SuperCoach NRL Draft rankings 2023: Best fantasy players at every position, top picks

Footy is back and the NRL’s Pre-season Challenge is over, so now is the time to assemble your league and get drafting! We rank every position for KFC SuperCoach NRL Draft.

KFC SuperCoach NRL Draft Rankings 2023: Best players at every position.

Footy is back and the Pre-season Challenge is over … which can mean only one thing. It’s almost time to get DRAFTING!

While some KFC SuperCoaches are busy stressing over their salary cap, and which cheapies to start with, Draft players only care about who they’re drafting early, and which sleepers to target late.

While Classic SuperCoach is all about nailing your cheapies and making decent cash, in Draft you just want to assemble the best team you can, filling your spine positions early and looking for value late.

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KFC SuperCoach NRL Draft Rankings 2023: Best players at every position.

And unlike Classic, every Draft team will look radically different since every player can only be on one team, so not everyone has the option to get a guaranteed gun like Nathan Cleary, Nicho Hynes or Harry Grant.

And just for something new, a 17th NRL team has thrown a spanner in the works, with weekly byes … including during the Draft finals series! While skipping all byes in the past was an option before, we can no longer avoid planning around it in our preparations.

With all that in mind, I’ve gone ahead and ranked the best Draft players at every position. Be sure to keep an eye on this page, as rankings may be updated as the pre-season goes on, trial matches play out and inevitable injuries/suspensions strike.

Good luck Draft SuperCoaches.

Pre-Round 1 Updates

- Angus Crichton has moved further down the rankings after it was confirmed he is out indefinitely. He is still worth drafting late and stashing if you want to take the risk, but is not worth drafting early.

- Anthony Milford has moved down the rankings, while Isaiya Katoa has moved up, with early mail suggesting he will win the Dolphins five-eighth jersey.

- Tesi Niu has moved down the rankings, while Euan Aitken has moved up, with early mail suggesting Aitken will start in the centres alongside Brenko Lee.

Positional changes updates

Some significant changes to the rankings, with the following players gaining dual positions, and draft rankings have been updated.

- Kalyn Ponga (FLB) and Te Maire Martin (FLB) have gained 5/8

- Jake Trbojevic (2RF), Mitch Barnett (2RF) and Tevita Pangai (2RF) have gained FRF

- Joseph Tapine (FRF), Fonua Pole and Sean Keppie (FRF) have gained 2RF

- Jake Averillo (FLB) & Sunia Turuva (FLB) have gained CTW

- Hayze Perham (CTW) has gained FLB

- Kaeo Weekes (5/8) has gained FLB

Week Two trials update

- Taylan May has moved out of the top CTW rankings after suffering a season ending ACL injury. Take him out of your pre-draft rankings! Brian To’o and Sunia Turuva have moved up the CTW rankings.

- Shaun Lane has moved down the 2RF rankings after suffering a broken jaw, J’Maine Hopgood has moved up the rankings, while Matt Doorey is now on the list

- Kelma Tualagi & Josh Schuster have moved up the rankings

- John Bateman has moved down my rankings after missing the entire pre-season for the Tigers

- Luke Metcalf has moved down the 5/8 rankings after suffering a hamstring injury. Has lost the Warriors halves battle.

- Adam Elliot has moved down the 2RF rankings, was initially named on the bench for Knights’ Week 2 trial, but didn’t play.

- Greg Marzhew and Dominic Young have moved up the CTW rankings.

- Sam Verrills has moved up the HOK rankings

- Luke Garner has moved down the 2RF rankings

Week One Trials update

The latest injury news on Ryan Papenhuyzen means SuperCoaches could be without him for the first 8 weeks if they draft him, and so has fallen down the fullback rankings. While still an elite option for fullback, I think the injury news means he’s obviously no longer a good first round draft option, especially considering the quality of depth at fullback this year. However, when fully fit he’s still an incredible asset and so if he slips to you in the the third round or fourth, he’s well worth taking a punt on. But if someone in your league wanst to take him I early, I say let them!

Nick Meaney and Jordan Rapana has moved up the CTW rankings given injuries to Papenhuyzen and Xavier Savage.

Some other major movements include:

-Brandon Smith has moved up the hooker rankings

-Tanah Boyd has moved up the hooker and halfback rankings

-Stefano Utoikamanu has moved up the FRF rankings

-Angus Crichton has moved down the 2RF rankings, after taking indefinite leave

-Cameron McInnes has moved down the 2RF rankings

-Adam Elliot has moved down the 2RF rankings

-Egan Butcher has moved up the 2RF rankings

HOOKER

For our rankings, we’ll start with the key spine positions, given the extreme lack of depth at these positions. Hooker is probably the most alarming position in terms of SuperCoach pedigree, given there is realistically only three hookers who you can rely upon to play 80 minutes each week, with the vast majority playing around 50-65 minutes a week. That said there are still some value options here if you miss out on one of the guns early.

HALFBACK

While halfback depth is not as dire as hooker, it is still one of the skinniest positions in terms of depth and one of the most important positions to finalise early. If you have one of the first overall picks I’d lock in the likes of Nathan Cleary or Nicho Hynes early, and if you miss out you almost have to grab someone like Mitch Moses or Jahrome Hughes in the second or third round!

FIVE-EIGHTH

Like halfback, five-eighth is also quite dire in terms of depth, with only one real contender to jump on in the first round, in Cameron Munster. By now you should realise that, while you want to take the best guy available, you should prioritise trying to land ideally at least two guns at either hooker, halfback or five-eighth with your first three draft picks.

FULLBACK

Now while you might be tempted to take a gun fullback in the early rounds, like James Tedesco, or Latrell Mitchell, I’d like to point out, that unlike the other spine positions, fullback is actually stacked for fullback talent, and depending on your league size, more than enough to go around. If you are in a 10-person league, I’m confident that everyone in your league can get a decent starter. In fact, going by rankings there is at least 12 fullbacks that I’d be very happy with starting as my fullback. So it may be an decent option to let your league mates take the gun fullbacks early, while you focus on your other spine positions.

FRONT ROW

While I mentioned above that fullback is likely a position that you can afford to fill later in your draft, front row is by far the position I would be prioritising the least. While in most leagues you will need to draft two of these guys, there are very few props that a) play big minutes and b) score big points consistently. If you can get value out of someone like Payne Haas, then sure you have to take him. But if it comes down to picking him or filling a spine position, I’d be passing on Haas. Especially since he’ll likely be missing your draft grand final while on bye … worth keeping in mind!

SECOND ROW

Outside of your spine positions, the back row is the real engine room for your KFC SuperCoach Draft team, boasting some of the most consistent and high-upside point scorers. Unlike other positions however, in most leagues you will need at least THREE second rowers in your starting side, so you’ll want to land at least one gun backrower in your team and focus on filling this spot during the early-mid stages of your draft. If you can pair one or two key spine players with an elite 2RF, you’ll be cheering most weeks.

CTW

While historically CTW has been the position I have urged SuperCoaches to leave filling your CTW positions last, I think it’s now important to land at least two gun CTW’s than filling your front row. Especially if you’re in a league that requires you to start four CTW’s each week. While it is still the most unpredictable and inconsistent position in the game, it is also one of the positions with the highest ceiling. Especially if you can land a starter for one of the NRL’s better attacking teams, or one of the guys with solid base stats. Like 2RF there are some great mid-range options who you can afford to wait on for a while, but I think the game has changed in a way where you can’t afford to have at least one gun CTW.

Good luck with your drafts in 2022 SuperCoaches! Remember not to do them too early, but also don’t leave it too late! Sometime after trials, but before the season launch would be ideal.