ByronYour NRL Fantasy questions answered ahead of Round 18.
Ben Lavi
I have Papi and Hynes, but no turbo. How and when do I get him?
Our answer on Hynes up until now has remained consistent.
As long as he’s in the starting line-up, we’ve had him as a hold.
The latest on Papenhuyzen via the Storm is that he is now training with the team and working his way back to contact, which he will resume shortly.
Based on this, you’d have to think he’s a chance of returning next week, or the following — so Hynes may be coming to the end of his run.
Trbojevic comes into Round 18 with a break even of 56, which we know he is more than capable of blowing away.
With that said, he’s got to get through Origin first, and he’s no certainty to back up given Manly play on Friday night.
If Turbo plays, I can’t see any issue going from Hynes (with a break even of 64) to Turbo this week, in anticipation of Pappy returning and pushing Hynes to the bench.
However, if we don’t see Turbo on the team sheet an hour before kick-off — I’d be holding off for a week and making the same move in Round 19.
In summary, I think you hold Pappy given we’re so close, and Hynes is your avenue to Turbo — it’s a just matter of this week vs. next.
Matthew Lippiatt-Sidman
Sell two and hold one of CHN, Curran and Matto
Curran would be the first in the sell category from this list for me.
This is for three reasons.
- Uncertainty of his role due to a surplus of middles within the squad
- The Warriors bench, and finally:
- Nathan Brown
With the arrival of Lodge and impending return of Tohu, I’m just not sure how much confidence we can have in Curran playing meaningful minutes on a weekly basis.
The Warriors bench is also a concern as it often features four middles due to Egan establishing himself as a true 80-minute Hooker this year.
Finally, we know that Brown isn’t afraid to make changes in the forwards — and I just wouldn’t want this concern during the business-end of the Fantasy season.
As for CHN and Matto, this one is really close.
We’ve spoken about Matterson on a number of occasions this year highlighting the concerning stat of playing just four 80-minute games this season. Bryce Cartwright on the bench, and the emergence of Papali’i certainly has impacted his Fantasy value — highlighted by nearly $200k in price drops.
I know you’re a big Raiders fan, and as long as you haven’t got any mail or concerns about Hudson Young displacing CHN upon Whitehead’s return — I’d be rolling with Harawira-Naera as he looks nailed on for 80-minutes whenever he starts on an edge.
Gordon Smith
Is Ben Hunt still worth a look? Or should we be avoiding all Dragons players for the time-being?
The appeal for Ben Hunt is obvious this year.
The dual positioning is extremely handy, and he has one of the highest ceilings in both of his respective positions.
In fact, he’s cracked 70 points in 50% of his games this year, which is pretty remarkable.
If I was looking for down-side, it’s his floor, and the fact he shares the kicking duties with Corey Norman.
Hunt does have three scores under 35 this year, and on occasion — Norman comes away with more kick metres.
In saying that, I think he’s absolutely still worth a look if you’re shopping for a Hooker or a Half, and I don’t think the Dragons are an avoid altogether despite some obvious outside noise and distraction.
Tau.5KL
Is Averillo a trade? Who are the Centre options if I am to trade him?
Averillo is someone I spoke about in my wrap-up Podcast on Sunday, and while it’s not critical you sell this week — there’s definitely reason to be concerned.
Barrett mentioned in the presser that Lewis had been brought into the team for his long-kicking game, and Jake relies so heavily on the kick metre stats to score at an elite level in the position.
During Averillo’s run where he was even rivalling some of the out-and-out guns at Halfback, he was securing up to 32 points in kick metres alone.
With Lewis back in the team, Averillo was back down to around 10-points. Unfortunately for Averillo owners, Lewis also had one of his best games in recent times, and could potentially hold the spot for the remainder of the year.
If you think this is the case and Averillo can’t get there on his running game and assists, it might be worth considering jumping off if you have stowed away enough trades.
If you’re stuck with him, it’s not the end of the world by any means. He’ll do some kicking, including the goal kicking, and I believe he still has a strong enough running game to be an above average Centre.
Due to having a trade to spare and not not a lot of squad value, I’m personally selling for Haas this week before he starts to bleed cash.
Toby
Teddy or Walsh to Ponga? Or hold altogether?
Teddy and Walsh are both holds for me, and if you really want to target Ponga — I’d be looking at another way to get him in.
I completely understand the frustration with Tedesco, but he’s still averaging a tick of 50 and the inclusion of Radley as a link man in the middle may even open up the Roosters attack a little, and we could see a positive impact in Teddy’s scores.
As for Walsh — he didn’t have his best game against the Sharks over the weekend, but still come away with 59 NRL Fantasy points. With a break even in the 30s, he’s still making money, and an out-and-out keeper in my books.
As for Ponga as a standalone Fantasy asset, I think he’s a decent target for the run home.
My only concern is the management of his groin injury, and the potential that he is no longer the primary goal-kicker at the Knights. Ponga doesn’t have the best record, and we often see players avoid goal-kicking with groin injuries. The exclusion of this added base will have to be factored in.
Ethanw2108
Is it time to buy Api?
Outside of Haas, I’d have Api very near the top of the list for buys this week.
When the Panthers are flying off the back of Cleary’s game management and kicking game, Koroisau isn’t called upon to make a mountain of tackles in the middle.
However, with Cleary (and Luai) on the sidelines, Api becomes even more critical to Panthers side, and someone Ivan will be looking to keep on the field to heavily influence the result of games.
We’ve seen this already with tackles in the range of 30-45 per game early in the season climb to 62 in a evenly contested game against the Eels in Round 16 where he played the full 80-minutes.
Of course, with Kenny on the bench — they have a ready-made replacement should Ivan decide to give Api a rest at any point. However, Kenny has been playing through the middle in recent weeks — leaving their experienced spine member on the field.
If you’re looking at Api, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
While it wasn’t part of the question, I also wanted to mention Reed Mahoney. Particularly with no Lussick on the bench for the Eels this week.
He’ll cost you an extra 13k, but I’d have him as an equally enticing option this week.
christopher.d.guest
Averillo for Reynolds? Or another tasty half?
If you have two keeper Centres and adequate cover, I’m not against trading Averillo for another gun in another position.
As I mentioned before, I’m doing exactly this.
Interestingly enough, I’m also an owner of Reynolds and I’ve been relatively happy with his output for his price-point.
In saying that, I think he’s comfortably a tier below the elite in the position.
If you have the funds, and don’t already own — DCE would be on top for me, and he would be followed by Hunt. In the next tier down, any of Moses, Johnson and Reynolds will do a job.