The Final Word: Round 19 NRL Supercoach Strategy

Here it is folks, the final major bye round for the 2024 SuperCoach season and its shaping up to be an absolute doozy.

Not only is every Origin player missing but almost every other gun is missing as well – in fact just two of the top 20 overall scoring players for the season are available in Dylan Brown and Jamayne Isaako who are 16th and 17th respectively.

Now does this mean that it’s probably going to be a very low scoring round? Probably.

However nothing is a certainty and coaches must still plan accordingly if they want to move upwards in the rankings.

Getting to at least 11-12 players will be crucial for serious overall players, though if you can get to the full 13 then you’ll be in seriously good stead by the looks of things.

A serious midweek training injury to highly popular SuperCoach gun Nicho Hynes has probably thrown a lot of plans into disarray, including my own.

However if you have over 12 trades left then it shouldn’t be too much of a problem to deal with.

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Round 19 Supercoach Strategy

The return of Jayden Campbell to the Titans coming off a huge 170 score and a negative breakeven looms as the ideal replacement in the halves, assuming you can move Dylan Brown up to halfback and slot Campbell into the vacant 5/8 position.

The Titans play just 2 more night games for the rest of the season, meaning the majority will be daytime games where they historically score exceedingly well (27PPG – 2nd best in the league).

However, if like myself, you simply don’t have the trades left to be going on the attack then waiting for Nathan Cleary‘s return (which is likely next week) might be a more practical move.

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The return of Tom Trbojevic to fullback is another big talking point for the week, especially with many people looking to replace an injured Latrell Mitchell.

Yes, he did look sluggish and lacklustre on return in the centres last week, but we all know what he can do when he flicks the switch and it honestly mightn’t be too far away.

A Sunday afternoon day game at Brooky against a Knights team without Ponga, Best and Gagai might be exactly what he needs to find his confidence and properly test out those hamstrings.

Will I be bringing him in? No.

However if I had the trades left I would be seriously considering it, especially if I wanted to make a move to a lower ranking.

Reuben Garrick is actually the guy I’m looking to bring in for injured Tolutau Koula, which is a semi-defensive play ranked 333rd overall considering he is already extremely highly owned in the top ranks.

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Haumole Olakau’atu is another Manly player that will be a popular buy this week and for good reason when priced at a mere $604k with a 70+ average for the season.

I know, I know, it’s been all Manly talk so far, but honestly for good reason – they have the best matchup and play the only day game of the round.

This isn’t to say that you should only be looking to bring in Manly players, but looking around at the team lists there really isn’t that much more that is very appetising to waste trades on at this point.

With job security issues surrounding a few other popular trade-ins for the round such as Will Pryce.

Personally, with just 9 trades left, I’m planning on only bringing in certified guns or nuffs from now on, leaving maybe 4-5 trades leftover for the restings and injuries that inevitably occur in the final few rounds every season.

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Round 19 Supercoach Captain

Captaincy is the last major talking point of the round, and can truly be the difference between red or green arrows come Monday morning.

When you get a free shot at VC it’s absolutely essential to nail and lock in an 85+ score from your captain this week.

Jamayne Isaako looks like the perfect candidate for owners, we know he has the big ceiling if he can slide over for a try or three (fingers crossed).

As for captain, it’s impossible to look pass 2RF stalwart David Fifita who averages 82.9 for the season with just three scores under 80 in 12 games.

However, if you want to get mega aggressive and trade in someone like Tom Trbojevic then I think you have to also chuck the captaincy on him and pray to the SuperCoach gods that he turns it on.

Trades: Koula > Garrick

Captains: VC Garrick C Fifita

Good luck coaches!

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