NRL Supercoach 2026: Roosters + Rabbitohs squad analysis

South Sydney enter their 2026 campaign with high expectations under Wayne Bennett in his second full season at the helm.

Recent years have been plagued by a barely believable injury toll to star players, which they’ll be desperate to avoid this season.

With David Fifita arriving, Cam Murray back on deck, Brandon Smith getting in a full injury-free preseason, and promising trial performances, I’m very optimistic on what they can achieve in 2026.

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Off the back of a grim 2025 they have a number of players that appear undervalued to the eye, whether or not they can deliver on increased expectation remains to be seen.

Let’s take a look at their NRL Supercoach prospects for the 2026 season.

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Predicted Round 1 starting team

1. Jye Gray

2. Alex Johnston

3. Jack Wighton

4. Latrell Mitchell

5. Campbell Graham

6. Cody Walker

7. Ashton Ward

8. Jai Arrow

9. Brandon Smith

10. Keaon Koloamatangi

11. Tallis Duncan

12. David Fifita

13. Cameron Murray

14. Peter Mamouzelos

15. Lachlan Hubner

16. Tevita Tatola

17. Euan Aitken

18. Adam Elliott

19. Jayden Sullivan

Analysis: The Rabbitohs are stacked heading into the 2026 season and should be competing for a premiership if they can finally have a good run of luck on the injury front.

Jye Gray is likely to start at fullback, shifting Latrell Mitchell to centre, although this isn’t yet confirmed.

This would see Campbell Graham shift to the wing.

Jamie Humphries is expected to start at halfback.

Note however Humphreys is suspended for the first two games, with Ashton Ward likely to start at halfback,

Jonah Glover is unavailable due to injury, while Jayden Sullivan is also unlikely due to an injury of his own.

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Brandon Smith may have forced his way into the starting hooker position, with Peter Mamouzelos to deputise off the bench.

Outside of Tevita Tatola, essentially their entire pack is capable of starting in the middle or on the edge.

Tatola or Jai Arrow will start at prop alongside Keaon Koloamatangi, with the loser likely to play off the bench.

The only alternative would be if Wayne Bennett used David Fifita in a middle role, enabling Arrow to remain on the edge.

The Rabbitohs have recently added Adam Elliott to their roster to add to their absurd depth, he’ll likely fight for minutes with Lachlan Hubner.

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Fixtures

Round 1: Dolphins (A)

Round 2: Roosters (A)

Round 3: Tigers (H)

Round 4: Bye

Round 5: Bulldogs (H)

Byes: (Major bye rounds are 12, 15, 18)

Round 4, 13, 16

Verdict: The Rabbitohs have a reasonable start to the season with two home and two away fixtures.

The Suncorp opener is a great venue for point scoring, while their other three games are in Sydney.

The round 4 bye is awkward, especially with so many relevant players to begin the year.

I’ll be investing fairly heavily, but I’ve had to remove a couple I’d otherwise have started if not for being decimated in round 4.

David Fifita looking STRONG early 💪 pic.twitter.com/pp70Uw3xZQ

— NRL (@NRL) February 22, 2026

Start

David Fifita I $485,300 I 2RF

Big Fifi gets a new lease on life under Wayne Bennett which feels a match made in heaven.

The former Queensland rep player has been plagued by injury and other disruptions over the past 12 months.

Fifita should start on the edge this season where I’d expect he plays a 60-65 minute role under Bennett, potentially the full 80, making him an absolute must for mine.

He averaged just 50 points in 48 minutes per game last season, in the two seasons prior he averaged 77 and 82 points.

Cody Walker I $399,200 I 5/8

Cody Walker looks a steal for round 1 to me at $399k.

I’d been keen on him all pre-season, and the trial win over the Sea Eagles confirmed any doubts with a try and three linebreaks.

While age is an issue, we saw in his limited stints last season that there’s still plenty of ability in Walker.

The fact is that when on-field he’s a gun, so I’m keen to start him in what looks a fairly weak 5/8 position to me early on.

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Consider

Cameron Murray I $548,900 I 2RF

I was hoping that after featuring for just 21 minutes last season that Murray would have been discounted a little more, but they’ve only wiped a bit of value off his $610k starting price in 2025.

For this reason there’s a case to avoid Murray early and wait until he gets minutes under his belt on return from injury in what is a pretty stacked pack.

However he’ll have an entire pre-season to ready himself for round 1, and he’s simply a gun.

A decent selection, but one that can potentially wait a month in a stacked 2RF position.

Latrell Mitchell I $626,800 I CTW

While injury is always a concern, $627k for a player of Latrell’s ability and Supercoach upside looks a steal to me.

Latrell averaged just 64 last season in another injury interrupted season that also saw him spend time at centre.

In year’s prior he averaged 89, 77, 85 and 82 points per game.

He should also get a tonne of try-assists and linebreak-assists with tip ons from centre.

I feel there could be highs and lows early in the season, but hopefully it equates to a strong overall average.

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Jye Gray I $560,000 I FLB

Digging deeper into Gray’s numbers I’ve become pretty keen on the Rabbitohs fullback.

I am a little wary of overstocking Bunnies players, but his stats make for an enticing case.

He’s priced on a 55 point average from 70 minutes per game.

In 15 games starting at fullback he averaged 65.3 points per game, in a Rabbitohs squad riddled by injury.

He regularly knocks out 40+ in base stats which is immense for a fullback.

Campbell Graham I $431,200 I CTW

Graham has been a Supercoach base stat beast in the past, unfortunately injuries to himself (and those around him) cruelled his 2025 campaign.

Initially I was cold on him purely because I was concerned the Rabbitohs would send everything down their lethal left edge, but their trial against Manly wasn’t so.

The right edge saw plenty of quality footy, and they made good use of it.

I know it’s only a trial, but it was promising.

With strong base in what should be a team with plenty of points, Graham looks a rock solid pick on the wing.

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Keaon Koloamatangi I $666,500 I 2RF

Keaon was elite last year shifting to the middle, which looks a permanent role.

As an 80 minute edge back-rower he was a decent scorer, relying on attacking stats to hit keeper scores.

As a big minute middle, he was belting out tonnes for fun, notching highs of 96 and 84, in BASE STATS!

Now I don’t expect him to hit the enormous minutes in the middle he produced with injuries around last year, nonetheless he’s built differently when in a middle role for Supercoach.

Cheapies

Brandon Smith I $235,600 I HOK

Cheese starts cheap at $235k and should earn some good money in what will likely be a 50-60 minute role for the Rabbitohs.

It appears he may have jumped Peter Mamouzelos as the starting hooker for South Sydney, making him a lock and load for round 1 and a potential playing option.

Job security is excellent and he is near bottom dollar. Buy.

The Sydney Roosters once again enter the competition with genuine title credentials, looking for their first since 2019.

On the recruitment front they’ve landed two of the game’s best spine members in Origin reps Daly Cherry-Evans and Reece Robson.

Sam Walker has a full pre-season under the belt after missing half of last year with an ACL injury, with high hopes alongside the veteran playmaker DCE.

While we had a glimpse of the new pairing in trials, it’ll be a fascinating watch come NRL game day to see how their partnership will work.

Early signs suggest Walker has the keys, and DCE will play second fiddle to the young counterpart.

Let’s take a look at their NRL Supercoach prospects for the 2026 season.

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Predicted Round 1 starting team

1. James Tedesco

2. Daniel Tupou

3. Billy Smith

4. Robert Toia

5. Mark Nawaqanitawase

6. Daly Cherry-Evans

7. Sam Walker

8. Naufahu Whyte

9. Benaiah Ioelu

10. Lindsay Collins

11. Angus Crichton

12. Siua Wong

13. Connor Watson

14. Spencer Leniu

15. Blake Steep

16. Egan Butcher

17. Salesi Foketi

18. Hugo Savala

19. Tommy Talau

Analysis: The Roosters outfit largely picks itself to begin the new season.

Daly Cherry-Evans will come in and partner Sam Walker in the halves, leaving breakout star Hugo Savala as the odd man out.

Savala will play a role as the bench utility with the benefit of the six man bench.

With Reece Robson injured for the first 4-6 weeks, Benaiah Ioelu is likely to start at hooker.

Egan Butcher, Blake Steep, Salesi Foketi, Nat Butcher and Taylor Losalu will battle for bench spots.

Victor Radley will miss the start of the season due to suspension.

Any of Junior Tupou, Tommy Talau or Junior Pauga could fill the final spot on the six man bench.

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Fixtures

Round 1: Warriors (A)

Round 2: Rabbitohs (H)

Round 3: Panthers (H)

Round 4: Sea Eagles (A)

Round 5: Bye

Byes: (Major bye rounds are 12, 15, 18)

Round 5, 12, 18

Verdict: The Roosters have a mixed start to the season, hitting the road to face the Warriors in the season opener.

Games against rivals South Sydney and a Penrith Panthers roster coming off a rare campaign without a premiership are tough openings.

Add in the round 5 bye and it makes for a relatively tricky opening to their campaign.

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Start

Angus Crichton I $610,200 I 2RF

Crichton to me feels like a safe pick, with upside.

I find it extremely hard to gauge the minutes share of the entire pack, especially with Reece Robson and Victor Radley still to return.

I believe Crichton will be an 80 minute man.

He exploded in 2024, averaging a ridiculous 83.55 points in his 18 consecutive games of 80 minutes.

He regressed last year, averaging a reasonable 62 points per game.

Where I see added upside is that he only scored four tries last season, and assisted none.

I fail to believe he’ll produce minimal attacking output again with his quality.

He’s priced at $610k on a 62.4 average last season, under the new stats system he would be priced at $655k on a 67 point average.

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Consider

Sam Walker I $683,300 I HFB

Sammy Walker was electric in his first game alongside DCE, hinting perhaps they may be able to hit off their new combination quickly.

Returning from an ACL injury last season he averaged 70 points per game.

Take out his 4 points in 8 minutes in round 25 and the average lifts to 78.7 in his seven games.

Returning from a lengthy ACL lay-off that’s fairly impressive scoring.

James Tedesco I $869,100 I FLB

Personally I’m not keen on Tedesco, purely based on his enormous starting price and likely negative impact of the new system on fullback.

However, it’d be wrong to not make mention of the top scoring and averaging player last season (disregarding the great Joe Roddy’s 106 point average).

Teddy is among the greatest Supercoach players of all-time, averaging 79+ in four of his past five seasons, including 94 points in 2024.

While there’s a lot of attacking weapons in this squad, if the Roosters can catch fire he could be set to do it all again.

Not for me early, but one I’ll be targeting as soon as funds allow.

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Naufahu Whyte I $584,100 I 2RF

Whyte exploded last season for the Roosters as their main enforcer, averaging 60 points in 50 minutes per game.

He averaged an enormous 50 in base stats per game, while he showed ability to bust tackles, offload and jag the odd major attacking stat.

The new stats system suggests he’s $27,590 under-valued.

While his minutes may not improve much, he’s a genuine gun footballer on the up and could hit grater Supercoach heights this season.

Not for me, but a huge early watch.

Robert Toia I $572,300 I CTW

Toia is another beneficiary of the new stats, along with every centre in the game.

He’s priced at $572k on a 58.5 average, which elevates to $620k at a 63.4 average under the new stats.

With an Origin victory under the belt and another full pre-season he should only improve, while the addition of DCE should only help.

Cheapies

While there’s a big watch on minutes of a few forwards early, and their first team list, I don’t particularly like any cheapies at the Roosters to start.