The Fantasy King: THE RETURN OF THE KING

By Mick Adams

He’s back. The Twitterverse was buzzing on Thursday last week with the news that the REAL fantasy king, Mr Corey Parker, was returning to the field. Starting on the bench, Parker managed a score that would be sensational from any other player, but a little below par from him. This is great news for fantasy players who didn’t pick him up as soon as his name was read out in the amended Broncos teamsheet, as he experienced a significant price drop. And he is set to drop even further, as he has been named on the bench again this week.

Of course, you always want a player who is guaranteed to score big in your team, so adding him straight back in will be an attractive option for many, but I would advise waiting. It would have been tempting when Parker and Fensom went down to go on a spending spree, and with Parker’s return many players who saw the dollar signs and splurged will be rueing their decision, now unable to afford to buy him back. Even those who do have a war chest to re-buy Parker at their disposal may not have enough to eventually draft Fensom back in (tentatively due round twelve). This means that this year players who do manage to own the holy trinity (Paul Gallen obviously completing the triumvirate), will be at a significant advantage in the back half of the season, particularly post-Origin. That 20-30k price drop could make all the difference.

Just remember, it’s all economics. With that in mind…

MARKET MOVERS

Feleti Mateo

Timed his best game of the year with the week of Parker’s injury, thus luring mug players such as myself into his trap. Since that game we’ve seen the return of the old Feleti- lazy, error prone and generally ineffective. I’m being a bit harsh as I’ve always been a fan, but as I said a few weeks ago, he has never really stamped his authority on the competition like the top shelf player he has shown glimpses of being, and his worst game is a long way from his best. That said, he is starting to present real value after a couple of poor returns, and even after picking up a decent score against the Raiders had a price drop, with another one due. When he scores big he scores really big, and I personally think he’s worth taking a gamble on.

Andrew Everingham

Those who missed the boat when he was at rookie rates will be kicking themselves, as the Souths winger has been outstanding. He has all but doubled in price after four games, and will probably complete the feat this weekend. While we’re patting ourselves on the back for our shrewd selection of Souths rookies, Adam Reynolds had his best game in the myrtle and cardinal to date on the weekend, and is really starting to hit his straps. He probably has a few more price rises in him before plateauing, but he’s been a nice little earner already, which is invaluable for later on in the season.

Travis Burns

Like Everingham and Reynolds, if you don’t own Burns it’s probably too late to get on. Has risen astronomically in value after a great start to the year, but I question his ability to maintain this good pointscoring form. He’s always been an honest player and a toiler, which fantasy rewards, but he came back to earth with an average score on Monday night (in an extremely well beaten Panthers side) and was a little down the week before. I think owners of Burns should be looking to maximise on their investment and sell now before an inevitable price drop. At the top end of the scale, the aforementioned Mateo and the underperforming Benji Marshall (will he ever come good?) are worth thinking about. In the middle range Todd Carney is still cheap and going well, Corey Norman is posting some good scores and my man Shaun Johnson won’t let you down (except for every second week). Nobody really stands out at the cheap end of the scale.

Darius Boyd

Knights fans are discovering that the “Just add Bennett” instant premiership mix they were sold doesn’t do what it says on the box. Their clash with the Eels on Sunday may have been the worst game of footy I have ever sat through, and the Knights were only marginally less dreadful than the Eels. The two competition points they received should come with an asterisk. Darius Boyd’s loss of form of has been the most perplexing part of the Knights’ troubles. The days of 2010, when he was a Clive Churchill medallist and must-have fantasy back, seem a long time ago. His fantasy scores have been abysmal, and his price has dropped accordingly. To give you some indication of how bad he is going, on the weekend he was outpointed by poor old Timmy Moltzen, who (as Nick rightly pointed out) had a Carige-esque game against the Broncos. Boyd’s currently so cheap he’s probably not even worth selling. Just stick him on your bench and hope he gets his act together at some point.