NRL SuperCoach 2024: Mastermind’s POD Squad full of hidden gems

NRL SuperCoach teams are looking very generic at the moment. The Mastermind reveals the point of difference players to get the jump on rivals.

The NRL SuperCoach hive mind is buzzing at its best this pre-season with just a handful of trials, morsels of information from coaches and the usual pre-season hype about players training the house down guiding us to a template team.

At the top price bracket Nathan Cleary 42% and Payne Haas 37% are the most popular; Eels secondrower Shaun Lane 39% and Panthers back Taylan May 34.8% return from injury as the pick of the mid-price options; while Raiders rookie Ethan Strange is the top cheapie in 45.6% of teams. All solid picks.

Sure the easiest way to fill a team early is to back in the crowd with the top ownership players.

Flip that % owned column upside down and you can find a few hidden gems that haven’t had the buzz just yet.

As always the risk with going against the crowd is you fall behind, the reward if you get it right is you get ahead. It’s down to your individual SuperCoach style how much you want to lean in either direction.

Here is my POD squad for 2024 with a player in each position tracking at under 10% ownership who all represent value and (front row aside) high ceiling, try-scoring potential to get your team out of the blocks for a fast start.

Brandon Smith is only at 5.6 per cent ownership. Picture: NRL Photos

HOOKER

Brandon Smith $471,300 (5.6%)

The Hectic Cheese was surprisingly subdued in 2023 with a career low of 0.8 PPM after moving from the Storm to the Roosters. He’s priced at 46.2PPG after an injury hit season where he missed five games, went off injured early in two others and was at times benched. His hit-up numbers pretty much halved from his time at the Storm where he had licence to run. Will the Cheese get rolling again?

The Roosters pack is stacked with talent and depth and should be on the front foot more often this season than last. That should give him the opportunity to run more and produce the attacking SuperCoach game he’s shown in the past. When he played 50 minutes+ in the hooker role he averaged 53PPG in 2023, that alone suggests there’s some value. If the attack flows too a 60PPG wouldn’t surprise me. Another tick in his box is the Roosters don’t have a bye until Round 14.

Most owned: Jayden Brailey (39.5%), Harry Grant (26.8%)

FRONT ROW

Jai Arrow $466,000 (4%)

Arrow played just 14 games for the Rabbitohs in 2023 getting injured in two of those to drag his average down to 45.6PPG. That’s his worst season since 2017 when he was just a cheapie at the Broncos. Arrow is priced about 10 points under the 55.7PPG where he was as a hybrid edge/middle role in 2022. If the Rabbitohs return to using him in that role he’s going to be good value and has a handy dual FRF/2RF status.

Tevita Tatola (2.4%)

Another Rabbitohs option at good value. Across his career when he plays 50MPG he averages 55PPG he’s priced at 42.7PPG after an injury affected 2023 season which included going off injured after a minute in the opening round.

Most owned: Payne Haas (37.6%), Viliami Fifita (29.5%), Reuben Cotter 27.1%, Samuel Hughes (25%)

BACK ROW

Eliesa Katoa $656,300 (1.5%)

I started with him last season and loved watching his development. The Storm backrower struck up a fantastic combination with Jahrome Hughes after making the switch from the Warriors. He averaged 72PPG in the games he played 60 minutes or more on the right edge but is priced at 64.3PPG price after a few injury affected games. If he returns to that form he’ll be among the top five players in the position. Teammate Shawn Blore $445,800 (5.8%) arrives from the Tigers this season in a very similar scenario to Katoa last year, oozing untapped potential. If he lands the left edge spot running off Cameron Munster he’s got to be in more teams.

Eliesa Katoa has snuck under the radar. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

Liam Martin $592,200 (2.8%)

When Martin played the big minutes right edge role in 2023 alongside Nathan Cleary he averaged 67PPG. Unfortunately for Martin that didn’t happen all that often with an injury interrupted season limiting him to eight games with four tries in the sweet spot next to Cleary. As he struggled for fitness through the middle of the season he played four games of 40 minutes or under and that pulled his average down. He’s priced at 58PPG so shapes as a nice value pick if you want to go a little higher than the mid-price brigade at 2RF.

Jeremiah Nanai $583,500 (3.5%)

The Cowboys backrower has a career high score of 158 – one of four triple figure games in his two seasons in the NRL. He had a stop-start season in 2023 never playing more than four games in a row. After 17 tries in 21 games in 2022 his price was bound to dip last season. He still had a very solid 6 tries in 13 games in 2023. He’s a great attacking weapon to kickstart your SuperCoach season if you’re backing a Cowboys resurgence. The risk here is he’s not a huge worker and is capable of a 27 point game in 80 minutes, like the opening round last season.

Most owned: Shaun Lane (39.1%), Joshua Curran (34.2%), Brendan Piakura (25.4%), Tallis Duncan (24.5%), Jed Cartwright (24.6%), Tino Fa’asuamaleaui (18.7%)

HALFBACK

Mitchell Moses $695,400 (8.8%)

If you’re not going for the Nicho Hynes and Nathan Cleary double up then Moses should be your man. A Panthers match in Round 2 is the only hiccup in the draw over the opening two months which includes four of the opening six games at home. That should give him a chance to put up some big early scores and even close the gap back to Hynes or Cleary.

Most owned: Nicho Hynes (42.1%), Nathan Cleary (34.6%)

FIVE-EIGHTH

Cameron Munster $728,100 (6.9%)

One of the top ceiling players in the position is going massively under the radar with SuperCoaches favouring Harry Grant and Ryan Papenhuyzen as Storm options. The Storm draw isn’t ideal early and a bye in round 4 means Munster is being largely ignored. But those tough games are often the ones Munster thrives in. A chance to have him at low ownership an strengthen a tough position is appealing if you find an alternative to Grant and Papenhuyzen.

Most owned: Kaeo Weekes (36.6%), Jayden Campbell (27.7%), Ezra Mam (20%), Dylan Brown (18.1% )

Liam Martin is an underrated figure in SuperCoach. Picture: Getty Images/Getty Images

CENTRE/WING

Jacob Kiraz $605,100 (3%)

Kiraz ticks a lot of boxes with a high work rate giving him one of the top base + power averages in 2023 in this position at 48.2PPG. He was second for total offloads which is SuperCoach gold. He just needs to find the tryline more frequently than his 12 from 34 games (35% strike rate) to join the elite CTW options. When it all clicks for him he’s shown he can go large with scores of 144 and 148 in the past two seasons.

Maika Sivo $554,400 (1.7%)

Sivo is priced off a 54.3PPG but looms as a value prospect. When Dylan Brown was missing through the middle of the season, Sivo’s supply line was cut off and the Fijian scored a miserable 25.2PPG across five games. With Brown in the team Sivo scored 64PPG with top scores of 124 against the Titans at Magic Round and a four-try 154 against the Panthers.

Sione Katoa $493,900 (2.2%)

Katoa dropped to 48.4PPG in 2023 going below 50PPG for the first time since 2019. There was only one real change in his set of stats. He scored 10 tries from 24 games at a 41% strike rate. Across the rest of his time at the Sharks he’s been at 79% and averaged a tick under 60PPG. He has a nice early draw to help find his try-scoring form again.

Jaxson Paulo (0.9%) $476,200

Paulo scored six tries in the first five games of 2023 for the Roosters on the right wing and quickly made $200k cash before his season fizzled out. If he lands on the left wing for the Sea Eagles he’ll be in the perfect spot for some big scores and fast cash generation again. Manly left wingers (with stats adjusted to remove Reuben Garrick’s goalkicking) have scored 65.5PPG in 2023, 55PPG in 2022 and 84PPG in 2021 with a fit Turbo feeding them.

Most owned: Ethan Strange (45.7%), Kayal Iro (40.2%), Taylan May (34.8%), Chevy Stewart (31.6%), Bronson Xerri (29.5%)

FULLBACK

Scott Drinkwater $851,800 (4.4%)

Drinkwater had the second most overall points at fullback and the second best average in the position in 2023. That includes a 1-point game against the Broncos where he broke Corey Oates’ jaw and was sin-binned.

Without that anomaly in the mix he averaged 87PPG. He had the most scores of 100+ of any fullback with seven to his name.

Five of the opening six games are teams he’s put triple figures on recently with the Broncos in Round 4 looming as the only early speed bump. Everything good the Cowboys do goes through Drinkwater and with no byes and that early draw he could burst out of the blocks.

He’s played 90% of games the past three seasons and is a far more durable option than more popular options Kalyn Ponga, Latrell Mitchell, Tom Trbojevic and Ryan Papenhuyzen.

Most owned: Kalyn Ponga (33.6%), Ryan Papenhuyzen (22.5%),

Originally published as NRL SuperCoach 2024: Mastermind’s POD Squad full of hidden gems