NRL SuperCoach podcast: Round 24 preview

Published Aug 15, 2024, 3:06 AM

The man coming SECOND in SuperCoach 2024 is in the building to give his tips for the start of sudden death finals.

This is the official Super Coach NURL podcast Game Day Preview.

Hello super coaches, Welcome to our Game Day Preview podcast. It's round twenty four, second week of the head to head final, so sudden death if you're playing this week. It's also only four weeks until we crown the overall champion, who, of course takes on fifty k tax free. Which brings me to our guests, Mark Barnes, who is currently second in Super Coach only eight points off the lead. First of all, congratulations, Second of all, how the.

Nerves, thanks Tom. Nerves are pretty bad. Yes, yeah, it's normally pretty fun this time of a year because you're just in your head to heads getting annoyed with that stuff. And yeah, it's not as stressful, and normally I don't really mind if I don't have many trades left at this point of the year, but yeah, very stressful. Lose sleep at night.

Yeah, I was going to say any sleepless nights, so.

Many that we talk about last week. My wife was like, do you have a good sleep last night?

No?

I dreamt the Teddy scored four hundred points and I took the captaincy off him, lost the title by two points. So that wow, Wow, it's a pretty common ones.

Well, the stress is real and it's a really good fight. So we've got eight points between first and second, and it's about two hundred points between the top ten.

I don't remember being so close. Third is actually tired. Like the third and fourth teams are tight on points. It's the tightest run in history.

So, I mean, one pod one captaincy Choice could absolutely decide who gets fifty k. Speaking of pods and guys to get on, the Roosters have an incredible run home. You're a Roosters fan, yeah, sure, And so they've got this amazing run home. POD's galore in that team. First of all, Angus Crichton most purchased player this week, not a POD obviously, is he a must have?

Pretty close? I'm not going to go full must have tag on him, but I think it's a pretty close. The reason I won't go fool must have is because I think that it's quite team dependent at this point of the year. I have seen some teams that go and I'm getting anguesst Crichton in, but they've already got like five six elite secondary forward guns and they've only got one or two trades left and for those teams it's like, well maybe instead of running four center wings, you might want to get an extra center wing instead of seven second ary forwards. But he's a great trade this week against that paramount of edge, and with how he's been playing pretty quiet lately, which possibly means he's due for some tries.

Yeah. Well, speaking of center wings, so you could get in. Joey Marnu is quite popular this week, but still in pod territory only in twelve percent of teams. Of course, the reason for that is that they had to buy recently. Plus he had that hand injury. Thoughts on him as a pod with that run home, you'd have to think that. And his price as well, he's at the lowest price he has been all year.

Yeah, it's I'll just say outright before a rubbish Marno that I think it's a good trade. Everyone, okay, So I'm not saying it's not a good trade. I think it's a good trade and it's tremendous value. So certainly if there's teams that are cash strapped, it's great the little kved Off throw in there though with Joey Marnho is as we know as a center. He's never really scored this well before, and he's averaging seventy three on the year and includes one game at fullback. If you look at his strike rate, Tommy, he's actually scored ten tries this year on a strikeateeero point five eight tries per game. That's his best ever. His best ever season was eleven tries but a strike grade of only zero point four to eight tries a game. So there is a worry with the numbers that he's tried scoring isn't going to keep going like it has been this year and you might only get sixties. It's not going to be bad, but maybe temporary expectations to know that that could be an outcome with him and he could be seven em percent owned in a couple of weeks time.

Right, Well, some good intel there from the Roosters fan the blood coming second in supercoach, because I would not have thought of that, to be honest. Tedesco thoughts on him is popular this week at the by last round, so I think a lot of super coaches who have trades and I wish i'd did have more, probably sold last week and then to bring him back in again this week for that good match up against the Eels, it's at Alian Stadium, which he loves, and could even be a captaincy option this week.

Yeah, definitely. I love Teddy this week and I have to say the numbers on him aren't as good as what I thought that they were going to be for the pat Matter Eels in the last few years when he's played eighty minute games. Aside from his last game last year, he struggled to average sixty points against the Eels, which I was really surprised about when I was looking at it. But the last game of last year is abound one hundred and thirty mark against the Eels, and like you said, he loves ali ups Stadium, So I tend to think despite the eels good form recently, he's a huge captaincy option this week.

What about Zak Lomac's thoughts on him, because he is the most popular player this week about let's say one hundred k more expensive than Joey Marnu. But at Zach Lomax, he's just been on fire this year in that center wing position. Good matchup this week against the Titans in Woollongong, gets a little bit tougher from there, but still what are your thoughts on him?

Well, three of the four Dragons remaining games are at home, two Willenlong, one at Cogra, and traditionally they're going to be quite good there and they're pushing prest spot in the top eight. He's leaving, he's going to be wanting to make it in print on the Dragons jersey before he retires it. I really like Lomacs. The goalkicking gives him a really good flow, and he's already got great base and power already, and he's talking about ceilings. He's already one hundred and seventy plus point game this year, so I absolutely love him. At the price and also at the ownership level he's not heavily owned. I would actually like him over Marnu just because he's got that goalkicking and he's probably, you know, unlike Marnu who's got to share the supercoach points around in that Dragon side. He doesn't really have to as much, does he.

Yeah, if you've got the extra one hundred K, then I'd absolutely be going Lomas ahead of Marno. Goalkicking as you say, and no chance of getting rested really, whereas marn who could be and a lot of the Roosters could get rested in the run home. Very exciting super coach news this week. So the most common question we get on this podcast is where can I get the merch? Where can we get this? We've got the hat that Mark's wearing, the ball just behind me here, where do we get them? And we have our first ever merch drop this week. It is at the Roosters v. Eels game at Alian Stadium this Friday. It is free merch. The first fifty people who rock up to the event get free merch, get a lucky dip of the best merch that is there. A lot of people on social media have been hanging out for the location, the exact location, and I can exclusively reveal on this podcast right now that the location is. What's six pm at the Entertainment Quarters, so a couple one hundred meters away from the entrance to Alian Stadium. It's out the front of the pub there which is called the Watson's, essentially across the road from the Harden Pavilion. There's a massive tree out the front there. Free merch for the first fifty people who get there this weekend, which is huge.

Great you away fantastic quality everyone.

They actually are a really good quality as color. Very good questions. Send those three guys. We'll get to them in a second. Let's do the burning issues for tonight. Panthers v. Storm top of the table clash. It's a really really good one for tonight in terms of the late male Dylan Edwards cleared, James Fisher Harris cleared. So two bigins for the Panthers. But coach Ivan Cleary has done a bit of a bellamy on us and named them on the extended bench. He hasn't said who's dropping out of the squad. He hasn't put them. He hasn't put Edwards in number one, Jersey or Fisher Harris in the prop position. We don't quite know who's going to drop out. I would say my prediction is that Dane Laurie goes to the bench for Edwards, and I'm not sure who drops out for Fisher Harris.

Yeah, I think that that's correct. I think that we'll see Laurie come out. I've seen a little bit of rumblings with people said maybe Taruver comes out and Lurry stays on the wing because of his form. I don't see that happening. I think the Laurier will go on the bench. I think they need that bench utility there. And probably the biggest changes I think Edward's coming in his massive for them as well as what Laurie's played. But even bigger is I just think that DFH into the forward pack is huge because as we know, they've lost both their their edge back rowers, so they need that strength in the pack again and he just provides such leadership and such go forward for them. I think he's probably really underrated in his inclusion.

Said three questions and comments. Guys, are lots of reaction already to the merch drop coming this Friday six pm at the Entertainment Quarter right next to Allion Stadium. If you miss that news, boo, where do we go to get the Queensland merch drop? When are we going to get a New Zealand merch drop? Everyone else wants a piece of this merch.

You go around the world, Tommy, Yeah, every country, supercoach everywhere, Yeah, Equatorial Guineas, so they'll be loving it over there.

I'd be happy to do that. Take a super coach question here. Most people talking about the merch oh Dom young thoughts on Dom Young this week is actually because because they had the buy and he had that injury issue, he's actually a pod compared to what he has been in the past.

Yeah, his ownership level is definitely a lot lower, and I think it's something like thirty one percent of the top one percent own him still, which it's high ownership, but it's nowhere near the highs that we've seen of Dom Young in the past. And he's actually coming into a point where he hasn't been as good as what he has been other points of the season where he scored one hundred and fifty plus in Super Coach points, and he's got a mad draw coming up where the next four weeks he could carve So I absolutely like him, and I think that it's a really good example tom of where if you've got trades left at this point of the season, you can really carve up the Super Coach rankings and your head to heads because being able to go some really fancied cent of wings out to a Dom Young is probably a luxury trade for a lot of teams, but it's probably one that's going to pay off pretty big.

A final question for now we've got, would it be mad to play Brian Kelly this week against Dragons instead of trading him to a rooster. I mean, Kelly's an underrated SIEV coach player, isn't it, And he's against Dragons, which is as a decent matchup.

Let's face it, it is a decent match up. I guess a lot of it's going to depend on how much you think last week's results are going to come into this round. You know, are the Titans really going to be that bad again or are they going to bounce back like we do see teams do. Are the Dragons going to be able to stand up or are they going to foil buck we see them do probably too often for Dragons fans in recent years. Brian Kelly I think had a lot more value when he was goalkicking. Campbell's got that now, so he loses that. And for me, he's probably got too many sixties and seventies without one hundred pluses. So I would trade him to a rooster if I had the chance to. But it really is team dependent too. How strong is the rest of that center wing.

Or even go to Lomax in that exact same clash. Nathan Clearing very popular vice captain this week. Would you put him to give him the Sea though, couldn't Straight Sea.

The statistics on Straight Sea Thursday night games are horrendous. They are the worst averaging center sorry captain by a mile. Any Thursday Night game doesn't matter, your name, doesn't matter, the jersey, doesn't matter, the matchup. So I think VC looks good, but I will even say with the VC, I think Cleary's average against the Storm is sixty one points per game. It's his second worst average in the entire league. He's only got one ton which is one hundred and three, and that happened at the end of last year, so he has struggled against the Storm. So a VC seems safe to keep up with the masses in case he goes big, but a SEA just seems way too risky, especially in a week with so many other options.

Tom yep, definitely VC on Cleary for me in what is a tough matchup which brings me to Casey McClain. I've been playing him in my seventeen very popular cheapy and he's been doing pretty well, but tough matchup against the Storm tonight, I'll be leaving him out one hundred percent.

I don't think there's any way anyone has the lack of depth where they're playing Casey McLain against the Storm. Yeah. The Storm have actually given up more points than what we kind of expect them to at times this year and have been a little bit disappointing here and there. But Casey McLain had twenty two point outing in eighty minutes last week, and he's averaging forty nine points across his first five in Errol games, which includes two tries, which is a good strike rate for a setup. So I don't know how you can expect a sixty plus game for the first time against the Storm. I'd be benching him.

One guy who I'm considering playing, though, even though it is a tough matchup, is Liam Henry, who's got a really good when he plays big minutes on the edge. He has really good super coach average up in the mid sixties, almost around the seventy mark. So if you're looking to bank someone early on a Friday, I'm kind of tossing up not playing Marju and going with the surety of Liam Henry.

Yeah, it's a really good one if you've got Henry, because he's gone seventy six and seventy three points in his two edge games where he's played seventy to eighty minutes this year, and one of those he had eighty raw base actually downdated to seventy six because of his errors, but.

Sixty tackles or something like that something.

He's just been a beast on the edge, So I mean, you can expect his work rate's going to get him a sixty five plus score, and if that happens, he's a pretty strong play, especially when he's got that upside of the seventy five to eighty range just on work rates. So yeah, he's a good play as always. And I'll be saying this too much whenever we talk. It's very team dependent, but I think a lot of teams at front right forward could use him Ellie Katoa.

So after the twenty four hour carts, the storm is still one to seventeen, so it looks good that Ellie Katoa will play tonight. Cameron Munster, he's been talked up a fair bit as a pod, but the Stormer looked really clunky since he came back into the team. I know that it's Cameron monsday and he will just flick a switch at some stage, will it be tonight against the Panthers, very good opposition at the Panthers home ground.

I don't think it will be. I really like the Panthers tonight, and it's one of those games as well where I think that Monster might struggle, think that the Storm could even struggle if they don't turn up. So yeah, I don't love it. But where I will support the Monster purchasing is to me, sometimes a pod purchase is also what else you get out of it, And what you get out of it is a five hundred and ten thousand dollars bargain. You know, you can get one hundred to one hundred and fifty k down great or even more from a cambell if you want to go down and use that money to get a short lane to an Angus Krichten or something. You know, if that's your team build and what you've got there, then that's where a Monster purchase becomes really beneficial. But you need to have the trades there, you know, to use that money. I wouldn't just be going a straight swap like Dylan Brown to Monster with your last trade or second last trade. It's probably just a wasted trade.

If you're doing that. Our code deal at the moment is an absolute river, so it's a dollar for the first month. Give it a test out while the Super Coach Finals are on. Just give it a crack. You get all the articles, all the projections, vice captaincy percentages, captaincy percentages, player ownership percentages. There's so much stuff in there, what people average at certain venues against certain oppositions. There is so much in there with Super Coach plus, and it's a dollar for the first month, so I think you would be mad not to try it out. It is time for our best bet of the week, brought to you, of course by the tabs. Enter all Same game MELTI build smartest same game multi is using stats and insights. Download the tab app today. Now my one I reckon Manly are going to absolutely dominate against the Warriors this weekend. Warriors have been They've been okay, but they've conceded a lot of points, particularly against in that Dolphins clash over the weekend. Plus it's at four points, so I've got Manly to win by fourteen, Turbo to score a try and Jason to score a try as well, paying three to fifty three.

Fifty.

I've gone for a bit more of a Hail Mary than Tommy, so yeah, I'm always safe, but my ones get up more from the night.

I'll dedicate my one to the Baha men who let the dogs out. Great tune from a while back. So let's go Kenry Benkstown border minus five and a half point line love it. Kick out a score anytime. And Ta hasn't scored for a couple of weeks. We haven't gotten a Jacob Karaz try for a couple of weeks now, so I like him to score in the first three and then Burton kick eight points of goals and for that you're gonna get nineteen.

Dollars ninety bucks. Kick our score, good.

Karaz, first three minus five and a half dogs, Burton kick your goals and we're away at ninety to one.

I'm pretty sure you've won at least a couple of your bets when you've beat on the show this year as well.

Sixty seven time works all the time, tom Well.

The only place to place those bets is, of course, on the tab app. What is gambling really costing you? For freeing confidential support? Call that number on screen or visit the website, So onto pods very important at this point of year because it can be that leg up that winsy you had to head final, or wins your fifty K in your case part of the week for you, who are you thinking?

Well, I've got to say that everyone's going to laugh at me. That no, because I do perpetuate a running joke about this strapping old winger who's around six foot six tall and plays for the Roosters, Daniel two Pero. Yeah, okay, you're going to play about six hundred and thirty K for him. I haven't mentioned him on the official show here very much at all. So it is two pos time. He has scored three doubles this year, and he normally averages between fifteen and twenty percent of his game is getting doubles actually, and he's already got fourteenth tries this year in eighteen games. He's last time this year Tom one hundred and eight points versus the Paramatta Eels. Who's he got this week Paramedter Eels at Arliott Stadium. So he's gone one hundred and eight, ninety nine and one thirty one in his three big games this year with doubles. I'm expecting a double this week. Three percent ownership overall, but if you're in the top one percent, one percent owned for Daniel two po with a great four week run home.

Okay, there you go. That's not a bad shout there. Mine is Fletcher Myers, who's been pretty impressive since it came in for the rabbit Os. Young gun who's kicking goals and he's fast. He outran Ryan Papenhausen over the weekend. I know perhaps had some injury issues, but still that's no mean feat. And if you're looking to free up cash, he is definitely the guy. I wouldn't be nothing out at this time of the year because we will be getting restings over the final few weeks and you may need to bring him into your seventeen, at which point the Rabbitos actually has some decent matchups as well. So don't go don't enough, go to Fletcher Meyers instead for the no go zone. What's the move this week that you're not liking? A popular move that you don't.

Want the top ten most popular trades at the moment, We've got a Ford in there, Max Plath, who has been killing it. You know, he toned up on the weekend he scored nineties a week before. He's got a three round average of nineties. I think it is at the moment, and it makes complete sense when you're looking at it. His numbers have been great lately. He's a hard worker. I don't like it. He's edging towards seven hundred thousand dollars in costs now and he's in a second or four position stack. We've got six seven guys that are all lade at the moment in the second ary forward spot, many of them with good draws, and he's been getting attacking stats lately, scored a try on the weekend. For his time, Plats is not going to do that much, and I just think in the last month of the season there's better investments to make, even if it is in your second ard.

A lot of people with ploth are probably buying him at five eight position. He's still available there isn't he.

Yeah, it might be a bit of that, but then what upside do you want for me? Your havel though? You know that's the big thing, because you don't want a base guy to go sixty five across the last month of the season.

Yeah. I kind of like Plath. I know he's expensive, but he's just always sniffing around. You're guaranteed fifty tackles and he's just always sniff around. I don't hate it, to be honest. My note goz On is selling Greg Marju very popular cell this week. I'm just going to sit him this week because it's a tough match up against Sharky's at Shark Park, so I don't think he goes particularly well this week. Then they've got a pretty good run home from there where he could score Ponger. We all, I thought that mars Hu's scores would go through the roof when Ponger came back. But it's the other winger who's been cashing in on the other side who's an absolute weapon in Fletcher Sharp, who could be a little bit of a pot himself. But mars you will be staying in my team, not in the seventeen, and then he can be a play for the final couple of rounds. Yeah.

So one thing that I would say with the Marju trade outs at the moment is I think that it's a lot based on last week's points and last week I think that you know, we've obviously got Sharps going four tries, but Ponger just kept lobbing it over there. It was an intentional game plan to smash the Tiger's left hand side. There's no other way around it. That's where they went all day. It hasn't been like that every single week where Marju has gotten that little ball, so I tend to think that that's going to turn around in the coming matchups against some weaker opposition.

He still had something like seventeen or eighteen runs, not his usual amount of tackle busts, which is why his scores down. But I mean it's Greg Marji. You know you're going to get some decent bas from him, and hopefully Ponger. I mean, Ponger's better side is probab left anyway, so hopefully he'll be getting some meat pies in the run home. And the Knights have to win, so I don't think Pongo will be getting arrested, and I think Marju can hopefully get a try or too in those last games.

It's also of his value too, like what are you going to get for five hundred and twenty thousand if you don't have a huge amount of bank. You know, I'm not liking some of the options with final trades at the moment, which I think could probably be better.

Served Captain Cy. The numbers are interesting this week, Tom Chaboi, which is the most popular at forty three percent. Nathan Cleary, A lot of people are avoiding as the straight Sea. We spoke about it before, only eighteen percent. For me, it'll be Tommy Turbo against the Warriors at four pints. I can't not do it, to be honest, I'd love to VC him and Captain Tedesko, but of course they're in the same position, so you.

Can't do it. Yeah, we're gonna have to change that in Supercoach next year, I think, Tom, I agree with you. I'd have to VC Cleary. I do think that you could go away from VC Cleary based on the numbers, and I don't think that that's suicide to do that. But Turbo and Teddy that's going to be the question for super Coaches this week. I think both are really really good options. And when I say really good options, I'm completely torn. I agree with you about four pints, Tom, but I'm leaning towards Teddy at ali Hans haven't decided yet, but Teddy at Alianz. I just have a feeling about him, and I told you I had nightmare, you know, for a week that I left the sea off him and he scored four hundred points. I'm going to have to think about it. I mean, I think I think both of those are really the prime options this week.

Well, what a night it would be if you pick up some free merch at our Merch drop six pm at the Entertainment Quarter right near Allian Stadium. Then you're rocking to the game your captain Tedesco and he comes out and cracks one hundred and fifty. What an evening that would be. Moving on to questions till the end of the show, bring home that crown, Barnsey. There's lots of love for you on here. Thoughts on mars You the Lomax, Well.

Mate, you this said trading, that's that's a pretty good trade.

Best guy to bring in, I think.

Yeah, I think particularly if it's a team that's not going to play Marju this week, or you have to play him and you don't think it's a good matchup, I think it's a really good trade. I do like holding marj you. I do agree with what Tom said, But with everybody that you think is a good hole there's always a team move that might be worth doing, and I think that that is that is worth doing. I think the Lomax over the last month of the season, he's going to score more than what Marja is.

Yeah, I mean he's actually I mean, he's pretty expensive, but he's actually had a good price for him compared to what he has been this year. Cody Walker or Hammers Tabuai Ferdo for last reserve. Hamma was quiet on the weekend in a game that there was a lot of attacking stats in, so I feel like he could be kind of dueful one this week.

I think he's due for one. I think the problem is that with Hammer he could get a double and score seventy.

Yeah.

I mean likewise, for Cody Walker, he's probably going to need eight entriasis to turn up this year the way it's going. But it's I'm all over, I'm all Cody Walker. I'm sorry Tigers fans, but if a team's playing you, I want a piece of it. And Cody Walker is the guy that's going to get those assists. Tom He's going to get those attacking stats. I reckon he's good for a try this week. Cody, and I really like him at lower ownership level too, So I'm playing Cody.

And the final question Luke Brooks as a pod. Now, I've really liked watching the Manly attack recently because there's just so many spots all over the field where they can attack from. A lot of the defense goes to Tommy Turboy, where that just means DC gets freed up or Luke Brooks gets freed up. And it's been in really good form recently, and he's actually been organizing that team and they've been using dce more as an instinctive player.

Yeah, so I'm going to give the compliment Sandwich here. I agree with you that he has looked a lot better and I think that he's helped mainly quite a bit. My problem is that super Coach doesn't give out points for organizing or better half play, and that's the issue for me with Brooks. I wouldn't touch him with a ten foot poll. Don't you how good the drawer is. He could have near a man of the match performance and struggle to get to sixty points. So I think that he will play well in the next month. I don't think he'll be a good super Coach option, especially compared to what else you could do with that trade.

Well, that is it for our preview podcast. Massive good luck to you Barnsey on the way home. I hope you can bring home the fifty k. Get to our merger drop at the Entertainment Quarter six pm before that Roosters game this weekend. Good luck catch a ladder

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