NRL Fantasy winners & losers: Round 21
Cameron Smith has been usurped as the king of NRL Fantasy as the next Kangaroos hooker dominated a weekend of surprise results and big Fantasy scores.
Congratulations to those who have made their head-to-head league finals, most of which kick off this week (and if your finals got started early, congrats if your team is still alive). And apologies if your team was on the receiving end of The Scouts' first 1000-plus score of the season.
Winners
Damien Cook's Rabbitohs and Cameron Smith's Storm went head-to-head on Friday night, and while the battle between two competition heavyweights was a thriller it was the individual battle between the two No.9s that the Fantasy die-hards were following. Both contests were neck-and-neck for most of the night before a moment of magic from Cook, who recovered from an injury scare to slice through the Melbourne defensive line and score the try that not only cemented South Sydney's win but also effectively ended Smith's reign as the best Fantasy scorer in the league.
Already the highest scorer in 2018, Cook has now reeled off season-high scores in back-to-back weeks – 88 last week and 98 this week – and he simply needs to be your Fantasy captain for the final four rounds.
Cook splits the Storm wall
Elsewhere it was Aidan Guerra's turn to be Newcastle's high-scoring back-rower with 94 points in a losing side against the Tigers. Wests halfback Luke Brooks scored 80 in that game, while Broncos duo Andrew McCullough (81) and Korbin Sims (80) got through a lot of work despite their team's shock loss to the Bulldogs.
In another big round for the hookers Issac Luke (71) and Cameron McInnes (69) both scored tries, Canberra pair Jordan Rapana and Joey Leilua (both 68) put on a show before the Raiders were chased down in the second half once again, while Jason Taumalolo (64) ran through James Tedesco like he wasn't there.
Meanwhile popular buys Jarryd Hayne (63), Josh Addo-Carr (63), Nathan Brown, Sam Burgess, Daly Cherry-Evans, Martin Taupau, Jake Trbojevic (all 60), Angus Crichton, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Rhys Martin (all 58) did well.
Oh, and Jai Arrow is over his knee injury – bouncing back from two straight 25-point efforts to play 73 minutes against Parrmatta for 58 Fantasy points. Commiserations if you, like me, sold him last week.
Losers
While it was a good week for most popular Fantasy buys it didn't go to plan for everybody, with injury problems for stars Mitchell Pearce (quad, 17 points), Cameron Smith (heel, 51), Andrew Fifita (concussion, 33), Tevita Pangai jnr (hamstring, 30), Paul Vaughan (ankle, 5) and Corey Thompson (ankle, 18).
Top 5 Plays of the Week – Round 21
NRL Fantasy Team of the Week
1. Jarryd Hayne (63)
2. Jordan Rapana (68)
3. Joey Leilua (68)
4. Tyrone Peachey (68)
5. Josh Addo-Carr (63)
6. Daly Cherry-Evans (60)
7. Luke Brooks (80)
8. Korbin Sims (80)
9. Damien Cook (98)
10. Martin Taupau/Sam Burgess (60)
11. Aidan Guerra (94)
12. Coen Hess (72)
13. Jazz Tevaga (73)
14. Andrew McCullough (84)
15. Shaun Lane (71)
16. Issac Luke (71)
17. Cameron McInnes (69)
