NRL Fantasy teams analysis: Round 12
Good news for Fantasy coaches looking for a bargain with two cheapies been promoted to starting line-ups this week as injuries continue to take their toll on NRL clubs.
Round 12 team news
Dragons v Rabbitohs, Thursday 7.50pm at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium
Dragons: Adam Clune and Trent Merrin are both out due to concussion protocols, so Ben Hunt returns to the No.7 jersey and Cameron McInnes to hooker. Jackson Ford is the new lock, Tariq Sims bumps Tyrell Fuimaono to the bench and Jordan Pereira replaces Jason Saab on the wing. Tristan Sailor gets a run on the interchange.
McInnes scored bang on his season average of 74 last week and is likely to become a dual position HOK/2RF next week despite filling in at hooker this round. Zac Lomax (69) and Ben Hunt (67) continue to score well, with Lomax's incredible consistency at centre still intact.
Rabbitohs: Latrell Mitchell returns at fullback with Alex Johnston shifting to the wing and Corey Allan dropping out. Liam Knight and Patrick Mago replace Hame Sele (shoulder) and Jack Johns on the bench.
Cameron Murray (68) and Damien Cook (65) are producing consistent high scores while Bailey Sironen (40) earned a handy $33k price rise last round after playing the full 80 minutes.
Wests Tigers v Warriors, Friday 6pm at Sydney Cricket Ground
Wests Tigers: Alex Twal, the second-best scorer available at front-row behind Payne Haas, is back from injury at lock with Matt Eisenhuth out of the 21. Luke Garner, Sam McIntyre and Tom Mikaele also return, Oliver Clark replaces the suspended Russell Packer at prop and Michael Chee-Kam is out after suffering a serious head knock last week.
Harry Grant (70) continues to hit captaincy-level scores and is one of several Payne Haas alternatives if you want a left-field option to get an edge on a head-to-head opponent. Luciano Leilua's (54) purple patch of form continues while Tommy Talau (43) is moving towards $150k in price rises this season.
Warriors: Patrick Herbert and new loan signing George Jennings start on the wings in place of David Fusitu'a and Ken Maumalo, who have headed home to New Zealand, while Wayde Egan and another Eels loanee Daniel Alvaro replace Chanel Harris-Tavita and Isaiah Papali'i on the bench.
The arrival of Jazz Tevaga (51, including -16 in demerits) in the starting side at lock hasn't slowed the scoring of Tohu Harris (70), while Eliesa Katoa (53) has hit $300k in price rises this season.
Broncos v Sharks, Friday 7.55pm at Suncorp Stadium
Broncos: Plenty of team changes here. Darius Boyd moves to fullback, with Richie Kennar on the wing, Herbie Farnworth at centre and Anthony Milford at five-eighth. Jake Turpin starts at hooker and Issac Luke and Ethan Bullemor join the bench. Brodie Croft, Cory Paix, Jamil Hopoate and Tyson Gamble are out of the 17. Test Niu is out for the season due to wrist surgery.
Payne Haas (64) showed again why he's the safest captaincy option while the likes of James Tedesco and Nathan Cleary produced sub-60 scores against bottom-eight opponents, while Pat Carrigan (57) continues to play around 70 minutes a game.
Sharks: Chad Townsend is set to miss four to six weeks with a calf strain, with base price cheapie Connor Tracey ($212k) getting his start at halfback. Elsewhere Josh Dugan returns for Bryson Goodwin in the centres, Briton Nikora starts in the back row and Siosifa Talakai moves to the bench.
Toby Rudolf (52), named at lock again on Tuesday but likely to come off the bench as usual, is still climbing in value with strong recent performances while Shaun Johnson (63) could see a rise in scoring with Townsend sidelined.
Roosters champing at the bit for SBW’s return
Roosters v Titans, Saturday 3pm at Sydney Cricket Ground
Roosters: Boyd Cordner (concussion) remains on the sidelines for another week, while Ryan Hall replace Brett Morris on the wing in the Roosters' only change.
Since the implementation of the six-again rule James Tedesco has averaged 75 points per 80 minutes – mind-boggling numbers for a fullback. Still, he did "only" score 57 against the Warriors last round in a slightly underwhelming return for those who made him captain.
Kyle Flanagan has now gone three weeks without scoring above 50, after a run of five straight 60+ scores.
Titans: Keegan Hipgrave replaces Sam Stone in the second row and Sam Lisone replaces Jai Whitbread on the bench. AJ Brimson and Erin Clark could be late inclusions after being included in the reserves.
Jamal Fogarty (66) continues to be a shining light for the Titans and the Fantasy coaches who snapped him up early, while Moeaki Fotuaika (46, after the previous week's 30) is having a mini form slump by his standards this season, having averaged 56 through the first nine rounds. His 57 run metres in 53 minutes against Penrith was easily his worst return of the season.
Cowboys v Raiders, Saturday 5.30pm at Queensland Country Bank Stadium
Cowboys: Connelly Lemuelu starts at centre with Mitch Dunn going to the bench while Jordan McLean's return pushes Francis Molo to the interchange. Reuben Cotter and Ben Hampton drop out, with Cotter's absence good news for Reece Robson's game time. Josh McGuire is facing a possible one-match ban at the judiciary on Tuesday night.
Jason Taumalolo (69) continues to get the job done in the middle while Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow (37) is showing a handy knack or producing one big tackle-busting run per game to ensure his price keeps climbing.
Raiders: John Bateman makes his long-awaited return in the second row, bumping Hudson Young to lock and Kai O'Donnell out of the side. With Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad to miss one or two weeks after surgery on a dislocated finger, Jordan Rapana moves to fullback with Curtis Scott returning to the centres. Mid-season signing Corey Harawira-Naera replaces Harley Smith-Shields on the bench.
Tom Starling (45) is proving an excellent moneymaker so far, with good minutes off the bench, while Hudson Young (57) had his best game in the starting side and Josh Papalii (62) is in the top three FRF options this year.
Jake Trbojevic's smile has returned
Sea Eagles v Panthers, Saturday 7.35pm at Lottoland
Sea Eagles: Sean Keppie replaces Jack Gosiewski on the interchange. Daly Cherry-Evans (65) has scored three tries and had three try assists in his past four games, Jake Trbojevic (63) hasn't scored below 50 since round three while Martin Taupau (51) is a cut-price keeper option in the front row at $635k.
Panthers: Viliame Kikau's retun pushes Tyrone May to the bench and Matt Burton to the reserves, but the big news is Api Korosiau is some chance of an early return after being named 18th man.
Jarome Luai (47) is still in more teams than Nathan Cleary (59) and his price hasn't peaked just yet, and the same goes for Stephen Crichton who has now scored eight tries in his past six games. Isaah Yeo (69) played 77 minutes against the Titans after a few longer stints on the bench in recent weeks, while James Fisher-Harris (30) made only 16 tackles in 54 minutes – after racking up 58 tackles a week earlier.
Bulldogs v Eels, Sunday 2pm at ANZ Stadium
Bulldogs: Mid-season signing Tim Lafai replaces Kerrod Holland in the centres and Jack Cogger and Sauaso Sue replace Brandon Wakeham and Renouf To'omaga on the bench.
Raymond Faitala-Mariner (73) is currently in the best try-scoring spree of his life, crossing three times in his last four games. Aiden Tolman (81) was an even more unlikely try-scorer against the Knights and has a season average of 56.
Eels: Kane Evans and Oregon Kaufusi replace Brad Takairangi and Stefano Utoikamanu on the bench. Ryan Matterson (5) suffered a head knock early on against the Tigers and his price tag is likely to slip well below $800k in the next few weeks.
Reagan Campbell-Gillard (79) scored a great long-range try and is in a red-hot run of form, averaging 68 points across his past five games. He's hit well over 200 metres and 30 tackles in all those five games but the return of some more experienced middle forwards could dent his minutes.
Storm v Knights, Sunday 4.05pm at Sunshine Coast Stadium
Storm: Paul Momirovski (finger) is out for the rest of the regular season. Marion Seve replaces Brenko Lee at centre and Tom Eisenhuth joins the bench.
Cameron Smith (75) was the best of the regular captaincy options last round and is in just 11% of teams. Ryan Papenhuyzen (73) had a monster second half against the Broncos and is currently alternating between 30s one week and bumper scores the next. Tino Faasuamaleaui (67) had his best score of the season against Brisbane but won't score two tries every week.
Knights: The Knights have lost hookers Andrew McCullough (hamstring) and Connor Watson (Achilles) for the season, while Sione Mata'utia (knee) is expected to miss six weeks. Cheapie Chris Randall is named to start at hooker although he's unlikely to play the full 80 with rookie five-eighth Phoenix Crossland on the interchange and Kurt Mann likely to spend some time at dummy-half. Aiden Guerra starts in the back row and Josh King joins the bench.
The wet conditions and a disappointing loss didn't stop Kalyn Ponga (74), Mitchell Pearce (56) or Bradman Best (46) last week, while Mann (65) got through a ton of defensive work after switching to hooker. David Klemmer (82) played the full 80 minutes for the first time, making 57 tackles and 198 metres.
