NRL Supercoach Round 21 Wrap: 10 Things We Learnt

Another week down, and more injuries to contend with, guns being more pop gun than anything else and trying to fit 6 more trades in when you have 3 left.

It’s going to be one hell of a finish to season 2025, whatever happens in the last 6 weeks!

Round 21 saw some big scores by some highly owned players – Lomax, Scotty D and Kiraz to name a couple, but that also came with some low scores from players we expect a lot more from.

Tedesco has had a bludger of a month and would be traded out if it wasn’t Round 21.

Haas appeared to roll his ankle and only managed 55, whilst it remains to be seen what Katoa can muster up without Hughes inside him.   

And can’t seem to catch a captain.

Forget what an enjoyable weekend irt can be when you nail the double points!

The Reapers caught a few big scores, but netted some low ones, finishing with 1260, and no idea if that’s green arrows or not, because lockout hasn’t ended at time of writing at 1pm!!

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1. Harry Grant back to being Harry

So this is what all those Blake Brailey owners must have been feeling like over the last month! 

A rugby league week 10 out of 10 performance from the Melbourne number 9 and just at the right time for owners with high expectations.

We saw the best of Harry and what we all know he’s attacking ceiling is on Thursday night guiding Melbourne to an unusual victory.

Unusual because they don’t usually let in 30 points. 

Harry scored one and set up two for his 113 points.

It was a knockout blow for the Harry Grant owners who went him over Watson, with Watson now running a three-round average of around 52.

Since returning from his Origin duties, he has found none of the attack that was coming his way to begin the year and the gap now widens to both Grant and Brailey.

Covers the DPP, so with every second rower bar Young going down, you could move him down to 2RF, play him on matchups but hey, who has that many trades!

In fact, Watson has 4 more points than Jacob Liddle in the same amount of matches since Origin.

2. Drinkwater everywhere then nowhere!

Great news owners!

When Scotty Drinkwater was on 90 at half-time, and the Dragons didn’t look like making a tackle, plus there’s a full 40 minutes to go… it looked like he was about to break all sorts of Supercoach records.

However, he might as well have spent the second half at the Mad Cow, and had more points come his way by doing that!

Incredibly, only managed ONE second-half point, as the Dragons rallied only to fall short at the end. 

He ended with 91 meaning both owners and non-owners won – and lost – the battle.

We would take a 91 score any day of the week, but if that meant he was on 90 at half time then non-owners would absolutely have taken that. 

He has started to make that a little habit of his.

Can score points like the best of them and when it’s good it’s just all bums on seats at StatHQ keeping up with his live scores, but when he throws in a game like this, well its Homer Simpson using a broom to add the points.

Made for a tricky VC decision as he was looking like an automatic loop option.

Heads down to Shark Park aka the Bermuda Triangle of the NRL next Sunday afternoon.

3. The Return of the King

The King is dead. Long Live the King

Cleary has returned, doesn’t look like he is playing in a Blue jumper so that’s a plus and he takes on the Titans next week.

How quickly can you get him in on Monday is the only question. 

Returned against the Tigers with a thunderous 118 orchestrating a masterclass with 3 try assists and more importantly, the goal kicking!

Thanks to those at the ground who were able to confirm it was in fact Cleary with the tee and not Edwards.

This would have swayed a lot of Supercoaches to trade him in and when they scored the first try and he was given the tee, a collective sigh of relief would have been heard by all new owners – and those who held so patiently.

With Hughes going down, it’s a straight swap for Cleary but might not be all that straightforward as it seems. 

Looks like with Hughes’ 33 and Cleary’s 118, there will be about a $70k difference between the two.

If you have that in the bank already, well done and great planning by you.

If not, and you are like me, you will need to make another trade, cause we have so many of them.

4. Sharks caught in Rabbit trap

The demise of the Bunnies seems a bit far-fetched!

Not sure where the dross they dished up to Edwards last week was, but a bit of that for Nicho would have been nice!

A very dour affair with both sides not able to break each other open.

Was meant to be a bloodbath not seen since 1974 when Jaws premiered on our screens, but Wayne got his Bunnies up for it and were as stout as ever in defence!

The Rabbitohs injured list keeps NRL Physio in a job with the number of names in it so when Nicho ran out, we were expecting some of what we have seen in the last two weeks.

Wasn’t to be as he went back to regular programming, managing only 51.

If it wasn’t for Lewis Dodd that number would have been a lot higher.

Frustrating because he has been nowhere all year, and shows up to deny Nicho a try!

Thankfully though they bounce back next weekend back at home against a Cowboys side who look like they are happy to win 42-40.

Take a brave Supercoacher to captain Nicho, but maybe that’s just the right time to do it.

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5. Halfbacks rise together

Enough about Nicho and Nathan.

Lets talk about the real stars!

Tommy Dearden, Jayden Campbell, Jamal Fogarty, Adam Reynolds, Sammy Walker.

Who didn’t score well in the no. 7 jersey this weekend?!

There’s a real case if you are chasing rank or want that H2H different player to move away from the pack and pick up one of the above mentioned players.

All scored massive, headed up by Dearden, who did a Gagai, and must have had his Maroon jersey on underneath, putting the Dragons away scoring a double and setting up two more for a mammoth 165.

It’s his 3^rd 100+ score of the year, which includes a 143. 

There’s always been a knock that his floor is too low, but since Round 3, only has two scores under 55!

Sharks, Eels, Knights, Tigers, Broncos, there’s definitely 1 more large score there.

Campbell also finally found the form that we all remember – we all remember his 170 odd last year and nothing since – scoring 115.

A Panthers side awaits next week, but then the Bunnies.

If you somehow don’t have him by now.

You could go without, but nice for owners for him to finally come good.

Fogarty, Reynolds, Walker, Boyd even Moses take your pick!

One of them will end the year with a 5RA of 80+.

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6. Is Turbo back?

Yes.

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7. No more injuries and we might just make it home

Feel like we have busted a tyre, have no fuel, the power steering is gone, and there’s a funny noise whenever we turn right. 

Just need to make it home in one piece!

Another week with some big BIG injuries coming our way, forcing us into more unnecessary trades when they are disappearing quicker than 

Hughes was a big one, owned by plenty, but allows for some funky moves if you want to move away from Cleary. 

Olakau’atu too succumbed to the body’s worst-designed joint, dislocating his shoulder for the second time in 6 weeks.

You are a brave person to bring him back after the first dislocation, and with a re-dislocation rate of 50%, some had more faith than I did.

Wouldn’t have been owned by many, but just another to add to the pile of 2RFs in the emergency room.

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8. Kiraz and his insatiable desire to offload

Where was this last weekend when we all needed it?!

Looks like I got the Kiraz and Nicho captaincy choices the wrong way around.

Switch up those 2 and I might be a little More Joyus (Good horse) on this fine Sunday night.

But if it wasn’t for the fact that we all own him, what a Sunday afternoon for Jacob Kiraz!

The Lebo To’o will only be known as Kiraz, and To’o can be the “Samoan Kiraz”, because if he keeps pulling out performances like that, he will certainly find himself on the Kangaroos tour come the end of the year.

Finished with the dirtiest jersey of the lot after his 25 runs, 2 tries, 10 tackle busts and an incredible 7 offloads to end on a massive 137. 

And they went loose offloads that hit the floor, these were genuine offloads that added to the set.

A decent run, bust a tackle, offload, and it’s min 8 points a run!

Updates were kind to him, but who could blame the bean counters for not keeping up with him.

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9. Is Turbo really back?

Yes. See number 6.

Shades of Old Turbo on Sunday afternoon, and in a drubbing for my Maroon and White, he was a standout. 

Standout may be a stretch, but he didn’t have many others to outshine.

Made a line-break and set up Manly’s only try.

We will see him popping up more and more on both sides of the field, and if Manly are to somehow make the 8, he must be more involved. 

Those who have held for this long can enjoy the ride that will certainly be bumpy, cruisy and everything in between from here until the final whistle in Round 2.

He will also want to be on that Kangaroo tour, and not getting off-season surgery, which is what he usually does when Manly bow out of finals, so he might keep ticking up the gears as the weeks roll on.

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10. Minute Watch

Roosters v Storm
Watson 80, Crichton 80, Whyte 64, Grant 80, Hughes 42, EKat 80

Cowboys v Dragons
Nanai 80, Cotter 65, Robson 80, Su’a 53, Liddle 57

Broncos v Eels
Haas 49, Carrigan 68, Willison 41, Williams 80, Guymer 80, Hopgood 64, R Smith 43

Warriors v Titans
Egan 13, Halasima 80, Clark 50, C Randell 16, Fermor 73

Panthers v Tigers
Smith 56, Garner 80, Yeo 70, May 71, Api 51, Doueihi 61

Rabbitohs v Sharks
Aitken 80, Hubner 55, McInnes 52, Wilton 80, AFB 47

Raiders v Knights
Starling 66, Taps 49, Hosking 80, Young 80, Horse 51, KPP 80, McEwen 65 

Bulldogs v Sea Eagles
Kikau 79, Preston 80, Mahoney 50, Ola 43 :(, SST 50, Jazz 45