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Who will be in your team?
As we count down to the start of the new season of NRL Fantasy, NRL.com's Lone Scout is revealing each squad's player prices and best buys.
Their year from hell is behind them, and now the Sharks have a few key recruits in their ranks and are out to give the comp a shake-up again. Michael Ennis is a seasoned pro but it's the club's big-name forwards, a young backline recruit and the enigma that is Ben Barba that could grab the attention in Fantasy.
Fantasy Guns
Paul Gallen ($554,000) – The Sharks and NSW skipper rarely has any trouble getting fired up, but you can expect him to be particularly passionate when he leads out his Cronulla side for Round 1 in 2015. After a horror couple of years for the club off the field, it's time for them to return to the fold as a finals contender and Gallen will be doing all he can to get them there. Does a mountain of work in attack and defence and is capable of creating try-scoring chances through crafty offloads and barnstorming runs, and while he generally faces a huge workload over the Origin period he's only scheduled to miss one NRL game this year with the Sharks enjoying a bye before Origins I and II.
Andrew Fifita ($535,000) – He didn't have a huge impact on Cronulla's campaign last season with just a dozen appearances, but Fifita made the most of his chances as just one of four players to average 60 points a game or better in Fantasy. Simply unstoppable at times with the ball in hand, Fifita can rack up those three-point tackle breaks and has a great engine in defence as well. He may cost a lot more than the next best props Matt Scott and James Graham, but with Fifita you tend to get bang for your buck.
Wild Cards
Ben Barba ($269,000) – The former Dally M Medal-winning Bulldog spent the bulk of his one and only season at Brisbane at fullback, leading the league in try saves before switching to five-eighth for the final two months of the season. His Fantasy average remained steady at 30 points a game for both positions, although his scores varied wildly – those eight games in the halves netted Barba two 50+ scores, one 40, a 26, three 19s and a 16. Barba relied heavily on tries and run metres for his Fantasy points at Brisbane, with Ben Hunt taking on most of the kicking in general play, but that could change if Barba splits the playmaking duties with Jeff Robson at Cronulla.
Potential Cash Cow
Jack Bird ($128,000) – Bird is a player with huge potential, having starred in the Holden Cup for the Dragons last season, and could get his chance in the top grade this year. A second-rower in the lower grades, Bird is set to switch to the centres when he gets his NRL chance – something that may come sooner rather than later in a Sharks outfit brimming with talented forwards but lacking a little punch in the outside backs. Fellow former Dragon Gerard Beale will take one centre spot but there will be competition for the other, particularly if the Sharks struggle early on.
Sharks 2015 NRL Fantasy prices
Paul Gallen, $554000
Andrew Fifita, $535000
Wade Graham, $419000
Michael Ennis, $373000
Michael Gordon, $357000
Chris Heighington, $353000
Tinirau Arona, $341000
Matt Prior, $331000
Anthony Tupou, $320000
Jeff Robson, $309000
Tim Robinson, $298000
Daniel Holdsworth, $272000
Ben Barba, $269000
Jayson Bukuya, $269000
Valentine Holmes, $267000
Pat Politoni, $265000
Sam Tagataese, $257000
Fa'amanu Brown, $248000
Sosaia Feki, $245000
Sami Sauiluma, $234000
Luke Lewis, $233000
Gerard Beale, $229000
Ricky Leutele, $229000
Blake Ayshford, $225000
Nathan Gardner, $208000
Mitch Brown, $199000
David Fifita, $191000
Jacob Gagan, $175000
Junior Roqica, $175000
Kyle Stanley, $151000
Penani Manumalealii, $142000
Patrice Siolo, $142000
Jack Bird, $128000
Saulala Houma, $128000
Michael Morris, $128000
