NRL Round 11: Team news and SuperCoach trade tips

News.com.au

13-05-2025

Hello, my name is Rob, and I'm a SuperCoach trade-a-holic.
Even though my team is sitting pretty and basking in the muted glory of the first 1,600+ score of the season, I still spent more of my Monday than I'm comfortable admitting - outside of this safe space - refreshing the SuperCoach app waiting for the chance to trade this week.
But I'm trying to kick the habit and (this is a risky thing for someone running a trade Q&A to write) I think you should too.
I'm not advocating we go cold turkey.
I'm all for trading away injured players like Greg Marzhew and Matty Nicholson - even if I'm not so bullish on the most popular Nicholson replacement.
But be careful of trying to predict Origin teams and trading early - every SuperCoach veteran has horror stories about late injuries or surprise 18th man selections blowing up in their faces.
And I'm taking a stand against one of the most popular trades of the round. Which is where I might as well start my Buy/Sell analysis...
TRADE ANALYSIS
Nathan Cleary out - Nicho Hynes in: This is the third most popular trade of the round, and I think it's a mistake (of sorts).
Which is not to say Hynes is a bad player to own. He's not. Averaging 73.3PPG, Hynes is behind only Cleary in terms of season average and his superb recent form has him rocking a 3RA of 90.3PPG.
And Cleary is on a bye this week then would appear to be a lock to win State of Origin selection which means he misses this week and next week too.
But let's take a look over the next 3-4 weeks to see how the two players might fare.
In the shortest of short terms it's clearly advantage Hynes with the Sharks halfback playing round 11 (against the miserly Storm) and round 12 (against the Roosters who will be missing all their Origin players) while Cleary plays neither.
But extend your horizon and the comparison gets tighter.
In round 13 Hynes is on a bye and Cleary (who would have four days between Origin I and this match) has a juicy matchup against the lowly Eels. Big advantage Cleary.
In round 14 Hynes plays the red hot Warriors, Cleary plays the stone cold Tigers - again, advantage Cleary.
Then in round 15 Cleary is on a bye again while Hynes plays the Dragons - and as we revealed here Panthers Origin players have to be considered highly unlikely to play round 16 too. Big advantage Hynes.
In summary I'd argue that the Cleary to Hynes trade is a good one, but the ideal timing (provided you can cover the round 12 bye) is after round 15 not now.
OTHER TRADES
Zac Hosking - The Raider is a VERY popular buy and I feel like this might be a bit of a hype play it also ticks plenty of boxes. The medium term job security looks solid with Hosking expected to move to the Raiders' right edge in place of an injured Matty Nicholson. The medium term draw is okay too with the Raiders covering both the round 12 and round 18 byes - though they miss round 15. He does run a nice line, and he gets through a decent amount of work for an edge forward. But, when Hosking does not score is he really in your top-17? I'd argue not. He's not really an offloader. He's not much of a tackle buster. When he does not score Hosking will get you a pretty safe 50-60 points. That's okay, but not top-17. For which you are paying $500K. That's okay, but there's not much upside. Pass for mine.
Dylan Lucas - Was tipped to score a try against the lightweight right edge of the Titans and he duly delivered. Has scored 75+ in four of his five games this year and seems to be the safest of safe CTWs. The Knights have a great draw playing every game up until the round 18 bye. Buy.
Fletcher Sharpe - Sticking with the Knights, Sharpe also enjoyed the Titans game scoring a try, setting up another and adding three more offloads to his growing tally in that stat area. Sharpe's price is getting a little awkward and will go up again thanks to his 128 point thumper against the Rabbitohs at magic round so while he's still a 'Buy' I can see why some might pivot and hunt for more value.
Lyhkan King-Togia - The Dragons were outplayed early by the Warriors in round 10 but battled back to make a game of it and the rookie half did not disgrace himself with 33 points and a try-assist via a deft little kick near the line. Has not set the world on fire in his opening two games, but has been pretty darn good and with a BE of -51 just needs a bit of attacking luck to go his way to make us $100-120K. Absent the luck we've burned two trades on a guy who does not cover the round 12 bye. Not a great buy, but not a bad one either.
Herbie Farnworth - He might not have monstrous games in him, but Herbie rarely has a bad one either. Farnworth rocks the second-best base/power average at the CTW position thanks to a very good base and excellent offload/tackle bust numbers. Covers the first two byes and is a good buy for those looking to offload the likes of Greg Marzhew. Good buy.
Erin Clark - Has absolutely flourished at the Warriors and in his past four games (in which he has played 60+ minutes) he is averaging 60PPG in base and 83PPG total. Another whose price is reaching awkward levels and there's little value here and while he covers the first big bye he does not cover rounds 15 or 18. Not a great buy, but he is the one I am making this week as a result of needing to move Greg Marzhew on.
Corey Allan - Not looking horrible on the Dragons left edge, Allan has a BE of -15 and should make buyers some money. But will he make enough before Christian Tuipulotu returns from his hamstring injury after the round 12 bye? Probably not - pass.
Ryan Papenhuyzen - Was sublime on the weekend scoring three tries in the blink of an eye and booting a million goals to finish with 182 points. The Sharks this week will be a tougher test than the Tigers provided and then has a round 12 bye (misses round 15 too). Great Ponga replacement.
Jahrome Hughes - I sold Hughes prior to the juicy matchup because I was worried about the shoulder injury he was carrying. On the one hand it worked okay because I got Fletcher Sharpe in Hughes' place and Hughes was limited to just 67 minutes as the Storm continue to nurse him along. On the other hand, Hughes scored 105 points before he was rested. The injury still has me worried. Pass.
Briton Nikora - Available for $140K less than his starting price and that's largely down to a drop in his base workrate (Nikora averaged 45.5 in base in 2024 but is averaging 38.2 in base in 2025). Not super safe, but if Erin Clark's price tag is scaring you off and you wanted to zig while others Hosking-zag then there's still value at this price.
Scott Drinkwater - The run numbers have increased, the try assists are flowing like cheap wine. But is priced like a bottle of Penfolds Grange. In scintillating form and covers round 15 and 18 byes but oh that price. I feel those who did not buy yet (like me) have to let Drinky go as there's no value there.
Savelio Tamale - Is being pretty widely sold with people cashing in on the $330K profit generated so far. With the Titans this week, then playing the round 12 the week after I'm holding. It could cost you some money - or he could score a brace against the Gold Coast and his price goes on another run.
Greg Marzhew - Injured, sell.
- Injured, sell.