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 18 & key notes from the 10 teams playing in Round 19.

Bye: Bulldogs, Cowboys, Panthers, Raiders, Roosters, Storm, Warriors

Buys/Ones to Watch/Holds/Sells

Buys

Ryan Matterson (MID/EDG, $565K) 

• Matterson’s prospects keep getting better with Paulo now out injured
• Signs are looking good after a 53 pointer all from base stats last week
• He should continue to play a big minute role, likely with a mix of middle and edge which should be good for his scoring

Jye Gray (HLF/WFB, $330K)

• Gray gets the fullback job with Latrell set to be sidelined for a minimum of 4 weeks
• At $330k, he looks like a bargain in an improving Souths side

Charlie Guymer (EDG, $240K)

• Guymer had a strong debut for Parra and sees a boost with the loss of Paulo
• He’s been named at lock and after looking quite capable of playing big minutes last week, he seems a fairly low risk option that should see around 40-50 minutes
• With 6 missed tackles last week, we only see him improving on the 29 on debut. He looks a great cashout option

Haumole Olakau’atu (EDG, $661K)

• After missing out on Origin selection, Olakau’atu looks to be a great buy this week
• His price has come down in recent weeks due to a 12 in 24 min game, making him severely undervalued
• Excluding that game, he is averaging 57.3 ppg
• At just $661k, Olakau’atu presents as a keeper for the run home available at a discounted price

Braydon Trindall (HLF, $469K)

• With Nicho Hynes out long term, Trindall now finds himself as the primary playmaker, taking over the halfback role
• He should do the bulk of the general play kicking, as well as pick up the goal kicking duties
• Trindall’s average this season is just 32.3, but across his career when Trindall plays halfback without Nicho Hynes in the side, he averages 54.1 (data from 2021-2024)
• He’s probably not going to be a keeper, but someone who can score mid to high 40’s at just $469k is very appealing

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Ones to Watch

Tom Trbojevic (WFB, $612K)

• Turbo made a solid yet fairly unspectacular return last week, scoring 42 at centre, with the bulk of his points coming through the 25 tackles he had to make
• This week he finds himself back in his usual fullback role due to Koula’s injury
• We think it’s best to wait and see on Turbo for now, as we all know his injury history
• If he has a great game this week and looks super fit then he could be a pick up next week, but for this round we think there’s better/safer options

Jake Tago (WFB/CTR, $234K)

• Jake Tago looks like a solid cash out option this week; with Sivo and Simonsson out, Mulitalo debuting and Russell dropped, he finds himself as the most secure winger in the Eels side
• Ideally you wait and see how he goes and then maybe pick him up in Round 21 after their bye to ensure he still has the spot, but it’s also fine to bring him in this week as a cash down
• WFB/CTR DPP is also nice.

Holds

Fletcher Sharpe (WFB, $369K)

• With Ponga getting selected in the Queensland side, Sharpe finds himself starting in the fullback role once again
• Definite hold for this week, plus there’s a slight chance Ponga doesn’t back up next week

Kai Pearce-Paul (EDG, $596K)

• KPP appears to be the unluckiest man alive, somehow still not scoring a try this year despite constantly posing a threat
• We are of the opinion that he is ‘due’ for some positive variance and attacking stats, so ideally we think he’s a hold
• If you can upgrade him to an elite keeper. though, that is also fine. Taking out his 2 interchange games he is still averaging 48.6 so it’s borderline keeper levels
• Ponga being back should also increase his attacking potential as well

Sells

Nicho Hynes (HLF, $807K)

• This season has gone from bad to worse for Hynes, with him now being out for potentially until finals
• Clear sell – on the bright side it makes getting Cleary much easier

Tolutau Koula (CTR/WFB, $424K)

• Koula is out for 4-6 weeks with a MCL injury. With him likely returning at centre, there’s not much point holding

Latrell Mitchell (WFB, $841K)

• Latrell is out for 4 weeks minimum, potentially longer. Unless you’re super low on trades probably wouldn’t bother holding

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Team Recaps

Kyle – Baby Face Leota

RD 18 Score – 954

Overall Rank – 375

General Thoughts

A decent round considering I was forced to play Sharpe to field a full side.

I used my last trade (not ideal) to bring in Matterson for JMK which turned out well.

The run home will be fairly shaky with just the 8 trades to use from round 20, so will need to choose carefully when deciding on trades.

Trade Thoughts

With 0 trades left this week and the injury to Hynes, I’m down to 10 players this week.

I’ll most likely captain Fifita and hope to not drop too many ranks. Fingers crossed!

Alessandro – NRL Fantasy Scout

RD 18 Score – 949

Overall Rank – 3099

General Thoughts

Thought I had a decent round last week but actually went backwards in ranks so guess not. 😆

Everyone scored fairly respectably so no real complaints.

Didn’t trade last week and have only used 1 trade in the last 3 weeks, so am in a good position with 5 trades (+8) left.

Trade Thoughts

Got quite a few trade outs this week and also lots of buys I’m interested in. Koula, Hynes, JMK all need to be sold, with Hands, KPP, Fainu, Weekes and Wishart probably being close to sells as well.

Annoyingly I need to trade in both a WFB and a HLF this week due to Hynes and Koula’s injuries, so it somewhat limits me but also helps narrow my options.

Olakau’atu and Jye Gray are pretty much locked as 2 of my buys, with the 3rd buy probably being Trindall but guys like Turbo, Pryce and Jake Tago are under consideration as well.

I intend on going Hands to Grant next week (pending Grant backing up).

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.

 

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