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Who will be in your team?
With two proven Fantasy stars and a squad teeming with young talent, the Wests Tigers could spring some surprises this season. Robbie Farah starts the year as the most valuable player in NRL Fantasy, while the explosive James Tedesco could repay Fantasy coaches willing to take a gamble.
Fantasy Guns
Robbie Farah ($588,000) – It was largely a year to forget for the Wests Tigers in 2014, but the team's on-field struggles simply meant there was more for their tireless captain to do. Farah scored more Fantasy points per game than any other player last season, frequently topping the Tigers' tackle tally while also piling on the run metres and kick metres as one of rugby league's premier playmaking dummy-halves. He'll be another safe captaincy choice in 2015, but at almost $600,000 he doesn't come cheap.
Aaron Woods ($426,000) – One of those front rowers who gives you just what you want – big run metre numbers and good tackle counts. The NSW prop started last year slowly but averaged an impressive 53.5 points a game after Round 4, and if he can keep that up all year this season he should expect about $50,000 in price rises.
Wild Cards
James Tedesco ($342,000) – Tedesco is a player of huge potential – quick, strong, evasive – who is one of a group of super-talented youngsters at the Wests Tigers. He's also, on current evidence, very injury prone. The fullback played a total of eight games in the NRL last season, including two brief appearances ended by injury. His $342,000 price tag equates to about 38.5 points a game, but across the six full games he played last year he averaged a terrific 50.8. Excluding the Round 16 clash against Canberra in which injury ended his season a minute into the contest, Tedesco scored six tries and made 35 tackle breaks in seven matches. He's a genuine weapon, but will he stay fit?
Dene Halatau ($184,000) – The veteran back-rower didn't have a huge role last season – he only played seven games, going down injured early in his first appearance of the year for a Fantasy score of -1 before following that up with low scores of 11 and 19. He did play big minutes in the second row five times, averaging 30 across those games, and he's likely to start at lock this year after the exit of forwards Liam Fulton, Adam Blair, Bodene Thompson, Cory Paterson and James Gavet. If anything, the departure of those players should give Halatau more work to do in an inexperienced back row, meaning Halatau's $184,000 price tag – the equivalent of about 21 points a game – looks very cheap.
Potential Cash Cows
Mitchell Moses ($169,000) – Moses is another of the Tigers' hugely promising youngsters, albeit one who is yet to really prove himself at NRL level. The dual-position five-eighth/fullback played 10 NRL games last year – six at the back, four in the halves – and his Fantasy scores varied wildly. The good sign: a dazzling 62-point display against eventual grand finalists the Bulldogs in Round 19, featuring two line breaks, a couple of goals, 121 run metres and a staggering five try assists. The bad sign: that game aside, Moses averaged a feeble 14.3 points a game last season. He has the talent to be a star, but he lacks the base stats to be a safe Fantasy bet just yet.
Jack Buchanan ($137,000) – A decent cash cow in his first NRL season in 2013, in which he played 23 games, Buchanan was limited to just four off the bench last year. The prop averaged 16 points in 25 minutes in those four matches, and starts 2015 with a very low price tag. He's likely to be battling with fellow props Ava Seumanufagai, Matthew Lodge and Kiwis Four Nations star Martin Taupau for bench spots in Round 1, with Woods and Keith Galloway the starters, but if he gets his chance and some decent minutes his Fantasy price is bound to go up.
Wests Tigers 2015 NRL Fantasy prices
Robbie Farah, $588,000
Aaron Woods, $426,000
James Tedesco, $342,000
David Nofoaluma, $320,000
Kevin Naiqama, $308,000
Martin Taupau, $294,000
Tim Simona, $249,000
Curtis Sironen, $239,000
Chris Lawrence, $238,000
Pat Richards, $228,000
Keith Galloway, $226,000
Luke Brooks, $221,000
Joel Luani, $218,000
Suauso Sue, $218,000
Matthew Lodge, $214,000
Keith Lulia, $192,000
Ava Seumanufagai, $190,000
Kurtis Rowe, $187,000
Dene Halatau, $184,000
Tim Moltzen, $174,000
Mitchell Moses, $169,000
Sitaleki Akauola, $153,000
Jack Buchanan, $144,000
Josh Drinkwater, $137,000
Brenden Santi, $136,000
Chance Peni, $128,000
Nathan Brown, $128,000
