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 20 & key notes from the 16 teams playing in Round 21.

Bye: Knights

Buys/Holds/Sells

Buys

 Beau Fermor (EDG/CTR, $662K)

• Fermor had just gained CTR DPP which makes him a keeper CTR and a very valuable player to have in your final side
• He provides a reliable score in your centres which is invaluable when it comes to H2H finals
• He averages 48.3 on the edge this year and 58.4 over his last 5 games at second row (with just the 1 try in that period)

Nathan Cleary (HLF, $835K)

• Cleary returned last week and looked back to his best with a score of 76
• He still has a breakeven of 76 so there’s no rush to get him again, but he certainly isn’t a bad buy
• He’s someone you want in your team as the clear top dog in NRL Fantasy, so pick him up when you can 

Casey McLean (CTR, $281K)

• With Alamoti out for 6 weeks, Casey McLean looks to have the Panthers left centre spot on lock
• At his price, he presents as an incredible cash down option, who also has the potential of providing good scores
• Last week he scored 43 purely in base which is encouraging sign

Dylan Brown (HLF, $610K)

• Mitchell Moses is out for the season, which again makes Brown a great buy
• Brown’s average without Moses this year is 58.3, as opposed to his average with Moses of 40.1
• Priced at just 44, that’s roughly 14 points of value for Brown. Good option especially if you’re a bit short on cash

Braydon Trindall (HLF, $507K)

• Similarly to Brown, it’s a case of the dominant halves partner being out, this time with Hynes being injured benefiting Trindall
• He scored 73 last game, and whilst that probably won’t occur every week, a low 50s average is by no means out of reach

Josh Curran (MID/EDG, $609K)

• With Max King out for a while, the Bulldogs forward pack is pretty short on troops, which means an increased role for Josh Curran
• He scored 57 last week with a try, which to be honest isn’t amazing, but the more promising thing is that he played 72 mins
• He did have -14 in demerits so his score could’ve been much higher
• Curran should average low 50’s and play around 60 mins most weeks, which is perfectly fine for his price
• The MID/EDG DPP is also a nice bonus.

Jamal Fogarty (HLF, $729K)

• Fogarty was very impressive on return last round, scoring 62 points
• Taking out his injury affected game, he’s averaging 60.7, which puts him in the elite category of halves
• Probably the 2nd best half option in the game behind Cleary
• Fairly low ownership as well for people looking for a POD

Tom Starling (HOK, $438K)

• Starling continues to impress, playing the full 80 last week and scoring 62
• He is averaging 55.3 in his last 3 games, which is insane for his price
• Whilst it’s unlikely he plays 80 every week, even with 60 mins he is still good value

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Holds

Max Plath (HLF/MID, $630K)

• It’s safe to say Plath’s time at hooker hasn’t been great, averaging just 33.5 so far
• However, with Kurt Donoghoe and Harrison Graham due back soon, a move back to lock could be on the cards for Plath
• We think he’s worth holding for this reason, as if he was at lock for the rest of the season he’d be a keeper

Patrick Carrigan (MID, $711K)

• Carrigan was a bit quiet last week, playing just 54 mins, but that was to be expected given it was only a few days after Origin and it was well known that he was in doubt
• His scores and minutes should return, so definitely a hold

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Sells

Kaeo Weekes (HLF/WFB, $582K) 

• Weekes to fullback was always going to be worse off for his scoring, not racking up the monster kick metres he had when he was at halfback
• He can be held if you’re short on trades but it’s hard to see him having/maintaining any value. Cash in before his price drops too much

John Bateman (EDG, $586K)

• In a strange series of events, Bateman has departed the Tigers effective immediately and gone on loan to a Super League club. Think it’s safe to say he’s a sell

Team Recaps

Kyle – Baby Face Leota

RD 20 Score – 833

Overall Rank – 959

General Thoughts

A decent round considering I was barely able to field a full side off the back of all the injury carnage, even after making 4 trades.

Mixed results from the trade-ins, with Captain Cook doing great, Haas & Tago doing okay, and Watson having a shocker.

Now to navigate the remaining rounds with my final 4 trades.

Trade Thoughts

Likely no trades this week for me, purely to only having 4 remaining and no urgent trade-outs.

Alessandro – NRL Fantasy Scout

RD 20 Score – 800

Overall Rank – 2806

General Thoughts

Another week, another captaincy failure. The Watson captain punt couldn’t have gone much worse, playing centre 2 separate times and also getting sin binned.

The score of 800 was ok but still wasn’t great, and it saw me drop 600 or so ranks.

The Starling trade in was great, though the other 3 trade ins (Haas, Watson, Tedesco) were a little underwhelming in their first week.

Trade Thoughts

So many good options to buy, yet so little trades to make it happen.

Think Cleary is must have, and I’m in need of a cash down, with McLean being the perfect candidate.

Most likely selling Fainu and Weekes in order to get those two.

This leaves me with 4 trades, which is a little less than I’d like but it’s manageable.

Will probably just use 1 more on selling Wishart when he loses his spot, and then have the 3 spare for the inevitable injuries/suspensions.

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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