NRL Round 25 team lists: Full squads + NRL Supercoach analysis

We’ve well and truly entered the final stretch of the NRL Supercoach season, with grand final qualifiers set to take place in Round 25 for the majority of head-to-head leagues.

It’s that stage of the season where plenty of coaches are out of trades, the injury ward grows larger by the week, and you’re forced to ask your remaining troops to get down and dirty in the trenches during tough times.

For the most part, the injury toll was fairly forgiving in Round 24, outside of a few key men going down.

A number of upsets also means that the race for the top eight and top four has tightened a little, which is great news for those hoping for minimal restings in Round 27 as clubs battle for positions in the eight.

Sadly, it was a grim week for the Cooma Stallions, scoring a paltry 1,157 points to drop 600 spots to 7.5k overall.

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The injury curse has continued in style, with Reece Walsh lasting a handful of minutes for 1 whole point after suffering a season-ending injury.

While I didn’t play him in my starting side, I also lost Paul Alamoti in the final minutes against the Roosters, which will see another player unavailable moving forward.

All that being said, the boys didn’t have a great week anyway, with far too many 40s and 50s across the board, while Nicho Hynes flopped as my skipper for a second consecutive week.

My depth strategy has saved my backside from turmoil in the latter end of the season, but geez, numbers are tightening off the back of the carnage!

With trades at a minimum, I’ll keep analysis for less relevant teams fairly brief.

Let’s take a look at the NRL Supercoach analysis for Round 25, with squad lists courtesy of Fox Sports.

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STORM v PANTHERS

Thursday, 7:50pm, AAMI Park, Melbourne

Storm: 1. Sualauvi Faalogo 2. Siulagi Tuimalatu-Brown 3. Jack Howarth 4. Nick Meaney 5. Moses Leo 6. Cameron Munster 7. Trent Toelau 8. Stefano Utoikamanu 9. Harry Grant 10. Josh King 11. Shawn Blore 12. Oryn Keeley 13. Trent Loiero

Bench: 14. Tyran Wishart 15. Alec MacDonald 16. Angus Hinchey 17. Cooper Clarke 18. Joe Chan 19. Manaia Waitere

Reserves: 20. Davvy Moale 21. Jack Hetherington 22. Hayden Watson

Analysis: While there are chinks emerging in the armour of Penrith, it’s certainly not a match-up I’d be targeting this week with any trades.

Harry Grant returns from a hamstring injury with Melbourne’s finals hopes hanging by a thread.

I’d be a little reluctant to play him if I owned him, with concern for aggravation, as well as minutes.

If you can avoid starting him in your 18, I think it’s extremely viable this week.

Oryn Keely has a three-round average of 83.7 points and will be a near must in round 1 next year if he has an 80-minute starting edge role. 

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Panthers: 1. Dylan Edwards 2. Thomas Jenkins 3. Izack Tago 4. Casey McLean 5. Brian To’o 6. Jack Cogger 7. Nathan Cleary 8. Moses Leota 9. Freddy Lussick 10. Liam Henry 11. Isaiah Papali’i 12. Liam Martin 13. Lindsay Smith

Bench: 14. Billy Scott 15. Scott Sorensen 16. Luron Patea 17. Billy Phillips 18. Jack Cole 19. Blaize Talagi

Reserves: 20. Jaxen Edgar 21. Luke Garner 22. Jesse McLean

Analysis: This looms as a slightly tricky match-up for Penrith mainly due to the fact Melbourne still has some finals hopes left, albeit very marginal.

I think Penrith win comfortably and their Supercoach contingent score well, but a night game in Melbourne with plenty on the line isn’t ideal.

Nathan Cleary put 115 points on them in 73 minutes in Round 5 and looms as an extremely viable vice-captaincy play for those running three halfbacks.

I had Penrith as near certainties to mass rest in Round 27 against the Tigers, but with five losses in the back end of the season they may not have that luxury all of a sudden. 

Penrith playing for a top two spot against the Tigers that week at near full-strength could be one of the all-time beltings, if things play out that way with the ladder.

With Paul Alamoti ruled out, Casey McLean makes a timely return from injury and starts at centre for Penrith which is also good news for Tom Jenkins.

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RAIDERS v BRONCOS

Friday, 6pm, GIO Stadium, Canberra

Raiders: 1. Kaeo Weekes 2. Jed Stuart 3. Simi Sasagi 4. Matthew Timoko 5. Xavier Savage 6. Ethan Strange 7. Ethan Sanders 8. Josh Papali’i 9. Owen Pattie 10. Joseph Tapine 11. Zac Hosking 12. Matt Nicholson 13. Ata Mariota

Bench: 14. Tom Starling 15. Joseph Roddy 16. Corey Horsburgh 17. Daine Laurie 18. Vena Patuki-Case 19. Savelio Tamale

Reserves: 20. Coby Black 21. Sebastian Kris 22. Jayden Brailey

Analysis: With the bye next week, I wouldn’t invest in any Raiders players overall; however, head-to-head players with trades in the bank could have some interest in the Green Machine.

They stunned the Sharks in Cronulla last week to keep their very slim finals aspirations alive.

They now face the Broncos in Canberra without Reece Walsh for Josh Papali’i’s home farewell, oh boy…

I think they win this well with points aplenty, so if you have trades, you could get a player in, then trade them out for a H2H Grand Final next week.

In reality, there are still better match-ups to target this week, but it’s an option.

Simi Sasagi is one of those options on return from a rest.

He was expected to play this then sit out the remainder of the season to undergo shoulder surgery; however, if Canberra’s finals hopes are alive in Round 27 after their bye, he’d be on deck.

He has a great match-up with Brisbane’s awful left edge and could go large, but there is risk of that shoulder injury flaring up at any point.

Big Joey Tapine exploded for the 20% of top-ranked coaches with 116 points against the Sharks; here’s hoping owners played him in their starting side!

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Broncos: 1. Hayze Perham 2. Josiah Karapani 3. Kotoni Staggs 4. Deine Mariner 5. Grant Anderson 6. Ezra Mam 7. Ben Hunt 8. Xavier Willison 9. Billy Walters 10. Payne Haas 11. Jaiyden Hunt 12. Jordan Riki 13. Patrick Carrigan

Bench: 14. Blake Mozer 15. Aublix Tawha 16. Jack Gosiewski 17. Va’a Semu 18. Thomas Duffy 19. Gehamat Shibasaki

Reserves: 20. Ben Talty 21. Jesse Arthars 22. Luke Gale

Analysis: You wouldn’t go near any Broncos players at the moment.

It has been extremely pleasing as an owner of Xavier Willison and Payne Haas to see the big boys scoring well, but there are better investments elsewhere.

Strangely, Haas has put the offload away this season, which I can not understand.

In the past five weeks he’s had just two offloads.

He’s effectively offloaded (ball to hand) just twice all year.

It’s absolutely bizarre to me that a player with arguably the most controlled offload in the game has been told to put it away, in a side that relishes free-flowing footy with second phase play.

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DOLPHINS v EELS 

Friday, 8pm, Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

Dolphins: 1. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow 2. Jamayne Isaako 3. Jack Bostock 4. Herbie Farnworth 5. Selwyn Cobbo 6. Kodi Nikorima 7. Isaiya Katoa 8. Thomas Flegler 9. Jeremy Marshall-King 10. Tom Gilbert 11. Max Plath 12. Kulikefu Finefeuiaki 13. Morgan Knowles

Bench: 14. Ray Stone 15. Francis Molo 16. Felise Kaufusi 17. Brian Pouniu 18. Brad Schneider 19. Jake Averillo

Reserves: 20. Tevita Naufahu 21. John Fineanganofo 22. Sam Elliott

Analysis: This looms as one of the match-ups of the week to target, while admittedly Parramatta are playing vastly improved footy compared to the first half of the season.

Herbie Farnworth and Jamayne Isaako will once again be popular vice-captaincy targets.

Data-wise, Parramatta’s right edge (Herbie attacking) concedes 41% of all tries, compared to 28% (Isaako attacking) on the left.

I’d lean to Herbie for this reason as a VC play between the two.

My man who can’t find an attacking stat to save himself, Kulikefu Finefeuiaki, gets a great match-up with Ronald Volkman. Surely this is the week he crosses!

With games to come against the Eels, Roosters and Titans, Selwyn Cobbo becomes seriously appealing with a five-round average of 72.4 points.

The Roosters next week will be brutal in Sydney, but there’s a play to sit him for that fixture.

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Jack Bostock will be a Supercoach staple for many years to come, averaging 74.9 points per game with a strong 46.1 in base and power stats.

Incredibly, he hadn’t scored a try in his past seven games until the weekend, recording just one linebreak in that time, yet he hasn’t scored under 50 all season.

While he’s quality at centre, his Supercoach game would explode if shifting to the wing, in my opinion.

Connelly Lemuelu is out, with Max Plath to start on the edge.

Eels: 1. Apa Twidle 2. Brian Kelly 3. Will Penisini 4. Jordan Samrani 5. Josh Addo-Carr 6. Ronald Volkman 7. Mitchell Moses 8. Luca Moretti 9. Tallyn Da Silva 10. Junior Paulo 11. Jack Williams 12. Kitione Kautoga 13. Jack de Belin 14. Harrison Edwards 15. Saxon Pryke 16. Teancum Brown 17. Jezaiah Funa-Luta 18. Sean Russell 19. Kelma Tuilagi 20. Araz Nanva 21. Ryda Talagi 22. Ryley Smith

Analysis: Parramatta are playing some quality footy as the season grows deeper, but there’s still no Supercoach interest in my eyes.

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KNIGHTS v SEA EAGLES

Saturday, 3pm, McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle

Knights: 1. Kalyn Ponga 2. Dominic Young 3. Fletcher Hunt 4. Bradman Best 5. Greg Marzhew 6. Fletcher Sharpe 7. Sandon Smith 8. Jacob Saifiti 9. Phoenix Crossland 10. Trey Mooney 11. Jermaine McEwen 12. Tyson Frizell 13. Mathew Croker

Bench: 14. Harrison Graham 15. Cody Hopwood 16. Lachlan Crouch 17. Thomas Cant 18. Pasami Saulo 19. Toby Winter

Reserves: 20. Diesel Hagan 21. Kyle McCarthy 22. Elijah Leaumoana

Analysis: This again looms as a terrific match-up for Newcastle and NRL Supercoach head-to-head players.

For overall players, it’s largely an avoid unless you’re loaded with trades.

While there’s a decent chance the Knights pile points on the legless Sea Eagles, they then face the Warriors in New Zealand into a bye.

If you’re a head-to-head player with trades, you could target this game with a plan to potentially trade out a Knight next week.

As a one-week play, Kalyn Ponga looks an ideal target that has the potential to win a H2H final on his own.

Losing the goal-kicking has impacted him significantly, though.

Since giving up the kicking duties due to a leg niggle, Ponga has a healthy three-round average of 81.66 points per game.

Had he had the same amount of conversions and misses as Sandon Smith in that period, he’d have averaged 93 points per game, which is a fairly significant jump.

Dom Young was the third most traded-in player last week, remarkably scoring just 23 points after notching a very early 10-point linebreak.

Dane Gagai going off at halftime didn’t help, with Newcastle sending plenty of their attack down the left edge in the second half. 

Young could easily bounce back with a three-figure score this week, but with Gagai out with a hamstring injury, I wouldn’t target him with a trade.

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Manly’s left edge concedes 43% of their tries, which Young will attack, compared to just 28% on the right for Marzhew and the returning Bradman Best.

Fletcher Sharpe has really hit his straps with a three-round average of 95.6.

He looks a strong target this week; again though, it’s a one-week play.

Gagai and Francis Manuleleua are out of action.

Sea Eagles: 1. Tom Trbojevic 2. Jason Saab 3. Tolutau Koula 4. Reuben Garrick 5. Lehi Hopoate 6. Clayton Faulalo 7. Jamal Fogarty 8. Simione Laiafi 9. Brandon Wakeham 10. Nathan Brown 11. Haumole Olakau’atu 12. Ben Trbojevic 13. Jake Trbojevic

Bench: 14. Jake Simpkin 15. Nicholas Lenaz 16. Corey Waddell 17. Caleb Navale 18. Josh Feledy 19. Fletcher Baker

Reserves: 20. Onitoni Large 21. Jackson Shereb 22. Blake Wilson

Analysis: Manly have lost six on the trot, including their last three by margins of 22+.

It’s been a truly disappointing end to their campaign that delivered so much promise after a poor start.

Haumole Olakau’atu is the only player you’d make a case for, finally at an affordable price of $769K with a breakeven of 115.

Non-owners have breathed a sigh of relief of late, with the big bopper repping a three-round average of just 71.3 with one linebreak as his only attacking stat in that period.

Joey Walsh is out with injury, with Clayton Faulalo shifting to the halves and Tom Trbojevic returning at fullback.

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RABBITOHS v WARRIORS

Saturday, 5:30pm, Accor Stadium, Sydney

Rabbitohs: 1. Matthew Dufty 2. Alex Johnston 3. Tallis Duncan 4. Jack Wighton 5. Campbell Graham 6. Cody Walker 7. Jayden Sullivan 8. Tevita Tatola 9. Brandon Smith 10. Keaon Koloamatangi 11. David Fifita 12. Euan Aitken 13. Cameron Murray

Bench: 14. Jye Gray 15. Lachlan Hubner 16. Sean Keppie 17. Liam Le Blanc 18. Peter Mamouzelos 19. Edward Kosi

Reserves: 20. Jonah Glover 21. Thomas Fletcher 22. Latrell Mitchell

Analysis: South Sydney are playing some excellent footy; however, there are better match-ups to target this week.

They have games incoming against the Warriors, Titans and Roosters.

They have a huge number of players playing through injury niggles, if they’re locked into 7^thor 8^th spot by round 27, which is every chance they could mass rest.

I think there are better targets this week; however, David Fifita and Tallis Duncan are well worth flagging on current form.

Big Fifi scored 85 points against the Bulldogs with 68 points in base and power.

This included seven tacklebusts and 19 runs, excellent areas from the back-row enforcer.

He’s absolutely thriving at the moment and looks set to finish with a bang.

Speaking of thriving, Tallis Duncan is at home at left centre with the attacking stats flowing alongside Cody Walker and Alex Johnston.

Better yet, he notched 23 runs in his 99 points last week!

Get through this week, then reassess ahead of a nice fixture against the Titans.

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Shout out to Matt Dufty, who has quietly averaged an outstanding 82.3 points across his 10 games of 80 minutes this season, doing so with just three tries in that time!

This places him as the third-highest-averaging fullback, bonkers…

Latrell Mitchell returns in the reserves as he pushes to make his comeback from injury.

Warriors: 1. Taine Tuaupiki 2. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak 3. Ali Leiataua 4. Leka Halasima 5. Alofiana Khan-Pereira 6. Luke Hanson 7. Chanel Harris-Tavita 8. James Fisher-Harris 9. Wayde Egan 10. Mitchell Barnett 11. Kurt Capewell 12. Jacob Laban 13. Erin Clark

Bench: 14. Samuel Healey 15. Tanner Stowers-Smith 16. Demitric Vaimauga 17. Eddie Ieremia-Toeava 18. Adam Pompey 20. Morgan Gannon

Reserves: 21. Jett Cleary 22. Luke Laulilii 23. Makaia Tafua

Analysis: The Warriors’ charge to a maiden NRL title is building momentum, even if they’ll require another halves combination to get there.

Luke Metcalf is the latest halfback casualty, doing his hammy kicking a goal. Brutal.

The good news on the Supercoach front is that Te Maire Martin is expected to return in that position in the coming weeks and will provide an invaluable extra number for the 61% of top-ranked coaches who held.

Leka the Wrecker looked to have come back to the pack last week, before a barnstorming try in the final minute of the game saved his score for a respectable 71 points.

They aren’t dropping the big unit from centre anytime soon.

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DRAGONS v BULLDOGS

Saturday, 7:35pm, Allianz Stadium, Sydney

Dragons: 1. Daniel Atkinson 2. Mathew Feagai 3. Moses Suli 4. Valentine Holmes 5. Tyrell Sloan 6. Lyhkan King-Togia 7. Kyle Flanagan 8. Loko Jnr Pasifiki Tonga 9. Jacob Liddle 10. Emre Guler 11. Dylan Egan 12. Hamish Stewart 13. Ryan Couchman

Bench: 14. Damien Cook 15. Toby Couchman 16. Jacob Halangahu 17. Jacob Webster 18. Setu Tu 19. Josh Kerr

Reserves: 20. Blake Lawrie 21. Luciano Leilua 22. Kade Reed

Analysis: Rinse and repeat, T.Couchman, R.Couchman, H. Stewart….

Shout out to Val Holmes, who has rediscovered some Supercoach form of late, averaging 73.92 points per game in his past 12 games, seven of which came against top eight teams.

It’s funny what playing in an improved team can do for a goal-kicking centre!

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Bulldogs: 1. Connor Tracey 2. Jacob Kiraz 3. Matt Burton 4. Bronson Xerri 5. Enari Tuala 6. Stephen Crichton 7. Lachlan Galvin 8. Max King 9. Bailey Hayward 10. Leo Thompson 11. Viliame Kikau 12. Jacob Preston 13. Jaeman Salmon

Bnech: 14. Kurt Mann 15. Josh Curran 16. Harry Hayes 17. Alekolasimi Jones 19. Jake Turpin 20. Sean O’Sullivan

Reserves: 21. Jed Reardon 22. Jonathan Sua 23. Jack Underhill

Analysis: This looms as a decent match-up for H2H-focused players, but I think there are far better fixtures to target.

Jacob Kiraz had about eight offloads last week; unfortunately, seven of them went to the opposition…

Jacob Preston has a three-round average of 67.6 points; in this time he hasn’t registered a single attacking stat.

Owners of Doggies players can play with confidence, but I wouldn’t be investing in any.

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TITANS v SHARKS

Sunday, 2pm, Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast

Titans: 1. Keano Kini 2. Jaylan De Groot 3. Jojo Fifita 4. AJ Brimson 5. Phillip Sami 6. Jayden Campbell 7. Lachlan Ilias 8. Moeaki Fotuaika 9. Oliver Pascoe 10. Tino Fa’asuamaleaui 11. Arama Hau 12. Beau Fermor 13. Cooper Bai

Bench: 14. Kurtis Morrin 15. Klese Haas 16. Chris Randall 17. Bodhi Sharpley 18. Luke Sommerton 19. Sialetili Faeamani

Reserves: 20. Adam Christensen 21. Jett Liu 22. Tony Francis

Analysis: Two daytime fixtures and an early evening game all on the Gold Coast to finish bode well for the Titans.

Games against top eight-placed Sharks, Rabbitohs and Dolphins are less appealing.

The likes of Jayden Campbell and Oliver Pascoe can be played with confidence, but they aren’t a team I’d look to invest in.

Shout out to Beau Fermor with a five-round average of 82.8 points.

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Sharks: 1. William Kennedy 2. Sione Katoa 3. Mawene Hiroti 4. KL Iro 5. Ronaldo Mulitalo 6. Niwhai Puru 7. Nicho Hynes 8. Addin Fonua-Blake 9. Blayke Brailey 10. Jesse Colquhoun 11. Briton Nikora 12. Teig Wilton 13. Cameron McInnes

Bench: 14. Siosifa Talakai 15. Billy Burns 16. Oregon Kaufusi 17. Thomas Hazelton 18. Hohepa Puru 19. Braden Hamlin-Uele

Reserves: 20. Liam Ison 21. Samuel Stonestreet 22. Toby Rudolf

Analysis: In theory, this is a great match-up for the Sharks, but they’ve hit a wall in the past fortnight with the pressure applied.

Once again it’s an ideal afternoon fixture on a great track, so points SHOULD flow.

In reality though, Nicho Hynes has been mass captained the past two weeks for scores of 58 and 61. Painful…

He’ll be extremely hard to go past as a captain again this week, while you could potentially also vice-captain with the Roosters v Tigers clash to follow.

Ronaldo Mulitalo and KL Iro were millimetres away on two separate plays from both giving triple figures a nudge, but it wasn’t to be, with Iro’s heel hitting the line and the ball falling agonisingly short for Ronny’s try-scoring opportunity. 

This is the week, surely?

The draw against the Titans, Eels and Storm remains excellent; their form remains a concern.

Niwhai Puru replaces the injured Braydon Trindall in the halves.

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ROOSTERS v TIGERS

Sunday, 4:05pm, Allianz Stadium, Sydney

Roosters: 1. James Tedesco 2. Billy Smith 3. Hugo Savala 4. Robert Toia 5. Mark Nawaqanitawase 6. Daly Cherry-Evans 7. Sam Walker 8. Naufahu Whyte 9. Reece Robson 10. Spencer Leniu 11. Salesi Foketi 12. Siua Wong 13. Victor Radley

Bench: 14. Connor Watson 15. Lindsay Collins 16. Nat Butcher 17. Egan Butcher 18. Cody Ramsey 19. Tommy Talau

Reserves: 20. Rex Bassingthwaighte 21. Benaiah Ioelu 22. Taylor Losalu

Analysis: This is by far the best fixture to target this week.

The Tigers have lost eight in a row, with the last four against bottom eight teams.

Twice in that period they’ve lost to the bottom-placed Dragons.

For those that turned off technology in recent weeks, the Roosters put 82 points on the Cowboys in Townsville, then beat the Bulldogs and Panthers.

Take your pick of players…

James Tedesco has been named to return from an ankle injury.

Whether or not he plays after being a late scratching in recent weeks remains to be seen.

Owners will be desperate for the skipper to feature in this, while playing the last game of the round makes things even trickier.

Sam Walker scored the fifth-highest score of all-time against the Cowboys, which could be under threat from himself and a number of teammates this week IF the game plays out as most are predicting.

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Mark Nawaqanitawase has hit a flat spot outside of the Cowboys ton, but he could quickly make amends this week.

I do feel Tedesco is absolutely vital to the upside of both Marky Mark and Billy Smith on the left wing.

Smith himself is a huge play at just 1.2% ownership.

Priced at $711k, he’s flown under the radar this season, averaging an excellent 73.6 points.

In his six games on the wing, he’s averaging 84 points per game this season.

In five non-injury-affected games at centre, he’s averaging 74 points per game.

Tigers: 1. Jahream Bula 2. Junior Tupou 3. Solomane Saukuru 4. Patrick Herbert 5. Jeral Skelton 6. Jarome Luai 7. Jock Madden 8. Terrell May 9. Apisai Koroisau 10. Fonua Pole 11. Samuela Fainu 12. Tony Sukkar 13. Alex Twal

Bench: 14. Heath Mason 15. Sione Fainu 16. Alex Seyfarth 17. Bunty Afoa 18. Tristan Hope 19. Sunia Turuva

Reserves: 20. Javon Andrews 21. Charlie Murray 22. Faaletino Tavana

Analysis: Sit any players you own; this could get ugly.

Adam Doueihi is out for the remainder of the season, with Jock Madden starting at halfback.

Alex Twal returns after missing last week due to illness.