Round 14 NRL Team Lists: Supercoach Analysis

The next three days of NRL Supercoach chat will be littered with “you reckon he is going to back up, or nah?”.

The first major bye round is done and dusted, with seven teams on the bye and Origin players unavailable.

Concerningly though, this week looms as the far tougher round to navigate for plenty of Supercoaches.

Just three teams are on the bye in the Roosters, Dolphins and Raiders, but they’re clubs with heavy amounts of Supercoach investments.

You then add in the popular Supercoach players that could sit out after a gruelling Origin fixture, Nicho Hynes, Reece Walsh, Reuben Cotter and Valentine Holmes to name just a few.

I suspect we will see plenty of Supercoach teams play a man or two short of 17 this week, and a lot of final boosts being used to get a full squad on deck.

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Alright, that’s a little doom and gloom to open up this week’s team analysis, let’s be more positive and say that every Origin player backs up for their club and there’s no surprise outs across the round.

The doom probably comes from an underwhelming round from the Stallions who scored a fairly ordinary 844 points in round 13.

Surprisingly we saw a slight uptick in rank to 8,900^th overall which was nice, but it should have been so much more.

Joey Manu captaincy failed miserably, he scored 51 at fullback so I’m not sure that counts towards the curse he has on me, or me on him, but it was ordinary to say the least.

The one reassuring factor though was that on the easiest of the major bye rounds a seemingly ordinary score still saw rises, so it is enticing to think what will hopefully occur in later bye rounds with good planning to date which appear far more difficult.

For a little context on the below analysis, round 16 is the second major bye round which doesn’t look too difficult to navigate, while round 19 is the third major bye round which looks very difficult.

The majority of my opinions are skewed towards putting greater emphasis on the final major bye round targets. 

Let’s get stuck into the NRL Supercoach teams analysis for round 14, with squad lists courtesy of Fox Sports.

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DRAGONS v TIGERS

Friday, 8pm, WIN Stadium, Wollongong

Dragons: 1. Tyrell Sloan 2. Sione Finau 3. Moses Suli 4. Mathew Feagai 5. Mathew Feagai 6. Kyle Flanagan 7. Jesse Marschke 8. Francis Molo 9. Jacob Liddle 10. Jack de Belin 11. Luciano Leilua 12. Raymond Faitala-Mariner 13. Tom Eisenhuth

Bench: 14. Blake Lawrie 15. Ben Murdoch-Masila 16. Toby Couchman 17. Ryan Couchman

Reserves: 18. Fa’amanu Brown 19. Michael Molo 20. Christian Tuipulotu 21. Ben Hunt 22. Jaydn Su’A 23. Zac Lomax

Analysis: The Dragons miss the next major bye round, but play the last and most difficult in round 19.

Raymond Faitala-Mariner went huge against Penrith with 120 points in the wet.

He’s $398k with a breakeven of -9 and has attracted some interest.

I’m not interested as he only played 20 minutes the week prior and isn’t locked into an 80 minute role.

Luciano Leilua could take a spot, as could Tom Eisenhuth, while Jaydn Su’a has been named on the extended bench alongside Zac Lomax and Ben Hunt.

That being said, if Su’a plays big minutes in Origin he may not back up with the quick two day turnaround.

Lomax will also be a chance at a rest, he’s been named at centre with Jack Bird injured which isn’t ideal for his scoring.

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Tigers: 1. Jahream Bula 2. Alexander Lobb 3. Charlie Staines 4. Justin Olam 5. Solomon Alaimalo 6. Lachlan Galvin 7. Jayden Sullivan 8. Stefano Utoikamanu 9. Apisai Koroisau 10. Alex Twal 11. Samuela Fainu 12. Alex Seyfarth 13. Justin Matamua

Bench: 14. Brent Naden 15. Fonua Pole 16. Sione Fainu 17. Reuben Porter

Reserves: 18. Tallyn Da Silva 19. Solomona Faataape 20. Kit Laulilii 21. Asu Kepaoa 22. Jordan Miller

Analysis: The Tigers play the next two major bye rounds in round 16 and 19 which makes them very relevant.

If the Blues can get the job done on Wednesday night it should keep Api Koroisau out of the frame for a call-up which would make him a serious buy option at hooker at just $515k with a breakeven of 19.

After a bit of a slump earlier on which may have been somewhat injury impacted with reported back spasms, he’s bounced back with scores of 78 and 66 and regained the goal-kicking duties.

I like the buy to get through the remainder of the Origin period, although it’s not necessarily urgent this week.

Do note also winger Alex Lobb is also a goal-kicker of note.

Lachlan Galvin is a hold until the end of the Origin period.

Samuela Fainu has my interest, between injury/HIAs and a sin-bin it just hadn’t quite happened for him since locking in the 80 minute role.

That changed last outing with 82 points including a try.

He’s just $415k with dual FRF-2RF positioning and breakeven of 13.

His base isn’t great at just 40.6 in his three 80 minute games, but he can do a job throughout the bye period and earn owners some cash.

With John Bateman and Isaiah Papali’i out for extended period his job should be pretty safe.

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TITANS v RABBITOHS

Saturday, 3pm, Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast

Titans: 1. Keano Kini 2. Alofiana Khan-Pereira 3. Brian Kelly 4. Phillip Sami 5. Jojo Fifita 6. Chris Randall 7. Kieran Foran 8. Moeaki Fotuaika 9. Sam Verrills 10. Josiah Pahulu 11. David Fifita 12. Beau Fermor 13. Klese Haas

Bench: 14. Isaac Liu 15. Keenan Palasia 16. Erin Clark 17. Jacob Alick-wiencke

Reserves: 18. Joe Stimson 19. Jayden Campbell 20. Iszac Fa’asumaleaui 21. Tanah Boyd 22. Jaylan De Groot

Analysis: The Titans play the next two major bye rounds in round 16 and 19 which makes them very relevant.

David Fifita is simply a must if NSW win the Origin opener, if QLD win though you’d have to imagine he is in the frame for a recall that would see him miss round 16, 17 and 19 at a minimum putting a cloud over the trade.

Making it tougher is two upcoming clashes with the Rabbitohs and Tigers where he could go huge, especially if stating his case for that Origin recall.

Maybe you just bite the bullet and buy regardless?

While Keano Kini looks a viable super POD at $412k with a -46 breakeven, his job security with Jayden Campbell (extended bench) and AJ Brimson to return isn’t good.

While he was tremendous against Brisbane, in four 80 minute games this season prior to that he had a top score of just 44.

Beau Fermor has a three round average of 76 with just one try and will have owners very content as he improves with every game back from an ACL injury.

At $608k though I wouldn’t be looking to buy.

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Rabbitohs: 1. Latrell Mitchell 2. Alex Johnston 3. Taane Milne 4. Richard Kennar 5. Jacob Gagai 6. Jack Wighton 7. Cody Walker 8. Davvy Moale 9. Damien Cook 10. Sean Keppie 11. Michael Chee Kam 12. Jai Arrow 13. Keaon Koloamatangi

Bench: 14. Peter Mamouzelos 15. Tallis Duncan 16. Siliva Havili 17. Thomas Burgess

Reserves: 18. Dion Teaupa 19. Liam Le Blanc 20. Adam Christensen 21. Leon Te Hau 22. Bayleigh Bentley-Hape

Analysis: The Rabbitohs play the next two major bye rounds in round 16 and 19 which makes them very relevant.

They’ve been terrible this year, despite this Latrell Mitchell has averaged 79 points per game with just one score under 69 which is when he was sin-binned after being crushed by the Roosters.

While it’s hard to bet on a Rabbitohs attacking player, their draw is very hard to ignore against the Titans, Broncos, Sea Eagles, bye, Eels, Dolphins, Tigers and Raiders.

If NSW get done, does Latrell fly back into Origin contention?

I’d feel a lot more confident buying if NSW win, as Origin selection would see him miss round 16, 17 and 19.

Cody Walker returns from a calf injury and has attracted interest following a 99 point score in his last game against the Cowboys.

We know the attacking upside is there, the draw is nice, the $543k price is very nice, but he is cheap for a reason.

He’s averaging just 54 points this season with seven of his 10 scores under 51 points.

We know he can explode, but how limited is he in an underperforming South Sydney outfit that doesn’t have many players due back anytime soon?

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Keaon Koloamatangi moved to the middle and played 80 minutes against the Eels, bursting through for two tries and 133 points with 61 points in base.

He’s $584k with a breakeven of -1 this week.

Prior to that outing, he had just one score over 55 in 10 games.

The move to the middle could prove magical for Supercoaches, but it does feel like a case of chasing last week’s points.

The one factor that does bode well is his strong 49 in base across the season, it’s his lack of attacking stats that are mesmerising.

In 10 games prior to the Eels, he had no tries, no try-assists, one linebreak and one linebreak assist.

We know he’s capable of finding the line and setting up tries, so surely there’s more to come?

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COWBOYS v WARRIORS

Saturday, 5:30pm, QCB Stadium, Townsville

Cowboys: 1. Scott Drinkwater 2. Kyle Feldt 3. Jaxon Purdue 4. Viliami Vailea 5. Braidon Burns 6. Jake Clifford 7. Chad Townsend 8. Jordan McLean 9. Sam McIntyre 10. Griffin Neame 11. Heilum Luki 12. Kulikefu Finefeuiaki 13. Thomas Mikaele

Bench: 14. Tomas Chester 15. Harrison Edwards 16. Jamal Shibasaki 17. Jason Taumalolo

Reserves: 18. Thomas Duffy 19. Valentine Holmes 20. Murray Taulagi 21. Tom Dearden 22. Reece Robson 23. Jeremiah Nanai 24. Reuben Cotter

Analysis: The Cowboys miss the next two major bye rounds and as a result present no real interest to overall players despite arguably their best win of the season against the Roosters.

Keep in mind though that if you’re a head-to-head focused player that doesn’t play the major bye rounds in your leagues, the Cowboys draw is actually excellent so reassess accordingly.

All Cowboys Origin players have been named on the extended bench for now.

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Warriors: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 2. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak 3. Rocco Berry 4. Adam Pompey 5. Marcelo Montoya 6. Chanel Harris-Tavita 7. Te Maire Martin 8. Addin Fonua-Blake 9. Wayde Egan 10. Jackson Ford 11. Marata Niukore 12. Mitchell Barnett 13. Tohu Harris

Bench: 14. Dylan Walker 15. Jazz Tevaga 16. Tom Ale 17. Kurt Capewell

Reserves: 18. Freddy Lussick 20. Taine Tuaupiki 21. Bunty Afoa 22. Edward Kosi 23. Moala Graham-Taufa

Analysis: The Warriors play the second major bye round which is handy, but not round 19 which looks far harder.

They welcome back a host of stars to an already rejuvenated squad in recent rounds.

Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad missed last game due to illness, he remains under the radar with an 80 point average with just two tries in his seven games this season, and an outstanding 43 in base.

Addin Fonua-Blake returns after being stood down last game.

Still no Shaun Johnson to be seen.

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BRONCOS v SHARKS

Saturday, 7:35pm, Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

Broncos: 1. Reece Walsh 2. Corey Oates 3. Kotoni Staggs 4. Selwyn Cobbo 5. Deine Mariner 6. Ezra Mam 7. Jock Madden 8. Corey Jensen 9. Billy Walters 10. Payne Haas 11. Brendan Piakura 12. Jordan Riki 13. Patrick Carrigan

Bench: 14. Tyson Smoothy 15. Xavier Willison 16. Kobe Hetherington 17. Jack Gosiewski

Reserves: 18. Joshua Rogers 19. Fletcher Baker 20. Blake Mozer 21. Martin Taupau 22. Josiah Karapani 23. Tristan Sailor 24. Jaiyden Hunt

Analysis: Brisbane miss round 16 then play the final major bye round where they’ll have a host of Origin stars out. 

They’re not overly Supercoach relevant as it stands outside of those who held Reece Walsh, so we’ll reassess closer to round 19.

If Origin players are rested and Josiah Karapani came into the team, he’d be the only major target this week with a breakeven of -73 priced at $204k.

I’m not overly interested as I’m happy with my cash generation, and I can see him becoming a nuff very soon with Origin players returning and Jesse Arthars not far off.

People are running low on trades already and injuries are cropping up everywhere, so building depth will be more important than ever.

If you want a quick cash grab and a likely round 19 number he’ll do a job for you.

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Sharks: 1. William Kennedy 2. Sione Katoa 3. Jesse Ramien 4. Kayal Iro 5. Ronaldo Mulitalo 6. Daniel Atkinson 7. Braydon Trindall 8. Thomas Hazelton 9. Blayke Brailey 10. Oregon Kaufusi 11. Briton Nikora 12. Siosifa Talakai 13. Cameron McInnes

Bench: 14. Jack Williams 15. Toby Rudolf 16. Royce Hunt 17. Tuku Hau Tapuha

Reserves: 18. Mawene Hiroti 19. Billy Burns 20. Jayden Berrell 21. Niwhai Puru 22. Jesse Colquhoun

Analysis: The Sharks miss the next major bye round, and the awkward round 20 mini bye round, but play the third and most difficult bye round.

To hold or sell Nicho?

Following his now infamous 3 pointer against the Panthers he’s $984k with a breakeven of 193 and has already been rested for this clash.

He’s also the best halfback in Supercoach…

As mentioned above, trades are beginning to run low for most already and you know you’ll want Nicho back, so it’s two trades to get him out and back in.

Are the trades worth the cash you make? Maybe, maybe not.

For me it comes down to the Origin result, if NSW win and he plays well I’ll sell as he’ll hold his spot.

If they lose and he battles, Mitch Moses could well take his spot in game 2 which would lead towards the potential hold.

Let’s just reassess after Origin plays out and we know whether or not he backs up, but the writing may well be on the well.

Ronaldo Mulitalo has almost bottomed out at $535k with a breakeven of 74, keep an eye on him from round 17 where he’ll likely be a popular target.

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STORM v KNIGHTS

Sunday, 2pm, AAMI Park, Melbourne

Storm: 1. Sualauvi Faalogo 2. Grant Anderson 3. Reimis Smith 4. Nick Meaney 5. Xavier Coates 6. Tyran Wishart 7. Jahrome Hughes 8. Christian Welch 9. Harry Grant 10. Tui Kamikamica 11. Shawn Blore 12. Eliesa Katoa 13. Josh King

Bench: 14. Bronson Garlick 15. Trent Loiero 16. Nelson Asofa-Solomona 17. Alec MacDonald

Reserves: 18. Joe Chan 19. Jack Howarth 20. Young Tonumaipea 21. Kane Bradley 22. Dean Ieremia

Analysis: The Storm play the second major bye round which is handy, but not round 19 which looks far harder.

That’ll also be their last bye of the season and they’re a gun team, so they are very relevant.

I won’t go into too much detail on Eliesa Katoa, but at $765k, a season average of 75, 46 base per game and immense attacking upside I think he is near enough a must-have in a light 2RF position at the moment.

Jahrome Hughes looks a great pick up, especially with Harry Grant dealing with the Origin period and Cameron Munster out, it’s Hughes’ team at the moment.

At a great rate of $682k with a soft draw incoming against the Knights, Warriors, Dolphins, Raiders and Tigers he looks a strong buy at HFB.

Ryan Papenhuyzen is due back over the next couple of weeks.

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Knights: 1. David Armstrong 2. Enari Tuala 3. Dane Gagai 4. Krystian Mapapalangi 5. Greg Marzhew 6. Jack Cogger 7. Jackson Hastings 8. Jacob Saifiti 9. Jayden Brailey 10. Leo Thompson 11. Kai Pearce-Paul 12. Dylan Lucas 13. Adam Elliott

Bench: 14. Phoenix Crossland 15. Daniel Saifiti 16. Tyson Frizell 17. Brodie Jones

Reserves: 18. Thomas Cant 19. Mathew Croker 20. Will Pryce 21. Jack Hetherington 22. Fletcher Sharpe

Analysis: The Knights miss round 16, play round 19 and all the mini bye rounds.

Owners of Kai Pearce-Paul, Jayden Brailey and Dylan Lucas will all be happy enough, but after the awful loss to the Bulldogs without scoring a try they aren’t of interest this week with a game in Melbourne.

David Armstrong had an off night in the wet against the Dogs for just 24 points.

Let’s just hope he bounces back this week to provide coverage for later in the period.

We’ll reassess further after the round 16 bye if they show more fight in coming rounds as they did during their four straight wins. 

Fullback’s Fletcher Sharpe and Will Pryce are both on the extended bench…

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PANTHERS v SEA EAGLES

Sunday, 4:05pm, BlueBet Stadium, Penrith

Panthers: 1. Daine Laurie 2. Sunia Turuva 3. Izack Tago 4. Paul Alamoti 5. Brian To’o 6. Jack Cole 7. Jarome Luai 8. Moses Leota 9. Mitch Kenny 10. James Fisher-Harris 11. Scott Sorensen 12. Liam Martin 13. Isaah Yeo

Bench: 14. Trent Toelau 15. Lindsay Smith 16. Liam Henry 17. Luke Garner

Reserves: 18. Brad Schneider 19. Mavrik Geyer 20. Matt Eisenhuth 21. Jesse McLean 22. Preston Riki 23. Dylan Edwards 24. Tyrone Peachey

Analysis: Penrith miss the next two major bye rounds and are likely to rest a number of Origin players over this period so they don’t present much interest to overall players.

Keep in mind though that if you’re a head-to-head focused player that doesn’t play the major bye rounds in your leagues, the Panthers draw is actually excellent so reassess accordingly.

Paul Alamoti is a potential POD play at $504k with goal-kicking duties while Nathan Cleary and Dylan Edwards are out (for now).

Penrith have named their Origin reps for the time being, incredibly Edwards is on the extended bench after withdrawing from Origin due to injury.

Popular buy last week Brad Schneider has been dropped, but would come into the halves if Jarome Luai doesn’t back up from Origin.

The past two weeks he’s scored 96 and 67 with 36 base per game.

I’m not convinced on job security though so I’m not interested with the poor bye coverage.

Those who held Liam Henry for his 69 tackles and 76 points were dealt a bye round miracle, well played!

He reverts to the bench this week.

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Sea Eagles: 1. Lehi Hopoate 2. Jason Saab 3. Tolutau Koula 4. Reuben Garrick 5. Tommy Talau 6. Luke Brooks 7. Daly Cherry-Evans 8. Taniela Paseka 9. Karl Lawton 10. Josh Aloiai 11. Haumole Olakau’atu 12. Ben Trbojevic 13. Jake Trbojevic

Bench: 14. Gordon Chan Kum Tong 15. Corey Waddell 16. Toafofoa Sipley 17. Nathan Brown

Reserves: 18. Ethan Bullemor 19. Raymond Tuiamalo Vaega 20. Jaxson Paulo 21. Jamie Humphreys 22. Ben Condon 23. Jake Simpkin

Analysis: Manly play the next two major bye rounds making them very relevant.

Penrith this week appear tough, but they have beaten them already this year and if they do rest players it’ll be a very different outfit.

They then face the Dragons, Rabbitohs, bye, Cowboys, Knights and Titans which is a dream draw.

Already heavily owned, Reuben Garrick will be frightening not to own during this period.

As a non-owner, it’s a case of going against him to find POD plays and make up ground, or just bite the bullet and bank the points?

Probably the latter…

Tolutau Koula looked a serious buy at just $493k after scoring 79 against Brisbane in his only game in the No.1 this season, but for now rookie Lehi Hopoate has kept his spot at fullback, with Koula at centre.

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BULLDOGS v EELS

Monday, 4pm, Accor Stadium, Sydney

Bulldogs: 1. Connor Tracey 2. Jacob Kiraz 3. Bronson Xerri 4. Stephen Crichton 5. Blake Wilson 6. Matt Burton 7. Toby Sexton 8. Max King 9. Reed Mahoney 10. Samuel Hughes 11. Jacob Preston 12. Jaeman Salmon 13. Kurt Mann

Bench: 14. Bailey Hayward 15. Josh Curran 16. Kurtis Morrin 17. Lipoi Hopoi

Reserves: 19. Poasa Faamausili 20. Blake Taaffe 21. Jake Turpin 22. Drew Hutchison 23. Harry Hayes

Analysis: The Bulldogs play the second major bye round, but have byes next week and round 19.

Jacob Kiraz couldn’t continue his heroic Supercoach form, but still managed a respectable 45 against the Knights.

Jacob Preston returned to his 80 minute edge role in style with 109 points thanks to a pair of tries.

He’s a solid buy at $599k with a breakeven of 10, but I feel as though last week was the time to pounce.

Reed Mahoney has completely flown under the radar this season, probably after burning Supercoaches at the same stage last season.

He’s playing the full 80 minutes, averaging 67 points for the season including a five round average of 72.

Sam Hughes is highly sold this week after playing just 15 minutes against the Knights, the one week we needed you to go well Sammy!

Lots are selling this week due to a breakeven of 65, but I’m not entirely sure it’s needed.

Gus Gould said on Twitter it was simply a case of playing bigger minutes in his rookie year and getting a spell with the scoreline blowing out.

Most Supercoaches are short on numbers this week so he could be an invaluable number if that’s you.

Prior to last week he’d played 35+ minutes in his last seven games, which makes him very playable in a week FRF position.

If you have plenty of numbers this week then by all means sell, but if not he’s a handy number this week and in round 16 after their bye.

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Eels: 1. Clinton Gutherson 2. Maika Sivo 3. Viliami Penisini 4. Blaize Talagi 5. Sean Russell 6. Dylan Brown 7. Mitchell Moses 8. Reagan Campbell-Gillard 9. Brendan Hands 10. Junior Paulo 11. Kelma Tuilagi 12. Bryce Cartwright 13. J’maine Hopgood

Bench: 14. Joe Ofahengaue 15. Shaun Lane 16. Makahesi Makatoa 17. Wiremu Greig

Reserves: 18. Daejarn Asi 19. Morgan Harper 20. Joey Lussick 21. Ryan Matterson 22. Luca Moretti

Analysis: Parramatta miss the next major bye round and the round 20 mini bye round which could be tricky.

They do play round 19 though against the Titans which is a nice match-up.

Mitch Moses returned in stunning fashion against the Sharks.

At $701k with a breakeven of 19 he looks a great buy, the issue though is a potential Origin call up.

If the Blues get done and Nicho doesn’t have the best game, Moses could be catapulted in for the rest of the series.

Hopefully NSW win and Moses is locked in for the Eels and we can strongly consider him in Supercoach.

Bryce Cartwright ($504k, 26BE) and Kelma Tuilagi ($354k, -18BE) both are viable buy options this week.

Job security is the concern with Ryan Matterson due back any week from symptoms of dizziness.

Matterson had been playing edge before sitting out a number of games, while there’s also Shaun Lane lingering who has taken up a middle forward role.

I do think both have decent security, with Cartwright more locked into 80 minutes, but it is worth being wary of.

Brendan Hands played 80 minutes against the Sharks at hooker, making 51 tackles on his way to 65 points.

He’s priced at $246k with a breakeven of -20.

In seven games of 72+ minutes last season he averaged 49.57 points.

An 80 minute hooker at near bottom dollar with decent bye coverage looks golden.

The only concern again is job security with regular hooker Joey Lussick lingering after being dropped.

In the short-term I think Hands is safe, but it won’t take much for that to change, or for Lussick to join the bench and split the role.

I think he’s a decent buy at the price, but be aware of the red flags.

Blaize Talagi replaces the injured Bailey Simonsson at at centre in a huge win for owners.