Lone Scout's NRL Fantasy Q&A: Round 18

Author: Lone Scout NRL Fantasy guru
Timestamp: Thu 18 Jul 2019, 08:35 AM

The big guns are back, sideways trades are in vogue, and the final batch of dual-position player upgrades are just around the corner as we head into round 18.

It's yet another bumper week for NRL Fantasy coaches, with less than a month until the head-to-head league finals kick-off.

This week's big questions

Will Isaah Yeo get DPP CTR/2RF?

From Chris Atkinson

Yes, he will, in the next batch of dual-position updates after round 18. At $398k and after a couple of scores in the mid-40s, he's suddenly going to become a very handy option in the centres.

When does the DPP sweep happen & what are the official rules with a player getting it? Is Milford locked in now that he's been named at FB again this week?

From Hyūga Flame

The next and final batch of positional updates will kick in next week, likely on Tuesday afternoon (around team list time).

Here are the players on track to become available in a second position: Anthony Milford (HLF, WFB), Darius Boyd (WFB, HLF), James Fisher-Harris (2RF, FRF), Jai Whitbread (2RF, FRF), Isaah Yeo (2RF, CTR).

The following players could become dual position depending on the round 19 team lists: Herbie Farnworth (WFB, CTR), Jake Turpin (HOK, HLF), Brett Morris (WFB, CTR), Adam Doueihi (HLF, WFB).

Who you should have in your halves for the run home

How do you rank the gun halves for the run home? Can afford anyone, worried about how much Munster might be rested for example.

From Dom Griffin

Good question. On current form, the top 10 is something like: 1. Mitch Moses, 2. Anthony Milford, 3. Kalyn Ponga, 4. Cameron Munster, 5. Daly Cherry-Evans, 6. Adam Reynolds, 7. Nathan Cleary, 8. Mitchell Pearce, 9. Shaun Johnson, 10. Ben Hunt.

Putting Moses up top feels strange, considering he's never really come close to scoring 50 points a game across an entire season, but in his last five games he's scored a huge 68 per game. He scored 31 points in kick metres alone last week. Munster doesn't have the kick metres but is the best tackle-breaker of the lot and gets great attacking stats, although he's out this week and could be rested again late in the season with the Storm having the minor premiership wrapped up. Ponga and Milford (and Jack Wighton) have the advantage of also covering winger/fullback, while Adam Reynolds is possibly the most reliable scorer of them all.

Don't panic if your halves are towards the bottom of that list. I think all 10 will average between 50 and 60 points a game from here on so ideally you can get three of them into your squad. I've got Ponga, Pearce and Johnson and (at this stage) am pretty comfortable running with that trio.

Is Shaun Johnson a decent 18th man for the run home? I'm playing H2H.

From Chris Milner

Yep.

Is Nikora still a set and forget? I think I'm going to run Burns for the rest of season ... seems Nikora has run out of steam perhaps?

From Andrew Alan Wilkinson

Nikora's running game has certainly quietened down since his explosive start to the season – he ran for more than 100 metres in five of his first six games but has done that just once in nine games since then. But his tackle counts have remained pretty consistent and he's still a very solid scorer as far as Fantasy centres go (last week's 32 was his lowest score of the year; by comparison Latrell Mitchell has four scores of 32 or less this year).

I'll be keeping Nikora, for now at least, but there's a lot to like in Burns. He's $80k cheaper, covers WFB as well as CTR, and in his non-injury-affected games this year he's scored 39, 65, 48 and 38. A Nikora to Burns trade is only really a marginal upgrade at best, but if you've got trades to burn and could do with more depth at CTR and WFB it's not the worst move.

Which pairing for the run home: Edwards and Cook or SJ and Turbo?

From Tom Conway

SJ and Turbo. Cook is the best buy of those four but Edwards is too inconsistent to consider at this time of the year.

Jacob Host to Damien Cook or Tommy Turbo? If I got Trbojevic, I could use Kalyn Ponga as cover for WFB and halves on the bench plus Tommy is a point of difference to most teams.

From Andreas Kartsioulis

I've got Trbojevic in my WFBs with Ponga as that versatile bench option, but if you're choosing between Trbojevic and Cook I'd get Cook unless you have no cover for winger/fullback in your reserves.

Cameron Murray to Jake Trobjevic or Connor Watson to DCE?

From Cecil Walker

Watson is now back to the bench for Newcastle so trading him to Daly Cherry-Evans makes a lot of sense.

Is Stockwell the best cash out with good job security or maybe Farnsworth?

From William Roberts

Jack Stockwell is a $224k starter so has the best job security of the uber-cheap options in action this round, even though he's in a Titans team that has just lost a coach and could see some big team changes in the coming weeks. Herbie Farnworth is likely to drop out of the Broncos side in round 21 when Gehamat Shibasaki returns from injury.

Milford racks up the points

Is Xerri to Burns too sideways and is 6 trades enough to have left?

From Trent Smith

It probably is sideways, but I made this trade last week not so much for a points boost but because Burns covers winger/fullback as well as centre. It was handy last week with so many star WFBs out, but might be less important now unless you have no cover at the back.

Six trades remaining is fine at this stage of the season.

Taupau or Matterson?

From Lucarn Tukey Hayward

Dual-position flexibility gives Marty Taupau the edge.

McInnes or Friend for a last bench spot?

From Gem D Williamson

McInnes.

Is it a smart move to bring in 4 high-scoring hookers (McInnes, Smith, Cook, Friend)?

From Jonathan Flavell

Only if you've got coverage for every other position in your other five reserve spots, and/or enough trades in hand if you lose two players from the same position at the same time.