NRL $5,000+ Saturday Line-Up

Super Saturday is back this weekend with five of the top eight teams in action . The top-of-the-table Dragons will look to take advantage of a depleted North Queensland outfit, while the Storm will travel to Lottoland in an attempt to beat Manly and take top spot. Add to this Canberra versing the Warriors and there is an excellent slate of games from which to pick your team.

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

Front Row Forward

Jack de Belin ($17,650)

Jack de Belin has continued his impressive form last season with a hot start to this year. His defensive game has continued to be impressive, laying at least 34 tackles in each game this season. His offensive game has shown improvement as well, with two tries complementing his strong running game. Against a weakened Cowboys team, de Belin should be able to rack up the metres and tackle busts on his way to a score of over 60.

Jason Taumalolo ($15,500)

Taumalolo has been unstoppable for a few years, but this season he has turned it up another notch. Last round he played the full game for the first time in his career and Draftstars owners reaped the rewards, with a massive score of 88. This rise in minutes was not out of the blue though, with Taumalolo seeing significantly more minutes than last year through his four games. With the Cowboys losing even more players to injuries, expect Taumalolo to continue to play big minutes and to keep producing big scores.

Hooker

Blake Leary ($7,850)

With Jake Granville injured and Ben Hampton moving back to the halves to cover Jonathan Thurston’s injury, Leary has been thrust into the role at hooker for the Cowboys. Last round Hampton moved into dummy-half and made 40 tackles after making 64 in the previous five rounds combined. Leary should be able to produce a similar performance, which makes him incredible value at under $8k. Hampton is another decent option, however his return to halfback will impact his tackling numbers which will result in a significant decline in his scoring.

Second Row Forward

Coen Hess ($9,500)

Hess has been tried all over the park this season, starting games at lock, second-row and prop whilst also coming off the bench three times. His scoring has been incredible in that he’s managed to continually produce big scores in a variety of different ways. Hess has already scored a whopping six tries this season, had ten tackle busts in round four and consistently racking up big tackle numbers. It doesn’t matter if one area of his game is letting him down; he has the ability to make up for it in a number of categories. Lock him in.

Felise Kaufusi ($7,400)

Kaufusi has been reliable in a big minute role for the Storm after being used as a back-up for the entirety of last season. He hasn’t seen the bench yet this season, which is incredible considering the work he is putting in defensively. His defending of the edge has been impressive, with his tackling numbers reaching a pinnacle last week at 50 tackles and zero missed tackles. He doesn’t offer much in terms of attack, but picking a guy who can record those sort of tackling numbers is highway robbery at $7,400.

Centre

Euan Aitken ($13,100)

Aitken put any injury concerns to bed last week in a huge two-try performance for the Dragons. With Josh Dugan out, Aitken will be asked to shoulder plenty of the offensive burden against the injury-riddled Cowboys this week and there is no reason he shouldn’t have another monster performance. Expect him to be a tackle breaking, try scoring machine, but don’t expect him to be an impactful defender, as he has struggled to follow the play all season which has resulted in some easy tries.

Half

Shaun Johnson ($15,450)

The hardest decision in this match up was whether to go with Ryley Jacks in the halves and Jordan Rapana on the wing, or whether to pair Shaun Johnson with Billy Slater. In the end Johnson got the nod due to his high ceiling and low risk. Coming up against the Raiders, Johnson and Kieran Foran will be looking to assert their dominance which lead to some big scoring from both players. Johnson’s kicking game has been phenomenal this season and shows no signs of slowing down even with the addition of Foran. In what should be a fairly free-flowing game, expect plenty of attacking stats from Johnson whose creation will be pivotal to a New Zealand victory.

Wing/Fullback

Billy Slater ($7,450)

For most of his career, Slater’s fantasy game has never matched his on field production, but in his return to first-grade he has been excellent for Draftstars owners. His cheap price tag means that he is a low-risk commodity and coming off of a score of 50.60 last round, he looks to have found his feet once again. His tackle busting has been phenomenal, often leading to extra metres for the Storm from kick-returns. Billy the kid is yet to find the try line this season, so don’t be surprised if he finds a way to score this round and boost his score.

Kalyn Ponga ($5,950)

From the ageing champion to the next big thing, Kalyn Ponga is the logical choice to partner Slater in the outside backs in this matchup. Similarly to teammate Coen Hess, all Ponga needs is an opportunity and he will produce some excellent Draftstars scores. In the three matches he has started in the number one jersey, the whiz kid has averaged 42.8 points due to his kick-returning, tackle busting and line breaking. Sounds eerily similar to a guy who has occupied the Maroons number one jersey for the last decade. Put simply, there is no bigger lock than Ponga in this contest.

The Line Up

FR-F: Jack de Belin ($14,400)

FR-F: Jason Taumalolo ($15,500)

HOOK: Blake Leary ($7,850)

2R-F: Coen Hess ($9,500)

2R-F: Felise Kaufusi ($7,400)

C: Euan Aitken ($13,100)

HALF: Shaun Johnson ($15,450)

W/FB: Billy Slater ($7,450)

W/FB: Kalyn Ponga ($5,950)

Salary Remaining: $100