In NRL SuperCoach, every player has a price. Your job before the season starts is to build a squad of players within a set budget. Understanding how pricing works - both before the season and during it - is one of the most important skills you can develop as a coach.
Your Budget
Every coach starts the 2026 season with a salary cap of $11.95 million, up from $11.80 million in 2025 to mirror the rise in player payments across the NRL. You use this budget to select your full squad of 26 players before the season begins. Every player in the game has a price that reflects their performance from the previous season, and your challenge is to build the best possible team without going over the cap.
Your Squad
You select 26 players in total across your squad. Of those, 18 are selected each round to be active for scoring, and of those 18 the lowest individual score automatically drops out - meaning your final weekly score is made up of your best 17 performers.
Your remaining players outside of your starting 18 act as your bench and provide crucial depth across the season. Injuries, suspensions, and bye rounds are inevitable, and having quality backup options can be the difference between a competitive week and a disaster. Ideally your bench players are not just fillers - they should be players who are earning cash through strong performances, which we will cover in more detail in the strategy chapter.
How Prices Change During the Season
Player prices are not fixed for the whole season. They change week to week based on how players are actually performing relative to what they were priced to score. If a player is consistently scoring more points than their price suggests they should, their price will rise. If they are underperforming, their price will fall. These price changes create opportunities - buying a player before their price rises locks in a cheaper entry point, and selling a player before their price drops protects the value in your team.
It is worth noting that a player must play a minimum of three games before they begin to experience price changes. After that, prices shift weekly based on a three round rolling average of their scores.
Breakevens
Every player has what is called a breakeven - the score they need to reach in a given round to keep their price stable. If they score above their breakeven, their price goes up. If they score below it, their price goes down.
For example, if a player has a breakeven of 65 and scores 50, their price will fall. If a player has a breakeven of 40 and scores 60, their price will rise. It is as simple as that.
Targeting players with a negative breakeven to trade in is one of the most reliable ways to grow the value of your team. A negative breakeven means the player's price will rise even if they have a poor game - they are essentially in a position where their value can only go up. On the flip side, trading out players with high breakevens that you do not intend to keep long term is equally important. If a player cannot realistically hit their breakeven each week, their price is going to fall and you will lose value by holding them.
What This Means for Team Building
Pricing is the engine that drives SuperCoach strategy. Finding players who are underpriced relative to how they are going to perform - whether that is a rookie about to break into first grade or a player returning from injury at a discounted price - is how you gain an edge over other coaches. We will talk more about this when we get to the cash cow strategy in the chapter on strategy.