The Final Word | Round 20 NRL Supercoach Trades plans and strategy

Legends! 

Welcome to the official run home. We no longer need to consider who plays Origin or who might play Origin. There are no multiple post Origin byes. We simply want to pick the best players we can who are healthy! 

Obviously each Coach will have a differing amount of trades that will dictate how aggressive they can be. The best way to figure out where you sit is to check how many trades you have left and then see who are the ‘must haves’ you want for the run home and subtract that from your current trade tally.

I’ll drop into my plans below to explain that a little more specifically. There may be a player for example who you really want but you may need to downgrade another player to make it happen. The decision would then be whether or not they are worth 2 trades to get them in!

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It’s hard to say how many trades could be handy for the final 4 or so weeks given there are still 8 rounds of footy remaining but for squads with decent depth it would be nice to have 2 or 3 up the sleeve. Others may keep 5+ to really capitalise on late season carnage if it was to ensure (it didn’t last year but did the year before!).

Alternatively, if you decide you can’t go without the likes of a Payne Haas or a gun Fullback/Halfback and you are already low on trades you may opt to use your final trades in the coming week or 2 and try to hold on. Risky, but it’s been done before!

You just need to have excellent depth. Plenty of ways to skin a cat as they say and each Coach will need to make up their own minds because we simply do not know if mass injuries/restings will hit or not over the finals rounds. 

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My Plans – 

Personally I will have 7 trades up the sleeve after this week with only Payne Haas as a must own (in my opinion) out of those I don’t currently own. I will directly trade Lucas to Haas next week with minimal cash remaining leaving 6 trades.

Nathan Cleary and Hudson Young would then be very nice to have but would require a downgrade to do so. Therefore is it worth going down to 3 or 4 trades? Potentially not if I can just keep my current squad and add Haas and I’m of a mind to try and capitalise on potential chaos late as it could be a difference maker between top 200, top 100 or top 10.

Luckily that decision can be made next week and I’m willing to put my feet up this week. Injuries may force my hand meaning I won’t need to agonise over who could leave my squad. I also will want to make decisions on the likes of Ryan Papenhuyzen who could turn into a little PODish but would need to come back healthy and goalkicking.

For this week though I think I will sit on my hands and wait and see what I can come up with in the next couple of weeks when we hopefully have a bit further info at hand.

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NRL SuperCoach PODs and SuperPODs

Figures drawn from the Top 10% of coaches

Matt Burton – 6.5%

As per the same article of 2 weeks ago I still have Burto listed as an option if you want to differentiate at 5-8. The run home isn’t all that great but if the Dogs can fire after a slightly down spell then he could go well running the ball off Lachie Galvin.

For me the lack of certainty around goalkicking turns me away plus the upside of Campbell / Munster in the same position but you could do worse.

Charlie Guymer – 5.1%

This lad could fill the void for anyone looking at a downgrade + scoring upside double. Not sure how often you would play him but if money and/or squad depth is an issue he started and scored 85 last week mostly in base so he could answer some prayers for those in a sticky spot. The Eels rotation will be a question mark week to week so it would be hard to rely on him but you never know.

Blaize Talagi – 4.7%

Outside of a couple of big guns listed below he could well be the POD of the week/month with Penrith looking at making a run and the return of Cleary (next week). Again he is in the 5-8 position but if anyone has upside it is him! I really like him and have since he was only a few games into his career. You could play him 4 or 5 of the final weeks and see what happens! Hopefully Cleary unlocks him even more.

Alexander Brimson – 4.2%

I do think his Supercoach best isn’t what we are seeing from him in 2025 however he is also capable of pure excellence. A possible flyer in the Centre/Wing however I like others more.

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Dane Gagai – 3.7%

Playing fullback and refusing to bow to father time! If he could land the goalkicking back it would be even better but he can score well regardless. Will the Knights run out of puff? It may not matter as Gags might just try and do everything.

Latrell Mitchell – 3.6%

WOW. Lowest ownership of his life I would imagine. I do think Round 23 might be the time for him if you can hold off. What concerns me is that his power running game has been replaced a little by sublime ball playing. No issue in real NRL but it leads to less points in Supercoach as we are seeing less tackle busting tries. I am going to monitor him very closely in the coming weeks!

Brian To’o – 3.6%

WOW x2! Again lowest ownership of his career. How’s his knee? Either way he could be a bloody great pickup! I’m keen and will assess closely this week. To’o and Latrell a great example of why a couple of extra trades saved could prove to be dynamite.

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Tallis Duncan – 3.0%

I can’t leave him out because he keeps tonning up! The move to the centres hurts his base a lot so I’ll pass but he keeps delivering up until now.

Lachlan Galvin – 2.3%

I would advise caution whilst we see how his role looks. I get the feeling it may be more structured then at the Tigers which would mean less points. But at the price if you need a backup 5-8 he could be ideal!

Alex Johnston – 1.1%

Round 23 flyer! Hold fire for now.

Other nominees include Sam Walker, Luke Garner, Murray Taulagi, Jaydn Su’A all who I can get around! As mentioned a lot in this article there are so many guys that interest me so its going to be a shootout to see who may join the Cheers squad on the march to glory! Or as much glory as we can muster anyway.

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My Captains

I honestly do not know! But Herbie Farnworth needs to be VC (or straight C given looping now involves dropping a gun player for many squads). After this is so wide open I simply don’t know. Terrell May to step up perhaps! Kiraz?

Cheers all!