Scout Report: Round 13 Fantasy Q&A

It's the halfway points of the NRL Fantasy season, with a brief break from the dreaded byes as Fantasy coaches search for replacements for cash cow hookers Nathan Peats and Apisai Koroisau. Head-to-head coaches should be using trades wisely now as they build their ultimate 17, while those aiming for overall points need to keep one eye on the fixture list coming up in order to get the most out of the Origin period.

Here are my answers to some of this week's big questions.

Yep Lowe's a good value buy this week – he's playing the full 80, getting good scores and rising in value quickly. He's not in the top bracket of keepers but he is cheaper than Peats so is a great option if you haven't got much spare cash.

It's a no to Kostjasyn from me.

If you have no obvious alternatives this week, and with Peats' price not moving anywhere, there is always the option to just leave him in your reserves for now (unless you need another scorer for your 17). You can wait until McCullough's price comes down, or until we know whether Friend is in the Queensland side. 

If you urgently need to get an extra scoring hooker in your team, then you might have to bite the bullet and take an overpriced McCullough or Luke. 

Or bring in a gun half now, with an eye to switching Mbye back to the halves later on when you can afford to bring in one of the gun hookers.

I'd be more keen to trade out someone like Apisai Koroisau, whose price will drop now that he's playing off the bench behind Issac Luke at Souths.

I'd wait and see how he goes first, and then whether he keeps the spot next week.

With Idris out indefinitely, I'd say yes. I sold him last week. There isn't really any information about how long he'll be out for, but unless you have a quality centre in your squad to replace him it's worth trading him out for a genuine keeper now. 

Kingston's officially due back next week, but there are whispers he could be a late inclusion this weekend. Segeyaro's also in some doubt this week with his ankle injury. All in all it looks a risky move to jump on Segeyaro this week, despite his good recent form (when he's been playing the 80). 

New Dragons coach Paul McGregor seems pretty set on playing Quinlan at fullback for the time being, which suggests he'll get a good run as a cash cow. At $124,894 he comes cheap as well. On the other hand, it's hard to know how long he'll stay there if the Dragons keep losing. Josh Dugan is obviously a pretty handy replacement fullback if Quinlan doesn't fire at the back – or if Dugan himself struggles to make much impact at centre. I wouldn't risk it personally, but if Quinlan stays for the long run he should make some decent cash. Quinlan will at least have the spot sewn up for Round 14 and 17 if Dugan gets called up to the NSW Origin side.

At just $81,405 Dayne Weston obviously gives you bang for your buck if you're looking to cash out one of your forwards. His string of low scores off the bench has made him about $25,000 cheaper than a brand new Fantasy rookie. The risk, as you say, is that he could be a disastrous auto emergency if you have a late withdrawal in your team (in four games this season his top score is 11). On the other hand, his greatest strength as a Fantasy cheapie could be that he's not in the Storm's top 17 at the moment. While he's out of the side he's no risk of being an auto emergency, and if you're happy to give up one of your 25 squad positions to a non-player in exchange for an extra $20K or so of extra cash, Weston could be your man. Beware that risk is always there though if Weston gets back onto the Storm bench.