NRL Supercoach 2026 Round 18 Wrap: 6 Things We Learnt

Well so long, see ya and thanks for nothing!

The big boy bye rounds are done for the year and thank God they are over! It seemed 2026 had a lot more nuances to it, and finding not only 13 players to front up, but fit ones and ones that score well was nigh on impossible!

Target a bye round, get hurt on the mini. Target the mini, well good luck in those middle couple of weeks where anything goes.

Target nothing, well then you would be the coach of Koula than Kaeo

Ill definitely do something different next year, because whatever I did obviously didn’t work. Holding those plodders because “They play the bye rounds:” doesn’t really do anything but annoy you when their score of 32 drops out.

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I’m looking directly at you Tom Gilbert.

Koula Than Kaeo finally had a full quota for the bye rounds, but couldn’t make a dent, scraping together 881. I could make 10 trades next week and I would get 11 of them wrong.

My unwavering love for Tommy Turbo and being a captain is starting to fracture. Maybe come round 27 I’ll believe he can’t go big anymore.

1. Fresh milk, right from the source

Canberra Milk can take a back seat. Dairy Farmers, well not sure what operations they are running of late, and Norco, sit down.

Midori and Milk you can stay but the rest to you scram.

Its all about Milky Jenkins this week!

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Another try scoring feast on Friday, pushes him to 25 tries for the year and absolutely no sign of slowing down!

Even without Cleary or Maclean he still was able to find the line and give owners a huge start on the weekend with a 121 point performance, bringing up his 7th 100+ score for the year!

Milky was a key bye round number, but we all weren’t too sure what his output without Cleary and Co was going to be. His last two scores were 52 and 47, so owners could be forgiven for being a little gun shy. No one in their right mind was going to sell, but with so much of the attack focused on the right, could Penrith find a way to get him the ball?

The answer was a resounding yes. Even the milk himself must be surprised at some of the tries he is scoring.
The fact is, he is now in the top 5 CTWs for the run home and at around 750k, its either pay up, or sit back and watch your rank burn away.

There wont be too many H2H finals being won without him.

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2. Nicho does enough

It wasn’t exactly the 150+ points I was expecting from Nicho against the Broncos, but enough points for anyone who brought him in to be ok with spending 815k.

Hynes was a popular VC choice and whilst his score of 86 wasn’t exactly loop worthy to begin with, as the weekend rolled on it was apparent that it was going to be a lot better than most.

Dolphins, Knights, Manly and Souths in the coming month, the Sharks don’t have a bye left so its smooth sailing from here on in.

He won’t drop too much in price for those looking for a discount – its either pay up or watch week in week out knowing there will be a 60, followed by a 170. 

And for those umming and ahhing.. Plays the Dragons, Raiders, Titans and Eels for the H2H finals.

You wont be winning your league if you don’t have Nicho for that 4 week run.

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3. Valentines Day

IS there anyone out there that owns? Hello? 

One of the great Supercoach players of our time has had one of the all-time great fall offs..

But things might have turned around! Coinciding with the form of his side, Val Holmes seemingly lost all those things that made him a great Supercoach player but there might be something in the air over at Kogarah.

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I’m not for one second saying they have turned a corner, but Val looks more agile, willing and has now started to find the line with 6 tries in his last 5 games.

His 130 against the Tigers was, according to the stats, his highest score since about 2024 and that adds up.

I owned early on in the year when he was a shell of himself scoring 40s and 50s, but at only 588k, he could be a great POD for the remining 8 weeks. Bye next week then Warriors so could hold off for a couple of weeks, but after that.. Hey, sillier options have been put forward

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4. Knights Lucas is a lot better than Blues Lucas

That might be a bit tough on the Knights backrower, but his Game 2 Origin start still sits front and centre in my mind!

So forgetting how Laurie couldn’t work out how to best play him, we turn to the Holbrook way, and that is get him early ball running hard unders line!

Lucas has been a standout for the Knights in the past month, showing us all (Looking at you Greg) how to get it done without Ponga and Best!

On a 4 game try scoring streak, which has coincided with scores of 120, 101, 96 and now 93 falling right into must have territory.

He doesn’t seem to need Ponga as much as he finds his own way to create space. His combo with Dylan Brown is already looking like it could reap a lot more points.

IF you can somehow find a way to shoehorn both he and Ola into your 2RF, you are a better Supercoacher than me and plenty of others!

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5. Sound the alarms – Twals back!

Not owning Alex Twal might be one of the 132 reasons I am doing so badly this year.

Well, he is back and I’m ready to finally bring him in.

Alex returned in fine form on the weekend against the Dragons, getting through 74 minutes of work for a handy 72. 

Those looking to buy will now have no thoughts of keeping the receipt as he is clearly a plug and play option from now till they close the app down in September.

His 72 was made up of 53 points in tackles and 24 in runs but the surprising stat? Not a single offload. Which to me is a great sign, knowing he went right back to scoring 70s and didn’t even look like offloading the ball.

Don’t even worry about who is he playing being so matchup proof, but be wary that he does have a bye in Round 23. Get him in your side and breath. The run home will be brutal, but a little easier with Twal.

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6. Minute Watch

Panthers v Rabbitohs

Henry 59, Sorensen 72, Smith 45, Fifita 55, Duncan 80, Keaon 80

Dragons v Tigers

TCouch64, RCouch56, Stewart 80, Liddle 48, Twal 74, May 67, Sukkar 80, Api 59

Broncos v Sharks

Willison 80, Piakura 28, Riki 56, Colquhoun58, Wilton 80, McInnes 44

Eels v Sea Eagles

Kautoga 80, Williams 63, Burbo 80, Paseka 54

Knights v Dolphins

Lucas 80, Crossland 80, Cant 19, Kuli 80, JMK 70, Donoghoe 54