The Fantasy King: Round 5
By Mick Adams
It was not a good day to be an Englishman on Sunday, Gareth Ellis and Sam Burgess both going down in the Souths – Tigers clash, in another huge blow for fantasy players. Last weekend’s injury/suspension reprieve didn’t last long, and once again there will be many players scrambling to put together a decent team. Looking at the available replacements, it is a pretty dire situation. If you owned Burgess in the front row it’s a straight swap for Isaac Luke, simple as that. Otherwise, here’s the best of a middling bunch:
Luke Lewis
Not as attractive an option as in previous years, as he is no longer available at 5/8, Lewis remains a consistent scorer who picked up a 97 in the Panthers’ loss to the Sharks on Saturday night. And he comes in at under 300k too, so he shapes up as one of the better options.
Anthony Watmough
An absolute dickhead who is the archetypal dumb footballer, Watmough has nonetheless been a solid fantasy performer over the years. He hasn’t got any major scores so far this season, but hasn’t produced any below average results either, so is likely to improve on his current price and pull off the odd big score. Absolute dickhead though.
Nate Myles
Another option coming in at a reasonably cheap price, Myles has been a little erratic with his scores this year. In fact, he’s a bit erratic with his scores every year, which is why I wouldn’t be rushing out to add him, despite the big score he pulled against the Dogs on the weekend.
Sam Thaiday
Hasn’t been the big minutes-playing, point-scoring machine some expected when he was given the captaincy, but posting solid numbers week to week, even with the forward depth at the Broncos. In Thaiday’s favour is that his scores are likely to remain consistent even when Corey Parker returns (which by some reports will be quite soon), of which the same can’t be said with certainty for the likes of Te’o, Gillett and Glenn.
A BIG WEEK FOR ROBBIE FARAH
I’m not one for ambushes, so I won’t be using the “S” word, but it’s fair to say the Tigers are in a mess. Despite being the better team for the majority of Sunday’s game against the Rabbitohs, they somehow managed to lose from a seemingly unloseable position, a sure sign of a struggling team. As captain, Farah would have had much to prove even before his petulant outburst at Matthew Johns during the week. I’m banking on a big game from him in his return from suspension this weekend. I have no evidence or mail, but as a Farah owner in an increasingly crisis ridden fantasy squad, I absolutely need him firing. Prove Matty wrong, Rob. Prove Matty wrong.
THE CURSE OF THE FANTASY KING
As soon as the announcement came before kick off in the Broncos/Dragons game that Dean Young would be dropping to the bench, my Mitch Rein tip was destined to be a dud. Sure enough, Young took a lot of playing time away from the young hooker, who scored relatively well considering how few minutes he got. But with the spark out of dummy half provided by Young, which helped to steady the ship for the flailing Dragons in the second half, he is sure to play a lot more there until the return of Cameron King or Nathan Fien.
Then came Saturday night, and the double blow of Shaun Johnson and Boyd Cordner, who both scored poorly. The former I had warned about, but Cordner was disappointing. I’m putting much of the blame on Roosters coach Brian Smith, who named Cordner as a starter during the week, only to drop him to the bench on the night. This annoying coaching tactic has caused much consternation in the fantasy community, and Smith is by far the biggest culprit. One can’t help but feel that if he worked more on his coaching and less on petty gamesmanship he might add to his collection of titles, which to date stands at zero.
