Erin Clark

The Titans won their first game in 364 days defeating the West Tigers 28 to 23 on Sunday. Ahead of this match, Holbrook wielded the axe and made a number of changes to his side, including dropping Peats out of the 21 and promoting Clark to the starting line up.

In his first start, 36 points in 49 minutes was enough to warrant Clark’s place on our watchlist ahead of Round 5.

The former Warrior was busy in defence with 31 tackles, but he also showed some attacking ability notching up a try assist to his name.

Priced at $261k with a break even of 5, the dual Half & Hooker option firms as a potential downgrade option for those looking to free up the funds for a more expensive asset.

As with all rookie options, job security is the major concern – with Peats and Rein both an option to return into the lineup in any given week. 

Coaches would also have hoped for a second stint in his starting debut – however, Tanah Boyd did see out the game in the 9 and guided them home to an important win which could also impact Clark’s minutes.

Whilst there is clear risk, he looks like one of the better downgrade options this week – and he could become a handy slow burn from the emergency list.

Andrew McCullough

McCullough started his Knights career in impressive fashion holding down the middle for 80 minutes and returning 69 points.

With 61 tackles and only 2 missed, it’s clear what he brings to the Knights side as he looks to fill the shoes of Jayden Brailey.

It was only two years ago when the 30 year old played Origin for the Maroons and was being touted as one of the best hookers in the game.

However, since then, a dip in form saw his minutes dramatically reduce – with McCullough playing second fiddle to Turpin to begin the 2020 season.

Now the first string Hooker at the Knights, prospective owners will be hoping he can return to the form shown between 2014 and 2017 where he managed to average 50 points or more in 3 of the 4 seasons across this stretch.

With Watson expected to return anywhere between Rounds 9 and 11, McCullough looks set for extended minutes at least until this point – however, Watson and Randall will remain the main dangers to his minutes over the course of the year.

In encouraging news, O’Brien was adamant about causing as little disruption to his team as possible after Brailey’s injury, and solving his Hooker dilemma with a like-for-like replacement. Given Brailey was looking like an 80-minute Hooker (even with Watson on the bench), we could see the big minutes continue outside of managing his workload.

For coaches looking to make the move, it looks like this is the week with a low 30s break even that looks set to get his price moving.

Kalyn Ponga

Ponga returned from a one game suspension with a monstrous 93 points in his side’s victory premiership heavyweights, the Canberra Raiders.

This impressive performance included a try, 8 tackle busts and over 275 run metres.

There’s little to say about the Souths Mackay junior, as he is one of the most electrifying players in our game. 

Coaches who are in a dilemma on who to prioritise between Teddy, Turbo or Ponga might be swayed to Ponga due to the added base of the goal-kicking.

Over his three appearances this season, these duties have netted him 8.6 points per game.

This, along with his damaging running game and silky ball playing ball skills have helped him produce a staggering 73 point season average over three Rounds.

With a break even of 22, this could be one of the last opportunities to recruit Ponga before his price gets out of reach.