Ballr NRL SuperCoach Team List Tuesday podcast analyses NRL Round 18
The last major bye round is here for NRL SuperCoach and it's harder than expected after some surprise Origin call-ups. Jono, Cmac and Dan are here to help.
The Ballr NRL SuperCoach podcast crew of Jono, CMac and Dan broke down the final major bye round of the season ahead of Round 18, covering essential trade targets, captaincy options and risky "rage trades" to avoid.
Captaincy options for Round 18
With no bye-affected sit-starts needed this week, the trio zeroed in on vice-captain and captain combinations. Dylan Edwards was flagged as a volatile vice-captaincy play against an understrength Rabbitohs outfit, while Terrell May copped some hesitation purely because his Wests Tigers clash with the Dragons falls in the second game of the round, locking owners into using him as a VC rather than full captain.
The panel agreed a vice-captain score of at least 120 from May would be needed to justify pulling the captaincy off a higher-upside option later in the round.
The standout captaincy picks discussed were Nicho Hynes in his second game back from injury against the Broncos, and Herbie Farnworth, who plays the last game of the round against a Newcastle side missing some key personnel.
Tom Trbojevic also generated plenty of debate as the round's most popular new trade-in target, with the panel split on backing him for the captaincy against Parramatta given his injury history, despite his strong scoring potential.
Essential trades for the run home
A major theme of the episode identified which players are genuinely essential to own for the back end of the season versus those who simply have upside.
Payne Haas and Terrell May were named the two must-have front row forwards, with the panel confident Brisbane will continue to lean heavily on Haas's minutes.
In the second row, Haumole Olakau'atu and Hudson Young got the nod, while Dylan Lucas at 788k was discussed as a heavily traded-in option on the back of eight tries in 12 games.
The panel debated whether his scoring has been slightly inflated by tries rather than consistent base output.
Mark Nawaqanitawase and Tallis Duncan also featured prominently in the centre and second-row discussion, with Duncan's scoring volatility noted as a trade-off for his high ceiling.
Warning: Cause for pause
On the sell side, the crew flagged Jayden Campbell as one to avoid making a rash decision on, especially now he's available at 5/8th after dual position update.
Anyone eyeing Joey Walsh was urged to be cautious given role and performance uncertainty - the crew reinforcing that premium halfback and fullback spots remain the priority positions to lock down heading into the SuperCoach run home.
Make sure you enjoy every moment of Round 18 thanks to the jaw-dropping 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!