daily fantasy sports articles

Two teams who came into the season harbouring top 4 aspirations, however after only two months it is the Sharks who are the only one of these two teams who can think seriously about the 2023 NRL Premiership. The 5th placed Sharks host the 15th placed Cowboys in a fixture that would have had us salivating a year ago, but this year it’s just got us wondering how many points can Nicho Hynes score in DFS?

Draftstars has a massive $15,000 contest for the first game of the round, with the winner set to pocket a cool $1,133. With several other contests available, there’s a contest for everyone, so get involved and make this game even more interesting.

Team News

The Sharks have zero changes after their 33-20 victory over the Bulldogs last week. Their team is looking fit and hungry, with just Dale Finucane (suspension) and Toby Rudolf (toe) missing from their top 17.

As for the Cowboys, they also have zero changes after earning their first win since round 4, with Head Coach Todd Payten potentially pulling another late switch at lock, but otherwise the Cowboys will be unchanged.

Betting Markets

Cronulla Sharks ($1.31) vs North Queensland Cowboys ($3.50)

Total Points – 40.5 points

If you’re looking to bet on the NRL this season, we highly recommend BoomBet. They are an exciting Australian-owned sportsbook with an excellent range of NRL betting markets. Click the banner below to join today!

Overview

Despite a win last week, I don’t believe the Cowboys have turned their season around the way they’d have hoped. After limping home against a spirited yet flawed Knights outfit at home, they now travel to PointsBet Stadium to take on the high-flying Sharks, who have owned them since 2018. Yes, if it wasn’t for a 92nd minute 2-point field goal by Valentine Holmes to snatch victory in round 26 last year against the Sharks, the Cowboys would be riding a 9-game losing streak against the Sharks. The Sharks should win this comfortably.

Love It – Nicho Hynes - $26,910

There are reasons, beyond the obvious, as to why I like Nicho Hynes this week. I generally don’t love selecting players over $25,000, despite the fact they are that expensive for a reason. However, in this slate, I believe you’re missing out big time if you don’t pick him. The main reason behind this philosophy, is the fact there isn’t a lot of star DFS talent in this slate. There is no one else, in any position, in this slate averaging over 59 besides Hynes (84.6). This means we can take the cheaper options in a lot of areas and not lose all that much on the “premium” picks at each position. Low to mid-priced players at OB and FWD are all in play, and you can easily save enough money to get Hynes and one other premium player in your squad. Has to be there.

Love It – Blayke Brailey - $17,090

I like Brailey to have a huge game this week against the Cowboys. The Cowboys have shown to be soft up the middle, and Brailey is good for a dart in behind the ruck of a slow-moving defence. The Cowboys have shown against nippy hooker’s that they can give up big plays this season, and with Brailey’s solid tackling floor (averaging 44 tackles per game) is a good option in this game. Consider the list of hookers to have scored attacking stats against the Cowboys this season, being Tom Starling, Wayde Egan, Reed Mahoney, and Jeremy Marshall-King. Brailey is as good as any of these guys, and with a chance at a Sharks’ 50 burger, I’ll take the young Cronulla rake.

Love It – Jack Williams - $9,000

Williams is good value at $9,000, as he’s pushed his way into being the most used bench player in this current Sharks rotation. Now when Dale Finucane returns, Williams will more than likely revert to a non-factor, but for now at bottom dollar, he has shown he will get 35-40 minutes and push out decent statistics in that time. Last week in 38 minutes, he managed 24 tackles, 9 runs, a tackle break and an offload. His statistics, and minutes, the week before were almost identical. He’s being priced as if he is still playing 10-20 minutes a game, and he’s getting double that. A solid choice to save money.

Hate It – Coen Hess - $11,970

Hess is someone many may be looking at who are picking up Nicho Hynes, as he’s in that lower-mid priced tier. And whilst Hess does have upside, since moving into the front row rotation a couple of weeks ago he just isn’t producing. And to be fair, he wasn’t producing in the back row either, with his two scores above 50 coinciding with a try and line-break one week, and 45 tackles the other. These statistics aren’t generally sustainable, and I much prefer several other options around this price point in forwards, including Hamlin-Uele, Gosiewski, and for cheaper still, Jack Williams.

Hate It – Scott Drinkwater - $16,740

Drinkwater was spectacular last week, having his best game of the season by far. My question is can that form stack up against a far better team in the Sharks? Drinkwater has the 6th highest average amongst outside backs in this slate, yet is priced up as the 2nd most expensive. Now whilst you can say he has a high ceiling with how much he gets his hands on the ball, he also has a low floor, and there are far better options in this slate at OB. If you want to pay top dollar, save elsewhere and take Val Holmes, who has been ultra-consistent, or go cheaper with one of the 4 wingers involved in this game who are all great try scorers. 

Who Knows – Jeremiah Nanai - $14,910

With just the one score above 42 this season, Nanai isn’t the DFS darling of 2022. However, with that sort of pedigree shown over 26 rounds last year, is he ever far away from blowing a team away with a hat-trick? The problem with Nanai, especially as a forward in DFS, is he doesn’t go looking for work and doesn’t make a tonne of tackles. The ball needs to find him, and you’re betting on whether or not the Cowboys can do that on multiple occasions throughout a game. Such a yo-yo.

Draftstars Suggested Lineup