A great bye schedule this season will make several Bulldogs stars popular buys for NRL Fantasy coaches with their eyes on the prize.
Fantasy Guns
Props James Graham ($371,600) and Aidan Tolman ($327,100) are two of the hardest-working big men in the business and should be handy contributors again this season. Neither the Englishman Graham nor the underrated Tolman will play State of Origin this season, so they should be available for the big bye rounds when the Bulldogs play in Round 12, 15 and 18.
One player who did break onto the Origin scene last year is playmaker Josh Reynolds ($346,300), who takes on the bulk of Canterbury's kicking in general play and is aggressive in attack and defence. Expect him to be amongst the batch of top halves in Fantasy again this year.
Value Buys
The big question for the Bulldogs this season is who is going to replace Ben Barba at fullback. Josh Morris (241,800) filled in admirably last year and might be the man again. He brings added flexibility as a dual-position player in NRL Fantasy this season, and if he can successfully adapt to the new position and regularly hit scores in the 40s he could get some handy price rises.
Elsewhere, promising young prop David Klemmer ($124,000) didn't quite live up to expectations in 2013 but could be a bargain if he gets some regular minutes in first grade this season.
Cash Cows
The best chance of a real Fantasy bargain coming out of the Bulldogs is if the backline is reshuffled as part of Des Hasler's plan to replace Barba. Drury Low ($107,000) has spent some time at the back and in the centres and starts the new season as cheap as they get, while youngster Pat Templeman was the Holden Cup's leading point-scorer last year including 17 tries from fullback. He'll also come into the game at $107,000.
Player prices
James Graham (FRF) $371,600
Josh Reynolds (HLF) $346,300
Michael Ennis (HOK) $329,900
Aiden Tolman (FRF) $327,100
Trent Hodkinson (HLF) $307,400
Josh Jackson (2RF) $257,600
Josh Morris (CTR, WFB) $241,800
Tony Williams (2RF) $239,500
Krisnan Inu (WFB, CTR) $237,900
Tim Lafai (CTR) $237,100
Reni Maitua (2RF) $230,100
Sam Kasiano (FRF) $230,000
Dale Finucane (FRF, 2RF) $228,100
Pat O'Hanlon (2RF) $215,500
Chase Stanley (CTR, WFB) $213,600
Frank Pritchard (2RF) $205,400
Sam Perrett (WFB) $198,200
Greg Eastwood (2RF) $196,000
Mitch Brown (WFB, CTR) $176,800
David Klemmer (FRF) $124,000
Tim Browne (2RF, FRF) $122,800
Brett Lane (CTR) $107,000
Harlan Alaalatoa (2RF) $107,000
Jon Talioe Sila (WFB) $107,000
Drury Low (CTR, WFB) $107,000
Lachlan Burr (2RF) $107,000
Damien Cook (HOK) $107,000
Tyrone Phillips (WFB) $107,000
