It’s your old mate ‘The Postman’ popping in to do this week’s DT Market Watch - where we try and find you the best buying options, the right players to hold onto and the players you should sell sell sell!
Plus we unveil a new Market Watch category to consider for the run home into the finals.
Play Holden NRL Dream Team for your chance to win $30,000 in cash and prizes. Click here to play now!
Buy
Nate Myles | 2RF | $315,600 @ 42.5ppg
Should be rested up following Origin and doesn’t shirk the hard work in the middle of the field. With a handful of standouts in the Second Row category on almost every Dream Team with serious title aspirations - Myles represents the kind of buy that could put you over the top. He will make 40 tackles and run for 100+ metres a game from here on out and generally plays as many minutes as he wants despite the depth in the Gold Coast forwards. His only downside is that he doesn’t rack up the cheap point stats like tackle breaks or offloads but simply scores 40-50 points every week. Reliability that counts.
Blake Ferguson | WFB/CTR | $306,700 @ 37.8ppg
Imagine you are Ferguson for a second - you’ve just spent over a month in rugby league limbo and not sure if you’ll play in the NRL again this season... and now you’ve got the green light to play against old mate Josh Dugan and the Dragons this weekend. To say you’d be fired up for a big one is an understatement and that’s what makes picking up Ferguson such a tempting DT proposition. He’s got WFB/CTR and although he isn’t cheap - he is a weapon when on his game and when it comes to DT finals, you’ll need all the weapons you can find to win your Head to Head league. Dare you to take a punt on him...
Hold
Greg Inglis | CTR/WFB | $343,100 @ 48.1ppg
He was on this list last week but it bears repeating - HOLD GREG INGLIS. That is if you haven’t sold him for Josh Dugan or Jamie Lyon already. GI will be a force when he returns (though when that is remains somewhat up for debate - official word is anywhere within the next 2-4 weeks) and he could win you your Head to Head title against those who punted him after the Origin decider. The true evidence of his value comes from the fact 10 of his 14 games have netted scores of 40 or more - with five scores over 60. HOLD.
Jarryd Hayne | WFB/HLF | $298,200 @ 39.0ppg
Is he back this week? There’s 17,969 DT owners currently sweating on his fitness after keeping the faith in the perennial DT gun... but will his hamstring come good in time for Friday’s clash with the Bulldogs? For those who have both Inglis and Hayne - holding both is a tough ask, but if you do, your lineup will have a nice original look to it compared to DT coaches who jumped off the pair in recent weeks. At his best he’s giving you run metres, kick metres, tackle breaks and playmaking stats that could unleash a few 50+ performances once he returns for the Eels. And keep this in mind: his kick metres could go through the roof if Chris Sandow remains in NSW Cup.
Sell
Benji Marshall | HLF | $266,700 @ 32.0ppg
Did a good job making his owners some cash over the last two months after dropping to a ridiculously low $187,600 after Round 11 but his poor performance in his last Leichhardt Oval appearance on Friday (19pts) saw him lose about $20,000 that would have been useful to help you upgrade with. Season highs of 75pts, 62pts and 54pts were all too rare across his 15 games this season, so it is definitely time to sell and get a more reliable Half into your team.
James Roberts | WFB | $211,700 @ 32.2ppg
It was fun while it lasted. The young winger can break a tackle (DT gold) and posted 28pts, 33pts and a cracking 68pts in his first three starts but has backed those games up with just 19pts and 18pts. So you have to make a call this week if he’s a keeper as your WFB reserve or fodder for an upgrade or a sideways trade to a player with a better DT pedigree. If you’ve got trades to burn - cash him out for a $101,600 el cheapo and use the extra $100,000 for spending elsewhere.
Point of Difference Maker
Matthew Bowen | WFB | $185,000 @ 22.8ppg
Hear me out before you laugh too hard at this suggestion. The idea of the ‘PODM’ is to give your DT a chance to beat sides that look very similar to yours as we enter the pointy end of the season. Bowen was a DT force in 2011 and 2012 - averaging 45ppg and he started the 2013 season priced at a whopping $359,900... he’s now under $200,000 and represents an enticing option to trade out a WFB cash-cow who has peaked and you aren’t confident can be a big contributor for the remainder of the season. Seriously consider Mr Bowen - at his best he’s a classic ‘PODM’.
Round 20 Captaincy Contenders
Cameron Smith | HOK | $573,700 - Projected: 80pts
Robbie Farah | HOK | $530,400 - Projected: 64pts
Andrew Fifita | FRF | $479,100 - Projected: 65pts
Corey Parker | 2RF | $491,200 - Projected: 63pts
Wildcard: Daly Cherry-Evans | HLF | $391,400 and averages 74.3pts against the Tigers.
Tinker with your Holden Dream Team here
