From the return to form of a NRL Fantasy legend to the arrival of Origin Fantasy and the rise of a new group of cash cows, here are the Fantasy talking points after Round 11 of the Telstra Premiership season.
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Fensom back with a bang
The Canberra Raiders might not have got the chocolates against the Bulldogs on Sunday but they did produce three of the weekend's top five NRL Fantasy scorers, including the return to form of Fantasy legend Shaun Fensom. With injuries forcing Ricky Stuart to play the tackle machine for 80 minutes for the first time this season, Fensom proved what he can do with 55 tackles, three tackle breaks, 178 run metres, three offloads and a try for a massive 91 points. It was his first score above 50 since Round 6 and suggests his price has bottomed out at $426,000 – although don't be surprised if he's back to playing 60 minutes again next round.
Meanwhile, a try-scoring double helped Sisa Waqa to 81 points, fellow Raider Blake Austin hit 75, while Andrew McCullough (77), Michael Lichaa (75), Jack Reed (75), Josh Reynolds (71), Lachlan Coote (71), Luke Keary (71) and Moses Mbye (70) were the other big winners from the weekend.
Battle of the byes has just begun
While Round 11 would have been a week to forget for most Fantasy coaches who hadn't planned for the bye rounds, there is another – albeit smaller – bye hurdle to jump this week. The Bulldogs and Wests Tigers sit out Round 12 with their first bye of the season, meaning the likes of Michael Lichaa and James Tedesco will have to find a place in your reserves for the week.
Also stay tuned to the aftermath of State of Origin I to see which players will and won't back up from this year's series opener – fingers crossed your Origin stars make it through Wednesday night's game unscathed.
Pick your Origin team now
Before you lock in your trades for Round 7, jump over to the Origin Match Day game and pick the six players who will be representing your team in State of Origin I. No salary cap, no restriction on how many players you can pick from each team – just pick your six including a vice captain (double points) and captain (triple points) and you could be $500 richer next week.
Cheapies on the rise
A few mid-season cash cows are coming through with the goods over the bye period, led by Rabbitohs winger Aaron Gray ($194,000, break even of -2) and Cowboys forwards Sam Hoare ($153,000) and Ben Spina ($191,000), who both have a break even of zero. Knights hooker Chad Redman ($153,000) has also enjoyed a promising start to his NRL career with an average of 39 from two games and a break even of -8, while Blake Leary ($239,000) and Lachlan Burr ($198,000) should both be big money earners again this week.
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