Lone Scout's NRL Fantasy Q&A: Round 8

It's an unexpected bonus trade round with up to four available for those who need it, with every Fantasy team having two extra trades added to their totals.

The bonus trades come with the addition of new sponsor Harvey Norman, and follow a week in which a significant number of teams played with 16 players or fewer due to the increased injury toll of the past couple of rounds.

Those who have been rocked hard by injuries now get a helping hand, and those who have banked trades will have an extra advantage come finals time in head-to-head leagues or at crunch time in the overall points race.

But two trades will only go so far so it's still crucial to make smart moves as we head into round eight, with only a dozen rounds remaining before the end of the season.

This week's big questions

Is Mitchell Moses a hold? I'm running low on trades and I assume many are in a similar position. Is holding the best thing to do as long as I can field 2 halves for the next 2-3 weeks while he is out?

From Jeremy Lawless

Yeah, I think at this stage of the season, if you can get by while holding Moses it's probably a wise move. If you sell him and he returns after two weeks you'll be kicking yourself – especially as everyone else starts buying him in the following rounds as his price tag drops because of last week's 13-point score. If you were really struggling in the halves and/or need big scores in the next few weeks to stay in touch with the top half of your head-to-head league you could trade for Nathan Cleary, Daly Cherry-Evans, Kyle Flanagan, Shaun Johnson or Mitchell Pearce.

Is Hudson Young worth bringing in for Horse?

From Taimona Clarke

With John Bateman facing an injury setback and Corey Horsburgh unlikely to play much more of a role this season, Hudson Young should get a fair stint in an 80-minute edge role in the Raiders forward pack. He scored 53 in a 90-minute golden point loss to Parramatta last week and should generally score around 45, which should earn him upwards of $100k in price rises over the next four or five weeks. At $465k he's not as cheap as the genuine cash cows, and he won't be a keeper, but as far as mid-range moneymakers go he looks a pretty solid option. The key thing for him will be staying out of trouble after several run-ins with the judiciary in his short career so far.

Do you think Matterson will hold his value or would you go for a (slightly) cheaper option of Harris/Crichton? Should I get Cleary now, will he hold his value? He looks the absolute goods at the moment.

From Rich Martin

The old adage is there's never a bad time to get a keeper, and Matterson and Cleary both look like elite keepers this season. They may both come down in price a little with one or two quiet games, but (assuming they stay fit) you're not going to regret buying them in the long run. If you didn't want to splash quite so much cash on Matterson I'd be looking at Harris, for $60k cheaper – he's also scoring very well in an 80-minute role, and unlikely Angus Crichton he's not relying on tries to do it (Crichton has four tries in six games so far this year).

Should I get DCE this week or wait for Moses in 5-6 weeks when his price is low, and get Harris or Yeo this week? (My current halves are Cleary and JMK.)

From Jamarcus Deswan VII

It depends a little on your squad depth – in the halves and second row – and your team's ability to generate cash in the next month or so, but on the face of it getting Mitch Moses for around $700k in six weeks rather than a similar scorer in Daly Cherry-Evans for $780k now, while also getting a gun scorer like Harris or Yeo, seems like a good move.

SJ as a POD option in the halves? Easy draw upcoming but worried about his base stats.

From Dominic Cornish

Shaun Johnson has been an established 50+ scorer for years, whose starting price was brought down a little this year after he had a couple of very low injury-affected scores last season. He won't be as consistent as Nathan Cleary and Daly Cherry-Evans but there's no reason why he can't maintain his 55 average across the course of the season. He's still arguably a safer bet than in-form Roosters playmaker Kyle Flanagan (who is averaging 56 at $731k compared to Johnson's $750k price tag). Mitch Moses will be very good value in a couple of months also.

Is Reece Robson looking like a keeper if he maintains 80 minutes... throw in Jake Friend now too?

From David Booth

Robson and Friend (who is set to play 80 minutes for the rest of the season with Sam Verrills out with an ACL injury) are among the 10 hookers available this week who have a three-game average above 50. Both are probably keepers, but the question is how many hookers you want in your final 21-man squad. Ideally, you'll finish with solid depth across the board – that means players capable of scoring well in each of the six positions if one of your starters goes down with a short-term injury or suspension.

Once you have more than three hookers you inevitably start to hurt your depth elsewhere, and if you already have Harry Grant and Api Koroisau and add a third hooker like Robson you're effectively removing your chance of getting one of the elite hookers (McInnes, Cook, Smith) or of having strong squad depth.

That's not to say Robson and Friend are bad buys – solid 50+ scorers at under $700k are not easy to come by – but beware there is an element of risk in getting them even if they are great value for money.