NRL $5,000+ Saturday Line-Up

There are three cracking NRL clashes to get stuck into this Saturday , so who should you consider for your Draftstars line-up?

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Here is a team you may consider for the NRL $5,000+ Saturday competition

Front Row Forward

Sam Burgess ($15,650)

After an excellent finish to last season, Burgess has been slow to start 2017, with scores of just 44.30 and 47.10 in the first two rounds. In that big finish last year, we saw Burgess display more of a running game, which resulted in extra metres whilst also laying more tackles (he laid 50+ tackles twice in the last five rounds). The Rabbitohs play Newcastle this week, so Burgess will be given every opportunity to get those metres up and produce a good score.

Jake Trbojevic ($15,300)

Similarly to Burgess (and Trent Merrin, another premium option), Trbojevic is a lock that is available to us as a front-rower. This is basically a gift from God considering the minutes that he should see. In the first two games, the elder Trbojevic has played 150 of the possible 160 minutes and has produced two scores over 55. Considering the Cowboys are cursed with injury and suspension this week and will be missing the likes of Matt Scott and Jason Taumalolo, Trbojevic is every chance to go big in this clash.

Hooker

Jake Granville ($10,400)

This is a gut feel selection and is especially risky with the quality of hookers available, but selecting Jake Granville at nearly $6,000 cheaper than Jake Friend may well give you a huge advantage. Granville averaged 43.6 in the Cowboys triumphant 2015 season, so he has the potential to score well. This was on display last week against the Broncos, where he laid 40 tackles and scored a try on his way to a score of 52.40. With Taumalolo and Matt Scott missing, the Cowboys will be looking to Granville to lay a few extra tackles and potentially make a few extra runs out of dummy-half. If this happens, we have a bargain selection who should go big.

Second Row Forward

Curtis Sironen ($8,150)

Considering I’m not infatuated with any of the back row options, Sironen is a solid gamble to approximate the scores of the bigger names at a fraction of the cost. After being given the starting gig in the Manly back row, Sironen has produced solid returns of 42.35 and 36.40 points in the first two rounds, laying 34 and 33 tackles respectively to construct his score. Sironen has shown he can play the full 80 and if he can continue to break tackles and especially get a couple of offloads, another solid score should be in order.

Coen Hess ($7,100)

Usually the cardinal sin is to pick a player named to start on the bench, but don’t worry about that little yellow dot with Hess as he will start in place of Jason Taumalolo on Saturday. So far this season, Hess is scoring at 1.09 points per minute, which equates to roughly 87 points per 80 minutes. While this probably won’t continue when his minutes are elevated this week, it is an excellent indication that he has legitimate scoring potential at a small price tag. Hess has scored a try in each of the first two games and is a chance to do so again, however, if this is not the case, he is still a tackling workhorse that can solidify a base score through defence.

Centre

Nathan Ross ($11,150)

Souths have given up 56 points in their first two games due to their attacking brand of football. This is excellent news for fantasy coaches looking to select Knights players in their backline, with Nathan Ross in hot try-scoring form. The Newcastle winger has scored two tries in each of the first two games and should be a chance to take advantage of the Bunnies defensive lapses. Whilst guys like Isaah Yeo will give you a consistent score, Ross could win you a week in Draftstars with his offensive scoring ability.

Half

Daly Cherry-Evans ($14,500)

Whilst his former teammate Trent Hodkinson presents us with a value option here, it’s hard to go past Cherry-Evans. DCE has started the season well, laying 57 tackles in the first two games combined and scoring 42.65 and 59.20. He’s already shown us his offensive versatility by recording a try assist, line break, line break assist and try in one of the games. Against a depleted Cowboys side, he’s a chance to put it all together and have a massive score.

Wing/Fullback

Tom Trbojevic ($12,350)

Draftstars is all about upside and picking which players will go huge on a given day and Trbojevic is an excellent option to fill both criteria this weekend. We’ve already seen the upside with him scoring an incredible 74.50 in round two and against the Cowboys, he is a chance to replicate this. An offensive combination of try scoring ability, tackle breaking and a ton of running metres is pretty hard to refuse and missing four players from last week.

Kalyn Ponga ($5,000)

One of the most selected players in salary cap formats in the pre-season, Ponga was discarded from many teams after not being named for the first round. However, with Lachlan Coote’s injury, a vacancy has been left for Ponga to fill, which he should do with aplomb. Considering he’s been named at fullback, Ponga should only improve on his glittering finals campaign last season and at just $5k, he’s too good to refuse.

The Line Up

FR-F: Sam Burgess ($15,650)

FR-F: Jake Trbojevic ($15,300)

HOOK: Jake Granville ($10,400)

2R-F: Curtis Sironen ($8,150)

2R-F: Coen Hess ($7,100)

C: Nathan Ross ($11,150)

HALF: Daly Cherry-Evans ($14,500)

W/FB: Tom Trbojevic ($12,350)

W/FB: Kalyn Ponga ($5,000)

Salary Remaining: $400