Round 6 looks like a round that should bring us less blowouts than the last two weeks in the NRL. Having said that, we get started with a heavily lopsided affair once again. It’s 1st v 12th on the ladder, and the gap is likely even wider than that. The saving grace for the Brisbane Broncos is that they’ll be playing host, welcoming Penrith Panthers to Suncorp Stadium. The forecast looks perfect for some fast footy.

 

Draftstars has a $15,000 contest with $1,133 to first place. There are also several other contests including the Mini, Micro, and the High Roller. Once again, the heavy favourites have been priced up to make it harder to stack your line-ups full of Panthers players.

 

Draftstars

 

Team News

 

Starting with the easy team, Penrith are unchanged (even naming the same four reserves). Brisbane on the other hand have responded to some more dismal showings by making significant changes, with the dropping of Anthony Milford the biggest news. Tom Dearden and Brodie Croft will share the playmaking duties. Jesse Arthars was due to come back but illness on Thursday has ruled him out. Corey Oates plays his first match of the year on the wing pushing David Mead into Centre. Tevita Pangai Jr comes into the second-row with Jordan Riki demoted to the bench. Patrick Carrigan returns from suspension at lock.

 

Odds  

 

Broncos $13.00 v Panthers $1.03

Line – 28.5

Total – 43.5

 

Overview

 

Pretty straightforward, Panthers should win comfortably, and as such it’s about carefully choosing a couple of viable Broncos plays to mix in with your Panthers stacks. Jake Turpin might be the easiest option in a 50/50 position and after morphing into an 80 minute tacklebot this season. If you want to throw out a YOLO Broncos stack….why not, we have to get a huge upset eventually.

 

Love It - Nathan Cleary $17,480

 

There’s just enough value in other positions to go right to the top at HLF. Cleary is yet to go under 70 points this season, and this doesn’t seem like the type of game to end that streak. There should be plenty of goals available, and it wouldn’t surprise to see him scoring a try or three if the Broncos check out in the second half.

 

Love It - Spencer Leniu / Matt Eisenhuth $8,280 / $8,370

 

One way to afford Cleary (and Haas), is to take a shot at some of the Panthers bench forwards. They’ve only get around 30 minutes a game, but they’ve been making the most of it all season and in the case of Leniu, I’m actually shocked that he hasn’t scored a try yet with his cannonball style. There’s also the chance they end up with some extra minutes due to a blowout or an injury, so the ceiling is there.

 

Love It - Brian To’o $13,250

 

Another Panther very much worth paying up for, To’o has the best floor for a winger in the NRL. He didn’t settle for an already excellent average of just over 40 last season, instead adding a ton of muscle and braking 7 tackles a game on his way to averaging 55+ so far this year. The Broncos right edge has had its defensive issues this year, and the team changes probably won’t magically fix that.

 

Hate It - Broncos Backs

 

If I have to pick one Bronco’s back, I guess I’m going with Jamayne Isaako. He’s one of the few Broncos that’s looked to have a bit of spark and upside in his game this season. Other than that, it’s a lot of historically bad fantasy scorers who rely heavily on tries for their ceiling games. There won’t be many tries on offer tonight.

 

Hate It - Patrick Carrigan $14,160

 

After his breakout year in 2020, Carrigan has taken a bit of a backwards step this season. That’s largely due to a reduction in minutes, which seems to be the plan going forward for Kevin Walters. He did manage 80 minutes in round 1, but with Payne Haas back up to full speed I think 60 minutes is his ceiling in most games.

 

Who Knows - Viliame Kikau $13,100

 

Kikau is obviously fantasy gold with his massive ceiling games, but he is rather expensive fantasy gold. The question is how does he go running against a similarly aggressive player in Tevita Pangai Jr? It’s probably not wise to bet against him having a big game against the Broncos, but with his injury history and likely popularity, there are enough question marks for me to be careful with my exposure.

 

Draftstars Suggested Team

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