KFC SuperCoach NRL: Round 20 best players and trade targets

The Mastermind analyses every NRL Round 20 game as Turbo does it again and some super POD trade targets emerge.

The KFC SuperCoach NRL top score of all time has fallen yet again with Tom Trbojevic running riot against the Sharks. Sitting on a solid 60 points at halftime, Trbojevic almost single-handedly dismantled the Sharks adding 166 points before taking an early shower at the 68th minute mark. He seems almost unstoppable in 2021 with an average 134.9PPG and 1484 total points. He’s 89 points behind overall points leader Isaiah Papali’i but has played just 11 games. He’ll face his toughest test of the season this week against the Melbourne Storm and it might be the only week he’s not a lock for your captaincy. But would you dare bet against him? The Knights somehow held him to 40 points in Round 12 but otherwise it’s been a try every game and eight centuries from 11 games.

For those with trades left some serious super PODs are ready and waiting to light up the last five rounds. Bradman Best at $382k (3. 8% owned), is back from injury and fresh off 107 points with the best run home of any team. Harry Grant, $596k (4% owned), is the man we’ve been waiting almost all season for at hooker, and just put 88 on the Panthers in 58 minutes.

ROUND 21 LATEST: EARLY MAIL

Let’s take a look at the highs and lows from each game and the players to add to your watchlist.

ROOSTERS 28-0 EELS

Highs: Joseph Manu, 108, had 24 hit-ups, even more than when he’s filled in at fullback, for 44 in base stats. Then there was his attacking game with a try, two linebreaks, four tackle busts and three offloads. He looks at home on the wing from a SuperCoach perspective and if he’s there for the rest of the season he’s a fantastic option. If he lands back in the centres it’s a different case where he’s averaged 42PPG in 12 games this season. Sam Walker, 87, has been up and down like a yoyo making him a tough pick week to week for owners. After a top score of 163 in Round 8, he’s gone 34, 63, 11, 69, 29, 65, 120, 38 and this week 90. Expect the trend to continue. down again with the Panthers next then back up against the Broncos. Isaiah Papali’i, 74, crunched out the usual big base stats and had five tackle busts, most of them running at Walker. Junior Paulo, 71, played 66 minutes and produced four offloads. James Tedesco, 68, had a linebreak, try assist and five tackle busts.

Lows: Reagan Campbell-Gillard, 8, off injured after 9 minutes. Parramatta’s backs Blake Ferguson, 21, Maika Sivo, 19, had rough games. Waqa Blake, 33, failed a HIA after 31 minutes.

Watchlist: Siosiua Taukeiaho, 40 points in 36 minutes made a timely return after an injury affected season. Expect a return to big minutes with Jared Warea-Hargreaves suspended for a week. Josh Morris, lasted just 51 minutes before going off with an injury. The Roosters have just about run out of options in the backs and resorted to picking up Dale Copley from the bargain bin.

TIGERS 16-18 WARRIORS

Highs: Euan Aitken, 128, made a late switch from the centres to the backrow and produced a massive game with 62 in base stats, eight tackle busts, two tries and two linebreaks. Adam Doueihi, 97, continued his hot form with a try, two linebreaks, six tackle busts, two offloads, 2/3 goals and 41 in base stats. Luciano Leilua, 83, had six tackle busts, four offloads and four linebreak assists. Moses Mbye, 82, moved to fullback early in the game and had his best game of the season with a try, linebreak, try assist, five tackle busts and four linebreak assists. If he scores that role for the rest of the season he could be a good budget pick-up with the Tigers draw. David Nofoaluma, 73, back in form after not scoring above 50 in four games against the top 4 teams. He’s now got a three-game average of 73PPG and can be picked up for a $200k discount on his starting price.

Lows: Daine Laurie, 2, broke a leg in the opening minutes and now out for the season. One of the cheapies of the season doubled his value and averaged 60PPG prior to this injury.

Watchlist: Kodi Nikorima, 36, was among the top scoring halves in the first half of the season but now finds himself playing 48 minutes off the bench at hooker. Shawn Blore, 52, played 80 minutes on the edge.

BRONCOS 37-18 COWBOYS

Highs: The Broncos right edge has really found form and has a nice draw for the rest of the season. Jordan Riki, 116, has a three-round average of 91 since returning to the right edge role he started the season at and was in 58% of teams at one point. He had a try, try assist, two linebreaks, four tackle busts and 56 in base stats. At $459k he’s almost $150k cheaper than the other form players in the position. Tyson Gamble, 98, had his best game of the season with three try assists, four linebreak assists and a field goal. Kotoni Staggs, 90, had two tries, two linebreaks, six tackle busts and gone for the season with a knee injury. Payne Haas, 73, played 65 minutes and was all base stats apart from an offload and a few tackle busts. Scott Drinkwater, 73, added another two try assists to make it 20 for the season and is picking up extra points goalkicking while Valentine Holmes is out.

Lows: Jake Turpin, 21, went off injured.

Watchlist: Jamayne Isaako, 76, scored his first try since Round 10 had a try assist and kicked 6/7 goals. Priced at under $400k but can go large.

KNIGHTS 34-24 RAIDERS

Highs: We’ve been pointing to load up on Knights from Round 20 with possibly the best draw of any team in the closing weeks of the season, but if you got on a week early it paid dividends. Bradman Best, 107, returned from injury on the left edge and looked lethal with a try and two try assists. Enari Tuala, 110, outside Best, picked up a hat-trick with Kalyn Ponga scoring a try of his own and assisting two. Josh Papalii, 86, scored a try, had four tackle busts and an offload. He’s great value at $435k after if you’re in need of a front rower. Jordan Rapana, 81, was a popular trade in last week and delivered for new owners with a try assist, linebreak, four tackle busts, two linebreak assists and 37 in base stats.

Lows: Corey Harawira-Naera, 39, pulled off after 67 minutes after missing Ponga one-on one. Jayden Brailey, 32, passed a HIA just before halftime. Connor Watson, 24, played just 44 minutes.

Watchlist: Jake Clifford, 65, had a try assist, three try contributions and kicked 5/6 goals. He’s only $343k dual position and kicking goals for the team with the best draw so that’s interesting but he’s never scored a KFC SuperCoach century. Tyson Frizell, 68, had his best game since returning from injury with four offloads.

STORM 37-10 PANTHERS

Highs: Dean Ieremia, 89, scored a hat-trick on the right wing for the Storm. Harry Grant, 88, played 58 minutes on his return from injury and ran riot through the Panthers middle with a try, two linebreaks and five tackle busts. Given his injury troubles this year you might want to wait another week since his price probably won’t move too drastically this week but he’s clearly the best hooker. Jesse Bromwich, 75, scored his first try of the season. Jahrome Hughes, 69, came off with 13 minutes to go after setting up two tries.

Lows: Charlie Staines, 1, played the full 80 minutes and had four runs, three errors and two missed tackles. Josh Addo-Carr, 20, was the second most popular trade in of last week and only had 6 hit-ups and a try assist. The ball just didn’t come to the left for the Storm with Cameron Munster, 41, and Justin Olam, 31 also having down weeks. Brandon Smith, 35, played 55 minutes with Grant back in the team. It was his first game without a major attacking stat since Round 7. Stephen Crichton, 30, is facing a week suspension for kicking.

Watchlist: Will we get any certainty on the roles of Ryan Papenhuyzen, 53, and Nicho Hynes, 44, before the end of the season? Neither is value for money playing half a game.

DRAGONS 14-50 RABBITOHS

Highs: Cody Walker, 151, has a five-round average of 108PPG. He had a try, four try assists, a linebreak and 10 linebreak assists. Latrell Mitchell, 123, scored a century for the second week in a row with two tries, three linebreaks and fifteen tackle busts. Adam Reynolds, 116, is sneaking under the radar as a halfback POD with a five-round average of 79PPG. He scored his first try since Round 5, had two try assists and kicked 7/9 goals. Keaon Koloamatangi, 92, scored a try for the second week in a row on top of 61 in base stats. Jai Arrow, 91, filled in for Cameron Murray at lock and scored a try.

Lows: Blake Taafe, 0, played the last 10 minutes and didn’t register a stat.

Watchlist: Cameron Murray missed this week through suspension. He’s the inform forward of the competition with a three-round average of 96.7 and a fantastic POD if you’ve got trades left at 8.7% ownership. Ben Hunt, 51, played with a broken arm. Goalkicking CTW Zac Lomax is due back after being injured in Round 8 but with Hunt gone and a tough draw it’s tough to back any Dragons.

BULLDOGS 6-34 TITANS

Highs: Brian Kelly, 90, scored a double and had 40 points in base stats. He’s finding some form with scores of 74 and 99 prior to last week’s an injury affected 20. Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, 89, scored his third try of the season and had 56 in base stats. He was in 54% of teams for Round 1, now he’s in just 18%. Josh Jackson, 89, had four linebreak assists on top of 70 in base stats. He’s been getting through a stack of work and has a five-round average of 70.

Lows: Kevin Proctor, 17, was replaced by David Fifita and didn’t come back on. Tyrone Peachey, 31, was averaging 61PPG in 50 minutes but has only had 30 minutes in the past two games. Now he’s facing a week suspension.

Watchlist: David Fifita, 58, had only his second score under 60 of the season. The game time wasn’t a worry last week as he bullied the Dragons. Toby Sexton, 67, backed up his impressive debut with a try assist, 5/6 goals and made 28 tackles missing only one. Can he hold his spot when Jamal Fogarty returns from injury?

SHARKS 22-40 SEA EAGLES

Highs: Tom Trbojevic, 226, had three tries, three try assists, 15 tackle busts, three linebreaks, eight linebreak assists and 20 in base stats. How did the Knights keep him to 40 in Round 12? Brayden Trindall, 112, was tipped as a solid replacement for Shaun Johnson last week and more than delivered with two tries, two try assists, three goals, a linebreak and four linebreak assists. At $445k he could still be a budget option with a nice draw ahead for the Sharks. Reuben Garrick, 110, after a three-week drought, scored a try, made three linebreaks and kicked 6/7 goals. William Kennedy, 94, had two tries and two linebreaks. Morgan Harper, 86, was hard for the Sharks to handle with a try, linebreak, nine tackle busts and 37 in base stats.

Lows: Toby Rudolf, 20, and Taniela Paseka, 23, were both sin binned.

Watchlist: Curtis Sironen, 23, played just 20 minutes in his first game since Round 1.

Originally published as KFC SuperCoach NRL: Round 20 best players and trade targets