The reigning premiers finally lived up to their promise in 2015, with Johnathan Thurston taking out just about every rugby league award you can name. Expect Thurston and several members of the Cowboys' star-studded forward pack to be big scorers in NRL Fantasy again this season.
Broncos 2016 Fantasy guide
Bulldogs 2016 Fantasy guide
Dragons 2016 Fantasy guide
Fantasy guns
Johnathan Thurston: JT was the best half in NRL Fantasy last season – surprise surprise – and starts the new campaign valued at a whopping $528,000. The best playmaker in the business must be odds on to lead the league for try assists again this year and is a safe option at the start of the season if you can spare the cash.
Matt Scott: The Cowboys, Maroons and Kangaroos prop actually produced the biggest individual Fantasy score of the year last season – a massive 105-point effort against Manly, featuring two rare tries – but is usually a reliable 50-point player, earning his Fantasy points through the bread-and-butter stats of run metres and tackles.
Wild card
Jason Taumalolo: Now established as a starting lock and New Zealand international, the Cowboys' resident wrecking ball didn't quite become the Fantasy superstar some were expecting last year, averaging a solid but unspectacular 43 points a game. He didn't play the full 80 minutes once in the regular season so there is room for improvement if he gets more game time next year – although in a back row featuring big-minute workhorses Ethan Lowe and Gavin Cooper there's no guarantee Taumalolo will get more game time.
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Value buy
Jake Granville: A revelation in the No.9 for the Cowboys last season, Granville is one of the NRL's most explosive running dummy-halves and at one point looked set to emerge as one of the best Fantasy prospects in the business. During the Origin period Granville played about 70 minutes a game and strung together four straight 50+ scores, but quiet periods either side of that run took his season average down to 44. His game time appears to be on the rise though – Granville played just 40 minutes a game in the first 10 rounds of 2015, but almost 62 minutes a game after that.
2016 NRL Fantasy prices
Johnathan Thurston ($528,000)
Gavin Cooper ($435,000)
Ethan Lowe ($420,000)
Matthew Scott ($417,000)
Jason Taumalolo ($391,000)
Michael Morgan ($382,000)
Jake Granville ($379,000)
Lachlan Coote ($375,000)
James Tamou ($349,000)
Ben Hannant ($331,000)
Coen Hess ($326,000)
Kane Linnett ($322,000)
Scott Bolton ($303,000)
Ben Spina ($289,000)
Justin O'Neill ($282,000)
Kyle Feldt ($270,000)
Antonio Winterstein ($251,000)
Matthew Wright ($245,000)
Ray Thompson ($245,000)
John Asiata ($228,000)
Tautau Moga ($224,000)
Sam Hoare ($204,000)
Rory Kostjasyn ($198,000)
Patrick Kaufusi ($134,000)
Javid Bowen ($130,000)
