Panthers 2021 NRL Fantasy guide

Last year's beaten grand finalists were easily the best performing club in the regular season, and have a largely settled squad heading into 2021.

That means bargains may be hard to come by at the start of the year but the Panthers do possess some of the best Fantasy scorers in the business.

Players to watch

Nathan Cleary

The most expensive player in Fantasy with a whopping $973,000 asking price, is Nathan Cleary worth a huge chunk of your salary cap? Almost certainly yes.

He was the best Fantasy performer in the NRL last year, cracking the 100 mark not once but twice and averaging a monstrous 72.6 points per game. He combined great base stats (kick metres, tackles, run metres) with a good number of assists, tries and tackle breaks, and is arguably the best goal-kicker in the league.

Cleary will probably be the highest-scoring half in Fantasy again this year and is a great captaincy choice. The only potential downside is if you expect Penrith's all-round performances to decline after their stunning minor premiership-winning campaign last season.

Apisai Koroisau

An absolute bargain last season, Koroisau was a huge part of Penrith's surge towards the top of the table. He quickly established himself as one of the elite hookers in NRL Fantasy.

Combining a superb attacking game out of dummy-half with the ability to make 50 tackles a week, Koroisau scored 60 points a game last season and will be one of the game's best scorers again this year.

The flipside is it's hard to see him improving too much on what was an outstanding individual season, so he's unlikely to see his price tag rise any higher and he could still be behind the likes of Cameron McInnes and Damien Cook in the pecking order of elite Fantasy hookers.

But if you want a gun scorer at a cheaper price than that duo, Koroisau could be your man.

Isaah Yeo

Yeo was one of the success stories of 2020, playing his way into a State of Origin jersey on the back of a superb season.

He thrived in the new six-again era, shifting from an edge role to lock and still playing big minutes – racking up a ton of tackles and run metres along the way.

He averaged 53 points a game from those stats alone and 58 points a game in total – a massive improvement on his 35-point average from 2019.

Can his numbers improve again? Maybe. Across the season he averaged 70 minutes per game, including six 80-minute performances at lock.

When he played at least 70 minutes a game he averaged an excellent 66 points. With three "middle forward" spots to fill in your squad this season, Yeo could be a player worth keeping.

Moses Leota

Leota could be the big winner from former captain James Tamou's departure to the Wests Tigers, with Tamou's spot in the starting line-up up for grabs.

Leota had two starts at prop late in the regular season (for scores of 48 and 40) but played the rest of the season off the bench, averaging less than 34 points a game across the year.

That results in a somewhat awkward mid-range price tag of $452,000, but it's easy to see him gaining more value in the early rounds if he continues to score at one point per minute as he did last year.

Tamou averaged 41 minutes per game last season but Leota only played more than 40 minutes once, so there's certainly some value there if he moves into Tamou's old role.

2021 NRL Fantasy player prices

Nathan Cleary HLF $973,000
Apisai Koroisau HOK $805,000
Isaah Yeo MID $781,000
Matt Eisenhuth MID $690,000
James Fisher-Harris MID $671,000
Dylan Edwards WFB $669,000
Liam Martin EDG $608,000
Jarome Luai HLF $602,000
Brian To'o WFB $580,000
Viliame Kikau EDG $568,000
Kurt Capewell EDG $504,000
Stephen Crichton CTR $492,000
Scott Sorenson MID $455,000
Moses Leota MID $452,000
Matt Burton HLF $449,000
Charlie Staines WFB $445,000
Mitch Kenny HOK $424,000
Brent Naden CTR $405,000
Tyrone May CTR, EDG $371,000
Robert Jennings WFB $317,000
Spencer Leniu MID $307,000
Dean Whare CTR $246,000
Billy Burns EDG $246,000
Jaeman Salmon HLF $246,000
Lindsay Smith MID $228,000