The St George Illawarra Dragons became one of the most popular teams for NRL Fantasy buys in 2017, thanks largely to one of the most effective packs in the competition.
Cameron McInnes was the game's busiest defender while Jack de Belin and Paul Vaughan were huge performers up front. James Graham and Ben Hunt are two star signings that have been NRL Fantasy guns while Gareth Widdop could be set for a massive season after a string of dominant displays for England at the World Cup.
Fantasy gun: Jack de Belin
Already the kind of tackle-hungry lock that tends to thrive in NRL Fantasy, de Belin took his running game into the elite ranks, joining the game's very best scorers. With a ton of run metres and plenty of offloads, de Belin can pass 50 points in base stats alone and his season average of 58.8 ranked him among the top five Fantasy scorers of the season. He's a potential captaincy option if you don't want to splash the cash on Cameron Smith.
Value buy: Jai Field
Field caught the eye with some spectacular long-range tries at the 2017 NRL Nines, but the Dragons speedster didn't get much of a chance to shine in the Telstra Premiership season with just three games off the bench. He's added plenty of size since then – bulking up from 72kg to 85kg since the start of last season – but will remain a back-up option for now with Matt Dufty likely to secure the fullback spot and Ben Hunt the team's new first-choice halfback.
Wildcard: Ben Hunt
Hunt has been an NRL Fantasy gun but his scoring dipped a little in 2017 due to some time spent at dummy-half – usually an 80-minute halfback, Hunt spent time on the bench half a dozen times in his 21 regular-season games for Brisbane last season. He scored less than 40 in four of those games, dragging his season average below 50 (and making him arguably an under-priced player at the start of 2018). How he combines with Dragons five-eighth and England World Cup star Gareth Widdop is the big unknown in NRL Fantasy terms – if they split the playmaking duties evenly then both could score just below the 50 points a game you want from a starting Fantasy half.
2018 NRL Fantasy player prices
Jack de Belin: 2RF, $861,000
Cameron McInnes: HOK, $811,000
Paul Vaughan: FRF, $799,000
Ben Hunt: HLF, $688,000
James Graham: FRF, $671,000
Joel Thompson: 2RF, $667,000
Gareth Widdop: HLF, $666,000
Tyson Frizell: 2RF, $656,000
Leeson Ah Mau: FRF, $627,000
Timoteo Lafai: CTR, $603,000
Euan Aitken: CTR, $567,000
Tariq Sims: 2RF, $561,000
Jason Nightingale: WFB, $545,000
Matthew Dufty: WFB, $525,000
Nene Macdonald: WFB, CTR, $512,000
Kurt Mann: WFB, HLF, $510,000
Jacob Host: FRF, 2RF, $327,000
Jeremy Latimore: FRF, $303,000
Hame Sele: 2RF, FRF, $267,000
Blake Lawrie: FRF, $228,000
Jai Field: HLF, $228,000
Luciano Leilua: 2RF, $228,000
Mitchell Allgood: FRF,2RF, $228,000
Darren Nicholls: HLF, $212,000
Josh Kerr: FRF, $212,000
Patrick Herbert: CTR,WFB, $212,000
Reece Robson: HOK, $212,000
Reuben Garrick: CTR, $212,000
Jordan Pereira: CTR,WFB, $212,000
Steven Marsters: WFB, $212,000
Tristan Sailor: WFB,HLF, $212,000
Zac Lomax: CTR,WFB, $212,000
*2018 salary cap: 9.4m. Fantasy squad size: 21
