An injury-affected season means Manly's superstar fullback Tom Trbojevic will start the new Fantasy season at a very affordable price, and he's not the only potential bargain at the club.
Players to watch
Tom Trbojevic
Tommy Turbo could be one of the steals of the season, priced as a 36-point player despite scoring at least 40 points a game in four of his six NRL seasons.
His past two seasons were derailed by injury (he played just seven games in 2020 and 12 in 2019) but he averaged 49 points a game in his last full season in 2018.
Not only is he a try-scoring threat with the ability to break tackles and run for close to 200 metres a game, Trbojevic is also one of the best playmaking fullbacks in rugby league – frequently leading the Sea Eagles in try assists.
If he stays fit he should be a bargain-priced keeper, but are you willing to take the risk that he doesn't cop another season-ending injury?
Analysing the Sea Eagles' 2021 draw
Daly Cherry-Evans
Mr Reliable in the No.7 jersey for Manly, Cherry-Evans consistently racks up big stats for kick metres, run metres, tackle breaks and tackles – plus he's combined for 20 tries and 41 try assists across the past two seasons.
He doesn't come cheap but he's just about a certainty to be among the highest-scoring halves in Fantasy once again, even if he doesn't always have the goal-kicking duties.
Jake, Tom and DCE combine for Sea Eagles sizzler
Martin Taupau
The exit of Addin Fonua-Blake to the Warriors leaves a hole in the middle, and Taupau could be the man to pick up the slack. A superb impact player capable of playing big minutes, Taupau consistently scores more than a point per minute – but only played 45 minutes a game last year.
His game time has actually declined slightly in each of the past few years (since 2016 his minutes per game are 65, 52, 51, 49, 45) so if Des Hasler goes back to giving the Kiwis star around 55 minutes a game his Fantasy average could potentially climb towards 60.
Andrew Davey
A new recruit from Parramatta who will be pushing for significant game time in the second row after the departures of Joel Thompson and Corey Waddell, Davey showed his Fantasy potential with some strong displays for the Eels last year.
Davey played most of last year off the bench and is priced as a 27-point player at the start of the 2021 season, but scored 52 and 53 in his only two appearances in the starting side.
If he lines up on the bench in round one he could be a wait and see but if he's in the top 13 for Manly he could be a bargain.
2021 NRL Fantasy player prices
Daly Cherry-Evans HLF $866,000
Jake Trbojevic MID $746,000
Martin Taupau MID $665,000
Curtis Sironen EDG $624,000
Josh Aloiai MID $623,000
Kieran Foran HLF $599,000
Cade Cust HLF $540,000
Taniela Paseka MID $485,000
Tom Trbojevic WFB $477,000
Morgan Harper CTR $405,000
Moses Suli CTR $405,000
Tevita Funa WFB $397,000
Reuben Garrick WFB $367,000
Andrew Davey EDG $364,000
Sean Keppie MID $330,000
Dylan Walker CTR, HLF $317,000
Brad Parker CTR $308,000
Lachlan Croker HLF $307,000
Haumole Olakau'ata MID $292,000
Jack Gosiewski EDG $288,000
Jorge Taufua WFB $287,000
Joshua Schuster HLF $274,000
Christian Tuipulotu WFB $274,000
Morgan Boyle MID $257,000
Toafofoa Sipley MID $246,000
Jason Saab WFB $246,000
Ben Trbojevic CTR $228,000
Tolutau Koula WFB, CTR $228,000
