The Fantasy King: Round 8
By Mick Adams
And so, after eight rounds we are almost a third of the way through the season, and the fantasy picture has yet to return to any sort of normality. My Round Eight score was ruined by the late scratchings of Shaun Johnson and Bronson Harrison, while others suffered the same fate with the withdrawal of Kyle Stanley from the Dragons’ Anzac Day lineup. Then there was the injury-enforced early mark for Luke Lewis. Shaun Fensom returned but was only lukewarm in his first game back, while Corey Parker’s price is in freefall. It seems the only thing that can be relied upon this season is that Paul Gallen is an absolute machine. Here are some of the other talking points from Round Eight:
Is Will Chambers a backline Saviour?
Consistent point scoring machines available at Centre/Wing have been hard to come by, and even the tried and true tactic of stacking your backline with dual position forwards has failed this year- Simon Mannering has been up and down, Dene Halatau isn’t doing much while Tony Williams still has some time out to serve. Of the true backs, all you need to know is that Colin Best and Ben Pomeroy are both top ten ranked. I rest my case. Hodges, Jennings and the Morris brothers have all been up and down while Jamie Lyon has been mostly down.
With this in mind, is Will Chambers the answer? I could just as easily have named his Melbourne teammate Dane Nielsen, as both have had great starts to the year. Chambers bagged a hat trick against the Warriors which saw him top the fantasy points count for the weekend, and is a generally classy player. He had a huge rise as a result of his Anzac Day feats, but is still reasonably priced.
Darren Who?
Corey Norman had a slow start to the year in fantasy terms, despite the big part he has played in the Broncos’ terrific form this year. I picked him up before Round One due to the fact he was a cheap option available at Fullback as well as in the halves. But a month into the season it seemed that while he was admirably filling Darren Lockyer’s cavernous shoes on the field, he was at the same time also occupying the Brisbane legend’s fantasy shoes, boots so small a Chinese Concubine would struggle to get them laced up.
In his last three matches however the floodgates have opened, and he is polling some outstanding numbers. He is now second among five-eighths in terms of season average. His price has unfortunately risen in line with this however, so for those who don’t own him, it is probably not worth getting him now.
Konrad Hurrell Returns
Finally. The rookie who, along with the still unsighted Tautau Moga, was the anointed one out of this year’s crop of fresh talent. It is fair to say that the hype is far from being justified so far, and he has spent much of the year out of favour. He gets another chance this weekend however, so those who have held on to Hurrell should be watching the Warriors with interest. If he does in fact start to live up to his reputation, he is still cheap enough to be an outstanding fantasy buy. That’s a pretty big if at this stage though.
The Corey Parker Conundrum Pt. 78
To buy or not to buy? He is at a juicy price at the moment, but his exorbitant break even suggests he will probably be even juicier next week. Then there is the Origin question. Do they pick him? With Thaiday, Scott, Hannant, Taylor and Myles certainties if fit, and the likes of Shillington, Josh McGuire, Gillett and Civoniciva in the mix as well (not to mention the Daly Herry-Evans question. A wasted pick in my view but the selectors may see it differently), bench spots for Queensland are at a premium. Parker should be well down the pecking order. The good news is that he is unlikely to rise much in value before the teams are picked, giving cautious fantasy players the chance to wait and see. The same goes for Fensom, who is back from injury but probably not 100%. It will be interesting to see when and if he recaptures his fantasy form, as I have a feeling it won’t be anytime soon.
