NRL Fantasy winners & losers: Round 19

Robbie Farah may have had a quiet game at last but there were good numbers across the board in round 19 with just two weeks to go before all head-to-head finals series get underway.

Winners

The Newcastle Knights not only celebrated back-to-back wins with a comeback over the Titans but also had three players in the top six Fantasy scorers of the round, with back-rowers Mitch Barnett (83) and Lachlan Fitzgibbon (81) both finding the tryline and Connor Watson (74) coming up with 10 tackle breaks and a try assist.

Andrew Fifita (81) opened the scoring for Cronulla and rewarded those who have held onto him in Fantasy despite Aaron Woods's arrival at the club, while Roosters duo Jake Friend (81) and Latrell Mitchell (76) both ran riot in attack in their side's romp over Manly.

It was also a good week for Joey Leilua (73), who made a 63-point improvement on last week's score, while Tom Trbojevic (73) came up with a try, a try assist and a try save in a losing side against the Roosters and Cameron Smith (67) proved to be the best of the regular captaincy options.

Like Trbojevic, Valentine Holmes (67) and Matt Dufty (65) also had big games at the back while Esan Marsters (66) is back on top in the battle of the Fantasy centres.

Losers

Jarome Luai's golden start to his NRL Fantasy career came to a shuddering halt with just 3 points in 33 minutes off the bench for Penrith, while Titans lock Jai Arrow also had limited game time after battling through a knock to the knee and finished with 25 points from 45 minutes.

Warriors star Shaun Johnson improved on recent performances but not quite enough with 35 points – three rounds ago he was averaging 56 points a game but he's averaged less than 30 since then.

Rabbitohs centre Dane Gagai was restricted to his quietest game of the season with just 14 points against a miserly Wests Tigers defence, while on the other side of the field Robbie Farah wasn't required to do too much playmaking in his 250th game for the Tigers and made 33 points – well below his 69-point average going into the game and a frustrating score for those who picked him as captain this week.

NRL Fantasy Team of the Week

1. Tom Trbojevic (73)
2. Valentine Holmes (67)
3. Latrell Mitchell (76)
4. Joey Leilua (73)
5. Matt Dufty (65)
6. Connor Watson (74)
7. Kodi Nikorima (67)
8. Andrew Fifita (81)
9. Jake Friend (81)
10. Tevita Pangai jnr (59)
11. Lachlan Fitzgibbon (81)
12. Tepai Moeroa (70)
13. Mitch Barnett (83)
14. Cameron Smith (67)
15. Esan Marsters (66)
16. Josh Hodgson (65)
17. Mitchell Moses (64)