Fantasy cash cow watch: Kerrod Holland
Canterbury lost some big-name players in 2018 – from the mid-season exits of Aaron Woods and Moses Mbye to the end-of-season departures of the Morris twins and David Klemmer – but the positive for the club long-term was the emergence of a group of talented youngsters.
Goal-kicking centre Kerrod Holland was one, going on a scoring run late in the season after being promoted from the bench to a starting spot.
Positives
Holland's 2018 campaign suggests he'll be good value for two reasons.
Firstly, he spent 10 matches coming off the bench, averaging 26 minutes and 15 Fantasy points in those matches. With 2019 player prices based primarily on their 2018 Fantasy scores, Holland should increase in value if he simply remains a regular 80-minute starter for the Dogs this year.
Secondly, Holland showed in the second half of the season he's capable of racking up the attacking stats – he averaged a terrific 45 points a game in that time, including scores of 48 and 47 that came without tries. If he can average 40 in 2019 he'll earn a lot of price rises and be a borderline keeper in the centres.
And while he's hardly renowned for his defensive game he doesn't actually make too many missed tackles, with his 86% tackle effectiveness last year just under the NRL average of 87.4%.
Five key matchups of the Bulldogs' 2019 draw
Negatives
Can Holland be trusted to match his late-season scoring spree? In his two previous seasons, he averaged 37 and 30 points a game (the latter playing entirely on the wing in 2017).
He'll need tries, assists, tackle busts and line breaks to keep his Fantasy scores around 40 but he's playing in the team that ranked last in tackle breaks and second-last in tries scored in 2018.
Holland's strong scoring run last year came during a surprising run of giant-killing form for the Bulldogs, including wins over five teams above them on the ladder.
They're the wooden spoon favourites in 2019 and if they find themselves on the end of several lop-sided defeats it'll be difficult for an attacking centre to dominate in Fantasy.
Also, he'll obviously need to play. The Bulldogs may need to change things up this season meaning the pre-season trials could throw up some rival candidates for Holland's centre position.
To buy or not to buy?
This one probably comes down to your salary cap space. Holland is cheaper than the elite Fantasy centres but he's hardly bottom dollar and with the centre position a notoriously tricky one when it comes to finding consistent Fantasy players you may be inclined to spend up on a reliable option or gamble on a few cheapies instead.
But if Holland's price tag fits your budget and you're not too spooked by the Bulldogs' 2019 prospects, there are good reasons why his price could climb in the opening months of the season.
