NRL Fantasy: Lone Scout's Winners and Losers Round 18

CommBank Stadium hosts yet another upset for 2026 plus a low-scoring round overall in the last major bye round for this year.  

Let's take a gander through who shone and who didn’t during this weekend’s five games and add some tips as we approach the final bye round next week. 

Lone Scout's Winners and Losers

Winners

A decisive win with a touch of controversy from the Panthers who made short work of Souths with Cam Murray off in Blues camp. After again missing out on the recall for NSW, Dylan Edwards (52) surged again and claimed a four-pointer. Tom Jenkins (69) furthered his record-breaking season adding another three tries to his own tally. Billy Phillips (73) showed plenty to like in his fill-in gig on the edge, he will be one to keep in mind when getting a regular starting role. Same can be said for Liam Henry (83) and Lindsay Smith (76), while Paul Alamoti (76) rewarded his owners with plenty of points earnt off the kicking tee as a bonus.  

Souths took the loss after delving deeper into their playing well, another getting his first run-on jersey, rookie Dayne Jennings (54) scored a try in his first 80 minutes at NRL level despite at first being denied. Jye Gray (57) stepped up at fullback and is a nice POD option for the run home. It was worrying signs for Latrell Siegwalt (51) owners until he was allowed a bail-out try late, he only recorded one from three off the boot which wasn’t helping his scoring. In a rare showing both Jamie Humphreys (50) and Euan Aitken (50) hit the half-century mark from the bench, though both getting 60 minutes on the field certainly gave them plenty of opportunities.  

It was in front of a vocal home crowd that the resurgent Dragons were able to chase Wests Tigers down and then pull well ahead with three tries in the final 12 minutes. The victory was helped along with a season top performance by Valentine Holmes (80) who even shuffled to the wing mid-game. Fantasy top forwards Toby Couchman (70), Dylan Egan (51) and Hamish Stewart (50) all make their regular appearance. Prop Loko Jnr Pasifiki Tonga (54) was another high earner during the win. 

Wests Tigers suffered a poor loss but in better news both recent injury returnees Adam Doueihi (64) and Alex Twal (60) ripped straight back into their best football and left no doubt they are among the top players to target for the run home. Terrell May (51) crosses the 50-mark but due to a 13-minute breather taken rather than his trademark five, there was a lot of points left on the table by the top captaincy choice for the round.  

Nine losses in a row for the Broncos! Though he led the Fantasy scoring for the Broncos, MID/ EDG Xavier Willison (66) was shown to struggle through the latter portion of his 80-minute performance, clutching at an elbow and getting attention from the trainers. With the bye next week he isn’t an essential hold due to the return of their full missing forwards contingent in Payne Haas, Pat Carrigan and Jack Gosiewski but don’t sell him unless you have to. Only one other in Cory Paix (50) earns a mention here and purely because of a four-pointer that opened the scoring for the Broncos late in the first half.  

Posting his fourth career hat-trick, Sione Katoa (57) featured heavily in the highlight reels with the Sharks moving up to sixth on the ladder. Back to their shared role that oddly works for Fantasy, halves pairing Braydon Trindall (53) and Nicho Hynes (64) were involved enough to satisfy those owning them. Jesse Colquhoun (51) took advantage of extra responsibility with the starting prop role and an uptick in minutes compared to normal. Billy Burns (69) again raises an argument on how long coach Craig Fitzgibbon can keep him out of the starting line-up after taking the top fantasy score in this match card. 

Upset of the round came in the form of a Moses-less Parramatta taking down Manly at home. There was a welcome bounce back by Isaiah Iongi (73) and his owners were thankful of the big score in a major bye round. Ronald Volkman (71) stamps himself almost a must have come Origin time next year should the Eels get a decent schedule. The win came alongside a huge outing by Kitione Kautoga (68) adding plenty of tackle breaks and line breaks to his season’s tally.  

The Sea Eagles couldn’t get the two points but there were some encouraging signs by their youngsters, including the rounds top cash cow Joey Walsh (51) who will be a great pick-up for those still saving trades. Dynamite winger Lehi Hopoate (51) and half Jamal Fogarty (55) were the others to shine in the loss, Fogarty managing another handy score to satisfy those who risked it on the ex-Raider and Titan.  

It was a slugfest in the cold and wet back at Newcastle again this week with the Knights able to sneak home thanks to a Dylan Brown (62) field goal. Topping the Fantasy charts again was Dylan Lucas (71) who left a second try gone begging in what could’ve been an even bigger day, he is a must own as soon as coaches can fit him in. The choppy weather was certainly a factor in many regular high scorers not quite hitting the mark on Sunday afternoon.  

The Dolphins missed their main men due to Origin duties and injury but still nearly got away with the two points. Kulikefu Finefeuiaki (74) was damaging throughout, clearly playing with a chip on his shoulder after missing out on Queensland’s team for the Game 3 decider. Like Lucas, he is a great pick-up for the run home. Jamayne Isaako (53) continues to put up tidy numbers, with his goalkicking a key aid. Jeremy Marshall-King (52) is turning out to be a great pick-up for those looking for a back-up hooker, he put together a handy score as did edge Connelly Lemuelu (52) on the left edge.

Losers

The Panthers won but the late switch to the bench meant Izack Tago (6) couldn’t get a decent score. The largest impact on the loss was no doubt from the short temper of Cody Walker (21) that got the better of him that led to getting 10 in the bin and was also the biggest turning point in the game. The right wing was hit hard due to the bombardment of Penrith’s left side attack causing issues for the returning Jack Wighton (25) and Edward Kosi (32), there could be further changes to the backline next week. 

The Dragons win over the Wests Tigers was hard fought especially given Clint Gutherson (10) was handed a sin bin forcing the Red V to play down a man for 10 minutes. Purely due to the high standards set by Ryan Couchman (41), he makes the wrong side of this list for a rare showing. He certainly isn’t a trade out by any means, though we have seen a slight but consistent drop in his allotted time on the pitch since Round 12. Api Koroisau (37) is facing four weeks out with a pec injury. A forced HIA check saw Heamasi Makasini (33) go off after off 17 minutes which interrupted his Fantasy game for his remaining holders, at least he passed his break even this time around. 

The Broncos couldn’t find a victory against the Sharks with errors a plenty showcased. Brendan Piakura (8) failed a HIA in the first half although the bye next week will allow him plenty of rest to get through protocols for the Thursday night game against Penrith in Round 20. Teig Wilton (23) handed his selectors no favours from the result of his 80 minutes on the field, this was a big surprise considered his recent strong efforts. Jesse Ramien (23) was cut out more often than not during Cronulla’s backline attack plays and tanking his Fantasy results.  

The Eels won the game against Manly but in an unfortunate week to do so, Jack Williams (39) recorded his lowest points per minute effort for 2026. A Cat 2 HIA check in the third minute saw Clayton Faulalo (5) leave the turf for a period, and though return would late leave a second and final time due to hamstring concerns. He joins the growing list of casualties for the weekend to keep an eye out for updates as injury updates trickle through. Reuben Garrick (22) was another impacted with the mandatory 15-minute head assessment, though did have a more reserved game than we have seen the last few weeks.  

Newcastle won another low-scoring affair at home, all four outside backs in Dom Young (39), Dane Gagai (33), Fletcher Hunt (29) and Greg Marzhew (31) couldn’t get going in the conditions. Herbie Farnworth (45) also suffered in the conditions as did Phins fill-in fullback Trai Fuller (42).

Round 18 NRL Fantasy Team of the Week 

1. Isaiah Iongi (WFB) – 73 points 
2. Thomas Jenkins (WFB) – 69 points 
3. Jordan Samrani (CTR) – 58 points 
4. Valentine Holmes (CTR) – 80 points 
5. Paul Alamoti (CTR/WFB) – 76 points 
6. Ronald Volkman (HLF) – 71 points 
7. Adam Doueihi (HLF), Nicholas Hynes (HLF) – 64 points 
8. Keaon Koloamatangi (MID) – 78 points  
9. Jeremy Marshall-King (HOK) – 52 points 
10. Liam Henry (MID) – 83 points  
11 Billy Phillips (EDG) – 73 points 
12. Kulikefu Finefeuiaki (EDG) – 74 points  
13. Lindsay Smith (MID) – 76 points 

With so many coaches now short or even without trades and the increasing numbers filling the casualty ward will likely see Round 19 as being the most difficult to field week for 2026.

As soon as you get a chance, get those questions through to thelonescout@nrl.com.au for Thursday’s Q&A column and be sure to keep an eye on NRL.com for all your Fantasy advice, news and updates.