Each week we will do a deep dive into a player that had a strong performance in the previous round. The player may not have had the top score of the weekend but a solid outing nonetheless. I’ll look to cover the previous rounds performance, outlook for the season ahead, outlook for 2024 and beyond and my recommendation for this player. Let us know your thoughts on who we have down below on all of our social channels: twitter, facebook, instagram, discord.
Player of the Week
Player Name: Latrell Mitchell Age: 25 Club: South Sydney Rabbitohs Position: Fullback Round 7 Score: 91 2023 Ave Score: 64
2023 Positional Rank: 3rd
2023 Overall Rank: 11th
Round 7 Performance
Latrell put in another great performance for GDS coaches against the Dolphins. He was a handful for the Dolphins defence and came away with 1 try, 1 try assist, 1 line break, 2 line break assists, 9 tackle breaks and 1 offload. In base stats he only made 2 tackles and ran for 110 metres, that’s only 13 points. We will take this performance for our squad any day of the week but the limited points from base stats is a concern.
2023 Outlook
It looks like Latrell may be a match up dependent WFB this season. He was great against the Bulldogs and Dolphins while being ok against the likes of the Sharks, Panthers, Roosters, Sea Eagles and Storm. In saying this, he has scored over 54 points in every game except for one where he only managed 29 against the Sea Eagles. With his next three games against the Panthers, Broncos and Storm, there might be other WFBs with more favourable matchups over Latrell. From round 11 through to round 19, he has some great match ups and I already have him pencilled in as starter in all these games. To begin the season, I had Latrell projected to rank 1st in the WFB position, my ranking has not changed in my current projections.
GDS Dynasty Ranking
At 25 years old, Latrell should still have a good few years in front of him in first grade. He is contracted to the Rabbitohs until the end of the 2027 season and if the Rabbitohs continue to be a playoff calibre team, Latrell should continue putting up good fantasy scores.
JT’s Call
Latrell is one of the elite WFBs in GDS and will be a starter in my team most weeks. He does provide a very low floor at times but so does most other WFBs. Over the past couple of weeks, we have seen how he can be a handful for weaker defences and has had back-to-back scores of 90+. Please note that the Bunnies were against 12 men during the periods when they got a roll on against the Bulldogs and Dolphins.
I mentioned above that Latrell seems to be a match up dependent. I stand by this statement but will say that his scores against top teams are still better than a lot of other WFBs. The point I’m trying to make is that GDS coaches should take notice of which teams have favourable matchups, as there may be other WFBs with a far more favourable match up.
There is no denying that Latrell is a star and if you don’t have his card, I would be doing what I could to acquire one as soon as possible. This would be a play for this season and your squad’s future.