NRL Fantasy Q&A: Round 5

As Round 5 approaches, plenty of Fantasy coaches are looking at player upgrades and cash downs to underpriced keepers. 

• NRL Late Mail: Round 5
• NRL Fantasy teams analysis: Round 5

This week we chat about punting Cameron Munster, the value of Kalyn Ponga v Jayden Campbell and the nuts and bolts of the looping tactic. 

NRL Fantasy Q&A: Round 5

Is Munster to Clifford a good trade?

Yes.

You'd be selling a HLF who isn't producing keeper scores for someone who is, and who is available for basically the same price. 

I was a massive fan of Munster in the buildup to the season and saw him as an underpriced keeper, but to date he's only lodged one score over 50 (in Round 1) and has otherwise failed to go over 40.

That's not to say he won't get there eventually, but with Jahrome Hughes soon to return and take a decent share of the ball, moving off Munster this week for Clifford – who has averaged 63 over two appearances and made a clear improvement to North Queensland – is a solid call.

Ponga or Campbell – who's the better pick up?

As the two standout attacking players in their respective teams, you can't really go wrong with either. But there are some small differences to consider which might mean one jumps clear on your list.

Playing at fullback means Ponga has bigger potential for base stats, with things like kick return metres and kick defusals which add up across 80 minutes. The same is true for halfback Campbell and the kick metre stats he has available to him as the Titans' go-to guy with the boot. 

Campbell also comes with the added benefit of DPP status as both a WFB and HLF, which for some teams should put him as the preferred target.

Right now though, it's Ponga for me because he's got a wider range of metrics to draw on in that Knights side, which has more strike in it than the Titans right now, meaning he's likely to be setting up tries and line breaks more regularly than Campbell, who is going to rely more heavily on scoring tries himself to reach those elite scores. 

For my last bench spot, would you go Toia, Cole or Sandon Smith?

The Rabbitohs aren't a favourable match-up for opposing centres, with Robert Toia set to face either Jack Wighton or Latrell Mitchell, depending which sides they play.

That rules him out and leaves the two cheapie HLFs.

Jack Cole has the hot hand after scoring 66 last week, but he's also got Nathan Cleary back as his playmaking partner which will result in fewer on-ball opportunities. 

His matchup against the Cowboys, who have struggled defensively so far, still gives him an edge over Sandon Smith though, with the latter facing a much tougher assignment on paper against the Bunnies.

I do however still like Smith as a hold this week and believe he's got another big score or two in him before it's time to potentially cash in. 

What is looping and how do I do it?

I've been seeing this one around a bit lately. For players who are new to Fantasy, or existing ones who are interested in getting into the nitty gritty of the game more this year, looping is a very handy tactic to understand and have a handle on. 

It's basically about taking intentional advantage of the Fantasy game function which means a non-playing player in your 17 (i.e. someone injured, suspended or not selected) can be automatically replaced by a playing member from your bench or wider reserves.  

The video below has a more in-depth breakdown of how it all works, but for the sake of simplicity here is a basic scenario based on this week's games that explains how you'd do it. 

I'm unsure whether I should include Robert Toia or Isaiah Iongi as the last player on my bench this week. Because Toia plays earlier in the round (on Friday night as opposed to Saturday for Iongi), I'm going to leave Toia as my 18th man (first ranked reserve) and put Iongi as the last player on interchange. If Toia goes out and has a blinder and scores 50, I might decide to take those points rather than gamble on Iongi scoring more later in the weekend, so I'd replace Iongi with a non-playing player on my bench ie someone on a bye, not selected or injured/suspended, and thus trigger the auto emergency rule which would bring Toia into my scoring 17. If on the other hand Toia scores 15, I'd probably leave it as is and take my chances on Iongi.