NRL Fantasy winners & losers: Round 13

The Panthers celebrate a Viliame Kikau try.

Author: Lone Scout NRL Fantasy guru
Timestamp: Tue 11 Jun 2019, 08:18 AM

Several captaincy options stood tall while a lot of Fantasy favourites either struggled or didn't take the field at all in a tricky post-Origin round.

Here is the best (and worst) news to come out of the weekend's matches.

Winners

The Panthers are finally winning games again and Viliame Kikau led from the front, the barnstorming edge forward cranking out 92 points against an undermanned Roosters outfit – including two tries and a try save.

Knights utility Connor Watson was next best with 83, filling in at hooker in his best performance of the year as Newcastle surprised Souths, while cash cow Bronson Xerri was unleashed down Cronulla's left edge multiple times by the returning Wade Graham on the way to 74 Fantasy points.

Usual suspects Cameron Smith (76), Andrew Fifita (72), Jake Trbojevic (71) and the new No.1 Fantasy player of 2019, Jason Taumalolo (71), all delivered as captaincy options.

Kieran Foran (77) was in everything for the Bulldogs in their loss to the Dragons on Monday, Ryan Matterson (71) continued his strong form for the Tigers and Brisbane cash cow Jake Turpin (68) grabbed a try after switching from hooker to halfback against the Titans.

Melbourne's Jahrome Hughes (67), Manly enforcer Martin Taupau (66), Broncos revelation Payne Haas (65) and Raiders recruit John Bateman (63) all impressed.

Get Caught Up: Round 13

Losers

Let's start with the guys who didn't take the field at all. Queensland's Kalyn Ponga missed Friday's game against Souths and was a key absence for 55% of Fantasy teams, while Adam Reynolds' injury last week left people scrambling to field two players in the halves.

One of the go-to options in the halves was Brisbane rookie Tom Dearden, but he quickly succumbed to an ankle injury just minutes into the team's loss to the Gold Coast and finished on zero points.

Damien Cook slid off the top of the Fantasy power rankings due to an underwhelming 29-point effort in 69 minutes against Newcastle after backing up from Origin I, while teammate Cameron Murray (32), benched Titans hooker Mitch Rein (26), Knights halfback Mitchell Pearce (35), Eels hooker Reed Mahoney (35), returning Manly star Tom Tbrojevic (28) and Warriors skipper Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (28) all posted below-average numbers.