SuperCoach NRL trade tips and Buy/Sell analysis for round 16

The Penrith Panthers will be without their entire Origin cohort, while South Sydney have named the most unlikely of players. See the latest teams news and replay the SuperCoach Q&A.

Penrith will rest all their State of Origin players this weekend as they look to spare them an onerous trip across the Tasman to take on the Warriors.

The Panthers have six players in the extended NSW squad - Dylan Edwards, Nathan Cleary, Brian To’o, Isaah Yeo and Liam Martin..

Rather than force them to back up after Origin II in Perth on Wednesday night, the Panthers will wrap them in cotton wool to make sure they are fit to face the league-leading Bulldogs the following week.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 27: Injured players Dylan Edwards and Nathan Cleary of the Panthers watch the game from the coaches box during the round four NRL match between the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Penrith Panthers at Accor Stadium on March 27, 2025, in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

It is a calculated gamble by the Panthers given they are scrambling to maintain touch with the top eight at the midpoint of the season.

Penrith, chasing a fifth consecutive premiership, are currently in ninth place, just one point behind the Sydney Roosters, having clawed their way up the ladder after a slow start to the year.

It is understood the Panthers could rush Lindsay Smith - who is part of the extended squad - to New Zealand provided he doesn’t play for the Blues.

ROUND 16 TEAMS

TIGERS v RAIDERS

Friday, 8:00pm, Campbelltown Stadium

Wests Tigers

1. Jahream Bula 2. Sunia Turuva 3. Adam Doueihi 4. Starford To’a 5. Jeral Skelton 6. Heath Mason 7. Jarome Luai 8. Terrell May 9. Apisai Koroisau 10. Fonua Pole 11. Samuela Fainu 12. Alex Seyfarth 13. Alex Twal

Interchange: 14. Tallyn Da Silva 15. Sione Fainu 16. Latu Fainu 17. Jack Bird Reserves: 18. Tony Sukkar 19.Charlie Murray 20. Charlie Staines 21. Kat Laulilii 22. Elie El-Zakhem

Raiders

1. Kaeo Weekes 2. Jed Stuart 3. Matthew Timoko 4. Sebastian Kris 5. Xavier Savage 6. Ethan Strange 7. Jamal Fogarty 8. Josh Papali’i 9. Tom Starling 10. Joseph Tapine 11. Hudson Young 12. Zac Hosking 13. Corey Horsburgh

Interchange: 14. Owen Pattie 15. Simi Sasagi 16. Morgan Smithies 17. Ata Mariota

Reserves: 18. Noah Martin 19. Chevy Stewart 20. Danny Levi 21.. Ethan Sanders 22. Pasami Saulo

WARRIORS v PANTHERS

Saturday, 3:00pm, Go Media Stadium, NZ

Warriors

1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 2. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak 3. Adam Pompey 4. Moala Graham-Taufa 5. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck 6. Chanel Harris-Tavita 7. Luke Metcalf 8. James Fisher-Harris 9. Wayde Egan 10. Marata Niukore 11. Leka Halasima 12. Jacob Laban 13. Erin Clark

Interchange: 14. Te Maire Martin 15. Jackson Ford 16. Demitric Vaimauga 17. Tanner Stowers-Smith

Reserves: 18. Samuel Healey 20. Bunty Afoa 21. Tanah Boyd 22. Edward kosi 23. Eddia Ieremia-Toeva

Panthers

1. Daine laurie 2. Thomas Jenkins 3. Izack Tago 4. Casey McLean 5. Paul Alamoti 6. Blaize Talagi 7. Brad Schneider 8. Moses Leota 9. Mitch Kenny 10. Lindsay Smith 11. Scott Sorensen 12. Isaiah Papali’i 13. Matt Eisenhuth

Interchange: 14. Trent Toelau 15. Liam Henry 16. Luron Patea 17. Luke Garner

Reserves: 18. Luke Sommerton 19. Jack Cole 20. Maverick Geyer 21. Preston Riki, 22. Austin Dias, 23. Harrison Hassett 24. Haxen Edgar

DOLPHINS v KNIGHTS

Saturday, 5:30pm, HBF Park, Perth

Dolphins

1. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow 2. Jamayne Isaako 3. Jake Averillo 4. Herbie Farnworth 5. Jack Bostock 6. Kodi Nikorima 7. Isaiya Katoa 8. Francis Molo 9. Jeremy Marshall-King 10. Mark Nicholls 11. Kulikefu Finefeuiaki 12. Oryn Keeley 13. Kurt Donoghoe

Interchange: 14. Harrison Graham 15. Connelly Lemuelu 16. Ray Stone 17. Josh Kerr

Reserves: 18. Sean O’Sullivan 19. Max Feagai 20. Aublix Tawha 21. Trau Fuller 22. Peter Hola

Knights

1. Kalyn Ponga 2. Dominic Young 3. Dane Gagai 4. Bradman Best 5. Greg Marzhew 6. Fletcher Sharpe 7. Jack Cogger 8. Tyson Frizell 9. Jayden Brailey 10. Mathew Croker 11. Dylan Lucas 12. Kai Pearce-Paul 13. Phoenix Crossland

Interchange: 14. Brodie Jones 15. Thomas Cant 16. Jermaine McEwen 17. Elijah Salesa-Leaumoana

Reserves: 18. James Schiller 19. Jackson Hastings 20. Fletcher Hunt 21. Kyle McCarthy 22. Jack Hetherington

RABBITOHS v STORM

Saturday, 7:35pm, Accor Stadium

Rabbitohs

1. Latrell Mitchell 2. Alex Johnston 3. Jack Wighton 4. Isaiah Tass 5. Tyrone Munro 6. Lewis Dodd 7. Jamie Humphreys 8. Jai Arrow 9. Siliva Havili 10. Davvy Moale 11. Euan Aitken 12. Tallis Duncan 13. Lachlan Hubner

Interchange: 14. Ryan Gray 15. Sean Keppie 16. Liam Le Blanc 17. Tevita Tatola

Reserves: 18. Salesi Ataata 19. Keaon Koloamatangi 20. Cody Walker 21. Campbell Graham 22. Jacob Host

Storm

1. Ryan Papenhuyzen 2. Grant Anderson 3. Jack Howarth 4. Nick Meaney 5. Xavier Coates 6. Cameron Munster 7. Jahrome Hughes 8. Stefano Utoikamanu 9. Harry Grant 10. Josh King 11. Shawn Blore 12. Eliesa Katoa 13. Trent Loiero

Interchange: 14. Tyran Wishart 15. Nelson Asofa-Solomona 16. Tui Kamikamica 17. Bronson Garlick

Reserves: 18. Ativalu Lisati 19. Alec MacDonald 20. Sualauvi Faalogo 21. Joe Chan 22. Lazarus Vaalepu, 23. Keagan Russell-Smith, 24. Kane Bradley

BRONCOS v SHARKS

Sunday, 2:00pm, Suncorp Stadium

Broncos

1. Reece Walsh 2. Josiah Karapani 3. Kotoni Staggs 4. Gehamat Shibasaki 5. Jesse Arthars 6. Ezra Mam 7. Adam Reynolds 8. Corey Jensen 9. Cory Paix 10. Payne Haas 11. Brendan Piakura 12. Jordan Riki 13. Patrick Carrigan

Interchange: 14. Billy Walters 15. Kobe Hetherington 16. Xavier Willison 17. Jack Gosiewski

Reserves: 18. Tyson Smoothy 19. Selwyn Cobbo 20. Jaiyden Hunt 21. Deine Mariner 22. Blake Mozer 23. Ben Talty

Sharks

1. William Kennedy 2. Sione Katoa 3. Jesse Ramien 4. Siosifa Talakai 5. Ronaldo Mulitalo 6. Braydon Trindall 7. Nicho Hynes 8. Addin Fonua-Blake 9. Blayke Brailey 10. Oregon Kaufusi 11. Briton Nikora 12. Teig Wilton 13. Cameron McInnes

Interchange: 14. Daniel Atkinson 15. Jesse Colquhoun 16. Toby Rudolph 17. Braden Hamlin-Uele

Reserves: 18. Billy Burns 19. Hohepa Puru 20. Niwhai Puru 21.Jayden Berrell 22 Chris Vea’ila

ROOSTERS v COWBOYS

Sunday, 4:05pm, Allianz Stadium

Roosters

1. James Tedesco 2. Daniel Tupou 3. Billy Smith 4. Robert Toia 5. Mark Nawaqanitawase 6. Sandon Smith 7. Hugo Savala 8. Lindsay Collins 9. Connor Watson 10. Naufahu Whytei 11. Angus Crichton 12. Siua Wong 13. Salesi Foketi

Interchange: 14. Benaiah Ioelu 15. Zach Dockar-Clay 16. Blake Steep 17. Spencer Leniu Reserves: 18. Ethan King 19. Makahesi Makatoa 20. Tom Rodwell 21. Taylor Losalu 22. Chad Townsend. 23. Xavier Va’a 24. Jake Elliott

Cowboys

1. Scott Drinkwater 2. Robert Derby 3. Zac Laybutt 4. Viliami Vailea 5. Murray Taulagi 6. Jaxon Purdue 7. Tom Dearden 8. Jordan McLean 9. Reece Robson 10. Coen Hess 11. John Bateman 12. Jeremiah Nanai 13. Reuben Cotter

Interchange: 14. Harrison Edwards 15. Sam McIntyre 16. Griffin Neame 17. Thomas Mikaele

18. Jake Clifford 19. Karl Lawton 20. Kai O’Donnell 21. Kaiden Lahrs 22. Braidon Burns 23. Thomas Duffy 24. Marly Bitungane

EELS v TITANS

Sunday, 6:15pm, CommBank Stadium

Eels

1. Isaiah Iongi 2. Zac Lomax 3. Viliami Penisini 4. Sean Russell 5. Josh Addo-Carr 6. Joash Papali’i 7. Dean Hawkins 8. Jack Williams 9. Ryley Smith 10. Junior Paulo 11. Kelma Tuilagi 12. Kitione Kautoga 13. J’maine Hopgood

Interchange:14. Dylan Walker 15. Matt Doorey 16 Wiremu Greig 17. Jordan Samrani

Reserves: 18. Joey Lussick 19. Charlie Guymer 20. Dan Keir 21. Ronald Volkman 22. Samuel Loizou

Titans

1. AJ Brimson 2. Alofiana Khan-Pereira 3. Jojo Fifita 4. Phillip Sami 5. Allan Fitzgibbon 6. Kieran Foran 7. Jayden Campbell 8. Jaimin Jolliffe 9. Sam Verrills 10. Reagan Campbell-Gillard 11. Chris Randall 12. Beau Fermor 13. Klese Haas

Interchange: 14. Jacob Alick-Wiencke 15. Iszac Fa’asumaleaui 16. Tino Fa’asumaleaui 17. Mo Fotuaika

Reserves: 18. David Fifita 19. Tuki Simpkins 20. Sean Mullany 21. Tom Weaver 22. Brian Kelly

BYES: Bulldogs, Dragons, Sea Eagles

BUY/HOLD/SELL ANALYSIS

- Rob Sutherland

Second row is the major focus of trades this week after two men who are averaging roughly the same number of SuperCoach points as they have vowels in their names – Haumole Olakau’atu and Keaon Koloamatangi – copping injuries which look set to keep them out of the game for between three to six weeks.

Olakau’atu (shoulder) looks set for the full six weeks and as such I have him as an automatic sell.

As for Koloamatangi we’re still awaiting updates following his scans. Best case scenario appears to be three weeks, worst case five plus.

The Rabbitohs have a bye on round 19 (and also in round 26) so even with a ‘best case’ outcome Koloamatangi looks likely to play seven of the remaining 12 weeks.

If we receive positive news from the scans then I suppose a case can be made to hold, but my inclination is to make the most of his tremendous price rise and sell now with an eye to buying back later in the season when the inevitable happens and one of our other gun FRF or 2RF go down with injury.

There are a number of replacement options at 2RF and I will go into the pros and cons of each below.

NRL Round 16: Teams and SuperCoach trade Q&A.

The SuperCoach team is as threadbare as the Cronulla backline at the moment with Tom Sangster and Wilson Smith off deck today so I’ll need to keep the BUY/SELL analysis brief and may not get to every question in the Q&A – apologies in advance.

BUY/SELL ANALYSIS

Eliesa Katoa – Melbourne’s Mr Reliable, Katoa has scored below 60 just once this season and has scores 70+ in nine of his 12 games. The Storm have served all their byes and thus play all 12 of the remaining rounds. BUY.

Erin Clark – Almost as safe as Katoa, Clark took a little while to fin his feet at the Warriors, but since round four (inclusive) he has failed to hit 60 just once and has scored 65+ in nine of those ten games and hit triple figures twice in that span. The Warriors do not cover the round 18 big bye which hurts a little and the price is right at its peak but with handy DPP and great base I’m still a BUY here.

Hudson Young – The Raiders left edge 2RF is in career-best form and his 10 tries have him equal-third for that stat in the NRL. Averaging 48PPG in base and better than 15PPG in offloads/tackle busts combined there’s a lot to like here. However, I prefer those above as Young misses rounds 18 (Origin) and 19 (bye) so while I would love to own him, I feel the time to buy is round 20 onwards. WAIT.

Briton Nikora – When the news broke that Sandon Smith had earned a lifeline thanks to Sam Walker’s broken thumb I had to make a late change to my trade plans and as a result I brought in Nikora and boy was that a lucky break. The Cronulla edge had his best game of the year with a try, two linebreaks and a passel of offloads/tackle busts all adding up to 108 points. He’s not a base stat monster (and is averaging just 38PPG in base this year whereas in the past three seasons he has averaged around 6PPG more in that area) but, like Canberra’s Joe Tapine, Nikora has a strong history of averaging significantly better over the back half of a season than the first half so I’m expecting a lift. The Sharks do not cover the round 18 bye which hurts, but the $530K price is still tempting. Not a top-five at his position but certainly capable of sitting in the 6-10th range and that's not bad at his current price. MODERATE BUY

Tallis Duncan – South Sydney are dealing with an injury crisis and Tallis Duncan has been a major beneficiary of this. After averaging 47 minutes and 37 points per game over the first eight games of the season Tallis has played the full 80 in each of the past six matches (well he played 70 in round 11 but that’s because he spent 10 in the bin) and has averaged 60.3PPG while doing so. His last two weeks have been particularly impressive with scores of 70 (54 in base) against the Raiders and 113 (a try and try assist plus 56 in base) against the Bulldogs. Covering the round 18 bye, and priced at $471K – to which he should add at least $100K over the next three weeks – Tallis could then be sold ahead of his round 19 bye. BUY FOR THOSE WHO HAVE PLENTY OF TRADES

Jahrome Hughes/Ryan Papenhuyzen – As mentioned above with Katoa, the Storm have served their byes and so provide tremendous cover from here till home. Hughes was immense in round 14 with two tries, two assists and seven tackle busts against the Cowboys and he’s going to love playing against that team again in round 18 (when they’ll be missing all their Origin players). Not quite as ‘safe’ as the goalkicking halves, Hughes’ lack of byes lifts him into the elite category for sure and he’s a decent buy. Papenhuyzen has cooled off a little after a phenomenal start to the season, but still has the second-best average of any fullback and with Souths/Cowboys (less Origin players) and Knights as three of his next four opponents he profiles as a must own. BUYS.

Jack Bostock – The Dolphins feasted on the Cowboys last week and Bostock was the major beneficiary with four tries, nine tackle busts and 176 points. I often caution against chasing points and quick cash on wingers as a couple of quiet games (and Bostock has scored 31 points or less five times this year already) quickly puts a halt to money making but this one might be worth a punt. The left edge of the Fins is humming at the moments, Bostock has a BE of -72 (and a score of 50 this week will ensure a negative BE again the following week) and match-ups against the defensively weak Knights then Rabbitohs. Not a keeper and does not cover round 18, but if you have plenty of trades and need a cash boost to get to a keeper then you could do much worse. RISKY BUY.

Herbie Farnworth – A freak. He can’t keep scoring tries forever – or can he as his teammates seem hell bent on keeping the streak (eight consecutive games with a try) alive. There’s no value at this price, but after scoring 150 last week and 105 the week before plus the aforementioned soft short term draw that price is not dropping any time soon. EITHER PAY OVERS OR DO NOT WATCH THE DOLPHINS

Jayden Campbell – Bounced back from a quiet round 14 to score 87 points against the Sea Eagles last week and at a really tough position he is one of only two five-eighths to average better than 70PPG (minimum five games). I won’t talk anyone out of the buy, but with the Titans missing the round 18 bye and his BE of 106, I do feel that the best time to pick him up is round 19. SOFT BUY.

Josiah Karapani – Brought in to replace Selwyn Cobbo in round 14, Karapani made the most of his 14 runs scoring two tries, busting five tackles and accumulating 88 points. Tipped to hold his spot this week I still have him as a watch rather than buy. If named for his third game then he will be the most popular buy of the week, but for now he’s a PASS.

Nathan Cleary/Nicho Hynes – Am bracketing the duo here as I have both as holds. Cleary is, once again, the top averaging half in the game and Hynes is fourth. With Origin and travel issues Cleary almost certainly does not play round 16 and he does not play round 18 (Origin/bye) which means at best owners will get one game out of him over the next three weeks. But then Penrith face Eels, Souths, Tigers, Titans and Knights. You’ll want to own him for those games so any sale now is a two trade move. Hynes does not help in round 18 either – but he does cover 16 and 17 so if you have both then there’s just one week (the top-13 scoring round 18 bye) that will see you without a half. The Sharks also have a pretty soft draw over the last seven rounds of the season and Hynes should average 70+ over that period. HOLD

Dylan Brown – The Parramatta five-eighth has had a couple of proper stinkers recently scoring 23 against Manly in round 12 and 19 against the Bulldogs in round 14. Suspended this week, leaking cash and no help in round 18 there are plenty of reasons to sell. But, on the other hand the five-eighth slot is a tough one and Brown outside of those poor games Brown scored 60+ in five of his last seven matches. I’m holding, but plenty will sell and that’s probably the right move. SELL

Originally published as SuperCoach NRL trade tips and Buy/Sell analysis for round 16