Is Cleary a must start every week? Will Crichton become an 80-minute edge again this season? Can Mahoney clean up his demerits? So many questions coming out of round 12 so let's turn our attention back to fantasy footy for a second and identify some risers in form and others who should be falling out of favour with all fantasy coaches. Let us know your thoughts on who we have down below on all of our social channels: twitter, facebook, instagram, discord.
RISERS
Starford To’a – CTR, Wests Tigers (112 points)
To’a had a career game as the Wests Tigers broke their points scoring record against the Cowboys on Saturday. To’a’s performance might just be the best I’ve seen in GDS fantasy this season. At times he made his opposing centre Valentine Holmes look like a reserve grade player, not an Origin representative. In this performance he came away with 2 tries, 1 try assist, 5 line breaks, 12 tackle breaks and 1 offload on attack, this came to 84 points. In base stats he made 14 tackles, 223 running metres and 34 kick metres, this came to 37 points. I wouldn’t be expecting these numbers from To’a on a regular basis, and I won’t be rushing him into my squad based on this performance. However, he is a consideration for your squad as he has started to look really good for the Wests Tigers in the right centre position. Prior to the Cowboys game, To’a has averaged 40 points a game since the Wests Tigers round seven bye. This is a solid average for a centre but I still prefer other centres above To’a. However, this week we saw that To’a can have a very high ceiling and be a home run hit for your squad.
Nathan Cleary – HLF, Penrith Panthers (104 points)
Most coaches are likely to have Cleary ranked as one of the top two players in GDS fantasy but after scoring his second hundred of the season, he still has to be mentioned as a riser. In this performance he came away with 1 try, 3 goals, 1 field goal, 3 line breaks, 5 tackle busts and 3 offloads, this came to 56 points. In base stats he made 15 tackles, 186 running metres and 544 kick metres, this came to 51 points. This sort of performance shows you just how good of a player he is in fantasy. With a great base of 50+ points and the ability to turn it on in attack at any time, Cleary is a must have. If you don’t have Cleary in your squad, I would be doing what I could to get him in any rarity. If you don’t have him, your ranking may be sliding. If Cleary is starting, he is a must start.
Tom Trbojevic – WFB, Manly Sea Eagles (104 points)
What a turnaround from last week for Turbo, he scored 94 more points this week. Last week he was one of my fallers and this week he is one of my risers. This is how quickly things can change in GDS fantasy. In this performance he came away with 3 tries, 1 try assist, 2 line breaks, 2 line break assists, 9 tackle breaks and 1 offload on attack, this came to 79 points. In base stats he made 7 tackles, and 240 running metres, this came to 31 points. I said last week that I believe he will be able to turn his season around, I didn’t think it would be happening this soon. We all know the upside that Turbo possesses, and he showed it today with his best performance of the season. Before I start him in my team, I would like to see him back this performance with another decent score. Well done to anyone who kept faith in him for this week, you will likely be rocketing up the rankings because of it.
FALLERS
Angus Crichton – EDG, Sydney Roosters (23 points)
After knocking out back-to-back 50+ scores against the Cowboys and Panthers, Crichton only managed 23 points this week. When Crichton is on the field he is putting up some decent numbers but he is still yet to play the full 80 minutes this season. In the five games he’s played 63, 50, 67, 68 and 31 minutes. In 2022 he played 25 games and in 80% of these he played the full 80 minutes. I’m not going to throw any shade on Crichton whatsoever but in fantasy terms, he is a non-factor in GDS fantasy until he gets back to 80 minutes.
Lachlan Miller – WFB, Cronulla Sharks (33 points)
Once again Miller failed to impress again this week. In his performance, he managed 1 goal, 5 tackle breaks, 191 running metres, 4 tackles and 2 offloads. He also came away with 2 missed tackles and 4 errors, that’s 22 points in demerits. This performance is a far cry from the performances we saw at the beginning of the season. He hasn’t been able to score 50+ points since round six and has only averaged 36 points a game since then. With Miller not being in one of the better teams in the NRL, we can expect this sort of performance more often than we would with a player in one of the top teams. In saying all this, Miller is on my radar for next week as it’s the first major bye round of the season. Miller can chalk up a 60+ point performance at any time as he is a quality player with a fantasy relevant game.
Reed Mahoney – HOK, Canterbury Bulldogs (13 points)
Mahoney didn’t have a great game in fantasy terms and had his worst performance of the season. In his performance, he managed 29 running metres, 30 tackles and 2 tackle breaks. He also came away with 6 missed tackles, 1 error and conceded 2 penalties, that’s 30 points in demerits. He did spend ten minutes on the sideline due to an HIA and this didn’t help things. This season Mahoney is losing an average of 22 points a game through missed tackles, errors, and penalties. He will need to clean up this area of this game before he is a consideration for my team.