2018 NRL.com Fantasy Thread Part 12

Realistically what sort of average bracket would you put these 3 in?

Brown
Merrin
Whitehead
Tapine

Cheers boys

Chewie, you should make a thread for those. Good for scouting potential targets

Only missed half a game so far this weekend so here are some of my thoughts on the game and fantasy impact of a few relevant players.

Dragons vs Broncos:

Dragons pack looks very dominant. Not sure individually if any of them are worthy prospects as minutes seem to be a pretty even split. Hunt and Widdop are both going to have lots of time and space this year. I expect Aitken and Dufty to be top 5 scorers in their position if they stay healthy. I like the idea of running an outside back on the bench when you have a lot of big minute forwards. Provides great cover for HIA and also possibility of some late spark if you are behind. Seems a few coaches are going to this tactic.

Broncos opening 20 minutes was poor. They lost ruck control early to the Dragons strong middles and struggled to take it back. McCullough will be back starting with in 4 weeks. TPJ was damaging and his offload will worry teams. Hopefully Bennett doesn't coach it out of him. Isaako ran the ball well but looks a little lost out wide. No doubt he is the next long term fullback after Boyd. Lodge carried the ball well but looked to be trying too hard. Lots of bouncing off tackles and little mistakes. Halves combo looked poor but not much can be done behind a well beaten pack.

Knights vs Manly: Missed the first half of the games so most of this may be wrong

Knights looked a much improved team. They have great line runners on both edges with Guerra and Fitzgibbon(who looks like a future rep player). I expect both will score a decent amount of tries running off short balls this year. Lacked a little bit of bench impact and seem like that are one prop short of making a true run at the top 4. Would probably be better running Heighington/Buhrer in the starting side and bringing Barnett off the bench. Will surprise a lot of teams and be on the fringe of the top 8. Ponga played a lot of first receiver which is bad for Watson. Ponga is every bit as talented as advertised. Just needs to work on when to pass and when to run but he is still very young. Saw very little game play of Slade Griffin but what I saw was promising. Worked hard in defense with most of his time at A defender focusing on shutting the gate. Twice he stopped line breaks with great one on one tackles. Not a fan of the halves shuffle mid game as they seemed to lose all momentum and it nearly cost them. Watson had a few nice plays out of dummy half and would probably be better as bench utility. Pearce did well steering the ship. Lillyman was great at finding his front and generating quick play the balls and Herman looks like he has that tackle breaking ability.

Manly has a good starting 13 but no depth. Taupau was explosive as usual with his offload generating great second phase play. JTurbo did too much ball playing and needs to get back to doing the hard stuff that makes the occasional tip on so dangerous. Koroisau did well clogging up the middle in defense. Halves looked to have a good combo with Croker not just making up numbers out there. Had a few plays where the ball didn't bounce his way leading to errors but that happens in football. The edge is going to be an issue. You can't win a comp with Thompson and Sironen in the second row. Thompson is a good line runner but neither of them play with much heart. Kelly and Wright would have to be up there with the worst centre pairings in the comp. Wingers both love an error but can finish when required and do the hard stuff coming out of trouble. Not much more to ask for. Only using 15 players in a golden point game is a head scratcher.

Cowboys vs Sharks

Cowboys pack is monsterous. Easily in the top 2 along with the Dragons. Controlled the ruck in the opening 20 and never let it go. Taumalolo being able to get an extra few minutes on the sideline will be great come finals time. Not much has changed from last year except a much stronger pack and Thurston back to lead the boys around the park. They will score lots of tries and be a top 4 team.

Sharks pack is great on paper but were out muscled early. Dugan adds another element to their attack that they have been lacking. Moylan had a mixed game with some bad misses in defense and a few good touches. Fifita looks set for another big fantasy year with his trademark cross field runs.

Tigers vs Roosters

Tigers structures looks good with Benji running the show but look very unfit. 20 minutes into the game they were taking till the 4th tackle to get back onside. If they don't work on fitness there will be plenty of blow outs this year. Thompson looked good working the ball out of trouble. Rochow was solid in defense. Packer is an outstanding signing and helped get the Tigers on the front foot. ET tackled everything that moved as usual. Eisenhuth, Twal and Marster are great young players and will only get better with experience. The more minutes these 3 get the better. Matulino was nothing special, probably 4th prop in the rotation.

Roosters were poor across the board. Came out expecting the game would win itself and were punished for it. Against a more experienced team they conceed 30. Friend was solid in defense but stiffled the attack. Edges were good with Aubbo consistent as always on the edge and Matterson providing some nice tip ons and ball playing early before shifting to the middle and doing the tough tough. Very quickly becoming my favourite player. The middles were good in the first stint but had a poor second stint. The backs were poor but didn't have a lot of chances. Cornish died with the ball every time he touched it. Combinations looked clunky with a lot of plays 1-2 steps away from being tries or line breaks. Tedesco seemed to struggle with where he should be on set plays. Roosters play style was very different from last year. Very structured as they seemed to work to certain points on the field and then have 1 shot a set rather than years past playing off the cuff. This will take time to improve and I can see some more ugly losses in the first 10 weeks. No need to panic on any prospects fantasy wise as minutes/role were as expected.

Rabbitohs vs Warriors

Rabbits have a very promising pack to lay the platform. Cook giving crisp service out of dummy half was providing a lot of front foot ball which should improve scores across the board. Look for Surgess to return to his former glory. Nicholls is a great prospect. Seems to find his front everytime he runs the ball leading to quick play the balls. Solid defensively and goes looking for work. Murray came on and had an immediate impact in defense. He won't be on the bench for long and will be a special talent. Cook's running game is going to catch lots of teams off guard. Plenty of speed through the middle and looked close to going over for a try early. Souths pack will generate lots of quick play the balls and Cook will thrive. Smokey as a captaincy option going forward. Crichton is built for fantasy and one you want in your team ASAP. 7 missed tackles, 3 errors and he still scores 58. Will be one of my first upgrades. Kennar and Jennings went looking for work when the big boys got tired which is a good sign. Inglis and Gagai gives strike on both sides of the field although Inglis didn't get many chances last night. Will be better for the run. Walker is a natural footballer and needs to be the focal point of the attack. Johnston was solid at the back. Reynolds was not up to his usual standards.

Warriors surprised me. Blake Green has put his stamp on this team early. Structured in attack with the ability to play off the cuff. Papalii and Harris were great on the edge. When Mannering comes back to the middle defense will be much improved. RTS had some huge plays defensively. The middles were nothing special but Issac Luke gave great front foot ball and knew when to run. Hopefully a sign of returning to his best. Backs were lack lustre. Most of Hiku's 10 missed tackles were initiating contact, stopping momentum and dropping off. Great in real life not so much in fantasy.

Bulldogs vs Storm

What a change a year can make for the Bulldogs. Foran is going to lead this team to the top 8. RFM and Jackson on the edge straightened the attack very well. RFM looks a real good prospect. The Frawley/Foran/Mbye combo looks well developed. Mbye looks like a natural at fullback. His speed and running game is perfect for the modern game. Didn't get much testing under the high ball. Middles were solid and set a nice platform. Lichaa looked to run more often and minutes are promising.

Storm were as clinical as ever. Munster is electric at fullback and my first picked if he ever gets the spot back long term. Smith showed why he is the best captaincy option. NAS looked dangerous but minutes seem to be similar to last year. Not the fantasy prospect everyone wanted. JBrom minutes are similar to last year and he may be stuck in that mid range category. Finucane seems to have improved as a player. Hit hard in defense and plenty of no nonsense hit ups. The flyers on the edge will score plenty of tries again. In attack Melbourne seemed to favour Jacks over Croft. When Croft did touch the ball he seemed to ball shuffle rather than take the line on. Worrying signs early but too early to panic.