Round 27 NRL Team Lists: Supercoach Analysis

We’ve arrived at the final round of the NRL Supercoach season for 2024.

Just eight games remain until a new overall champion is crowned.

Congratulations to all those that claimed head-to-head league glory against mates, and commiserations to those who fell short.

The SC Playbook community currently boasts first, third and fourth overall, so we’re chasing the trifecta in 2024.

‘Bryce’s Boys’ coached by Blake has a 242 point gap going into the final round and will take some catching.

There’s certainly been some team carnage in the final rounds, fortunately however every side from second through until about 13^th have had something substantial to play for in recent weeks, while the entire top eight have something to play for this week barring the Storm who have the minor premiership sewn up.

It’s a blessing for Supercoaches as restings haven’t really been a serious option.

The Cooma Stallions scored 1,241 points last round which was around about par to sit in 16k overall still.

It feels uneasy writing that each week, in the words of Eric Cartman, “not kewl”.

Nonetheless, despite one of the tougher carries for the Stallions that’ll see us land in our worst ever position by around 11,000 spots, it’s been extremely enjoyable as always, albeit very frustrating!

Much like the Broncos, we’ve shown some complacency in 2024 and needed a kick up the back side, hopefully to return bigger and better in 2025.

I’m looking forward to the SC Playbook season review podcast next week as well as Beers and Breakevens to dissect what went wrong, it should be entertaining for everyone bar me.

As I write the final squad breakdown for the season, a massive thank you to all the support of the SC Playbook community throughout the year for following along with these breakdowns each Tuesday.

People are out of trades and there’s nothing to look ahead to, so we’ll be far briefer to end the season, largely focussing on a few key targets that should finish the season with a bang and a few sit v start plays for the final round.

Let’s take a look at the NRL Supercoach teams analysis for round 27, with squad lists courtesy of Fox Sports. 

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BRONCOS v STORM

Thursday, 7:50pm, Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

Broncos: 1. Tristan Sailor 2. Corey Oates 3. Selwyn Cobbo 4. Deine Mariner 5. Jesse Arthars 6. Joshua Rogers 7. Adam Reynolds 8. Corey Jensen 9. Billy Walters 10. Fletcher Baker 11. Jaiyden Hunt 12. Jordan Riki 13. Patrick Carrigan

Bench: 14. Blake Mozer 15. Kobe Hetherington 16. Benjamin Te Kura 17. Martin Taupau

Reserves: 18. Josiah Karapani 19. Cory Paix 20. Reece Walsh 21. Vaa Semu

Analysis: Hard pass.

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Storm: 1. Sualauvi Faalogo 2. William Warbrick 3. Jack Howarth 4. Nick Meaney 5. Grant Anderson 6. Cameron Munster 7. Jahrome Hughes 8. Nelson Asofa-Solomona 9. Harry Grant 10. Josh King 11. Shawn Blore 12. Eliesa Katoa 13. Trent Loiero

Bench: 14. Tyran Wishart 15. Christian Welch 16. Tui Kamikamica 17. Alec MacDonald

Reserves: 18. Kane Bradley 19. Joe Chan 20. Lazarus Vaalepu 21. Ativalu Lisati 22. Xavier Coates

Analysis: While Brisbane are a genuine lottery, recent results and reported off-field drama suggest this should be a one-sided contest.

Two weeks ago Melbourne demolished the Dolphins 48-6, who went on to beat the Broncos 40-6 on the weekend.

Melbourne are refreshed after resting 11 players last week and will be out for blood on what is an excellent Suncorp Stadium surface for point-scoring.

Jahrome Hughes is coming off a 132 point score in that fixture and will be primed to go large again, with a move from Sam Walker a great option.

Ryan Papenhuyzen is in doubt with a cork, which could see Sua Fa’alogo emerge as one of the highest upside players of the weekend if playing fullback.

He’s bargain priced at $417k with dual CTW-FLB positioning.

We’ve learnt a valuable lesson around Cameron Munster for the future, he just doesn’t get enough ball when Jahrome Hughes is in the team.

Harry Grant also has an impact, but Hughes is the man taking the majority of ball off him.

Munster tonned up against the Cowboys for just the second time this season.

In that game he had 57 touches of the footy, compared to just 32 and 36 in the week’s prior alongside Hughes.

It’ll be fascinating to see that tally this week with Hughes back.

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TIGERS v EELS

Friday, 6pm, Campbelltown Sports Stadium, Sydney

Tigers: 1. Heath Mason 2. Junior Tupou 3. Solomona Faataape 4. Josh Feledy 5. Charlie Staines 6. Lachlan Galvin 7. Aidan Sezer 8. Stefano Utoikamanu 9. Apisai Koroisau 10. David Klemmer 11. Alex Seyfarth 12. Samuela Fainu 13. Isaiah Papali’i

Bench: 14. Latu Fainu 15. Sione Fainu 16. Fonua Pole 17. Alex Twal

Reserves: 18. Tim Johannssen 19. Alexander Lobb 20. Reuben Porter 21. Kit Laulilii 22. Tony Sukkar

Analysis: Lachy Galvin looks a great play in this game against an Eels side who leaked 40 points to the Dragons last weekend, and somehow still won…

Ditto Api Koroisau and Samuela Fainu.

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Eels: 1. Clinton Gutherson 2. Maika Sivo 3. Will Penisini 4. Blaize Talagi 5. Sean Russell 6. Dylan Brown 7. Daejarn Asi 8. Reagan Campbell-Gillard 9. Brendan Hands 10. Shaun Lane 11. Kelma Tuilagi 12. Bryce Cartwright 13. Joe Ofahengaue

Bench: 14. Joey Lussick 15. Makahesi Makatoa 16. Luca Moretti 17. Ofahiki Ogden

Reserves: 18. Jake Tago 19. Matt Doorey 20. Ethan Sanders 21. Haze Dunster 22. Wiremu Greig

Analysis: Boy it’d been a patient wait for Dylan Brown owners, but he finally went large with 162 points against the Dragons.

The slight downside is that it elevated his season average to 67 points which will add value to his starting price next season which may have been very juicy.

Maika Sivo has 15 tries in 10 games this season in a side coming second last, remarkable.

He went large with 135 points against the Dragons and is a genuine super POD option this week against the leaky edge defence of the Tigers.

That Tigers edge is the equal second worst defensive edge in the competition having conceded 50 tries this season, in line with the Rabbitohs left edge.

Only Parramatta’s left edge have conceded more with 52.

Clint Gutherson is a cheeky Tommy Turbo replacement, but Daejarn Asi did kick goals on the weekend which probably puts the red pen through the King.

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RABBITOHS v ROOSTERS

Friday, 8pm, Accor Stadium, Sydney

Rabbitohs: 1. Jye Gray 2. Tyrone Munro 3. Taane Milne 4. Richard Kennar 5. Jacob Gagai 6. Cody Walker 7. Dean Hawkins 13. Davvy Moale 9. Damien Cook 10. Thomas Burgess 11. Keaon Koloamatangi 12. Jacob Host 8. Tallis Duncan

Bench: 14. Peter Mamouzelos 15. Liam Le Blanc 16. Sean Keppie 17. Siliva Havili

Reserves: 18. Michael Chee Kam 19. Izaac Tu’itupou Thompson 20. Brock Gray 21. Fletcher Myers 22. Dion Teaupa

Analysis: Pass.

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Roosters: 1. James Tedesco 2. Fetalaiga Pauga 3. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii 4. Joseph Manu 5. Dominic Young 6. Luke Keary 7. Sandon Smith 8. Spencer Leniu 9. Connor Watson 10. Lindsay Collins 11. Angus Crichton 12. Sitili Tupouniua 13. Naufahu Whyte

Bench: 14. Zach Dockar-Clay 15. Siua Wong 16. De La Salle Va’a 17. Terrell May

Reserves: 18. Michael Jennings 19. Blake Steep 20. Mark Nawaqanitawase 21. Jake Elliott 22. Xavier Va’a

Analysis: This loomed as the match-up of the weekend for Supercoaches, but mass injuries to key players leaves far more uncertainty over the Roosters as they tackle their great rivals South Sydney.

Sam Walker, Brandon Smith and Victor Radley are among key outs for this clash.

I still think it’ll be one-sided, but new combinations could see a very clunky Roosters attack run out.

James Tedesco has put together a simply sublime season with an average of 91.8 points, including six tonnes in his last eight games, wow…

He’s an obvious captaincy option this week once again.

With early injuries Joey Manu shifted to five-eighth against the Raiders which was great for his Supercoach output, but it absolutely destroyed any hope of Dom Young touching the ball who finished with 31 points.

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DRAGONS v RAIDERS

Saturday, 3pm, Jubilee Stadium, Sydney

Dragons: 1. Tyrell Sloan 2. Zac Lomax 3. Moses Suli 4. Jack Bird 5. Mathew Feagai 6. Lyhkan King-Togia 7. Ben Hunt 8. Francis Molo 9. Jacob Liddle 10. Jack de Belin 11. Luciano Leilua 12. Jaydn Su’A 13. Tom Eisenhuth

Bench: 14. Connor Muhleisen 15. Toby Couchman 16. Blake Lawrie 17. Raymond Faitala-Mariner

Reserves: 18. Hamish Stewart 19. Michael Molo 20. Savelio Tamale 21. Max Feagai 22. Loko Jnr Pasifiki Tonga

Analysis: Zac Lomax remains the talk of the Dragons once again, he was on about 13 at half-time against the Eels while playing centre, before injuries saw him shift to the wing.

He went mental in the second half to finish with 125 points.

Back on the wing this week he’s again a captaincy option and is likely to be one of the highest scoring players in the game.

Jacob Liddle was the most traded-in player last week before being ruled out late, much to the despair of the thousands who didn’t get the chance to reverse the trade.

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Raiders: 1. Kaeo Weekes 2. Albert Hopoate 3. Matthew Timoko 4. Sebastian Kris 5. Xavier Savage 6. Ethan Strange 7. Jamal Fogarty 8. Josh Papali’i 9. Tom Starling 10. Joseph Tapine 11. Hudson Young 12. Simi Sasagi 13. Morgan Smithies

Bench: 14. Danny Levi 15. Corey Horsburgh 16. Ata Mariota 17. Trey Mooney

Reserves: 18. James Schiller 19. Zac Woolford 20. Emre Guler 21. Jed Stuart 22. Adam Cook

Analysis: Pass.

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BULLDOGS v COWBOYS

Saturday, 5:30pm, Accor Stadium, Sydney

Bulldogs: 1. Connor Tracey 2. Jeral Skelton 3. Jacob Kiraz 4. Stephen Crichton 5. Josh Addo-Carr 6. Drew Hutchison 7. Toby Sexton 8. Max King 9. Reed Mahoney 10. Samuel Hughes 11. Viliame Kikau 12. Jacob Preston 13. Jaeman Salmon

Bench: 14. Bailey Hayward 15. Kurtis Morrin 16. Harry Hayes 17. Josh Curran

Reserves: 19. Blake Taaffe 20. Jack Underhill 21. Eli Clark 22. Lipoi Hopoi 23. Jonathan Sua

Analysis: Jacob Kiraz has regressed in recent weeks with four of his past five scores under 63.

The 121 wedged in between has ensured a solid five round average of 67.6 points though.

Bulldogs players look like reliable starters with upside in this game, however the Cowboys can be unpredictable as to what version of themselves will turn up.

I think there are better match-ups to target as buys.

Dealing with a shoulder injury, Josh Curran played just 42 minutes against Manly and could do similar this week, especially if the game was won or lost with 20 minutes to play.

He’s a decent sit option outside your 17 this week if you have the luxury.

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Cowboys: 1. Scott Drinkwater 2. Kyle Feldt 3. Valentine Holmes 4. Viliami Vailea 5. Murray Taulagi 6. Tom Dearden 7. Jake Clifford 8. Jordan McLean 9. Reece Robson 10. Jason Taumalolo 11. Heilum Luki 12. Jeremiah Nanai 13. Reuben Cotter

Bench: 14. Sam McIntyre 15. Thomas Mikaele 16. Harrison Edwards 17. Griffin Neame

Reserves: 18. Jaxon Purdue 19. Chad Townsend 20. Kulikefu Finefeuiaki 21. Marly Bitungane 22. Tomas Chester

Analysis: While the Bulldogs were exposed by a ruthless Sea Eagles attacking outfit last week, they do still possess the best defensive record in the game.

For this reason, I certainly wouldn’t be investing in any Cowboys players.

They are decent sit options outside of your 17 this week too.

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PANTHERS v TITANS

Saturday, 7:35pm, BlueBet Stadium, Penrith

Panthers: 1. Dylan Edwards 2. Sunia Turuva 3. Izack Tago 4. Paul Alamoti 5. Brian To’o 6. Brad Schneider 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. Matt Eisenhuth 19. Mavrik Geyer 20. Casey McLean 21. Daine Laurie 22. Luke Sommerton

Analysis: This looms as one of the best Supercoach match-ups for the week, but gee I personally find it hard to work out which players to target from Penrith at the moment.

They should put a cricket score on the Titans, but who will benefit?

They aren’t like most sides that do their damage on the edges, they score plenty of tries through the middle.

In fact, they’ve scored the second most tries through the middle in the competition with 23, with the Dolphins on 24 on top.

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You add in several different halves combinations throughout the season, then the dynamic of which the halves play as a result, you don’t know where the points are coming from.

All that being said, Luai is stationed on the left but is roaming across both sides, while Brad Schneider is pretty good at squaring up and creating space for his right edge.

With that, I do think Brian To’o has big upside this week and is a great trade-in option.

The match-up on paper looks great for Dylan Edwards, but he does look to be carrying that knee injury which is concerning, and he isn’t goal-kicking.

Luai himself looks primed for a big outing here.

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Titans: 1. Keano Kini 2. Alofiana Khan-Pereira 3. Brian Kelly 4. Beau Fermor 5. Jojo Fifita 6. Jayden Campbell 7. Kieran Foran 8. Moeaki Fotuaika 9. Sam Verrills 10. Jaimin Jolliffe 11. Chris Randall 12. Klese Haas 13. Isaac Liu

Bench: 14. Jacob Alick-Wiencke 15. Erin Clark 16. Keenan Palasia 17. Arama Hau

Reserves: 18. Josiah Pahulu 19. Tanah Boyd 20. Joe Stimson 21. Tony Francis 22. Jaylan De Groot

Analysis: David Fifita has hit the skids in recent weeks with back-to-back scores of 41 and 42, and is out for this game.

I was going to look to sit him outside my 17 this week as a result.

It will help his starting price in 2025 which is great, but if Jayden Campbell is inside him I’ll be avoiding.

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SEA EAGLES v SHARKS 

Sunday, 2pm, 4 Pines Park, Sydney

Sea Eagles: 1. Tolutau Koula 2. Clayton Faulalo 3. Tommy Talau 4. Reuben Garrick 5. Lehi Hopoate 6. Luke Brooks 7. Daly Cherry-Evans 8. Taniela Paseka 9. Lachlan Croker 10. Matthew Lodge 11. Haumole Olakau’atu 12. Karl Lawton 13. Jake Trbojevic

Bench: 14. Ben Trbojevic 15. Josh Aloiai 16. Ethan Bullemor 17. Nathan Brown

Reserves: 18. Toafofoa Sipley 19. Jamie Humphreys 20. Gordon Chan Kum Tong 21. Jaxson Paulo 22. Caleb Navale

Analysis: Tom Trbojevic is out in a blow for his mass of owners.

It also hinders the rest of the side’s attacking output for the most part, largely the edge attackers.

I do think the right edge will be beneficiaries as they should see more attacking ball.

Daly Cherry-Evans, Haumole Olakau’atu and Reuben Garrick should see more ball, and they do come up against the slightly weaker left edge of the Sharks that conceded a hat-trick to Dallin Watene-Zelezniak last week.

The Bulldogs left edge defence is the best in the competition this season, Reuben Garrick put 132 Supercoach points on them, gun!

I sat him outside my 17, idiot!

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Sharks: 1. William Kennedy 2. Sione Katoa 3. Jesse Ramien 4. Kayal Iro 5. Ronaldo Mulitalo 6. Braydon Trindall 7. Nicho Hynes 8. Toby Rudolf 9. Blayke Brailey 10. Oregon Kaufusi 11. Briton Nikora 12. Teig Wilton 13. Cameron McInnes

Bench: 14. Daniel Atkinson 15. Jack Williams 16. Royce Hunt 17. Thomas Hazelton

Reserves: 18. Braden Hamlin-Uele 19. Siosifa Talakai 20. Jayden Berrell 21. Tuku Hau Tapuha 22. Samuel Stonestreet

Analysis: Manly’s defence is fairly unpredictable this season, so you can play Sharks players with enough confidence, but I’d be reluctant to buy any.

Nicho Hynes may be the exception for one last hoorah for the season.

He only managed 47 points against the Warriors, but he did look lively enough and we know he has one of the highest ceilings in Supercoach.

At the time of writing he’s already jumped up to 10% ownership among top ranked teams as they look to replace Sam Walker.

I don’t mind it, but I do feel there’s players with more enticing match-ups this week.

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KNIGHTS v DOLPHINS

Sunday, 4:05pm, McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle

Knights: 1. Kalyn Ponga 2. Fletcher Sharpe 3. Dane Gagai 4. Bradman Best 5. Greg Marzhew 6. Jack Cogger 7. Phoenix Crossland 8. Daniel Saifiti 9. Jayden Brailey 10. Leo Thompson 11. Tyson Frizell 12. Dylan Lucas 13. Adam Elliott

Bench: 14. Tyson Gamble 15. Mathew Croker 16. Jack Hetherington 17. Brodie Jones

Reserves:18. Thomas Cant 19. Will Pryce 20. Jackson Hastings 21. Sebastian Su’a 22. Kai Pearce-Paul

Analysis: While either side could win this, I do prefer the Knights from a Supercoach perspective as I have more faith in their defence to hold up.

Kalyn Ponga has rewarded those who took the leap late in the season, notching scores of 118, 97, 70 and 124 in the past month.

He looks an excellent captaincy option to round out the season.

While I was never bold enough to jump on him, I flagged Fletcher Sharpe as a buy with Newcastle’s right edge dominance across the backend of the season.

I did feel with Bradman Best back that might swing things back to the left, it did not…

Sharpe had a field day with 132 points, while Greg Marzhew was searching for Vicks Vapor Drops post game after catching a cold on the left wing.

Both Sharpe and Dane Gagai remain as POD plays this week.

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Dolphins: 1. Trai Fuller 2. Jamayne Isaako 3. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow 4. Herbie Farnworth 5. Jack Bostock 6. Jake Averillo 7. Sean O’Sullivan 8. Jesse Bromwich 9. Max Plath 10. Tevita Pangai Junior 11. Felise Kaufusi 12. Connelly Lemuelu 13. Kenny Bromwich

Bench: 14. Jeremy Marshall-King 15. Ray Stone 16. Mark Nicholls 17. Kodi Nikorima

Reserves: 18. Lachlan Hubner 19. Isaiya Katoa 20. Oryn Keeley 21. Kurt Donoghoe 22. Tesi Niu

Analysis: Herbie Farnworth quickly became the overlooked player of the season, knocking out 176 points against his old club Brisbane to take his average to 74 points for the season!

He has had an excellent base of 35 this season and hasn’t scored below 40 all year.

He’ll quickly enter the elite CTW conversation heading into the 2025 season, congratulations to those who jumped on.