NRL Fantasy Scout, Wicky & Kyle Bedford will be bringing you the most important news every week to help you with your NRL Fantasy teams!

This week, we cover our key players to buy, hold & sell + recapping how our teams went in Round 17 & key notes from the 16 teams playing in Round 18.

Bye: Dolphins

Buys/Ones to Watch/Holds/Sells

Buys

Ryan Matterson (MID/EDG, $550K) 

• Matterson was on our buys list last week, and he’s here again as you could argue he now has an even better role
• He is on the edge this week, where he should play bigger mins
• It doesn’t really matter if Matto is on the edge or in the middle, he just needs minutes – as shown last week, where he had a PPM of 1, scoring 46 in 46 mins

Tolutau Koula (CTR/WFB, $414K) 

• With Turbo back and being named at centre, this has pushed Koula into the fullback spot
• Koula’s scoring at fullback is incredible, averaging 67.6 across his 5 career appearances there
• Bit annoying for people who sold him but he’s hard to ignore
• There are some doubts over his job security and as to how long Turbo will be at centre, but we think it’s a risk worth taking

Ones to Watch

Chris Randall (HOK/MID, $502K)

• Randall has been named at lock again. He’s played 4 games as starting prop or lock over the past 2 seasons averaging 60 pts, including 66 last week with a try
• If he can lock down a 60+ minute role here, he likely has plenty of value
• The worry here is that Klese Haas is expected to return next week which may see Randall back at hooker
• Although it’s also possible Randall moves to prop which would be ideal. Best to wait and see

Sam Verrills (HOK, $468K)

• Similar to Randall, it just depends on his role and whether Klese Haas will impact it. Wait and see

Tom Starling (HOK, $326K)

• Starling has been named to start at hooker for the 2nd week in a row, with Levi benched
• Last week he scored 53 in 68 mins, playing a bit of middle as well
• Despite this, there are concerns over whether this starting role will persist, as he’s pretty much been a bench player his entire career
• We also don’t expect his minutes to be anywhere near the 68 he got last week
• Probably best to see how he goes this week and then re consider in Round 20 after the bye

Kalyn Ponga (WFB, $757K)

• Ponga is back from injury ahead of schedule, and presents an exciting option for the run home
• We wouldn’t rush out to buy him straight away though, and think it’s best to see if he is actually 100% first before purchasing

Follow @NRLFantasyScout on Instagram!

Holds

Scott Drinkwater (WFB, $647K)

• Drinkwater had a poor score last week, partially due to a sin binning
• Was also a game where Cowboys were defending their line for long periods, and thus there wasn’t too many attacking opportunities. No need to sell

Harry Grant (HOK, $657K)

• Grant is unfortunately out again, but is by no means a sell as he looks like great value for the run home

Sells

Jeremy Marshall-King (HOK, $629K)

• JMK is out for 8-10 weeks with a foot injury. Look to sell

Tohu Harris (MID, $616K)

• Just isn’t getting the minutes anymore, playing off the bench some games, and we just don’t see why those minutes would return with the Warriors having such a stacked forward pack

Joseph Manu (CTR/WFB, $600K)

• Manu is out for 4 weeks, making him a sell.

 

Want to chat about the NRL with 4,800+ like-minded sports fans? Come join Wicky’s free Discord community!

Team Recaps

Kyle – Baby Face Leota

RD 17 Score – 792

Overall Rank – 342

General Thoughts

Went with the 2 trades last week of Twal and Mikaele to Penisini and CHT.

This leaves me with just 1 trade remaining until R20 and things are looking pretty shaky.

I’m fairly happy with most of the team, but would like to grab a couple keepers with my remaining trades to end the season.

Trade Thoughts

The plan is to use this last trade to get rid of JMK for a solid keeper option who also plays in R19. At this stage it looks like that will be one of Randall or Matterson.

Alessandro – NRL Fantasy Scout

RD 17 Score – 733

Overall Rank – 3057

General Thoughts

Pretty disastrous round, playing with just 16, JMK getting injured, and my Kiraz captain punt not going to plan.

KPP, Hands and Drinkwater had some pretty poor scores as well. Luckily didn’t drop too many ranks, and I still remain in a decent spot with 5 trades left.

Trade Thoughts

JMK is my only real sell this week, and I was planning on going straight to Grant but now that plan isn’t possible.

Starling is in consideration but not sure I’m prepared to take the risk.

Could go to Mahoney but I think I would prefer Grant as my gun hooker so might just hold JMK for the time being.

I always post my team and trades to my story before the round starts, so if you want to see what I do every week check out my page – @NRL Fantasy Scout on Instagram.

 

If you want to follow more of our NRL analysis throughout the season or any of our other work at Wicky, please reach out via email or on social media.