NRL Supercoach 2026 Round 22 Wrap: 9 Things We Learnt

It’s only taken me 22 weeks, but I think I’ve got this Supercoach stuff nailed…

It was Oprah levels of dishing the points out on the weekend, with 19 players crossing the triple-figure mark and plenty of those were in most of our teams! There will be some bean counters at the Fox Lab chucking some sickies tomorrow after the work they’ve put in since Thursday night.

The round was obviously highlighted by a Sammy Walker blowout on Thursday, but Nicho, Herbie, Cleary and the Knights duo of Fletcher and Greg really got things humming for the weekend.

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It was pretty clear with numbers bouncing around socials on Sunday night that someone will break the 2000-point barrier this weekend, which is just mind-blowing considering the stop-start nature of the rounds we’ve had this year.

Koula than Kaeo might have run their head-to-head race a bit late, amassing a career-high 1722 with my halves combining for 543 points, including Nicho as Captain with TMM in Flex

Maybe not enough to put me into the top 30,000 overall, but there’s 5 weeks to go, and I’ve got some trading to do!!

1. Walker Texas Ranger

There wasn’t much rangering going on, but there was a whole lot of wrangling of Cowboys! 

Sammy Walker absolutely blew the weekend apart on Thursday night in the Roosters’ record-breaking win with 207 points.

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I could feel this performance coming from the Cowboys, but to concede 82 points? There’s tackling bags at the Cooma Showground that have made more of a dent in a defensive line than some of those Cowboys on Thursday.

And Sammy Walker was the beneficiary of most of it! He piled on three tries and 3 assists to go with 48 (Supercoach) points in goals…

And I’m sure I wasn’t the only one sitting there thinking as clear as day, why didn’t we bring in Sam Walker? The match-up against the Cowboys was prime, and when he gets on a roll, a lot of the points run through him…

He probably has the highest range in lowest and highest points scored, so both those games will sit in the memory of future owners when looking to bring him in. 

450 people were smart enough to bring him into their side. Although 99 decided they’d seen enough of him and hit the trade button. I’m guessing they logged out for the last time on Thursday night.

Those looking to trade him in, my question is where would you put him? Cleary and Hynes aren’t going anywhere. The flex is probably taken up by fullback…But head-to-head finals aren’t won by being conservative.

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2. Full halves

Well, we roll right on from Sammy Walker’s 207 points straight into a combined 410 points from the three most highly owned halfbacks in the game! 

Cleary toyed with the Raiders on Saturday night in Mudgee, finishing with an impressive 147 points. His third 140-plus game this season, but he’s yet to break the 150 barrier! 

The supposed dropping of Blaize Talagai might have unlocked Cleary into another, I won’t say level, possibly a dimension with Jack Cogger playing outside him. Cogger is certainly not one for the big flashy plays, so when Nathan is screaming for the ball, he is going to get it. 

And everyone’s second favourite Nicholas (Obviously after Saint) delivered with the goods again! Plenty may have taken the loop on a Herbie, Tedesco or even Cleary (provided you have him in your flex), and those who didn’t relied solely on Nicho Hines for their Captaincy play.

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32 points at halftime sent shivers down a lot of owners’ spines. But like he’s done all year, he just finds a way to pile on some points late. He was on 80 before he set up the final try and hasn’t missed a goal since a vodka raspberry was $5 at Northies. So to finish with 133 was a relief, and you probably shouldn’t be trying to get too cute and take the C off him in the coming month.

And for the final shout out, TMM bounces back with 130! He was one of the most highly traded-out players on the weekend, with just shy of 6,000 players getting rid of him. With a 127 breakeven, I can see why many got rid of him, considering he made us nearly 400k. 

But. Like Mike in the Last Dance doco, he took that personally…130 points, 2 late tries leaving egg on the face of many a seller.. unless they sold to Sammy Walks, but either way those who held were yelling “Up the Wahs” just that little bit louder.

It’s a 7s Supercoach world at the moment! 

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3. It’s why it’s a loophole.

With so many guns playing early, there were plenty of options to take with the VC for this round. 

Teddy’s 106 was on the lower end of what you would take at this time of year, but when Herbie dropped 122 it was take the points and run territory! 

Except, and it is the downfall of many a loop, dropping someone became that little bit harder with the depth now in our squads, and the AEs that were originally brought in for points are now just dead points on your bench.

The lowest scoring player dropping out has helped those taking the loop, but try to do this from now on; every time you take the loop, write those scores down, what the score would have been, and see how you’ve gone after five loops. 

I’m tipping you’re probably not coming out in front.

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4. Half a Teddy about enough

Whilst the roosters feasted on a Cowboys side that refused to tackle, one bloke had the best view of it all for 40 minutes…

Then spent the next 40 minutes watching it like the rest of us.. On a TV.

Teddy was cruising to a 200-plus point game, and owners who have held for this long were starting to dream. Was the 229 points record going to be broken? It certainly looked that way.

And those like myself who traded in Reese Walsh over Tedesco were chalking up another mark in the “bad trade” column.

But the Supercoach Gods decided everyone got a win out of that and Tedesco didn’t return for the second half after picking up a minor ankle injury. 

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Despite only playing 40 minutes, he still piled on 106 points including a double and three try assists in that time. 

The ankle injury he picked up was supposedly not that bad, but when you have had the season like he has had and are up by 42 points at half-time, you’ve got every right to go and grab the best seat at the Mad Cow and settle in.

It was the first minutes he’d missed for the Roosters that weren’t from a HIA, Covid protocols or being stood down for Origin. Incredible durability.

A resurgent Bulldogs awaits him before Penrith for the first two weeks of H2H finals… 

That Tigers match-up in round 25 looks large…

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5. Brailey cements no 1 spot 

I could count the things I’ve done right this Supercoach season on one hand. A hand that has been drawn by Matt Groening, but one of those ones was starting with both Grant and Brailey. 

It was a decision I made because then I wouldn’t have to worry about the hooker position for 27 weeks. 

And it has worked out brilliantly as I’ve been able to play both players week in, week out, and now that Grant has gone down and there is no real replacement for him, I can just play Brailey with confidence.

He hadn’t scored more than 69 since he broke his arm back in round 13 but crossed for his first try since round 8 to finish with 93 points on Sunday afternoon.

The Sharks have been winning comfortably without having to turn to their number nine, and it might be time he lifts for these last 5 weeks. 

With Grant out with a hamstring, he’ll want to push claims for an Australian Jersey at the end of the year. I’m tipping he’s got two more 100-plus scores in between now and the first week of finals. 

The Grant to Brailey trade is a no-brainer if you want quality for the last 5 weeks. If you’re happy living a mediocre life up in the number 9 position, there are plenty of others to fill that spot.

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6. HIAs still causing headaches

With all the good that happened in round 22, and all the points, there were a couple Big supercoach names to go down that failed to finish their respective matches…

KL Iro owners will probably get a sore neck from shaking the head so much for the season he has had. He only lasted 26 minutes before being taken off for a HIA, which was then deemed to be a cat one, meaning he will miss next weekend’s match against the Dragons. It has been a tumultuous ride with that first 6-week period bearing no points, then 2 weeks of absolute Latrell-like scores before 10 games of averaging 57.

Toby Couchman also failed a HIA and, unless he gets an exemption, misses next week also.

He appeared on the Sunday night with Matty Johns Show, so I don’t know if that’s a good sign that the head knock wasn’t too bad or it was, but I figured he didn’t need too many brain cells to show up and get a laugh.

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Xavier Willison didn’t need a HIA, just a big band-aid and some betadine, as he played only 5 minutes after he picked up a pretty nasty leg gash to finish with only 3 points. Don’t tell Tim but I didn’t see it, as I was perched up at Coffey’s hotel in Cooma for the night.

I didn’t realise Simi Sasagi was ruled out, so I ended up getting a Willison as the AE…Had I known Simi was out earlier, I would have put the last reserve on Willison, so no harm done!

7. H2H finals

Well, after 22 pulsating head-to-head rounds, for most of us, we are heading into the H2H finals, baby!

Most will have the first week of finals this week, depending on your League settings, but to all those still in with a chance. Good luck and don’t leave that sneaky trade to the last 5 seconds 

I’ve heard some horror stories of people missing out on putting someone in because they were getting too cute with the time and trying to play mind games with their opponent. 

If you’ve made it this far and are featuring in the finals, do not leave anything untried, and to borrow a line from a Dylan Thomas Poem (And Michael Caine in Interstellar), “Do not go gently into that Good night”.

No point sitting there in week 2 with nothing to play for and a couple trades up your sleeve…

Now, speaking of H2H finals, I’m off to ask Tim again if the SC playbook league is a top 19…

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8. Minute Watch

Cowboys v Roosters

Luki 80, Nanai 80, Lolo 36, Tedesco 40, Whyte 43, Foketi 80, 

Dragons v Dolphins

TCouchman 26, RCouchman 59, Stewart 80, Kuli 80, JMK 54, Lemuelu 80,

Storm v Bulldogs

Stefano 52, Clarke 63, Keeley 80, Kiks 72, Preston 80

Titans v Warriors

Tino 58, Pascoe 80, Fermor 80, Laban 70, Clark 64, Barnett 41, Egan 58, Leka 80

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Panthers v Raiders

IPap 62, Yeo 75, Pattie 73, Hosking 80, Nicholson 47

Broncos v Knights

Haas 80, Carrigan 80, Willison 5, Manuleleua 80, Cant 19, Crossland 61

Sharks v Rabbitohs

AFB 52, Nikora 80, Brailey 80, Keaon 80, Smith 57, 

Tigers v Eels

TMay 65, Twal 66, Api 80, Williams 80, Kautoga 80