NRL SuperCoach Round 25 players to watch, match centres, weather and tips
If you're still in head-to-head finals for NRL SuperCoach, you may need a point of difference to get the W. Here's some of the players who should be on your radar if you want to win your Round 25 matchup.
Thursday, August 20
Melbourne Storm vs Penrith Panthers, AAMI Park, 7.50pm AEST
Melbourne weather - game time: Shower or two
Player of interest: Casey McLean is back on deck after a thumb injury and is a handy 521k for anyone who can offload Reece Walsh at Flex. He has been a frustrating own since peaking at 736k in Round 6, which shows us his potential. McLean is unlikely to rest and is surprisingly still held by 6.7% of coaches, making him a solid option with some point of difference.
Friday, August 21
Canberra Raiders vs Brisbane Broncos, Papa's House, 6pm AEST
Canberra weather - game time: Possible shower
Player of interest: 6pm Friday in Canberra. Papa’s House against the struggling Broncos. Kaeo Weekes has not shown upside this year, but considering he got four tons last year, he’s due, and there could not be a better fixture. If you have the trades, he could be worth getting for this one week to get you through.
Dolphins vs Parramatta Eels, Suncorp Stadium, 8pm AEST
Brisbane weather - game time: Clear
Player of interest: Can Kulikefu Finefeuiaki succeed where Heilum Luki failed last week? Fine owners are the skeleton meme waiting for him to crash over for a major attacking stat and there's no better time than on a clear Friday night at Suncorp Stadium against an Eels side deficient against the position.
Saturday, August 20
Newcastle Knights vs Manly Sea Eagles, McDonald Jones Stadium, 3pm AEST
Newcastle weather - game time: Shower or two
Player of interest: How much of a sucker for punishment are you? Tom Trbojevic is back and owned by a handful of the top 10%. While he has the No.1 on his back, consider he may actually be in the front line ballplaying and defending, mostly due to the fact No.6 Clayton Faulalo is a turnstile. Or would it be rose-tinted to say it protects his high re-injury risk? But he might not be the most reliable Trbojevic running out there this weekend. Now second row is pretty stacked, but the numbers don’t lie. Before his concussion affected games, Ben Trbojevic was rocking a five-round average of 80 and was doing the business for the bye kings Tubes PODs. He could be a hidden gem.
South Sydney Rabbitohs vs New Zealand Warriors, Accor Stadium, 5.30pm AEST
Sydney Olympic Park weather - game time: Shower or two
Player of interest: Picture this: It’s Saturday afternoon, your matchup is looking grim. You have traded Reece Walsh to another asset playing in a later game. You had 500k in the bank to spend on a Hail Mary (ha ha). And at 4pm, you see Latrell Mitchell is starting for the Bunnies. You use the update trade feature to bring him in. If this is you, it’s meant to be.
St George-Illawarra Dragons vs Canterbury Bulldogs, Allianz Stadium, 7.35pm AEST
Sydney weather - game time: Shower or two
Player of interest: The left side of the Bulldogs is well positioned to feast against an albeit much improved Dragons team. The data points to Matt Burton being the centre of attention either scoring or assisting - as long as they can pry a telegraphed short ball or two away from Lachlan Galvin on the other side.
Sunday, August 20
Gold Coast Titans vs Cronulla Sharks, Cbus Super Stadium, 2pm AEST
Gold Coast weather - game time: Possible shower
Player of interest: A few people have Briton Nikora sitting on their bench, but this could be the week to play him. The Titans showed their susceptibility to the position when they struggled to contain Jermaine McEwen last week and Nikora is coming off a 74 that contained a line break as his only attacking stat. The only question is over whether he plays 80 with the make-up of the Sharks bench.
Sydney Roosters vs Wests Tigers, Allianz Stadium, 4.05pm AEST
Sydney weather - game time: Possible shower
Player of interest: Turns out Billy Smith is actually good at football once he can string a few games together. His form is almost enough to forget the man he replaced. Smith has three tons in his last six games and the Tigers are one of the worst form teams of the competition against left wingers. The only problem is big Billy is north of 700k. The good thing is no one will have him. Smith is in fact the fourth highest Ballr projected CTW of the round with 79.
Make sure you enjoy every moment of Round 25 thanks to the fantastic in-game experience of the updated Ballr NRL Match Centre, including the My Team feature to follow your scores, key team stats and a match timeline so you don't miss a thing!