All this week's key ins and outs and what they mean for your Holden NRL Fantasy team. As always, check out the NRL.com casualty ward and judiciary page for the latest info on who's on the sidelines this week.
Sea Eagles v Bulldogs, Friday night at Brookvale Oval
Sea Eagles: Big guns Daly Cherry-Evans ($366,923) and Anthony Watmough ($321,949) have been named to return, which is great news for Manly fans but bad news for Jack Littlejohn owners, with the cash cow (now worth $219,581) dropping back to 18th man. Jamie Buhrer ($292,541) keeps chugging along in Glenn Stewart's absence, collecting 49 points and another $27,922 in value on the weekend, while prop Josh Starling continues to eke out more value with a season-high 41-points in Round 12.
Bulldogs: Chase Stanley replaces the injured Josh Morris in the centres, while the Bulldogs' other three Origin stars return to the side. Hard-working forwards James Graham ($335,149), Aidan Tolman ($311,124) and Josh Jackson ($311,687) remain the Bulldogs' key men for the bye rounds, along with centre Tim Lafai ($299,315) who will drop in price after Round 11's disappointing 11-point effort. Cheapie Moses Mbye is no longer handy cover for the bye rounds after suffering a foot injury that will rule him out until Round 20.
Eels v Cowboys, Friday night at Pirtek Stadium
Eels: It's time to sell cash cow sensation Nathan Peats if you haven't already, with the Parramatta rake ruled out for the season. Luke Kelly ($186,294) has been named in his place this week, with Willie Tonga and Kenny Edwards returning from injury and English prop Lee Mossop ($212,500) getting his first run in the NRL from the bench. Jarryd Hayne ($395,305) is back in the side at fullback, well rested since his starring role for the Blues in State of Origin I, and he's been in cracking Fantasy form this year with 54.4 points a game. Mitchell Allgood has copped a two-match ban for a lifting tackle, while Will Hopoate could be in line for an Origin call-up after the Blues lost the Morris twins to injuries.
Cowboys: The Cowboys are basically unchanged, with Joel Riethmuller added to the squad as 18th man. Cash cow Curtis Rona is again left out. Johnathan Thurston ($419,888) bounced back from Queensland's Origin I defeat in the best possible way, guiding the Cowboys to a thumping of the Storm and racking up 82 Fantasy points in the process. Co-captain Matt Scott ($381,411) wasn't far behind with 57, while mid-range cash cow Ethan Lowe ($235,140) continued his great run of form with 49. Jason Taumalolo ($254,344) hit a solid 43 and will hold his price while he maintains those scores.
Titans v Panthers, Saturday afternoon at Cbus Super Stadium
Titans: The Gold Coast have been boosted by the returns of Greg Bird, Nate Myles, Albert Kelly, Kevin Gordon and Brad Takairangi. Anthony Don, Kalifa Faifai Loa, Beau Henry, Mark Ioane and Beau Falloon all make way, while rising back-rower Paul Carter is back to the bench. Kelly ($298,919) could be good value with Aidan Sezer facing a long stint on the sidelines, but his price is likely to fall this week with a break even of 68. Will Zillman ($104,317) is very cheap and may get the goalkicking duties in Sezer's absence, but he might also get cheaper considering his break even of 30 is still well above his average score of 11.
Panthers: Penrith are unchanged, with rookie Bryce Cartwright ($105,971) keeping his spot on the bench. Missing out on Josh Mansour ($363,749) could be one of my big regrets of the season, with the rampaging Penrith winger grabbing another 87 points last weekend. He's a slight chance of playing his way into a NSW jersey on current form. Jamie Soward ($290,368) and Tyrone Peachey ($225,749) were the other big winners from the Panthers' thrashing of Parramatta with 80+ scores, while Isaah Yeo ($145,710) scored 55 including a try after replacing Jamal Idris in the centres. Yeo and Peachey are both guaranteed to make money this week.
Dragons v Sharks, Saturday night at WIN Stadium
Dragons: New coach Paul McGregor has stuck with his gameplan of playing Adam Quinlan ($124,894) at fullback and Josh Dugan ($334,313) at right centre, where he scored 34 points on Monday night including 22 from tackles. Dugan could actually remain a decent scorer in the three-quarter line if he cuts out the errors and missed tackles that cost him -12 points against Souths, although he appears destined to get less room to move in attack. Cheapies Will Matthews ($136,669) and Shane Pumipi ($105,410) both drop out of the top 17 this week with Jack de Belin and Mike Cooper named on the bench, although Pumipi may find himself back in contention after Mitch Rein copped a one-match suspension on Wednesday. Ben Creagh ($273,828) was the best of a beaten side in Round 12 with 55 points.
Sharks: Mass changes at Cronulla this week, with big guns Paul Gallen and Andrew Fifita among a host of big names on the sidelines. Michael Gordon has been switched to centre, with Nathan Gardner at fullback, while Siosaia Vave and Luke Lewis push Tinirau Arona and Sam Tagataese out of the starting line-up. Cheapies Jacob Gagan and Fa'amanu Brown (both $107,000) get starting berths on the wing and at five-eighth respectively, although both are big risks at the moment with a lot of players due back for Cronulla's next game in Round 15.
Rabbitohs v Warriors, Saturday night at nib Stadium (Perth)
Rabbitohs: Issac Luke ($311,535) was a late inclusion on Monday night and again keeps Penrith-bound hooker Apisai Koroisau on the bench, meaning it's time to trade out Koroisau after $133,957 in price rises. Cash cow Alex Johnston is back on the wing in place of Nathan Merritt. Slammin' Sammy Burgess ($420,940) stepped up to the plate as The Scouts' captain on Monday night with a big 76-point haul, with in-form centre Dylan Walker ($311,605) hitting 60 and John Sutton ($339,429), Adam Reynolds ($375,243), Greg Inglis ($357,441) and George Burgess ($412,109) all cracking the 50-point mark.
Warriors: The Kiwi side is unchanged after dusting up Newcastle last week. Simon Mannering ($335,294) scored twice in his 200th NRL game on the way to a huge 75-point score on the weekend, edging out fullback Sam Tomkins ($283,430, 64 points) as the Warriors' top scorer for Round 12. Shaun Johnson ($408,604) and Konrad Hurrell ($342,583) keep smashing out the big scores as well with 59 points apiece. Winger David Fusitua ($171,081) has a negative break even after averaging 43 points over his past three games.
Knights v Wests Tigers, Sunday afternoon at Hunter Stadium
Knights: Beau Scott and Akuila Uate are back, but the struggling Knights are a bit of a no-go zone for Fantasy coaches at the moment. In-form Fantasy scorer Adam Cuthbertson is out for about a month with a knee injury. Even the usually reliable Jarrod Mullen ($357,932) only managed a mediocre 32 points in Newcastle's loss to the Warriors, with the team failing to really click in attack.
Tigers: Good news at last for the injury-hit Tigers, with James Tedesco ($290,718) and Liam Fulton ($252,363) returning alongside Origin stars Robbie Farah ($516,177) and Aaron Woods ($359,157). Curtis Sironen ($213,600) has been named 18th man. Kurtis Rowe's time as a cash cow is over unless Tedesco goes down with another injury (which, given his record, isn't an impossibility).
Storm v Roosters, Sunday afternoon at AAMI Park
Storm: Cameron Smith ($498,455) produced a great effort to play through an ankle injury and score 67 Fantasy points last week, as the Storm struggled without key men Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk. Smith was named to play in the halves before kick-off but again spent the vast majority of the game at hooker, where he has been named to play again this week. Tohu Harris gets the five-eighth role with Ben Roberts at halfback, while Cameron Munster ($) will fill Billy Slater's fullback spot for the next couple of weeks. Ben Hampton is free to play after his suspension but has been named to return in the NSW Cup.
Roosters: Rookie Willis Meehan ($107,000) has been named 18th man, but expect to see an unchanged Roosters side this week. James Maloney ($314,338) bounced back from the previous week's low score to set up three tries and score another on the way to 70 Fantasy points against the Raiders, with hat-trick star Daniel Tupou ($259,390) bagging 59. Sonny Bill Williams looks set to continue his erratic scoring this year – with his last four scores reading 55, 36, 87, 26 – but is a hold for overall points teams over the bye rounds.
Raiders v Broncos, Monday night at GIO Stadium
Raiders: No changes for Ricky Stuart's Raiders this week. Jack Wighton ($269,483) is turning into a consistent scorer since his switch to the centres, averaging 53.67 over his past three games, while bench half Mitch Cornish ($91,954) is cheap and getting cheaper after starting his NRL Fantasy career with two single-digit scores. Shaun Fensom ($415,122) is the sixth-best scorer in Fantasy this season and one of the most consistent with a little over 60 points a game.
Broncos: Justin Hodges ($211,174) returns to the side, bumping Dale Copley to the wing and Lachlan Maranta to an extended bench. Andrew McCullough ($450,726) will get cheaper in the next few weeks after an injury-affected 33 in Round 12, and the same goes for Corey Parker ($365,150) who only recorded 11 tackles in the win over Manly after backing up from Origin I.
This week's Fantasy and Tipping winners:
Fantasy: Lance Wilton (team: Piratez; 1026 points)
Tipping: Trevor Crawford
Got a Fantasy question for this week? Join in the Fantasy conversation on Twitter, Facebook or by sending me an email at iamthelonescout@gmail.com. Get more hints and tips tips on my NRL.com page or start playing Holden NRL Fantasy now.
