Welcome to the last round of the NRL 2020 Premiership season! And a rare week without the AFL scheduled means your footy fix is Rugby League!

 

Let’s start by acknowledging the whopping $30,000 prize pool up for grabs on Draftstars. That has only been seen before when NRL was the only sport still going in the early days of COVID. Unfortunately this isn’t much of a game, but both teams should be able to get excited for one final performance, surely. Payne Hass and Josh McGuire headline the ins. There are going to be some new rule interpretations, but I doubt they have any significant impact on the scoring.

 

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Market Odds

Broncos 2.10 v Cowboys 1.74

Spread: 1.5

Total: 44.5

 

Team Preview

WFB: It’s too little, too late…but Val Holmes has started to look more like his old self in the last few weeks and has an excellent ceiling in this contest, it’s tempting just to lock him in to every lineup. After that, this position is wide open. I lean towards the youth of Jesse Arthars, Xavier Coates, Herbie Farnworth and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow as players that can put up big score. I’m happy to give Darius Boyd a miss in his final game, I just don’t see it going well after an average year.

 

CTR: The value here is the aforementioned Arthars and Farnworth. Kotoni Staggs has been very good despite the Broncos woes, but it’s hard to see him overcoming the big price tag in this one. He’s not a full fade, because he can score 80 and win you the slate at any time.

 

HALF: With no clear standout option, I see this as a position to choose based on which team you are stacking through the rest of your lineup. Scott Drinkwater scores much better in the halves than at fullback, so he’s my preferred Cowboy. I also prefer Tom Dearden on the Broncos side, he should be doing all the kicking and a very safe floor with plenty of upside.

 

2RF: Jordan Riki is likely to be the clear value and a popular play after a 58 point showing last time he played. It’s his first game as a starter, so it’s a little unknown what to expect, but he’s cheap enough to make it a safe play. After him we’ll want to skip everyone in the middle and look to both gun locks in Pat Carrigan and Jason Taumololo. Both have dropped in price recently. Carrigan has been a model of consistency, rarely dropping under 60 points. Taumololo has been slowed by injury a little, but I fully expect him to return to his unstoppable self to end the season on a high.

 

HOK: Reuben Cotter has been scoring well since being given the chance to start, and there is no reason that he shouldn’t do so again. Unfortunately his price has caught up somewhat, so we have to at least consider other options. Isaac Luke has been solid without being spectacular over the last month, and should have a reasonable floor at his price. The upside is less impressive than Cotter, so I only like this option if you need to save some salary for other positions.

 

FRF: Payne Haas is still the best fantasy player in the NRL, and he’s cheap enough to be an excellent play if you can somehow find the salary, but that isn’t easy on this slate. A drop down to Carrigan or Josh McGuire should be a popular play, McGuire is a little too cheap for his solid floor, but might not have as much upside as the other options. Jordan Mclean and Joe Ofanhengaue are both limited upside plays, but can expected to score around 40 points. Ofahengaue is my preferred play but it is a close call. All four of the Cowboys bench forwards are worthy punt plays given the lack of value at the position, but be aware that their recent run of decent scores have mostly come when starting with the likes of Taumololo and McGuire missing.

 

Final Word: No idea who wins this one, and there are very few players that can be ruled out entirely, so don’t be afraid to zig where others zag in at least one or two spots in your lineup. Good Luck!

 

Have you tried “Gimme Five” on SportChamps? Australia’s Number 1 Tournament Betting platform have laid down the challenge to correctly pick 5 out of 5 selections for tonight’s game. Do you think Smatho has this one right? Play SportChamps now and look out for this contest in the NRL tab.

Dragon's Suggested Draftstars Team

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