With the NRL Fantasy head-to-head finals now underway in all leagues it's all about perfecting your line-up for the crucial final rounds of the season. Here's the Lone Scout's advice ahead of Round 23.
I want to trade out Whitehead. I have $101K in the bank. Would you choose Lowe, Merrin, James, Mannering or Cordner?
From Adrian Ridgley
Out of those guys I'd go for either Ryan James or Simon Mannering. Mannering is the most consistent option now that he's playing at lock every week, while James has the biggest ceiling with six scores over 75 this year including a massive 119 against Souths in Round 13.
Too early to pick up Josh Dugan, Scout?
From Patrick Michael John Hewitt
I don't think so. Dugan's an interesting option this week – he's fallen out of favour with Fantasy coaches after a couple of injury layoffs and with the likes of James Tedesco, Cameron Munster and the Raiders centres firing, but traditionally he's a rock solid keeper anywhere in the back five. His season average is just under 44, which is pretty good – but if you take out his three low scores when playing at centre that average shoots up to 49.6. That's just two points a game less than Munster, and Dugan comes $100,000 cheaper.
Assuming Dugan stays at fullback where he's been named this week he could be a handy buy in the final month of the season, although points may not come easy against the strong Sharks defence this week.
Is it time to trade Whitehead for de Belin? Before de Belin goes up?
From James Hannan
Yeah I like that trade. Elliott Whitehead's scores have dropped a little recently – he did manage 57 a couple of weeks ago, but that included two tries. Meanwhile Jack de Belin's base stats are just about as good as it gets so he doesn't need any real attacking plays to score well (which is a good thing considering he plays for the Dragons).
Scout. Looking to upgrade one player to complete. James Graham to Ryan James or Greg Inglis to Cameron Munster? Both with Copley as a cash out to make the upgrades. Cheers.
From Andy Ireland
The simplest way to decide this one is to look at season averages. James Graham averages 56, Ryan James averages 60 (somewhat inflated by that massive 119), Greg Inglis averages about 43 and Munster averages 52. So Inglis to Munster gives you the best bang for your buck, and considering last week's 39 is the only time James Graham has scored below 40 all year, I wouldn't be trading him out.
Hey Scout, my team's pretty well packed right now but I'm looking to upgrade a player and was wondering which of the following options would result in the largest points difference: Gordon to Munster, Packer to Fifita or Napa to JDB?
From Peter Li
Again, just looking at the averages makes this one pretty straightforward – Michael Gordon (36) to Cameron Munster (52) is a quality upgrade, as is Dylan Napa (44) to Jack de Belin (57), but if you can only make one trade then Russell Packer (35) to Andrew Fifita (63) is the clear winner.
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