reserves and Karl Lawton out of the squad.

SuperCoach analysis: While a game against St George Illawarra, away, may look bad on paper, the Dragons have been leaking points to halfbacks and fullbacks like no other team of late - a statistic that favours Shaun Johnson and, to a lesser degree, the out-of-form Roger Tuivasa-Sheck. Johnson will be boosted by the return of trio Issac Luke, Tohu Harris and Adam Blair. Harris owners who have held him this long should probably let the big man ride the pine one week longer though the Dragons have not defended the position well over the past five rounds.

Jai Arrow of the Titans is the most sold player of the round. Picture: AAP Image

EELS v TITANS

Saturday 4th August, ANZ Stadium, 5.30pm

Eels: 1 Clint Gutherson (c), 2 Bevan French, 3 Michael Jennings, 4 Jarryd Hayne, 5 George Jennings, 6 Corey Norman, 7 Mitchell Moses, 8 Siosaia Vave, 9 Reed Mahoney, 10 Tim Mannah (c), 11 Marata Niukore, 12 Tepai Moeroa, 13 Nathan Brown

Interchange: 14 Jaeman Salmon, 15 Kane Evans, 16 Peni Terepo, 17 Brad Takairangi

Reserves: 18 Will Smith, 19 David Gower, 20 Greg Leleisiuao, 21 Raymond Stone

Team news: The return of George Jennings sees Jarryd Hayne shift to his favoured position in the centres and Brad Takairangi to the bench. Reed Mahoney starts at hooker for Kaysa Pritchard (shoulder) with Jaeman Salmon to make his debut as the bench utility. Tim Mannah starts at prop with Daniel Alvaro (knee/concussion) out. Kane Evans has been recalled on the bench with David Gower dropping to the reserves.

SuperCoach analysis: The return of George Jennings (groin) sees Jarryd Hayne shift to his preferred position in the centres and, despite the Titans improving their defence dramatically (they are the equal second most-miserly defence against CTW over the past five rounds) I am playing the great man. Hayne averages 86 PPG against the Titans and I’m happy to live in the past with my hopes held high — I don’t care what Tim Williams says about that. Nothing much else to see here I’m afraid.

Titans:

1 Michael Gordon, 2 Anthony Don, 3 Konrad Hurrell, 4 Brenko Lee, 5 Phillip Sami, 6 AJ Brimson, 7 Ashley Taylor, 8 Jarrod Wallace, 9 Nathan Peats, 10 Ryan James (c), 11 Kevin Proctor, 12 Keegan Hipgrave, 13 Jai Arrow

Interchange: 14 Mitch Rein, 15 Moeaki Fotuaika, 16 Jack Stockwell, 17 Will Matthews

Reserves: 18 Leilani Latu, 19 Brendan Elliot, 20 Jai Whitbread, 21 Kane Elgey

Team news: The Gold Coast are unchanged.

SuperCoach analysis: The biggest talking point at the Titans is the form and fitness of Jai Arrow. The Titans have cut Arrow’s playing time over the past two rounds as the young gun deals with a posterior cruciate ligament injury. Despite the injury, Arrow’s PPM is still reasonable (77 points in 87 minutes over the span) and I am firmly of the opinion that once he is capable of playing bigger minutes and can trust his knee to support him when attacking the line, then he will return to bigger scores. I’m just not sure I can trust that to happen this week. A hold, not a sell, for me this week — though that stance has at least as much to do with my dire trade position as it does belief in the kid. Ryan James is a sell, the minutes are dropping off and as a result James’s base stat production is down.

Jason Taumalolo’s form has dipped at the most crucial time. Picture: Alix Sweeney

ROOSTERS v COWBOYS

Saturday 4th August, Allianz Stadium, 7.35pm

Roosters:

1 James Tedesco, 2 Daniel Tupou, 3 Latrell Mitchell, 4 Joseph Manu, 5 Blake Ferguson, 6 Ryan Matterson, 7 Cooper Cronk, 8 Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, 9 Jake Friend (c), 10 Siosiua Taukeiaho, 11 Boyd Cordner, 12 Isaac Liu, 13 Victor Radley

Interchange: 14 Dylan Napa, 15 Zane Tetevano, 16 Mitchell Aubusson, 17 Kurt Baptiste

Reserves: 18 Nat Butcher, 19 Mitchell Cornish, 20 Sean O’Sullivan, 21 Lindsay Collins

Team news: Ryan Matterson moves to five-eighth for Luke Keary (knee) with Kurt Baptiste recalled on the bench, although halves Mitch Cornish and Sean O’Sullivan are also in the reserves. Dylan Napa (knee) returns on the bench in place of Lindsay Collins.

SuperCoach analysis: Latrell Mitchell ($587,800) v Blake Ferguson ($590,000) is the question on many minds this week. To keep the discussion brief, you can’t really go wrong either way. That being said, I’m on team Latrell for the higher ceiling, others would steer towards Fergo for the more reliable base. Ryan Matterson continues to tempt, but there’s serious question marks surrounding how the short-term shift to five-eighth will impact his SuperCoach output. With 80 minutes unlikely on Luke Keary’s return, I’m staying away, but can see merit in jumping on this week.

Cowboys:

1 Te Maire Martin, 2 Kyle Feldt, 3 Enari Tuala, 4 Kane Linnett, 5 Justin O’Neill, 6 Jake Clifford, 7 Johnathan Thurston (c), 8 Matt Scott, 9 Jake Granville, 10 Jordan McLean, 11 Gavin Cooper, 12 Coen Hess, 13 Jason Taumalolo

Interchange: 14 Ben Hampton, 15 Shaun Fensom, 16 John Asiata, 17 Scott Bolton

Reserves: 18 Corey Jensen, 19 Lachlan Coote, 20 Javid Bowen, 21 Francis Molo

Team news: Matt Scott replaces John Asiata in the starting side after Asiata’s poor performance in round 20.

SuperCoach analysis: Rob Sutherland is strongly considering Johnathan Thurston this week due to the “romance” surrounding his retirement. Rob has rocks in his head, don’t be tempted, he could score single digits against the Roosters who are the best defensive unit in the NRL. Jason Taumalolo has a 3RA of 53.3PPG and is a genuine option to leave out this week with plenty of SuperCoaches running with stacked squads.

SHARKS v SEA EAGLES

Sunday 5th August, Southern Cross Group Stadium, 2pm

Sharks:

1 Valentine Holmes, 2 Sosaia Feki, 3 Jesse Ramien, 4 Ricky Leutele, 5 Sione Katoa, 6 Matt Moylan, 7 Chad Townsend, 8 Andrew Fifita, 9 Jayden Brailey, 10 Matt Prior, 11 Luke Lewis, 12 Wade Graham (c), 13 Paul Gallen (c)

Interchange: 14 Scott Sorensen, 15 James Segeyaro, 16 Aaron Woods, 17 Jayson Bukuya

Reserves: 18 Josh Dugan, 19 Ava Seumanufagai, 20 Joseph Paulo, 21 Kyle Flanagan

Team news: Wade Graham (groin) returns in the back row, Scott Sorensen drops to the bench and Joseph Paulo to the reserves. Josh Dugan has been named in the reserves but our mail is he will play likely replacing Ricky Leutele.

SuperCoach analysis: Valentine Holmes ($646,800) churned out 85 points against his supposed bogey team Brisbane last week. The Cronulla fullback averages 80PPG since Round 10 and faces the Sea Eagles, Storm, Cowboys, Knights and Bulldogs to finish the season. The high price is a minor blessing because it will keep many coaches away, so get on. Andrew Fifita has repaid the faith of patient owners with consecutive scores of 88 and 89, despite being sick for much of the clash with the Broncos. At five per cent ownership Jesse Ramien is an enticing POD with Cronulla’s friendly run home.

Sea Eagles:

1 Tom Trbojevic, 2 Jorge Taufua, 3 Moses Suli, 4 Brian Kelly, 5 Bradley Parker, 6 Dylan Walker, 7 Daly Cherry-Evans (c), 8 Addin Fonua-Blake, 9 Manase Fainu, 10 Martin Taupau, 11 Joel Thompson, 12 Shaun Lane, 13 Jake Trbojevic

Interchange: 14 Trent Hodkinson, 15 Kelepi Tanginoa, 16 Frank Winterstein, 17 Taniela Paseka

Reserves: 18 Matthew Wright, 20 Jack Gosiewski, 21 Toafofoa Sipley, 22 Lloyd Perrett

Team news: The ‘Starting Mariny Tauapau off the bench’ experiment lasted just one week and the big man regains his starting role with Taniela Paseka returning to the interchange.

SuperCoach analysis: Many SuperCoaches couldn’t sub Marty Taupau quick enough when he was benched against Penrith. Naturally, the Sea Eagles prop went on to pump out 82 points in his usual 53 minutes, ouch. Tom Trbojevic and brother Jake continue to score impressively and will be hanging to face easier opposition, unfortunately the Sharks are anything but.

Valentine Holmes of the Sharks has been in phenomenal form. Picture: AAP

PANTHERS v RAIDERS

Sunday 5th August, Panthers Stadium, 4pm

Panthers:

1 Tyrone Peachey, 2 Josh Mansour, 3 Waqa Blake, 4 Dean Whare, 5 Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, 6 James Maloney (c), 7 Nathan Cleary, 8 Moses Leota, 9 Sione Katoa, 10 James Tamou, 11 Viliame Kikau, 12 Isaah Yeo, 13 James Fisher-Harris

Interchange: 14 Tyrone May, 15 Trent Merrin, 16 Jack Hetherington, 17 Corey Harawira-Naera

Reserves: 18 Reagan Campbell-Gillard, 19 Kaide Ellis, 20 Christian Crichton, 21 Wayde Egan

Team news: Reagan Campbell-Gillard (jaw) has been named on the reserves, if the big man gets through further contact training this week expect him to play.

SuperCoach analysis: Viliame Kikau has a 5RA of 75PPG and is a must have when playing the full 80 minutes. The issue lies in whether or not Reagan Campbell-Gillard’s return will impact his minutes with a full-strength Penrith side on deck. Nathan Cleary ($469,500) looked every bit the sub $500k player for 60 minutes against Manly, before taking control in the final stages to finish with 97 points. Jump on at a bargain price.

Raiders:

1 Nick Cotric, 2 Brad Abbey, 3 Blake Austin, 4 Joseph Leilua, 5 Jordan Rapana, 6 Aidan Sezer, 7 Sam Williams, 8 Iosia Soliola, 9 Josh Hodgson (c), 10 Junior Paulo, 11 Joseph Tapine, 12 Elliott Whitehead, 13 Josh Papalii

Interchange: 14 Dunamis Lui, 15 Shannon Boyd, 16 Siliva Havili, 17 Luke Bateman

Reserves: 18 Liam Knight, 19 Jack Murchie, 20 Makahesi Makatoa, 21 Emre Guler

Team news: Aidan Sezer (leg) returns from injury, Blake Austin to replace Elliott Whitehead in the centres. Whitehead returns to the second row, bumping Sia Soliola to prop and Luke Bateman to the bench. Brad Abbey has been shifted from fullback to wing with Nick Cotric getting a run at the back. Shannon Boyd (calf) also returns on the bench with Jack Murchie and Liam Knight dropping to the reserves.

SuperCoach analysis: Josh Papalii (42), Joe Tapine (44) and Jordan Rapana (29) underwhelmed as PODs last week, however the lesson here is to be very hesitant in playing anyone facing the Melbourne Storm. They’re genuine SuperCoach killers, so take note with the likes of Cody Walker, Damien Cook and Alex Johnston this week.

Originally published as SuperCoach NRL teams analysis Round 21