Tackles and Tinnies with Ryan Firehock

So this week’s Fantasy Files is a solo pod, with Ryan ripping through every team from the official NRL Round 4 team lists and breaking down the SuperCoach names that actually matter. The NRL’s Round 4 lists were published on 25 March 2026, and they still reflect the new setup where clubs can name six players on the bench but only four can enter the game, which Ryan reckons is already impacting minutes, roles, and scoring early in the season. 

We get into:

• Ryan’s solo trade plan for Round 4
• the key SuperCoach players from every team
• the best buy / hold / sell calls
• injury hits and late team-list implications
• how the early rule changes are affecting scores
• the best captaincy options for Round 4
• why it’s time to use those boosts
• and why you still need to save a couple for Rounds 7 and 8

Cap or Fact: if you’re not boosting around Round 4, you’re already behind.

Drop your trades in the comments: Who’s your best buy, biggest sell, and who gets the captain’s armband this week? Tell Ryan if he’s building nicely… or absolutely cooked.

This week on Tackles & Tinnies, Ryan and Chris are officially at that point of the season where patience starts disappearing and the boost button starts looking very, very attractive.

For Round 3, the boys are ready to pull the trigger on three trades — but for very different reasons. Ryan’s got money in the bank and is working through a smart 2–3 week restructure to fix the balance of his side, while Chris is fully locked in on the negative breakeven brigade and wants to jump early before the cash starts flying.

So now the big SuperCoach questions hit:
who’s a hold,
who’s carrying a massive breakeven and becoming a sell,
and which blokes are about to make serious cash if you move now?

On top of the trade chaos, the boys also break down the best captaincy options for Round 3 — safe plays, ceiling plays, and the guys who could either win you the week or absolutely bury you.

We get into:

• why both boys are ready to activate the boost
• Ryan’s plan to fix his team structure over the next 2–3 weeks
• Chris chasing the best negative BE cash cows and value buys
• the biggest hold / sell / buy calls heading into Round 3
• which players are about to make bulk cash
• the dangerous trap of chasing points too hard
• the premium guns with a big breakeven and real sell pressure
• Round 3 captaincy options: safest picks vs high-upside plays
• whether aggressive trading early is smart… or just pure emotional damage
• the moves that could set up your season — or completely cook it

Cap or Fact: using your boost in Round 3 is the smartest way to get ahead of the pack.

Drop your trades in the comments:
Who’s your best buy, who’s your biggest sell, and who are you captaining this week? Tell us if Ryan and Chris are seeing it clearly… or completely cooked.

This week on Tackles & Tinnies, Ryan and Chris rip through the biggest news around the grounds before diving headfirst into the weekly SuperCoach addiction spiral.

We get into the noise around the Brisbane Broncos — what the Payne Haas situation means for the club, whether the pressure is starting to show, and how much of Brisbane’s issues are actually footy… versus everything happening around them.

Then we talk the build-up to Rabbitohs vs Roosters, the hype around Alex Johnston’s record chase, and whether fans storming the field would be an all-time moment… or an all-time disaster.

Then it flips into full SuperCoach mode.

Ryan and Chris break down the key players to:

• trade
• buy
• hold
• watch

There’s talk around blokes like Jacob Laban, Jonah Pezzet, and Daniel Atkinson, plus the bigger question every coach is asking right now: when do you stay patient… and when do you feed the addiction and make the move?

Ryan’s dangerously close to a full rage trade + boost week, and Chris is doing his best to figure out whether it’s strategy… or pure emotional damage.

Cap or Fact: most SuperCoach coaches ruin their season in the first month by chasing points and trading angry.

Drop your trade plans in the comments — who’s a buy, who’s a sell, and is Ryan completely cooked for wanting to boost already?

Chapters:

00:00 Brisbane Broncos Turmoil

02:41 Alex Johnson Field Storming

05:26 Super Coach Strategies and Rankings

08:40 Player Performance Analysis

11:14 Cheapie Insights and Recommendations

14:00 Trade Decisions and Team Management

17:06 Upcoming Matches and Predictions

19:40 Final Thoughts on Player Selection

31:26 Navigating Player Trades and Injuries

34:06 Chasing Break Evens: The Case of Brayden Trindle

40:15 Evaluating Jackson Purdue and Other Players

46:57 Fullback Performance and Future Prospects

53:40 Strategising Captaincy Choices for Upcoming Matches

In this episode, Ryan and Chris go through the Round 1 teams and break down all the relevant SuperCoach angles: who’s named where, which roles matter, who’s a trap, who’s value, and what you actually do with the new info instead of tilting into 47 trades before kickoff.

We also talk Vegas Round specifically — what it means for minutes, scoring, selection surprises, and the blokes you either start with… or end up chasing by Round 3.

And yep — we both reveal our final SuperCoach teams. No more “early drafts” and “maybe this changes”… these are the squads we’re riding into Round 1 with.

Plus, Ryan cannot help himself… he’s still sledging Nicho Hynes (respectfully, of course 😈).

We get into:

• Round 1 team list reactions (positional changes, bench roles, surprise omissions)
• Cheapies who are actually playable vs bait
• Captaincy thoughts for Round 1 + Vegas variables
• CTW strategy and why centres/roles matter more than ever
• Final team reveals: structure, cash-gen plans, and upgrade paths
• The Nicho chat: Is he a must, a fade, or a “wait and see” since Jayden Campbell is injured?

Cap or Fact: The biggest Round 1 SuperCoach mistake is thinking you need to win the season in Week 1. 👇
Drop your final team confidence level and your biggest Round 1 lock in the comments.

In this episode, Ryan breaks down the 2025 story properly — the patchy start, the Origin surge, the finals run, and what it all says about 2026 under Madge (tighten the standards without killing the chaos that makes Brisbane lethal).

We get into:

• 2025 snapshot: why #2 attack / #7 defence tells the whole story
• The spine/pack that drives the window: Walsh + Mam + Reynolds + Haas + Carrigan
• Managing Reynolds: do they go “all-in” again or start handing more keys to the next-gen
• The Haas news and what it means: if he’s genuinely leaving in 2027, the “Haas window” for Brisbane becomes very real — list management, middle depth, and how you replace something you can’t actually replace
• World Club Challenge reality check: the Hull loss and that habit of trying to run teams down late — what it says about standards and starting games properly
• 2026 projected 17/19 + selection battles (including Mozer minutes, back five shake-ups)
• Ladder call: 2nd–3rd (locked at 2nd) — still a grand final-level threat if the key guys stay healthy

Cap or Fact: “Defence is their biggest question… but the Haas window is now.”
Broncos fans — where do you have Brisbane finishing in 2026, and what’s the one thing that decides it? 👇

Chapters:

• 00:00 Introduction and Technical Difficulties 
• 02:42 Brisbane Broncos 2025-2026 Overview 
• 06:03 Coaching Changes and Team Dynamics 
• 08:52 Key Players and Their Impact 
• 11:38 Defensive Strategies and Challenges 
• 14:50 Injuries and Player Management 
• 17:39 2026 Season Predictions and Roster Changes 
• 20:53 Payne Haas Departure and Its Implications 
• 23:36 World Club Challenge Insights 
• 26:35 Strength of Schedule Analysis 
• 29:42 Projected Starting Lineup 
• 32:28 Final Thoughts and Predictions"

Melbourne were still pure premiership tier in 2025 — 2nd, 17 wins, +212… best differential in the comp — and it still stung because they didn’t finish the job. The vibe all year was simple: Bellamy’s still got it… but the spine couldn’t stay fully healthy together when it mattered.

In this episode of our 17-part 2026 mini-series, we rip into:

• 2025 identity: classic Storm ruthlessness + elite defence… with a few big-game leaks
• The end of an era: Welch retired, Papenhuyzen released, NAS released — what that means culturally and on-field
• The Zac Lomax situation: court dates, compensation drama, and why it’s become a full standoff
• 2026 draw: 8th-hardest, no bye until Round 15, brutal start, tough run home — but two Origin byes is massive
• Projected best 17: Fa’alogo, Munster/Hughes/Grant, and how they cover Katoa out
• My call: Storm finish ... — still in the premiership picture, but the churn + schedule makes it a grind.

Cap or Fact: Storm stay a top-4 defence even without NAS/Paps?
Storm fans — where’ve you got Melbourne finishing in 2026? 👇

Chapters

00:00Introduction to the Melbourne Storm Review

01:142025 Season Overview and Performance Analysis

04:44Coaching Insights and Future Prospects

05:08The Zach Lomax Situation: Legal and Contractual Issues

12:40Player Transfers and Roster Changes for 2026

17:00Key Players and Their Impact on the Team

20:27Expectations and Disappointments from the Season

24:55Key Moments and Highlights from 2025

25:19Ryan Pappenhausen's Record-Breaking Performance

26:29Grand Final Qualifier Highlights

27:21Harry Grant's Golden Boot Controversy

27:50Analyzing the Strength of Schedule

29:10Key Opponents and Team Analysis

30:49Predictions for the 2026 Season

33:50New Rules and Player Rotations

39:32Projected Starting Lineup

43:182026 Ladder Predictions and Key Storylines

Ryan's team reveal #3 is live, and he's gone with a strategy that’s either elite… or criminal.

The plan: spend big in almost every position so I’ve got maximum flexibility when the price changes hit. I don’t want to be trapped holding mid-rangers — I want options.

The big swing? I’ve gone super cheap at halfback because I’m backing Atkinson + Saunders to make at least $200K each. If they do their job, I can upgrade hard later without burning trades.

Then there’s the spicy part: I’ve gone massive at CTW because:

• CTW is where seasons get cooked (weekly 25s are a disease)
• I’d rather start with guns and downgrade later than chase my tail

And here’s the chess move: if Tom Chester holds his spot by Round 3 (with Laybutt suspended), I can downgrade my “worst” gun CTW… and turn that cash into a premium halfback upgrade — we’re talking a $400–$500K swing.

We break down the full squad, the logic behind the picks, and the upgrade paths.

Cap or Fact: spending up early is the safest way to stay flexible when the bubble boys pop. 👇
Be honest — is this team any good? What should I change?

Rating: 7.6/10 — good bones, but one tweak away from being cooked.

• Halfback cheapies: love the cash-gen plan… but if Atkinson/Saunders don’t hit, you’re eating two donuts and a sideways trade.
• CTW loaded: smart because CTW is pain… but you’ve left yourself basically zero room for a forced premium elsewhere.
• Chester upgrade path: elite if he’s named… but if he’s not, your “400–500k swing” becomes “400–500k cope.”

Drop your fixes in the comments — and tell me the one player I’m missing that’s a must-have.

#NRLSuperCoach #SuperCoach2026 #TacklesAndTinnies

The Raiders were the 2025 minor premiers — and now the question is simple: was that the ceiling… or the new standard? In this episode of our 17-part 2026 NRL mini-series, Ryan breaks down how Canberra got to 1st (19 wins) and why 2026 might be the year they turn “regular season bullies” into the real deal when it matters.

We get into:

• What made the Raiders so hard to play against in 2025 (and what still worries us)
• Recruitment & depth moves: Ethan Sanders, Myles Martin, Savelio Tamale added, plus Josh Papali’i locked in for 2026
• 2026 Strength of Schedule: SOS rank 14 (easier), and the teams they play twice (including Sharks, Bulldogs, Panthers, Storm, Rabbitohs)
• The key mid-year stretch Ricky has circled before Origin bites
• Ladder prediction: Ryan’s call has Canberra finishing 4th — but “receipts will be kept.”

Raiders fans — Cap or Fact: 2025 proved you’re a top-4 lock… or 2026 exposes it? Drop your ladder spot in the comments. 🟢⚪️💬

The Bulldogs in 2025 were one of the most fascinating watches in the comp — because the footy was improving… but the identity kept getting rewired mid-season.In this episode of our 2026 team-by-team mini series, Ryan breaks down the Dogs’ 2025 and asks the big question: did they change too much, too often… or was it the exact flexibility that’s building a contender?

We get into:
- The mid-season spine shake-up: Galvin’s inclusion and whether it squeezed out Sexton’s steady-hand control
- The hooker call: Bailey Hayward starting and what that meant for Reed Mahoney’s role
- The shape shift: Stephen Crichton playing “fullback in attack” with Connor Tracey sliding to centre in the red zone
- Whether all those tweaks lifted their ceiling… or hurt cohesion when games got tight
- Who exceeded expectations vs who’s “on notice” heading into 2026
- The Dogs’ projected best 17/19 with the new rule — and the selection pressure points
- A clear 2026 outlook: what has to improve for them to be a legit finals threat, not just a vibes team

Cap or Fact: the Bulldogs didn’t have a “form” problem in 2025 — they had a continuity problem. 👇

Dogs fans: was the Galvin/Hayward/Crichton role shuffle genius or too much change? And where do you have Canterbury finishing in 2026?

It’s draft season and Ryan’s done the full autopsy. In this episode, he goes team-by-team through all 12 coaches and breaks down the first three rounds of picks — player by player — to see who actually built a weapon… and who’s already cooked before kickoff.

This is a proper draft board breakdown:

• Each team’s build + structure (where they went heavy, where they got cute)
• Round 1 anchors: who nailed the safe floor vs who chased ceiling
• Round 2/3 value: steals, reaches, and the first real “uh oh” picks
• The logic behind the picks: role, price, points upside, and scarcity
• Early-season strategy: how these squads set up for trades/waivers and captain loops

And yes… we address the big one:

Did Ryan draft Kiraz too early in Round 2? 😈

Cap or Fact: one “reach” in the first three rounds can ruin your whole season. 👇
Tell us who drafted the best team… and be honest — was Kiraz a cooked pick or a genius play?