NRL Fantasy winners & losers: Round 2
Robbie Farah keeps turning back the clock while several young cash cows came crashing back down to earth in a round that had Fantasy coaches scratching their heads.
Here is the good, the bad and the ugly from round 2.
Winners
Blake Ferguson is the third player to score 92 Fantasy points this season, doing a very solid Semi Radradra impression in Parramatta's win over the Bulldogs on Sunday with two tries, 10 tackle busts and just shy of 300 run metres.
Forwards Sam Burgess (83; two tries) and Jai Arrow (81; 290 metres, seven tackle breaks) were dominant, while Tigers veteran Robbie Farah (79) scored his third try in two weeks and added three try assists in his second brilliant attacking performance in a row.
Elsewhere Daly Cherry-Evans (75) bounced back from a quiet round one, Luke Keary (71) shone with four first-half try assists in Cooper Cronk's absence for the Roosters, cash cows Briton Nikora (66), Braidon Burns (65) and Jack Bird (56) again racked up big totals and Fantasy superstars Cameron Smith (68) and Damien Cook (63) showed they remain the safest captaincy options available.
In terms of moneymakers Nikora reigned supreme with a massive $98,000 price rise, ahead of Jack Bird (+$65k), Burns (+$64k), Luke Garner (47, +$52k), Sharks winger Sione Katoa (49, +$52k), Dragons forward Blake Lawrie (43, +$52k), Brisbane's Corey Oates (55, +$51k) and Fantasy's most-owned player Dylan Brown (48, +$51k).
Get Caught Up: Round 2
Losers
Rookie half Adam Keighran may have been last week's best cash cow but he was less than impressive in the Warriors' first away game of the year, finishing with five missed tackles, two penalties conceded and an error for a meagre 13 points on Sunday. He still received a $38,000 price boost and will continue earning money but Fantasy coaches will have to think twice about including him in their top 17s.
It was a similar tale for Dragons cheapies Mikaele Ravalawa (9) and Jacob Host (14), who may have moved themselves from the "buy" column to the "sell" column within the space of a week. Both still have low break evens but will need to lift their scoring sooner rather than later.
Injury brought a sudden halt to the scoring of Cowboys star Jason Taumalolo (17), and he's now a definite sell after being ruled out for six to 10 weeks.
Injuries in round two also affected the scores of Joe Tapine (broken thumb, 4), Matt Moylan (knee, 36), Jayden Brailey (concussion, 22), Curtis Sironen (concussion, 29), Michael Morgan (arm, 26), Lachlan Fitzgibbon (cramps, 37) and John Sutton (chest, 9), while Jake Friend (shoulder) was a late withdrawal for the Roosters after piling on 92 points in round one.
Fantasy team of the Week
1. Blake Ferguson (92)
2. Braidon Burns (65)
3. Tim Lafai (75)
4. Briton Nikora (66)
5. Sione Katoa (64)
6. Luke Keary (71)
7. Daly Cherry-Evans (75)
8. Sam Burgess (83)
9. Robbie Farah (79)
10.Alex Twal (62)
11. Jake Trbojevic (63)
12. Boyd Cordner (66)
13. Jai Arrow (81)
14. Cameron Smith (68)
15. Damien Cook (63)
16. Dylan Napa (62)
17. Suliasi Vunivalue/Dale Finucane (62)
