NRL SuperCoach guide: Picking your team

I have two favourite conversation starters at this time of the year. The first is, “which rugby league team do you support?”

If the person I am speaking with says Parramatta, Newcastle, the Tigers or Raiders, I know they’re a friend. If they say Manly or Melbourne, that’s my cue to walk away.

The other is, “do you play NRL SuperCoach?” If you had asked me this question two years ago, I would have looked at you blankly. But after my first season in 2015, I was hooked and each year, Mary’s Magic Men present themselves ready for another big season on the field.

For those of you who are new to SuperCoach NRL, powered by OTEN TAFE NSW, the second challenge you have to overcome (after you pick a team name) is team selection.

In SuperCoach, the goal is to get as many points as you can from the 17 players that start in your 25-man roster. Points are accumulated based on a scoring system that includes 17 points for a try, 12 points for a try assist, ten points for a line break and four for a goal. So understanding the point-scoring criterion is absolutely fundamental if you are playing NRL SuperCoach to win.

Throughout the year, your roster will change in value depending on the points each player gets above their break-even. If a player accumulates points well above the level expected of his price, his value will go up, and vice versa.

As the NRL rounds progress and the value of your players change, your mission is to slowly improve your roster and have 20 gun players for the final six rounds of the season.

So to get you started and help you lift your game, here are my top four tips to help you select the strongest team possible ahead of the first game on March 2.

Variety is the spice of life
The salary cap for SuperCoach in 2017 is $7 million. Each SuperCoach will start with this salary cap at the start of the season, but as player value begins to fluctuate, so will your salary cap. The goal is to have players that will increase in value so your salary cap continues to rise as the season progresses.

When you pick an initial team, make sure it has a mix of players. You want a team that includes some seasoned SuperCoach performers that will be consistently high points-scorers throughout the year (like Sam Burgess and Andrew Fifita) and some rookies who, fingers crossed, will also increase in value throughout the season. There are also players returning after injury or absence, like Roger Tuivasa-Scheck and Jarryd Hayne, who are very attractively priced.

You should be able to pick a squad of close to ten or 11 ‘keepers’ (players you will keep all year barring injury), five to six players who are solid (but not players you will keep for the whole season) and eight or nine players who are on the cheaper end (including rookies). While rookies are important (and at this stage, Jai Field looks like he will be starting), you should not count on more than four or five of them to be chosen first round.

Despite this, there are plenty of cheaper-end players, like Kane Elgey, Shaun Lane, Brock Lamb, Cameron King and Jarrad Kennedy, who can supplement your higher-end players.

Do your homework
The undoing of most SuperCoaches throughout the year are the bye rounds. These typically fall around State of Origin time and mean a number of players are unavailable for your team.

As with most things in life, research is key in SuperCoach and it’s never too early to start planning for these rounds.

When you pick your initial squad, you should aim to have eight players that are very likely to be playing in the first bye round. Look to the players from the Eels and Rabbitohs, because these teams have the most favourable bye coverage.

Remember that trades are limited each week, so if your team is full of players that will not play in the bye round, it is unlikely you will have a full squad. You can’t win NRL SuperCoach if you do not have at least 14 players playing each bye round. If you are clever and conserve your trades properly, the four trades you get before each of the big bye rounds should be enough to get you through.

Avoid dud players
Just because someone is a good NRL player does not mean they will automatically be an excellent SuperCoach player. The types of players you should look to avoid are ‘simply organisers’ who don’t necessarily have a high work-rate; players with poor attacking stats, or players that are injury prone.

Players you should avoid at all costs include Trent Hodkinson, Beau Scott, Benji Marshall, Curtis Sironen and Nate Myles.

Select the players that will earn you points
I know that this one seems obvious, but when picking your initial team, it’s really important to have an understanding of the points system for SuperCoach, which is weighted heavily in favour of attacking players.

For example, a try is worth 17 points, a line-break is worth ten points and a try assist is worth 12 points. Alternatively, a tackle is only worth a single point.

Make sure the players you pick for your starting squad are attacking ones who are likely to play the full 80 minutes.

A forward who is a tackling machine, makes plenty of metres and has the occasional offload leading to a line break is gold and is exactly the sort of player that will earn you points. Think of players like Trent Merrin, Bryce Cartwright, Sam Burgess, James ‘Teddy’ Tedesco and Shaun Johnson.

To help you get started, here are the first three players that I will be picking in my 2017 team: Sam Burgess, Jarryd Hayne and Nathan Cleary.

All the very best in selecting your other players. May the best and bravest OTEN TAFE NRL SuperCoach win.

OTEN is the TAFE NSW Online Training and Education Network. OTEN TAFE can help you achieve your personal development and career goals through its nationally accredited online training programs. With a little bit of considered research and careful study, you can lift your game in 2017.