NRL SuperCoach POD watch: 10 players who could make the difference for your team

OUR 2014 SuperCoach champion Dave Von Kotze takes a look at 10 POD players who could make the difference for your side this season.

After a chaotic round one, most teams will need some adjustments to patch up our teams to hit back in round two.

Even though the majority us will have to use trades this week to trade out misfiring cheapies or fill the huge, empty voids left by injuries to Paul Gallen, James Segeyaro and Ben Henry, let’s take a look on the POD front and see who hit their straps and more importantly, work out if they are genuine options for our teams.

1) Moses Mbye (87) 4.7 per cent ownership

Mbye will be the POD of the season if he continues with the blistering SuperCoach form he showed in round one. He’ll be working off a strong, fit pack offering plenty of go-forward and is kicking goals as an added bonus. Should remain a POD with so many cheapie options in the halves and also due to SuperCoaches finding it hard to give up their ‘gun’ halves.

2) Agnatius Paasi (77) 10.9 per cent ownership

One of the best on ground for the Titans. Sixteen hit-ups, 13 of which were over eight metres, 5 tackle- busts and a try with a line-break saw Paasi carry on from his excellent pre-season form. However, he still only played 42 minutes which has to be taken into account, especially with his score boosted by a try this week.

3) Manu Ma’u (72) three per cent ownership

Ma’u made 28 tackles and ran straight and hard busting five tackles and making three effective offloads. Plays all three big bye rounds and currently only owned by three per cent of coaches.

4) Aiden Tolman (68) 2.3 per cent ownership

Tolman didn’t see extra minutes like his partner in crime James Graham but was an absolute workhorse scoring at a very economical 1.1 PPM for his 62 minutes of game time.

5) Matt Gillett (69) 5.9 per cent ownership

Gillett becomes relevant again after a strong World Club Challenge game and an eighty- minute performance in round one. Saw plenty of ball for an edge forward and is playing in a Broncos side that will score tries in abundance.

Matt Gillett enjoyed a strong start to the season.

6) Simon Mannering (90) 13.9 per cent ownership

Mannering will be a popular trade-in target for the injured Paul Gallen this week. Despite pre-season rumours, Mannering had a blinder for the full 80 and should drop out of the POD category very soon.

7) Kyle Turner (90) 10 per cent ownership

Great start from the injury prone Turner who played 66 minutes at lock and picked up some handy attacking stats to boost his score. Will make some decent cash to start the year if he remains at lock. SuperCoaches need to keep an eye on the Rabbitohs team when it drops at 5pm on Tuesday as George Burgess is expected to be back this week meaning Sam Burgess could return to lock and impact Turner’s minutes.

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8) Jake Trbojevic (61) 7.5 per cent ownership

J-Turbo played 58 minutes which is 12 minutes more than his 2015 average, and has also put his hand up to be a worthy replacement for Paul Gallen.

9) Nathan Peats (64) 9 per cent ownership

Peats has been targeted by many as the hooker option to cover the Origin period as he plays all three of the big bye rounds. Due to the injury to James Segeyaro, he may come into calculations earlier than expected, especially if he remains an eighty-minute hooker as he was in round one.

10) Jake Granville (32) 11.6 per cent ownership

A left-field option here considering he only scored 32 points, but he can be traded for James Segeyaro and leave potential owners $59, 800 in their salary cap to fix the Ben Henry problem. Granville also played 70 minutes against the Sharks which is 18 minutes more than his 2015 average. One to consider.

Originally published as NRL SuperCoach POD watch: 10 players who could make the difference for your team