It's moving week for a lot of Fantasy Coaches in Round 3 as they look to begin their climb up the ladder after sussing out the competition and players to target in the opening two weeks.
With every team in the top eight playing a team in the bottom eight this week, there's every chance this week leads to a lot of points on the field for teams and off it for Fantasy Coaches. Early season guns are potentially starting to fall in price while cash cows are rising rapidly and could soon be turned in to some bigger names, meaning trades in the next few weeks are crucial to set up the year ahead.
At Wests Tigers, Coach Michael Maguire has named an unchanged lineup as his side look to secure their third consecutive victory. There's not a lot of new faces to try and target in this side as a result, but the consistency in selection does spell good news for a number of players and their selection chances in your team.
Robbie Farah (HOK, $886K) continues to be the man of the moment when it comes to NRL and Fantasy with the rake currently leading the Dally M standings as well as the overall points total in Fantasy. Farah has accumulated 155 points from his two games and has already risen a staggering $60K from his starting point in Round 1.
We've been saying for months now that Farah could be the differential selection at hooker worth making, and with four forwards on the bench and Jacob Liddle out injured, the 35-year-old is proving to be at the heart of everything. He is averaging 77.5 points per game, is playing 80 minutes in the middle of the defence and is creating tries and assists close to the line — music to the ears of Fantasy coaches!
His price at the moment will no doubt put some people off and if you've missed the boat, it's probably worth waiting now and letting that $60K increase start to come back a little bit, but there's also no guarantees that that decrease will happen.
Ryan Matterson (2RF, $689K) and Luke Garner (2RF, $430K) again produced the goods against the Warriors in Round 2 without any attacking stats, and are turning in to set-and-forget players every week with their base stat consistency.
Matterson is the second highest scoring Wests Tigers player so far in 2019 with an average of 51 and has barely moved from his starting price — making him a good option for someone perhaps looking to move on from the injured Jason Taumalolo.
Garner, on the other hand, has risen $90K since Round 1 and is almost out of sight as an early season cheapie. The edge forward scored a try in his first game to start the year and could easily have backed that up with another last week had he not come from the field just minutes before Michael Chee Kam crashed over in his position — making him a hot prospect for coaches needing a second row forward.
Shaun Lane produced 55 points playing on the left edge against the Bulldogs last week, which certainly bodes well for Garner's Fantasy stock this weekend.
We're back in #OurJungle this week!
Moses Mbye (HLF/WFB, $603K) returned from injury last week with a remarkable 52 points despite not picking up a single attacking statistic. The Wests Tigers captain broke a staggering 12 tackles to help him move above $600K in price and he's certainly a good point-of-difference option to keep an eye on in either the halves or fullback positions. Someone like Kayln Ponga has already gone down $79K in price and will no doubt find himself on the trade block in a number of teams — don't ignore the Wests Tigers skipper as a potential POD selection as his replacement.
Playing against his former team this weekend, potential Mbye owners can certainly take solace from the fact that his opposite number at the Eels — Clint Gutherson — had a linebreak assist and try assist last week against the Bulldogs in Round 2.
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