NRL SuperCoach 2025: Brisbane Broncos a hot-bed of bargains

Broncos bargains are up for grabs in NRL SuperCoach 2025 as new coach Michael Maguire shakes up a squad that fell in a heap in the second half of 2024.

Brisbane Broncos bargains are up for grabs in NRL SuperCoach 2025 as new coach Michael Maguire shakes up a squad that fell in a heap in the second half of 2024.

The Broncos were sitting in fifth place on the ladder after Magic Round in round 11 with seven wins and four losses, but only registered three more wins for the season as injuries to key players hit hard.

Reece Walsh (14), Payne Haas (14) and Adam Reynolds (13) played the fewest games of a season of their NRL careers so far.

Ben Hunt returns to the Broncos as the most creative player in the competition with an NRL leading 34 try assists in 2024 at the Dragons. He provides elite cover in the halves and hooker if injury strikes again.

The Broncos don’t play a bye until round 12 and have six of the first nine games at Suncorp Stadium.

They shape as one of the best teams to target early. With Hunt, a new coach and some luck with injuries, the Broncos should bounce back in a big way.

Here are the pick of the Broncos for NRL SuperCoach in 2025, via Ian Maybanks, AKA the SuperCoach Mastermind. See his full side here.

BEST BUYS AT BRONCOS

Reece Walsh, $738,400

The Broncos fullback scored 75.4PPG in 14 games. Disregard the match against the Panthers when his eye socket was broken after just four minutes for a solitary SuperCoach point and his average is 81.2 PPG. Walsh’s attacking stats shifted dramatically last season from a creator to a finisher. He scored 14 tries and had nine try assists from 14 games in 2024 compared to 8 tries and 25 try assists in 19 games in 2023.

Reece Walsh starts at a decent price for SuperCoach. Picture: NRL Photos

Payne Haas, $669,200

Haas averaged 68.4PPG in 2024 but if you remove his injury affected game against the Titans that ticks up to 72.2 PPG. He played about 60 minutes per game during Kevin Walters’ four seasons in charge of the Broncos. Haas played 71.9 MPG and 63.6MPG in the season before that for his two top SuperCoach seasons. Will Maguire unleash Payne again? Star forward Sam Burgess averaged 70 minutes per game during Maguire’s Rabbitohs reign. Haas already shapes as the top prop but could go to another level with more minutes.

What minutes will Payne Haas get under new coach Michael Maguire? Picture: NRL Photos

Adam Reynolds, $500,700

Reynolds’ SuperCoach average sunk to 51.2PPG in 2024 – his lowest output since 2012. He only played 13 games last season and three of those were injury affected. In the Broncos grand final season of 2023 he averaged 65.2 PPG. It’s hard to put much stock in data more than a decade old but Reynolds had his best SuperCoach season under Maguire in 2013 at the Rabbitohs with 66.2PPG. The Broncos captain is a great value option at halfback.

Selwyn Cobbo, $550,800

Cobbo had just six tries after switching to the centres in 2024 compared to 19 tries in 2023 and 15 in 2022 on the wing. He still made 16 line breaks in 2024 but didn’t finish off many of the chances he created. Maguire has talked about moving Cobbo back to the right wing and that would put him back on the end of a lethal attack with Reynolds, Walsh and Kotoni Staggs inside him. Expect plenty of tries and a decent bump up from his 56.3PPG in 2024.

Selwyn Cobbo could switch to the wing, where he has a great tryscoring record. Picture: NRL Photos

Brendan Piakura $402,400

Piakura comes in cheaper than he was last year when he was a popular starting pick after earning the left edge second rower position. He went down with a head knock in the opening minutes of round one in Las Vegas and had a couple other injury affected games which pulled his average down to 41.1PPG. Piakura has averaged 49.2 playing 60+minutes on that edge the past two seasons and with Ben Hunt inside him his attacking output should increase. Jaydn Su’A scored nine tries running off Hunt’s shoulder at the Dragons last year.

WATCHLIST

Blake Mozer, $312,000 and Kobe Hetherington, $338,800

Two Broncos cheapies have earned praise from coach Maguire in pre-season training and could be huge cash cows if things turn in their favour.

Mozer would need to take the bulk of the hooker minutes to be an option and has tough competition in Billy Walters, Cory Paix and Tyson Smoothy.

Hetherington would benefit with extra minutes at lock if talk of switching Pat Carrigan to the front row eventuates.