Can Edwards return to his early season form? Should we be concerned with the decrease of Tohu's minutes? What do we do with Talakai now he is on the interchange? These are some of the questions that will be answered in the round 21 preview of buy, sell and hold. It’s essential to keep in mind that GameDay Squad is a dynasty fantasy football platform and that will be heavily taken into consideration in this article. Let us know your thoughts on who we have included below on all of our socials - twitter, facebook, instagram, discord.
BUY!
Dylan Edwards
Penrith Panthers - Winger/Fullback (WFB)
Edwards has been rather disappointing without Cleary in the side and has only averaged 42 points since round 14. Prior to Cleary’s injury, Edwards average was 61 points. That’s a massive difference! Edwards' attacking stats have dropped off a cliff since round 14. In attack he has only scored 2 tries and made 2 linebreaks over this period. Sure, he has been able to keep his running metres numbers up but even his tackle break average dropped from 7 per game down to 5. The positive influence that Cleary has on Edwards fantasy game is rather remarkable. With the Bulldogs on deck and Cleary set to return, now is the time to buy Edwards.
Nathan Cleary
Penrith Panthers - Half (HLF)
This might seem rather chalky, but Cleary is a buy. He suffered a hamstring injury against the Dragons back in round 14 and is set to start this week. Cleary is never going to be cheap on the TM but if you don’t have him, I’d be doing what I could to acquire him. He is one of the top two players in GDS fantasy and if you want to be competitive, Cleary should be in your squad. We all know what sort of performances Cleary can reward coaches with and I’m one of those coaches that would be too scared not to start him this week against the Bulldogs. He might ton up, even coming off a hamstring injury.
SELL
Bryce Cartwright
Parramatta Eels - Edge-Forward (EDG)
The Carty party still seems to be going but now is the time to sell high off a season high 76 points against the Titans. With the number of great edges we have in fantasy at the moment, Cartwright for me isn’t really in the conversation as a starter most weeks. We saw against the Titans that he can turn it on but that was only his fourth score of 50+ this season. It does look like he has locked in the Eels right edge position and will continue to play 80 minutes but he doesn’t have the fantasy work rate like Fifita, Hopgood, Bateman etc. Carty doesn’t have the same base in tackles and running metres as these players do and relies a lot more on attacking stats to be fantasy relevant.
Tohu Harris
New Zealand Warriors - Middle-Forward (MID)
This selection might come out of left field, but Tohu is a sell in my opinion. There are a couple of reasons for this, and I’ll start with his age and injury history. He is 31 years old and there have been rumours that he may step away from playing at the end of the season, even though he is contracted till the end of 2024. This is his eleventh season in the NRL, and he has failed to play 20+ games since 2016 due to injury. Now that Mitch Barnett has returned from injury, I’m not too sure what this will mean for Warriors rotation. Over the last two games Tohu has only played 58 and 36 minutes, in the seven games prior to this he averaged 75 minutes. With Barnett now available it gives Andrew Webster the opportunity to manage Tohu’s minutes if required. We might see his average minutes decrease to 60-65 minutes in the current rotation. With the likes of Haas, Yeo, Tapine, Carrigan, Horsburgh, JDB and AFB, I’m ranking Tohu behind all these other MIDs for the remainder of the season and possibly beyond.
HOLD...
Matt Burton
Canterbury Bulldogs - Half (HLF)
Burton has been having a rollercoaster of a season but at the age of only 23 he is a hold. I personally have high hopes for his future but until the Bulldogs improve their roster, he will remain a risky POD play each week. He averages 49 points on the season with a season high of 71 and a low of 3. Burton is a quality footballer and a great attacking half that can earn fantasy points in many ways. With Cleary being fit and Hynes, SJ and Moses all having fantastic seasons, I just don’t know if we’ll be able to start Burton again this season. If you don’t already have his card, now might be the opportunity to go out and acquire one at a possible discount.
Siosifa Talakai
Cronulla Sharks - Centre (CTR)
Talakai had his worst game of the season as the Sharks went down to the Warriors. The Warriors kept him in check, and he ran for under 100 metres for the first time this season. After scores of 68 and 71 in his last two games, many coaches may have included him in their squads last week and who could blame them. His last three scores prior to the Sharks round 17 bye were 29, 23 and 23. This just serves to highlight how hard it is to choose centres each week and how starting to chase player scores might end up costing you. This week Tracey comes in to start at centre with Talakai dropping back to the interchange. This is a kick in the guts to fantasy coaches but it’s too early to sell him as he may be starting again next week. He is a hold for me but that may very quickly turn into a sell as I think the inclusion of Tracey into the Sharks midfield is a get call by coach Fitzgibbon. Talakai’s days might be numbered as a starter.