SuperCoach NRL: Five things we learned from Storm v Panthers

It was a nailbiting conclusion to an epic grand final replay, but it was the early injury to Nathan Cleary that will have SuperCoaches sweating. Here are five things we learned from Thursday night footy.

The Melbourne Storm held off a resurgent Panthers side to secure their second win of the season, but the win has come at a cost. But it was the injury to Nathan Cleary that will dominate the headlines, after the star halfback was forced from the field inside the first 10-minutes.

See the big SuperCoach takeaways below and scroll down to replay our live coverage.

1. IS NATHAN CLEARY A SELL?

SuperCoach star Nathan Cleary is in a whopping 51.9% of teams, but that number could shrink in the coming weeks, with the Panthers halfback on track to lose a tonne of cash. Cleary went into this game with a break-even of 109 and finished the game on just two points. I’m no mathematician but I think that's an $84k price drop.

What’s worse is his head knock was deemed a category 1 HIA and so he will also miss the Panthers Round 4 clash against the Rabbitohs. He does have a pretty good run of matches after that, but many SuperCoaches will be tempted to sell.

In other injury news, it looks like Nick Meaney has suffered a broken jaw after collecting the head of teammate Nelson Asofa-Solomona.

2. STORM SPINE STRUGGLES

Despite having a big impact in real life NRL and ending the game with some respectable SuperCoach scores, the Storm’s big four struggled for most of the game. Ryan Papenhuyzen and Cameron Munster finished the game on 65 and 57 points each thanks to a late try, but were on track for a low total before that. Jahrome Hughes finished on 48 despite having a try assist, while Harry Grant finished the game on just 31 points. In saying all that, with Nick Meaney set to be sidelined for a while, Ryan Papenhuyzen will be kicking goals and could be a popular purchase again in the coming weeks.

3. MUNSTER ON REPORT

To make matters worse for the Storm star, Cameron Munster was put on report for a hip-drop tackle on Liam Martin in the first half, that could see him sidelined for some time. SuperCoaches will be sweating on the charge sheet tomorrow morning, especially the 12,726 people who brought him in this week.

4. KATOA IS A GREAT POD

He’s been a SuperCoach relevant forward ever since he moved to the Melbourne Storm, but Eliesa Katoa is a POD to start 2025, with just 10% of SuperCoaches owning him, probably due to his side having the bye in Round 2. But he could be in for a ownership surge in the coming rounds, after a solid start to the year, with scores of 85 and 84 in his two games so far.

5. PENRITH WINGERS ALWAYS A THREAT, BUT OTHERS FLOP

While the Panthers have lost a number of players in recent years, one thing has remained a constant, which is that whoever is playing on the wing for them is a SuperCoach threat. Brian To’o and Paul Alamoti were on fire tonight, each with two tries in the bag, while Alamoti also kicked goals for the Panthers with Nathan Cleary off the field. In fact they were the only two players in this game to crack the 100-point mark.

But while some Panthers impressed, others looked off tonight, particularly Isaah Yeo, who now has back to back scores below 50 and could be a sell candidate. Casey McLean ended the game on 62 points thanks to a try after halftime, but was on just eight points before the break.

REPLAY OUR LIVE MATCH COVERAGE BELOW

Originally published as SuperCoach NRL: Five things we learned from Storm v Panthers