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.

Is there any danger of these so-called ‘Guns’ we pay the big bucks for aiming up and scoring the keeper like scores we all know they’re capable of?

Yes, I’m looking at YOU Simon Mannering (great captaincy choice!), Andrew Fifita, Cameron Smith and even the great one … James Tedesco!

If it weren’t for a great batch of cheapies still earning super cash for us, and a new bunch of players to keep an eye on, this season would have already been an insurance claim for many of us!

As of this week I will cover the cheapies in sections.

‘Freshies’ are one/two gamers who are yet to rise in price — I’ll give an early verdict on them, and the ‘current crop’ of cheapies who a large majority own.

Once players rise in price to the point they are past $150k I will give a final verdict on what I think the plan should be.

Freshies

Te Maire Martin HFB | 5/8 (Panthers 2.3% owned) — 29 points

By now I’m sure everyone has heard of Martin, no doubt a star, but my big question is will he stay in the team upon James Segeyaro’s return? Martin is starting in the halves for the time being which is fantastic but that is with Peter Wallace at hooker. I’m not convinced that will remain the case, but boy it’s hard to ignore the impending price rises starting this week and with 29 points following his debut effort of 90 his BE will be both negative and huge!

VERDICT: I’m going to do everything in my power not to buy him as the likes of Cody Walker, Jackson Hastings and Ash Taylor aren’t ready to go yet, but he could well be a great money-maker. On the fence.

LOWDOWN: How is your team faring?

CHARGED: Koroibete in trouble

Corey Deniss CTW (Knights, 0% owned) — 9 points

Unless your name is #PatMat I don’t want anything to do with the struggling Knights outfit. Nine points shows that should he not score on any given week he will struggle to make cash, let alone stay in the team.

VERDICT: AVOID.

Nathan Davis CTW (Titans, 21.51% owned) — 0 points

Still ‘on the bubble’ having played just the two games, but with John Olive scoring a try in a great comeback win over the Raiders on the weekend we may be waiting a while for his third game.

Should you hold onto Nathan Davis?

VERDICT: Watch team lists, anyone still with Ben Henry, Dale Copley or Nathan Green should pounce once he is named again.

Leivaha Pulu FRF (Titans, 0% owned) — 34 points

Backed up a strong 46 points in his debut with 34 points, and another eight points in offloads shows his promise. Minutes are the main worry in the low 30’s, although the Ryan James absence should solidify his place in the side.

VERDICT: If you’re desperate for a FRF downgrade to find the cash for Milford/Tedesco he’s not the worst prospect. Not for me though.

Felise Kaufusi FRF (Storm, 1.6% owned) — 74 points

Kaufusi has played three games, which would normally place him in the next category, but this was his first game of playing some decent minutes. Curtis Scott’s injury early on saw a reshuffle and with increased minutes we saw what he is capable of. Dangerous when running at the line, scored a nice try and had solid base stats with 30 tackles, and 16 points in hit-ups over 8m. His hair is also immaculate.

VERDICT: Will be slightly more expensive than most rookie priced options, but watch his role if Tohu Harris is named in the centres and Kevin Proctor remains sidelined.

LISTEN TO OUR ROUND 5 SUPERCOACH PODCAST

Current Crop

Jackson Hastings HFB | 5/8 (Roosters, 60.3% owned) — 63 points

Finding his feet. The Roosters seemed to hit a bit of an attacking groove against the Sea Eagles, and Hastings was at the centre of a lot of it with Aiden Guerra starting at 5/8. Two try assists, 19 tackles and a conversion — all promising signs.

Verdict: Won’t be leaving my team at any point until after the byes barring injury, regardless of price.

Latrell Mitchell CTW | FLB (Roosters, 58.8% owned) — 30 points

What an absolute joke of a decision (my opinion only) that cost this young superstar one of the tries of the season. The old ‘insufficient evidence’ excuse with 8 different cameras and slow-mo isn’t good enough if you ask me, but the point is — Mitchell should make us a lot of cash, and has 100 point upside every time he walks on the field.

VERDICT: Locked in for the long haul, no CTW guns are ‘must-haves’ yet, so sit tight until after the byes.

Jayden Nikorima HOK | HFB (Roosters, 54.3% owned) — 10 points

It’s over, people. Niko was benched for Aiden Guerra at 5/8 in a move no doubt in reference to the Roosters’ awful defensive effort in the 40-0 thrashing against the Cowboys last week, and he will lose cash pretty quickly if this remains the case.

VERDICT: This will be his role once Pearce is back too so I would strongly advise selling to a Matt Parcell, 2RF cheapie (via Paul Carter), or Te Maire Martin if he is in your halves.

DEAD: Sharks coach questions send off

SUPERCOACH: Which POD players should you grab?

Cody Walker HFB | 5/8 (Rabbits, 26.4% owned) — 64 points

In a horrible performance by the Rabbits on Good Friday, Walker somehow managed to salvage a good score. A try assist, 8 points in tackle busts and two line break assists show how heavily involved he is.

VERDICT: Great game for the kid, and ride him out until Adam Reynolds returns and may even supplant Luke Keary once he does. Lots of cash still to come.

Jacob Saifiti FRF | 2RF (Knights, 41.5% owned) — 42 points

So solid in his points returns, you know what you’re going to get. I’ve already warned everyone about Tariq Sims’ impending return but Nathan Brown surely has bigger fish to fry than this young prospect.

VERDICT: Should remain safe in the back row rotation after some solid performances. I would plan a sell prior to round 13 after covering the tricky round 12 byes.

Ashley Taylor may take over as goal kicker.

Ashley Taylor HFB | 5/8 (Titans, 36.1% owned) — 34 points

Not the score we had hoped for, but news that Tyrone Roberts will be on the sidelines for a couple of weeks bodes well for not only the goal kicking, but also having complete control over the attacking reins of a surprising top 4 team in the Titans.

VERDICT: A lot of SuperCoaches will be tempted by the Taylor to Martin trade, but I think this kid has plenty of season-long prospects. Hold.

John Olive CTW (Titans, 2.1% owned) — 58 points

Many will know of Olive, but not many will know (including me) his prospects for staying in the Titans side with Nathan Davis and Will Zillman still to return. That alone is enough to scare me off, despite the great game and big role in the comeback win over the Raiders.

VERDICT: Not an option now that he has already had one price rise and is not a guaranteed starter each week.

Jordan Rankin FLB | 5/8 (Tigers, 11.2% owned) — 35 points

The Tigers didn’t register a point, so it was always going to be hard for a winger to score big in that scenario. Rankin is locked in to the side, will be great bye coverage and ideally a great stepping stone to a gun come round 19.

VERDICT: Resist temptation on the early cash in and keep him on your FLB bench until the end of the byes. Will cover Teddy/RTS/Barba perfectly over Origin.

Garvey has proven to be worth the risk.

Craig Garvey HOK (Bulldogs, 3.8% owned) — 77 points

Man, Garvey has a knack for finding the try line, a lot like Damien Cook at the end of last season for the Dogs. Will see a HUGE price rise this week, and until Lichaa returns he is a lock in for your best 17. One of the great risk/reward selections that has paid off — at least for the time being.

VERDICT: A rise of $80k+ this week alone was worth the trade in, ahhh hindsight.

Pat Mata’utia (Knights, 34.6% owned) — 30 points

It was a walkover after half time at Mt. Smart Stadium and #PatMat didn’t see a whole lot of ball. Only 2 points in tackle busts, and the one offload show it was an off game, but his place in the team is safe, and so is significant amounts of money over the coming weeks.

VERDICT: #PatMat a lock to see more price rises, hopefully a rd13 trade to a keeper who covers the last two byes would be perfect.

Curtis Scott CTW (Storm, 6.8% owned) — 3 points

Thank GOD he wasn’t named this week, and double thank god that I didn’t have a spare trade this weekend when he was a late inclusion as we would have all jumped on board, only for the poor youngster to go down early with potentially a broken leg and a paltry 3 points. Phew.

VERDICT: Now no longer of interest due to injury and the initial price rise done and dusted.

There we go, plenty of cheapies carrying the load for my team and I’m sure yours too. Big decisions to be made this weekend, particularly in deciding on TeMaire Martin … Hopefully team lists are kind to us.

Good luck this weekend!

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Originally published as Bargain Basement: Weekly SuperCoach cheapie analysis