KFC SuperCoach NRL: The Mastermind reveals the best forwards for 2021
The Mastermind has the pick of the pack with the forwards you have to have in your KFC SuperCoach team this year.
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The Mastermind is back fresh off back-to-back top 1000 finishes in KFC SuperCoach to unpack your best forward options for 2021 with some of the most expensive options in each forward position scratched.
Storm hooker Harry Grant ($633,100) misses the first month with a knee injury, Broncos FRF Payne Haas ($668,600) has a three-week ban following an off-field incident; and Dragons dual position 2RF/HKR Cameron McInnes ($676,200) is gone for the season.
It’s a massive opportunity for SuperCoaches to try something a little different in each position over the opening few weeks. But you’ll want a plan in place for the Round 4 return of Haas and Grant not long after. Two of the absolute best in position players will be massive PODs on their return and creating as many early trade paths back to them through dual position players would be a wise move.
THE MASTERMIND’S ULTIMATE POD SQUAD
THE MASTERMIND’S TEAM REVEALED
Here are the players I’m rating as the pick of the pack for 2021
HOOKERS
Damien Cook is the most popular option and last gun standing in this position with McInnes, Grant and Cameron Smith, retired or not, last seen with the Mudgeeraba Redbacks.
Cook is guaranteed 80 minutes per game in what looks like a red-hot Rabbitohs team.
Over the length of the season his consistency will pay off and he’ll outscore all his rivals.
I doubted him after a Round 2 score of 35 against the Broncos last year but held firm as he topped 1402 total points and an average of 70.1PPG.
He played every game last season and has missed just a handful of games around Origin all the way back to 2017.
Api Koroisau is the only other viable option for me and he did burst out of the blocks last year to outscore Cook through the opening half of the season. He could create a nice stepping stone to Grant.
Connor Watson seems set for some big game time in the middle of the field for the Knights. I don’t love the idea of an injury prone player being in the thick of the action but I think with the Knights soft draw to start the season he could be an absolute weapon feeding on the quality offloads from David Klemmer and the Saifiti brothers.
Even if he shuffles back to the bench when the Knights have a few more troops back he looks like a guaranteed money maker.
MOST POPULAR:Damien Cook and Connor Watson
MY PICKS:Damien Cook and Connor Watson (I agree with you all)
POD PICKS:Api Koroisau and Lachlan Lam. If you feel nervous about Watson’s injury record Roosters half Lam is a good option, though you may want to include them both and make use of their dual position HKR/5/8.
AVOID: Tigers hookers Jacob Liddle and Jake Simpkin. Assuming the minute split is about 50/30 in Liddle’s favour I don’t think either player has enough time on the field to be anymore than a slow burn and I’d prefer quicker cash generation. If the minutes favour Simpkin he’s worth considering but you can use the opening rounds to take a look at what The Tigers do and then make a call.
FRONT ROWERS
It’s been too long since we’ve had a reliable goalkicking big man. Rhyse Martin only teased KFC SuperCoaches with a couple seasons at the Bulldogs that he could be the next Corey Parker.
To be honest, Sio Siua Taukeiaho isn’t going to reach Parker’s SuperCoach God-like heights but he’s got a massive upside on similarly priced FRF rivals David Klemmer, Josh Papalii, Addin Fonua-Blake and Martin Taupau.
Kyle Flanagan scored 16.3PPG as the Roosters goal kicker last year at about 80%. Taukeiaho has a 70% strike rate over his career. If he plays about 57MPG again with the same chances, and there’s no reason to think the Roosters are any less potent in attack, he’ll add around 10 to 11PPG to his 63.5PPG of 2020 putting him hot on the heels of Haas who’s been well ahead of the chasing pack in FRF the past two seasons around 75PPG.
The other prop who looks a chance of nudging his scores past the 70PPG barrier is Junior Paulo.
These quotes from Brad Arthur in his interview with Paul Crawley should have every KFC SuperCoach’s attention …“He can do 60/65 minutes standing on his head.
“But I want some real big minutes out of him this year.
“I don’t think we need to play him for 80 minutes but I’m sure if we had to call on him for 80 he is smart enough to know how to get himself through it.”
Paulo played 53.9MPG in 2020 at 1.2PPM, bump him up to 60MPG and he’ll score 72PPG. It sure sounds enticing and I’d toss a coin between Paulo and Taukeiaho right now depending on what you think is more likely – the goals going over for the Roosters or the extra minutes at the Eels.
Haas's three-week ban opens up some minutes for Matt Lodge (price) to start the season. He only played 6 games in an injury hampered 2020. I don’t buy into him being too slow or not fit enough for the rule changes post-COVID. He played 56MPG at 62.6PPG in 2019. He’s got a decent motor and I’m backing him to put up some good numbers in the opening rounds.
MOST POPULAR:Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, Stefano Utoikamanu, Josh Papalii, Ryan James
MY PICKS:Sio Siua Taukeiaho, Junior Paulo, Matt Lodge.
MY PODS:Christian Welch has some convinced and others not. His 59.6PPG across the last 10 games of 2020 suggest he’s underpriced. Injuries to Dale Finucane and Grant give him the chance to replicate that form. James Fisher-Harris is the leader of the Panthers pack now with the experience of James Tamou and to a lesser extent Zane Tetevano moving on. He should command more minutes. In 2019 he showed he can play 80 minutes most weeks with 76.5MPG for 66.3PPG. His PPM was better in 2020 with 58.2MPG for 59PPG.
AVOID:Ryan James returns after missing two seasons into a stacked Raiders pack. His dual position is handy but I’m not convinced he’s getting massive minutes if he plays.
SECOND ROWERS
Angus Crichton played the full 80 minutes eight times in 2020 and averaged 85PPG. He gets through a mountain of work and has massive attacking upside as shown scoring doubles in scores of 125 and 120 in back to back games in that same run last year. One of the first players picked in my team this year after news of Boyd Cordner’s extended stint on the sideline.
Ryan Matterson’s consistency is simply worth paying for. In 2020, excluding an 8 point game where he went off with a headknock, he didn’t score under 60 and averaged 79.3PPG. In 2019, he didn’t score under 50 for an average of 67.4PPG. He’s had three 100s and five 90s in the past two years making him a solid captaincy option too, especially the Round 1 fixture against the Broncos.
Tino Fa’asuamaleaui is the third most popular player in the game at the moment. I’m rolling with him too but with some apprehension. He’ll get more minutes at the Titans and deliver better base points. The seven tries he scored in 2020 surely won’t happen again though. There is a fair difference between the service Cameron Smith gave him close to the line last year and what he’ll receive at the Titans. Tino’s 40m breakaway try in the trial against the Warriors does give us hope there will be more attacking points to come. Still, I’m thinking back to the last great try-scoring season from a FRF in 2017 by Paul Vaughan with eight for the season at 67.8PPG. Vaughan has scored four tries in the three seasons since and not cracked 60PPG again.
MOST POPULAR:Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, Jordan Riki, Jason Taumalolo, Ben Trbojevic
MY PICKS:Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, Angus Crichton, Ryan Matterson
MY PODS:Joseph Tapine, Mitch Barnett should get 80 minutes in a Knights team with a soft draw to start the season. He’s shown he can post a hundred in the past. Blake Lawrie or Jackson Ford. The Dragons pack has two massive 80-minute opportunities up for grabs with McInnes out for the season and Tyson Frizzell joining the Knights. These two seem most likely to get a bump up in game time. Lawrie had 51.6PPG in 45.6MPG in 2020 at 1.1PPM. He could easily push past the 60PPG barrier. Ford averaged 52PPG in 62.5MPG over the last 7 games of 2020.
AVOID:David Fifita doesn’t have the work rate or base of others but does have incredible explosive scoring potential. He’ll have moments within games that deliver big points, when those don’t come, he’ll also have a string of scores in the 40s and 50s. I’d bank on some reliable big points in this position to start the season and come back for Fifita later in the season in one of those dips in scoring.
Jason Taumalolo won’t be starting in my team for the first time since I can remember. As a Cowboys fan I’m optimistic about new coach Todd Payten turning the club around but want to see exactly how he uses JT after talk of a ball-playing role and less minutes.
THE MASTERMIND’S ULTIMATE POD SQUAD
THE MASTERMIND’S TEAM REVEALED
Originally published as KFC SuperCoach NRL: The Mastermind reveals the best forwards for 2021
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