KFC SuperCoach NRL: Round 12 best players and trade targets

The Mastermind analyses every KFC SuperCoach NRL Round 12 match as Origin selections, suspensions and sin binnings hit hard before the bye round. Here’s who to trade in next.

Round 12 was a heck of a rollercoaster ride with twists and turns and one giant loop. If you were brave enough to jump on the VC-loop with Nicho Hynes’ 156 points on Thursday night the rewards were a double up of the top score of the round while the most popular and expensive players delivered their worst performances of the season. Nathan Cleary, 54, missed out on attacking stats against the bottom placed Bulldogs and Tom Trbojevic, 40, struggled to get involved against the Knights having his fewest hit-ups of the season so far.

Those who VC-looped didn’t get it all their way with Des Hasler throwing Ben Trbojevic on in the last minutes to post a score of 5 as an auto emergency and diminish some of the gains made by Hynes.

ROUND 13 LATEST: EARLY MAIL

Let’s take a look at the highs and lows from each game and the players to add to your watchlist.

BRONCOS 12-40 STORM

Highs: Nicho Hynes, 156, scored his third century in three weeks with and should be a popular captain again this week against a leaky Titans. Hynes had a try, two try assists, 6/7 goals, nine tackle busts, three linebreaks and four linebreak assists. Brandon Smith, 110, scored his second century in a row with two tries and a try assist in just 51 minutes. George Jennings, 73, had another try and linebreak making it eight tries from the last eight games. He’s quietly averaged 62.7PPG when you remove his injury affected game. At under 2% ownership you won’t find a much better POD in one of the NRL’s best attacking teams.

Lows: Payne Haas, 38, went off with a knee injury and his first score below 50 in the past three seasons. Xavier Coates, 13, had his fourth score under 20 for the season.

Watchlist: Keenan Palasia, 39, a solid second outing but the eight missed tackles might hinder his chances of holding the starting spot this week. Albert Kelly, 33, came up with three errors but still registered a few attacking stats. Kobe Hetherington, 56, crashed over or a try and played 42 minutes.

COWBOYS 29-28 WARRIORS

Highs: Valentine Holmes, 100, backed up last week’s 138 against the Knights with another big haul including the winning field goal which still may not have landed. He had two try assists, 4/5 goals, four tackle busts, four linebreak assists. He’s one of the standout options in CTW along with Hynes and Brian To’o but in just 10.3% of teams. Euan Aitken, 90, had two tries, two linebreaks and 34 in base stats and showed signs of a nice combination forming with Roger Tuivasa-Sheck. Reece Walsh, 83, now has a three-round average over 100PPG keeping pace with James Tedesco and Tom Trbojevic. He had a try, try assist and five tackle busts among a stack of attacking stats but is facing suspension. Marcelo Montoya, 82, had a try, two linebreaks and a try assist. As the left winger he’s in the right spot to benefit from Walsh’s work.

Lows: Jazz Tevaga, 29, was sin binned.

Watchlist: Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, scored his fourth try in a row and had 34 in base points. Tohu Harris, 58, had his first score under 60 for the season and will bring his price down a touch in time for a Round 14 trade in. Heilum Luki, 42, impressed with a nice workrate and surprising speed to chase down Walsh.

TIGERS 34-18 DRAGONS

Highs: Daine Laurie, 117, scored 119 against the Dragons in Round 8 and tor them apart again with a try, two try assists, five tackle busts, a linebreak and four linebreak assists. Corey Norman, 107, scored his first century since 2018 and with the Broncos, Bulldogs and Raiders up next I wouldn’t argue against a POD play on him or halves partner Ben Hunt, 83, who missed the QLD squad for Origin. Norman had two try assists, six linebreak assists, 43 in base stats and kicked 3/3 goals. Hunt had a try, try assist, linebreak, four tackle busts and two offloads. Tommy Talau, 96, had a try, two try assists, a linebreak, two offloads and two linebreak assists.

Lows: Paul Vaughan, 32, played just 36 minutes. Cody Ramsey, 30, had another go at fullback but of 14 of his 19 hit-ups were for just 1 point.

Watchlist: James Roberts, 82, returned on the wing with two tries just in time for the bye round for the 14% of teams who’ve held on to him. Jackson Ford, 67, had two offloads and the rest in base in just 59 minutes. Great workrate for SuperCoach but how long does he last in the team with Jack de Belin, Tyrell Fuimaono and Josh McGuire not too far away. Luciano Leilua, 75, is facing suspension for a shoulder charge, disappointing for owners but could open the way for popular cheapie Shawn Blore.

PANTHERS 30-4 BULLDOGS

Highs: Charlie Staines, 94, had two tries and three linebreaks for the 31% of teams with him on board. Paul Momirovski, 89, had a try, two try assists and four linebreak assists. He’s averaged 64PPG and is the most consistent Panthers CTW after Brian To’o but will need a long-term injury to open up a spot for him in the team. Stephen Crichton, 86, had a try, try assist, two offloads, two linebreak assists and 37 points in hit-ups. Api Koroisau, 70, made a massive 60 tackles and earnt a spot in the NSW squad.

Lows: Nathan Cleary, 54, had three try contributions and kicked 3/5 goals. The top SuperCoach player failed to score a try or try assist for the second time this season. The first time was also against the Bulldogs. Jarome Luai, 21, has earned an Origin jersey a blow for owners and with a three-round average of 28PPG it might be time to sell.

Watchlist: Bulldogs cheapies Aaron Schoupp, 60, scored a try in his second game while Jackson Topine, 48, had 69 minutes at hooker. Spencer Leniu, scored a try and only played 22 minutes but with Moses Leota facing suspension and three other forwards called up for Origin he should get a good run in the bye round.

RABBITOHS 38-20 EELS

Highs: It was a feast of points for the Rabbitohs left edge in Indigenous round with three tries each for Alex Johnston, 154, and Dane Gagai, 149, while Cody Walker, 83, and Latrell Mitchell, 73, did the work on the inside. Damien Cook, 105, scored a try from a sneaky scrum play, his first since Round 2 and delivered his first try assist since Round 4. He’s levelled out under $500k an amazing price for the best hooker in SuperCoach over the past few seasons.

Lows: Ryan Matterson, 42, was sin binned, but has escaped suspension and missed NSW selection. Will be a popular trade in but the minutes at the Eels remain a concern. Cameron Murray, 37, played just 47 minutes in his return from Injury. Enough to show he was right for selection for the Blues.

Watchlist: Isaiah Papali’i, 62, was sin binned but still came up with a good score thanks to a try. He’s $700k which is the cheapest he’s been since Round 7 for those who have held off trading in the top scoring forward.

ROOSTERS 44-16 RAIDERS

Highs: James Tedesco, 105, had an injury scare in the 20th minute but returned to the field seven minutes later and delivered two try assists, seven tackle busts, two offloads, two linebreaks and four linebreak assists. He’s getting back to his best but still hasn’t scored a try since Round 4. Sitili Tupouniua, 95, had two tries and a linebreak as he continued his great form. He’s averaged 69PPG in outside of his injury-affected games. Corey Harawira-Naera, 90, had 61 points in base stats along with a linebreak, two offloads and eight tackle busts. He’s now got a three-round average of 76.7PPG but is priced under $500k for now.

Lows: Bailey Simonsson, 28, Jordan Rapana, 23, Tom Starling, 18, Matt Ikuvalu, 23, was the only Roosters CTW to miss out on a try. Jack Wighton, 33, has had one game over 60 all season but has made the NSW squad. Isaac Liu, 21, went off injured early.

Watchlist: Joseph Suaalii, 74, is already in 33.7% of teams. Expect that to increase dramatically when he next gets a run. Fletcher Baker, 52, played 52 minutes with Liu off injured. Daniel Tupou, 65, scored a try to make it six in six weeks. A serious POD option after missing NSW selection in just 4% of teams. Ryan James, 47, was a likely auto-emergency option for many who did the VC loop on Hynes. First he was sin-binned then he redeemed himself with a try and linebreak.

SHARKS 38-10 TITANS

Highs: Jesse Ramien, 124, tore apart the Titans defence with a try, 10 tackle busts, four offloads, two linebreaks and four linebreak assists. Ronaldo Mulitalo, 97, had two tries, two linebreaks and six tackle busts after 6 weeks out. Matt Moylan, 89, produced his best score since 2018 with two try assists, six tackle busts, two offloads, a line break and four linebreak assists. Moeaki Fotuaika, 84, posted another big score to confirm his spot in the QLD squad with 63 in base stats, a linebreak and five tackle busts. David Fifita, 82, had an amazing 16 tackle busts.

Lows: AJ Brimson, 8, went off with a knee injury after 54 minutes. Jamal Fogarty, 31, was sin binned as well as Briton Nikora, 34, and Will Chambers, 31.

Watchlist: Shaun Johnson, 71, is in just 1% of teams, as a dual position half with a nice looking draw from Round 15 onwards he’s worth a look.

KNIGHTS 18-10 SEA EAGLES

Highs: Daniel Saifiti, 97, scored his first try and linebreak since Round 1, along with 53 in base stats and five tackle busts. Kane Lawton, 89, made a big impact in his second game for Manly with 61 in base stats, a try assist, linebreak and four tackle busts in 73 minutes. Connor Watson, 89, was switched to five-eighth to cover the injured Kurt Mann and finished the game at fullback playing 80 minutes for only the second time this season. He had a try assist, six tackle busts, two offloads and two linebreak assists. Mitch Barnett, 65, had 48 in base stats, a couple offloads and linebreak assists and kicked 1/1 goals in 55 minutes. Tyson Frizell’s injury might open up an 80-minute edge role for him beyond the bye round.

Lows: David Klemmer, 53, sin binned with seconds to go and suspended in a blow to owners who brought him in for the bye. Tom Trbojevic, 40, had his lowest number of runs for a game this season. Ben Trbojevic, 5, made his NRL debut with 90 seconds left in the game, and became an AE nightmare for some who used the VC loop on Hynes. Zac Saddler, 7, was injured in a head clash. Phoenix Crossland, 22, might make way for the arrival of Jake Clifford.

Watchlist: Bradman Best, 62, had 46 in base stats a few minor attacking points. You have to like his chances of a big score this week against the leaky Eels edge defence. Martin Taupau, 55, posted impressive numbers again with 63 in base stats four tackle busts and an offload but was also sin binned which helped stem another price rise for those keen to trade him in for Round 14.

Originally published as KFC SuperCoach NRL: Round 12 best players and trade targets