The first bye round of the season made life tricky for NRL Fantasy coaches, but there were still a fair share of big scores from the stars on show. Here are the success stories, flops and talking points to come out of this week's NRL Fantasy action.
Winners
Raiders winger Jordan Rapana was the player of the round, scoring two tries and racking up plenty of tackle breaks in Canberra's win over an understrength Roosters side on Sunday. Rapana scored a whopping 86 Fantasy points, edging out Jake Friend's big 82-point effort in the same game. Friend thrived at the start of last season when the Roosters were without their big guns and did the same with five teammates on Origin duty.
After a couple of quiet games by his usual standards Shaun Johnson exploded into action with a star showing against the Broncos, leading the Warriors to victory and making 75 Fantasy points in the process.
He edged out Sharks skipper Paul Gallen who produced a great captain's effort to carry his team to a one-point win over the Bulldogs, with 71 points, while Eels forward Tepai Moeora (65) and Bulldogs prop Aiden Tolman (63) were also big winners.
Rabbitohs back-rower Angus Crichton (59) continued his march towards keeper status with a big score in a losing side, boosted by a long-range runaway try, while Manu Ma'u (58) made a good start to the bye rounds for those who picked up the Eels enforcer.
Other impressive performers this round included Warriors veterans Issac Luke (57) and Simon Mannering (56), Bulldogs young gun Adam Elliott (54), Bulldogs half Matt Frawley (49), Sharks hooker Jayden Brailey (49), Raiders five-eighth Blake Austin (49), Bulldogs fullback Will Hopoate (49) and Rloosters fullback Michael Gordon (48).
Losers
James Graham's poor run of injuries continued with the Bulldogs skipper playing just 20 minutes and scoring 18 points after leaving the field early against the Sharks with what appeared to be a shoulder injury.
Damien Cook's stocks (and price) are dropping fast with the Rabbitohs bench hooker scoring poorly again with just seven points in limited minutes, while there were sub-par scores from backline stars Latrell Mitchell (23), Joey Leilua (24), Nick Cotric (25), Cody Walker (25) and Adam Reynolds (31) while popular forwards Jared Waerea-Hargreaves (24) and Mitchell Aubusson (28) were also below their best.
Fantasy team of the week
1 Michael Gordon (48)
2 Jordan Rapana (86)
3 Will Hopoate (49)
4 Brenko Lee (47)
5 Ken Maumalo (54)
6 Blake Austin (49)
7 Shaun Johnson (75)
8 Aidan Tolman (63)
9 Jake Friend (82)
10 James Gavet (52)
11 Tepai Moeroa (65)
12 Angus Crichton (59)
13 Paul gallen (71)
Interchange:
14 Manu Ma'u (58)
15 Issac Luke (57)
16 Simon Mannering (56)
17 Adam Elliott (54)
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