KFC SuperCoach NRL: How to Prepare for the Byes in 2023

Let’s take a look at how the byes are spread across the season and how the revised State of Origin schedule is impacting clubs.

Then finally what it all means for KFC SuperCoach NRL players and our bye planning.

THE BASICS

With the introduction of the Dolphins, the NRL has an odd number of clubs and so each team will have three byes in 2023.

Two byes are bundled around the middle of the year to minimize the impact of Origin (more on that below), with the remaining byes spread across the rounds (e.g. the Dragons get theirs in round one, while the Eels get theirs in round one). get 27).

THE RULES

In the “big” farewell rounds – 13, 16, and 19 – you can make up to three trades per round, with up to five trade boosts available again.

There will be a new “Best 13 Scoring” rule for the three major bye rounds (13, 16 and 19). In these rounds you only score with your best 13 players from your selected starting XI. You still need to ensure that your best available players are in your starting 17 as in every other round, however all teams will be ranked based on the highest scoring 13 out of the selected 17.

TIMING IS EVERYTHING

The Titans rush through their byes, missing round 5, then 13 and “playing” their last bye in round 16. The Sharks are all done with byes in round 17.

Conversely, the Rabbitohs don’t start their byes until round 16 and then miss rounds 20 and 26; The Broncos are another late starter missing rounds 16, 19 and 25.

The Storm has a nice even spread, missing rounds 9, then 13, then 19.

In short, there is a lot of variety. For the more visually savvy, I’ve put all the byes in a graphic – it’s not the finest piece of visual art ever made, but I’m a word guy, so my apologies in advance.

ORIGIN SCHEDULE

For Origin in 2023, it’s going back to the future with no “Representative Round” and instead all three Origins will be played on a Wednesday.

Players selected for Origin are not available in the pre-game round.

For example, SOO1 is scheduled for May 31st. Members of the Origin roster (likely including the 18th man) will not be able to play in the NRL in Round 13 (which runs Thursday, May 25 through Sunday, May 28) but will be available to play as substitutes for Round 14 if possible .

THE WINNERS OF THE ORIGINAL TIME

If you compare the Origin schedule to the bye information above, you can see that the NRL has been trying to cater to the Origin heavyweights, the Roosters, Panthers, Storm, Broncos and Titans.

I say “manage” because these are the five clubs that have two byes falling in rounds where Origin players are unavailable.

They also don’t have a bye on either side of rounds 13, 16, or 19.

THE ORIGIN PERIOD LOSERS

Many clubs have a reunion on either side of an Origin Blackout week between Rounds 13 and 19, the Eels have two.

* Eels (Bye Round 14 AND 18)

* Knight (Bye Round 14)

* Sea Eagle (Bye Round 14)

* Cowboys (Bye Round 15)

* Bulldogs (Bye Round 17)

* Sharks (Bye Round 17)

* Wests Tigers (Bye Round 17)

Three clubs have a bye that falls just before or after the Origin period

* Warrior (Bye Round 12)

* Rabbitohs (Bye Round 20)

* Raiders (Goodbye Round (20)

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR SUPERCOACH?

early goodbye

Rugby league has a habit of punishing those who try to plan too far into the future. But it’s no hubris to hope that the players we pick to start the season will stay injury-free for 6-8 weeks.

This makes starting the season with a player you know will be unavailable for a round in the first 6-8 weeks seem a bit silly; Well, it would be good if an equivalent replacement was available that didn’t miss a round for the first 6-8 weeks.

Let’s use Halfback as a test case.

The two elite halfbacks of 2022, Nicho Hynes and Nathan Cleary, will miss a game in the first two months (Cleary Rd 3 and Hynes in Rd 6).

The next best halfback of 2022, Mitch Moses, doesn’t have a bye until round 14.

So choose Moses right? Maybe not.

If they play every minute of regular time for the first eight rounds, Hynes and Cleary play 12.5% ​​fewer minutes than Moses.

And assuming (I know, I know, history is no guarantee of future performance, but stick with me for the sake of argument) all players replicated their 2022 averages, then Moses would have 562 points in eight games. While Cleary would score 559 points and Hynes would score 601 points in just seven games.

Yes, Hynes and Cleary cost more, quite a bit more, but don’t try to derail my point with facts.

And I have a point – where you have an equivalent replacement, say you choose between two reliable base stat strikers with similar profiles (for the sake of argument, Josh King and Tom Gilbert), then you would choose the guy who did NOT has bye.

While the impact of an early departure is far less if you’re choosing between the leading stars you choose to stay with for the whole season (Hynes/Cleary/Tedesco/Mitchell, etc.).

origin planning

At this point, I think there can be more value in thinking carefully about the timing of the farewell. No matter how good a season is for Junior Paulo, there is no way I would add him to my team after round 10. Assuming he’s picked for the Blues, not only will he miss rounds 13, 16 and 17, but he will miss rounds 14 and 18 as well.

In a seven-round period, each Eel selected for all three Origin matches only plays two games (in SuperCoach).

Each Origin representative of the teams that have a bye within the Origin period (Knights, Sea Eagles, Cowboys, Bulldogs, Sharks, and Wests Tigers) will only play three games over a seven-round period.

For comparison, the “winners” of Origin Bye (Roosters, Panthers, Storm, Broncos, and Titans) have their players available for four games over the seven rounds.

Warriors, Rabbitohs, and Raiders players playing all three Origins will play four games over an eight-round period.

Fear the early fuse

My final note relates to the players who have been asked to transfer from Origin to Club Footy. The following clubs play in the round after an Origin match on Friday, giving players less than 48 hours to recover between games.

West’s Tigers (Rd 14) AND (Rd 20)

Hunter (Rd 14)

Dragons (Rd 17)

Warrior (Rd 17)

Knight (Rd 20)

Originally published as KFC SuperCoach NRL: How to Prepare for the Byes in 2023