NRL SuperCoach Cheapie Bible round 14

AFTER the carnage that was the round 13 bye, we’ve had four legitimate cheapies fall into our laps.

Sione Katoa of the Sharks.

AFTER the carnage that was the round 13 bye, we’ve had four legitimate cheapies fall into our laps to accelerate the focus onto upgrading peaked cheapies to guns and the next major hurdle… round 17!

Each week the Cheapie Bible will take a long look at the money-makers, the players we all grow man crushes on — and even the ones who seriously let us down like being stood up on a blind date.

Ultimately, I will sift through who we should be buying, selling and holding of the sub $250k price bracket. As players hike in price past the $300k mark (or start losing cash) I will give a final verdict before they exit this list.

Sione Katoa CTW (CRO | $164,900) - 55 points

He’s BACK! Katoa has long been a favourite of the Copes Crusaders — and SuperCoaches in general — with tackle busting, offloading and finishing prowess oozing out of the youngster’s skin. A broken jaw in his debut in round one (10 points) halted his progress until his return last week provided valuable bye-round points, and due to the performance against the Rabbitohs has kept his place on the wing! How good!

As a result, firstly 47,000 teams will be stoked as they already own him. For everyone else Katoa immediately jumps to the cheapie of the week. BE is -8, but with another good score (and the 10-point dud from round one leaving the rolling average) he will skyrocket in no time.

VERDICT: BUY. The Josh Dugan injury (3-4 weeks) creates the opening, and Katoa has beaten out Feki for the spot with enough upside to make $150k in that timespan.

Sione Katoa is the cheapie of the week.

Enari Tuala CTW (NQC | $220,800) - 67 points

What an absolute gem Tuala proved to be. Even if he were to decide this week he never wanted to play footy again, the 67 points in the huge bye round last week was worth the investment alone. Tuala scored a try, but the impressive numbers are the 14 tackles, 12 points in tackle busts, and 24 points in hit ups — leading to a $43,500 price rise. Arguably the most attractive thing moving forward is the matchup with the dismal Eels this weekend, coinciding with a -16 BE. If Tuala can average around the 40 mark (50 points in base alone last week) for the next three weeks prior to the bye he will peak at over $300k.

VERDICT: BUY. In my opinion, Tuala sits well above Olive as a buy this week, even after the initial price rise.

John Olive CTW (BUL | $177,300) - 0 points

A little refresher from last week’s Cheapie Bible (as Olive was on the bye last week) … To say I’m pleasantly surprised that John Olive was able to notch 52 points without a try — after averaging a paltry 12PPG in five matches last season — is one of the great understatements. The 10 points in tackle busts is exciting, as is the speed he showed for his linebreak, along with the 22 points in hit ups.

So, we’re a week on and nothing has changed in the sense that he has still only played ONE game. Do yourself a favour and wait another week to see how he plays against the Dragons first.

VERDICT: WATCH. Third most popular trade-in this week is ludicrous! Focus on other trades first, and use Olive as the perfect tool to downgrade/upgrade in round 15.

Alexander (AJ) Brimson HFB | 5/8 (GCT | $212,100) - 0 points

AJ Brimson is an underrated cheapie.

AJ Brimson was the most purchased player in round 12 despite the bye on the horizon — and whilst he disappointed with only 35 points he looked likely in that game and he increased in price by $47,500. Somewhat of a forgotten man this week with the focus on Tuala, Olive and co, Brimson’s spot in the side is seemingly safe after being named to start in the No. 6 jersey yet again — with plenty more cash to make and coverage of the tricky round 17 bye an added bonus.

VERDICT: HOLD/BUY. BE still sitting at -18, you’ve only missed one price rise — so if you’re still holding on to dead weight in the halves, NOW is the time.

Te Maire Martin HFB | 5/8 (NQC | $233,600) - 43 points

Martin has played a very important role in the resurgence of the Cowboys in the past three weeks since shifting into the starting five-eighth role. This past weekend, Martin scored 43 points and despite sitting on 60+ points from game finish until Monday morning ‘down-dates’ took a try assist away, that was a good result. Martin maintains a -2 BE this week with a plus-matchup against the Eels, surely he and JT will be on for big games! Either way, Martin looks like peaking around $300k in time for a round 17 sell to a Milford or cheapie type option.

VERDICT: HOLD. Plenty more price rises to come for the youngster alongside JT.

Kotoni Staggs 2RF (BRO | $164,600) - 0 points

Staggs is coming off the bye, and after the 65-point start in his debut, everyone was losing their mind and bringing him in. Fast forward two weeks, and despite the -21 BE SuperCoaches have switched on to the fact that the bench ‘youngster’ role under Wayne Bennett is poison in our beloved game. No doubt Staggs is a talented young kid, but Bennett simply doesn’t give his rookies the minutes to be SuperCoach relevant (barring an injury/HIA).

VERDICT: AVOID. Thank me later, as I think the upside is 25 minutes and 25-30 points.

Sam Hoare FRF (NQC | $197,500) - 42 points

Hoare has come from the clouds a little bit, not being involved at all in the first 12 weeks of the season, to scoring 42 points in 47 minutes during the Origin-affected round 13 in the absence of Cooper, Hess and Scott. He has now been named to start at prop in round 14 despite the return of those three big guns. With Jordan McLean and John Asiata out until as long as round 20, Hoare could crack out a nice little money making role for us. However, in his previous five NRL seasons, he’s played a combined 18 matches for an average of under 26PPG and could well revert back to a sub-30 minute role off the bench.

VERDICT: WATCH. Nice score in week one, but I’m extremely skeptical he will become an option next week.

SUPERCOACH PODCAST! Plenty of shocks including Sione Katoa’s retention, Ryan Matterson’s continued absence and the benching of Rhyse Martin and Tevita Pangai Jnr. Join Tom Sangster and Nick Campton for the lowdown.

Campbell Graham CTW (STH | $271,400) - 43 points

Graham just keeps finding a way to deliver, and this week it was through one of the tries of the season! A diving catch above head height off an Adam Reynolds kick — much like a slips catch I should know a lot about except I drop most of them. With a BE of 11, the 5,500 of you who own the Rabbitohs winger can hold for a week, ideally for another price rise (plays the Titans this week!) and sell down to Olive next week.

VERDICT: HOLD. Graham has done his job, creating initial cash, making some of his own and making it all the way to the bye with a nice score.

Jack Cogger HFB (NEW | $252,500) - 45 points

Cogger has filled in admirably for the injured Brock Lamb and shown us all why he was so highly regarded in the Junior Kangaroos setup. Scoring 64 and 45 points respectively over the past two weeks, Cogger’s BE has flown under the radar to sit at -22 and if he had an open run at the spot would make some nice cash. But, there are troops returning as soon as this week.

VERDICT: AVOID. With Brock Lamb named on the extended bench this week, and Mitchell Pearce not all that far away, he is not a safe option at all.

Adam Doueihi CTW (STH | $223,900) - 53 points

Douehi delivered on his talent, playing his first game in the fullback position for the Rabbitohs in the absence of the likes of Johnston, Inglis and Gagai etc and scoring 53 points without a try or try assist — impressive. There was never really any doubt about his ability, the issue is that he now drops back to the utility role and will lose all the cash he just made.

VERDICT: AVOID/SELL. He’s done his job scoring 50+ points in the big bye round, now it’s time to move him on to Tuala this week, or Olive next.

Adam Doueihi was a revelation at fullback last week.

FINAL VERDICT

Players who surpass $300k (or heaven forbid, start to lose cash!) will feature in this section with a summation of where they are at and what you should be looking to do in the future.

Corey Jensen 2RF (NQC | $339,500) - 56 points

My prediction three weeks ago was that Jensen was a fantastic PPM guy, with a low BE, increased minutes on the horizon and the very real prospect of 60+ minutes in the big bye round 13. Well, thankfully Jensen has delivered on that promise with scores of 46, 45 and then 56 points when it mattered most whilst increasing in price by $72k in the process. Jensen’s BE is still low at just 16 and I would anticipate him seeing the increased minutes for at least one more week with the big-guns backing up from Origin.

VERDICT: HOLD. For another week or two, then it’s a low priority sell for a round 17 gun like Tohu Harris.

Jack Gosiewski 2RF (MNL | $264,300) - 23 points

Never a dull moment with ‘The Gos’ that’s for sure! We waited four weeks for his return to the paddock, nicely timed being the all-important round 13, only for him to score 23 points, get reported for a late hit on Thurston and then break his arm for a likely six week absence…

VERDICT: SELL! The 23 points were handy for sure, but there’s no time for sentiment in SuperCoach.

Trent Hodkinson HFB (MNL | $251,500) - 42 points

Hodko has settled back in alongside DCE nicely and is finding his feet in a SuperCoach sense as well, increasing from 13, to 30 and most recently scoring 42 points. Having lost a little cash this week, and someone like AJ Brimson being available, it’s a no-brainer for me to make that move.

VERDICT: SELL. Hopefully you went the TMM option instead.

* If players aren’t anywhere on the above lists it is because we deem them irrelevant at least for the time being.

Originally published as NRL SuperCoach Cheapie Bible round 14