NRL SuperCoach 2024: Former winner Wilfred Zee’s top buys for the run home

The byes are over and now SuperCoaches are on the final stretch. We reveal the best purchases for the run to head-to-head finals – and the $50,000 main prize.

PENRITH, AUSTRALIA - JUNE 09: Nathan Cleary is seen prior to the round 14 NRL match between Penrith Panthers and Manly Sea Eagles at BlueBet Stadium, on June 09, 2024, in Penrith, Australia. (Photo by Jeremy Ng/Getty Images)

The big byes are in the rearview mirror and NRL SuperCoaches are on the final stretch.

This is the time to finally bring back the Origin guns you may or may not have traded out, and really nail down that final weekly squad of guns.

To do that some tough decisions need to be made with our dwindling trades and limited salary cap. Some bye coverage players will need to be traded to ‘nuffs’ (i.e. players who won’t play at all, but are bottom dollar or near bottom dollar and ideally have dual position eligibility to help swap players around to help cover injuries and suspensions) in order to free up cash to purchase some of the names listed below.

SCHEDULE ANALYSIS

Now part of the decision-making process here means taking into account how many games they will play for the rest of the season: do they have any byes left and also, what are their chances of being rested in Round 27 due to their team’s ladder position with effectively nothing to play for (remember the carnage last year that left many NRL SuperCoaches scrambling for numbers in the final round of the season?!).

The Panthers have a blessed draw except for the Storm in Round 24, while the Roosters have the Round 23 bye, but every other match-up will have NRL SuperCoaches licking their lips.

And don’t forget the Knights for later in the season – from Round 23 onwards they have arguably the best final four or five game run (including the head to head finals!) and will be fighting for a top eight spot.

With all of that in mind, here are some of the best purchases for Round 20 onwards, keeping in mind their strength of schedule and any remaining byes they may have.

Angus Crichton is back from Origin duty. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers

Angus Crichton $756,700 BE 75; 24% rostered

This one seems obvious, but the fact is his roster percentage peaked in Round 12 and a third of his owners traded him out at over $853,000 with a view that he wouldn’t play as many games and score as many points over the Origin period.

Nevertheless, despite the Round 23 bye for the Roosters, he is quickly narrowing the gap between himself and Fifita to finish the year as the highest averaging 2RF for the season and it’s hard to imagine him not being in the 2024 overall champion’s team come end of season!

Nathan Cleary $744,700 BE 104; 15% rostered

Nathan Cleary is one of the best NRL SuperCoach options in the game, and he has proven this over multiple seasons. 2024 has been a bust for him so far, and a large part of that has been due to his health, or lack of it primarily. The recurring hamstring issues are a concern of course, but as mentioned above the Panthers have an absolutely beautiful schedule, and if he’s healthy, it’s hard not to see Cleary going gangbusters to finish this season.

Therein lies the biggest risk though, his health, but his upside remains so high that it’s hard to ignore, and in fact it’s a reason to lean into it even more as some more risk averse NRL SuperCoaches will stay away!

Nathan Cleary is on his way back from a hamstring injury. Picture: Jason McCawley/Getty Images

Tom Trbojevic $815,600 BE -30; 18% rostered

Another with a serious injury history, but that also means he’s only in 18 per cent of teams. The injury certainly appeared a distant memory over the last two weeks in notching 119 and 174.

There’s very little that needs to be said about Turbo’s NRL SuperCoach pedigree, and the sole question is whether his body will hold up basically. The Sea Eagles don’t have the easiest run home with a few of the toughest games plus also a Round 22 bye thrown in the mix. Counterpoint though, it’s Tommy Turbo!

Brian To’o $866,100 BE 90; 9.6% rostered

‘Bizza’ will cost you an arm and a leg to bring into your teams, but there is no hotter player in NRL SuperCoach right now with To’o sitting with a three round average of 120.3 points per game and a five round average of 94.4 points per game – and that’s without Cleary in the team. He’s swapped wings throughout the course of the season as the Panthers have had to adjust for injuries, suspensions and other dramas in their backline, but To’o continues to be the workhorse beast he always is, and the attacking stats are likely to continue.

The high price tag will likely act as a gatekeeper to the masses of NRL SuperCoaches, which makes him a juicy prospect as long as you can be prepared for a likely resting in the final round or so of the regular season if the Panthers have nothing to gain by rolling out a full strength line-up. Back this week after being rested post-Origin.

Top projected scores for round 21.

Jacob Kiraz $684,900 BE 78; 13% rostered

Speaking of workhorse beasts, Kiraz is right up there with To’o as far as high floor, with some potential ceiling. Sure, he doesn’t play for the Panthers, but the Bulldogs are definitely rising. Kiraz has shuffled between centre, wing and even fullback this season and whilst his workrate is sublime no matter where he plays, his pointscoring potential is definitely highest when he is on the wing, and on the end of some real nice backline shifts (when the Bulldogs get it right).

In fact, while Kiraz has averaged 72.9 points per game for the season, his average in his games playing on the wing sits at 80.4 points per game. Throw in a relatively friendly run home where the Bulldogs will face some desperate fringe top eight teams fighting for their post-season dreams, but not any genuine premiership contenders with elite defence, and Kiraz could exceed that 80.4 average in the coming weeks.

Mitch Barnett $840,900 BE 37; 10% rostered

Barnett is well and truly in the conversation as the form forward of the NRL right now, so much so that he managed to force his way into the Blues team for Origin 3. You know you’re playing well when you demand selection despite potentially being “out of sight, out of mind” on the Warriors team too.

Barnett has averaged 64 points per game in base and base attack stats which is an incredible floor, and this has been while he has bounced between playing prop and also on an edge – hence his dual position availability for NRL SuperCoach. Throw in a season-ending injury to Tohu Harris and it’s hard not to see the Warriors leaning heavily on Barnett to end the season. The only downside here really is the Round 27 bye for the Warriors makes it very hard to consider Barnett if you have Addin Fonua-Blake on the roster already (which is 41% of the competition!).

Payne Haas is arguably the best prop in SuperCoach. Photo: Zak Simmonds

Payne Haas $700,000 BE 100; 18% rostered

If you asked the majority of NRL SuperCoaches how they think Payne Haas is going this season, there’s a genuine chance the majority would say he’s been disappointing. Heck, that’s something that even I have said this year, despite being a Broncos supporter. Yet even with all that ‘disappointment’, Haas has averaged 70.7 points per game while also having a few down games when returning from injury.

He has looked back to his barnstorming best in recent weeks (especially when he managed to rack up 99 points in base and base attack stats alone from just 60 minutes of game time in Round 15), while also putting up his best Origin performance thus far – plus there is a clear need for the Broncos to have him out there for as much as he can handle as they fight to keep their season alive… there’s a reason Payne Haas is a perennial NRL SuperCoach superstar in the FRF position, so just get him in if you can!

Reece Walsh $814,100 BE 68; 10% rostered

Speaking of rushing players back, Walsh was in the exact same scenario last week as arguably the most important player to the Broncos right now. Walsh brings excitement for the fans but for the Broncos, he brings enthusiasm and energy that the team just doesn’t quite seem to have when he’s not in the line-up. He has backed up his strong 2023 with strong performances when he’s been available; injuries have certainly restricted his opportunities with the Broncos but from a SuperCoach standpoint, excluding his injury-affected score of 1 in 4 minutes of game time in Round 3, Walsh has averaged 80.2 points per game in his nine other appearances this season.

He also appears to be the back-up goalkicker ahead of Staggs when Reynolds isn’t in the team (although Reynolds returned last week). That in itself could also boost Walsh’s scores as Reynolds provides structure and attacking opportunity like no one else on the Broncos’ roster right now. The Broncos have the bye in Round 24 and they also face two tough games against the Bulldogs and the Storm on the run home. However the Storm match-up is in Round 27 where we might see the Storm ‘take it easy’ if they have nothing to play for – whereas the Broncos will need to win every game basically to guarantee finals football. Walsh will be an integral part of that so if you believe in the Broncos, you should have some confidence that Walsh will be a stand-out option to finish the season.

Kalyn Ponga $686,800 BE 102; 5% rostered

This last name is definitely a ‘wait and see’ because of the massive breakeven, the bye this week and then a Round 22 meeting with the Panthers. But he could be ripe for the picking in Round 23, where the Knights then have a very friendly run home bar the Sharks match-up.

Like many other fullbacks who have struggled somewhat with injuries, Ponga has an injury-affected low score in his season average; if you remove his 14 in Round 7, he has averaged 82.4 points per game.

Originally published as NRL SuperCoach 2024: Former winner Wilfred Zee’s top buys for the run home