2017 NRL.com Fantasy thread part 1

Thanks to all for contributing to the 2rf discussion. Some good perspectives going forward.
I'm sure there will be a few surprises in the weeks leading up to the season start.
It looks pretty thin there at the moment.
At least we had Whitehead last season, didn't we @Welshy ?

Milchcow wrote:

From when Farah left the team Taylor averaged 70 minutes and 46 points (ignoring an injury effected 6)
I don't think his upside is quite as big as you are hoping, but the upside is certainly there.

Back when he started for the Panthers he was a 50 point player.  He certainly looks like one of the better options in that price bracket though. I think I would like him in my team

With only woodsy the real tackle bot in that tigers pack I like ET starting lock to return to his Panther 80min days, might have the score prediction slightly high as you say but a low risk decent ceiling option

Chewie wrote:Thanks to all for contributing to the 2rf discussion. Some good perspectives going forward.
I'm sure there will be a few surprises in the weeks leading up to the season start.
It looks pretty thin there at the moment.
At least we had Whitehead last season, didn't we @Welshy ?

Chewie wrote:Thanks to all for contributing to the 2rf discussion. Some good perspectives going forward.
I'm sure there will be a few surprises in the weeks leading up to the season start.
It looks pretty thin there at the moment.
At least we had Whitehead last season, didn't we @Welshy ?

exactly haha! It's was Solly coming I over the year prior, I have my uses even if I don't always follow my own advice last year I went Rochow over Whitehead because I couldn't afford the extra few $$$ that Whitehead cost. Honest

There is ALWAYS a reason every year for Maubbs to pop up on the radar. SST out early (?) makes him attractive yet again for the 6th or 7th year in a row.

Welshy wrote:
exactly haha! It's was Solly coming I over the year prior, I have my uses even if I don't always follow my own advice last year I went Rochow over Whitehead because I couldn't afford the extra few $$$ that Whitehead cost. Honest

I had Whitehead in my team the whole season... thank you for your advice

flasSId* wrote:There is ALWAYS a reason every year for Maubbs to pop up on the radar.  SST out early (?) makes him attractive yet again for the 6th or 7th year in a row.

I had him in my centres for the first half of the season, wasn't too bad

Chewie wrote:

flasSId* wrote:There is ALWAYS a reason every year for Maubbs to pop up on the radar.  SST out early (?) makes him attractive yet again for the 6th or 7th year in a row.

I had him in my centres for the first half of the season, wasn't too bad

I had him for almost the whole year from Round 1. Was awesome as a Fantasy centre playing backrow in the first half of the season. As always had a disappointing run of scores though after filling gaps. Our Fantasy scores are a victim of how versatile a footballer he is in real life.

Is taumalolo a no go this year? Or too pricey? Not many people naming him. Cheers

2017ismine wrote:Is taumalolo a no go this year? Or too pricey? Not many people naming him. Cheers

Not too much of a reason to name him. He has up and down scores but does score towards the higher end of 2RFs for the most part. Just his role and minutes wont be changing and when looking at 2RFs you probably want some more consistency as you get to those higher prices. He is similar to Gillett, capable of bursting out 70 point games but can also hit those 30 point ones.

Went out for the night & reading the updated posts there's some very good insight & comments. Good stuff boys. One player I've come across although he's a hooker is Zac Woolford who's made the move from the Raiders to the Bulldogs & is the son of Raiders great Simon Woolford. There's talk that Des will maybe go away from the usual 4 forward bench & run a utility. Also a lot of Bulldogs chat about Lichaa not really being up to it & not leading the team around. Also have you seen a photo of Kasiano at his wedding. He's lost a lot of weight & shaved his beard & looks really different. This plays into the theory of a bench utility as it looks like Kasiano is being primed for more minutes.

Further on the 2fr value picks. F. Kaufusi at the Storm. I know he's classified as a frf but apparently he's been training in the back row in pre season meaning he could be in line for Proctor's spot. Therefore he'll be re-classified as a dual frf/2fr if he's named in the back row for round 1. Also this could mean Finucane could be in line for 80 minutes in 2017. I think he was only playing 60 odd minutes in 2016. I know he's injured atm but he'll be good for round 1.

Extended benches for Round 1 are gonna be a pain , agree there has been some good banter re 2nd RF,s - looking at halves I will be running with ARey reckon he will benifit most from having Farah there and is my first pick most years, also like the look of Ash Taylor though have not heard him mentioned much and also Api Karoisau has me interested, just a couple of thoughts over my Sunday morning coffee...............

Aardvark Ratnick wrote:Extended benches for Round 1 are gonna be a pain , agree there has been some good banter re 2nd RF,s - looking at halves I will be running with ARey reckon he will benifit most from having Farah there and is my first pick most years, also like the look of Ash Taylor though have not heard him mentioned much and also Api Karoisau has me interested, just a couple of thoughts over my Sunday morning coffee...............

Been hit by AReys injuries too often over last couple of years. Great scorer but made of biscuits, unfortunately. Would need unlimited trades to consider him.

SJ, Norman and Elgey have been locked in every team I've made on the planner.

Other halves that are underpriced from previous near-gun status are Mullen (biscuits again, no), Sezer (will the way the Raiders play change this year? Probably not, no) and Hodgkinson (will Newcastle score more tries and goals this year, possibly). The other guy underpriced thanks to playing most of last season on the wing is Gutherson.

Aardvark Ratnick wrote:Extended benches for Round 1 are gonna be a pain , agree there has been some good banter re 2nd RF,s - looking at halves I will be running with ARey reckon he will benifit most from having Farah there and is my first pick most years, also like the look of Ash Taylor though have not heard him mentioned much and also Api Karoisau has me interested, just a couple of thoughts over my Sunday morning coffee...............

Again no stats but I would look into how Taylor scored when Hayne was on the scene. From memory Peats likes to kick as well so between Hayne, Peats, Elgey/Roberts there is less of that platform and less playmaking he needs to make in general.

If you don't go with Smith, who are the other viable captain options?

Also - any thoughts on the bulldogs backline? Any value in Kennar or Lee?

I see a lot of people going with Elgey:
He may well be eased in & come off the bench due to coming off an acl injury & having only played half a season in the nrl. Plus he will have a totally new spine around him in 2017 as opposed to 2015. Also Hayne has the potential to impact the fantasy scores of both A. Taylor & Elgey.
I've also seen A-Rey come up as a pick. Lets just call him glass jaw A-Rey & leave it at that. This is why I'm considering C. Walker even though he's pretty expensive. I can see A-Rey getting injured in the first 3 rounds & then C. Walker will become the dominant half & bust out 50's & 60's.

SoylentGreen wrote:If you don't go with Smith, who are the other viable captain options?

Fifita is the next best option. Multiple seasons of averaging 60+.

Gallen, Surgess, Mannering, Merrin, whoever you pick as hooker over Smith. They are all fairly reliably with multiple seasons of a 50+ average.

Ryan James and Jack De Belin had massive averages last year - bit riskier as captaincy choices as its yet to be seen as to whether they can sustain it.