NRL Fantasy player watch: Andrew Fifita

Author: Lone Scout NRL Fantasy guru
Timestamp: Thu 1 Feb 2018, 07:00 AM

2018 NRL Fantasy is now open

Andrew Fifita, FRF, $798,000

The Kangaroos prop turned Tonga star is NRL Fantasy's most dominant front-rower, and still has room for improvement in 2018.

Scoring potential: 5/5

The most impressive thing about the 55 Fantasy points a game Andrew Fifita produced in 2017 is the fact it was easily his worst season in five years.

The Sharks big man regularly tops 60 points a game, including a career-best 63-point average in 2016, and can run riot with a combination of tackle breaks, run metres and a surprisingly high defensive workload.

He's someone you'd want in your Fantasy squad by the end of the season, but is capable of busting out a monster score from round one.

Reliability: 4/5

Fifita had a scoring spread of 38 to 85 last season, but while you can't rely on him to give you 50 points every week you do get more good games than bad games from him.

The fact he's been a strong performer for years – averaging 60+ for four straight seasons before 2017 – shows he's a reliable Fantasy option despite a reputation as a volatile player.

Value: 2/5

At almost $800,000 Fifita is one of the most expensive players in the game, with only Dragons prop Paul Vaughan ($799,000) priced higher in the front-row position. So he doesn't come cheap, but as one of the few players capable of making 60 points a game, he doesn't need to be cheap to be a good buy.