Champion PODs: Unique players to find an edge

• SQUAD BREAKDOWN: Round 2 NRL team insights
• PLAYMAKER’S INSIGHT: Why new combinations struggle early

Identifying the low-ownership players with a high upside is one of the keys to SuperCoach success.

Finding the guys that fit this bill is much harder to do.

Here to help find the competition’s best point of difference players (PODs), is 2019 SuperCoach champion Dez Creek.

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ALEX TWAL ($492,200)

At just 2% ownership, Twal impressed with 78 points in 53-minutes including just one linebreak.

Twal has always had potential to be a great POD in SuperCoach, but this year he looks much slimmer and faster than the past few seasons.

Twal also looked to have added a little step to his repertoire which may be an impactful tool in wrongfooting some tired forwards late in games.

Wow… Benji Marshall!

Tied up at 14-14 😱#NRLDragonsTigers pic.twitter.com/8Rj0mgyxK4

— NRL (@NRL) March 15, 2020

BENJI MARSHALL ($469,600)

Wow, what a performance. He looked like the Benji of old, scoring 93 points with a try and two try-assists and had a hand in anything that looked good for the Tigers.

At just 1.8% ownership, with the added bonus of goal-kicking, Benji could be the ultra-POD that puts you ahead of the pack.

JAHROME HUGHES ($524,000)

Hughes looked dangerous every time he touched the ball. He produced 82 points which consisted of two try-assists, 28 tackles and two forced dropouts. I can see serious appeal in Hughes considering he’s only 2% ownership.

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BRODIE CROFT ($413,600)

What a fantastic buy for the Broncos, Croft really added structure across the paddock. At 5.1% ownership Croft produced 66 points with two try assists and a linebreak.

If the Broncos continue on the upwards trajectory that I think they are on, you may be left in the wake if you don’t have one of Croft or Milford in your team.

PAUL VAUGHAN ($556,400)

Vaughan dished out 72 points in 68-minutes basically all in base. I don’t expect him to maintain those sorts of minutes, but he doesn’t need to.

The injury to Mikaele Ravalawa saw Tyrell Fuimaono come off the bench and into the back line, so this would have impacted the forward rotation.

However, it’s been confirmed that James Graham will play fewer minutes in the front-row this season.

If we are lucky and he does keep the minutes, I’ll go out on a limb and say he is a must-have at 3.8% ownership.

He almost went over for a try as well which would’ve tracked for a 100+ score.