Friday Night Wrap - Round 17

This weeks episode of Friday night footy saw the Broncos tame the Warriors, and the Roosters pluck the chooks. Well that's great I hear you say, but what were the DT scores? Read on...

Broncos v Warriors

With Justin Hodges causing havoc down the left side, and "big man" Dave Taylor deciding this was the night he was going to prove himself by running at the 65kg (wringing wet) Stacey Jones all night long to make himself look good, the Broncos were too strong in the end. Big-time DT games were had by Corey Parker (18 runs, 22 tackles, 1 try assist, 2 line break assists) and Sam Thaiday (17 runs, 30 tackles, 1 try assist, 1 line break, 1 line break assist and 2 offloads). Tonie "the protector" Carroll proved his worth with a solid 15 run, 16 tackle effort, and must be looked at in weeks to come. For the Warriors Steve Price was inspirational as usual (23 runs, 20 tackles, 2 tries, 3 offloads) and Michael Luck tackled himself silly again (41 tackles).
Injury Report - Mighty Folau hurt his ankle, but I reckon he'll be fine after he says a prayer or 200 this week. Joel Clinton got knocked into next week by a flying Jerome Ropati shoulder-charge, and I wouldn't be surprised if he misses next week on the Doc's advice.

Dragons v Roosters
As expected the Dragons easily accounted for the Roosters 34-12. For the victors, big Dell was in everything, with 21 runs and a try to his name. But Jamie Soward - wtf?? 144 points (preliminary) based off of 15 runs, 13 tackles, 2 tries, 3 try assists, 1 line break, 2 line break assists and 4 offloads. That is a massive stat line and anyone who had him will wake up this morning a very happy DT'er. For the Roosters it was the usual suspects stepping up, with Craig Fitzgibbon notching 19 runs, 37 tackles, 2 tries, 2 goals and 2 line breaks for an estimated 120-odd points. Nate Myles was good also; he had 84 DT points.

Injury Report - none that I am aware of. But then again, I said don't make anyone from this game your captain - so shows how much I know!

Late Mail Round 17

BRISBANE - and possibly Queensland - have suffered a significant blow ahead of tonight's important clash against the Warriors, with Karmichael Hunt ruled out with an ankle injury.
The fullback withdrew from the squad, which is attempting to prevent a fifth straight defeat, yesterday morning at training ahead of the Suncorp Stadium encounter. Even though scans on Monday cleared him of any structural damage, his ankle sprain has not recovered sufficiently.
"'K' just didn't have the range to be able to run properly and it was a big risk to try to get 80 minutes out of him after a five-day turnaround," coach Ivan Henjak said.
Hunt's place will be taken by promising youngster Josh Hoffman as centre Justin Hodges makes his timely return from a knee injury.
Tonie Carroll, who came out of retirement this week to help the Broncos, has been named on the bench. Broncos coach Ivan Henjak said he only hoped to get 30 minutes out of the 33-year-old.

But Warriors skipper Steve Price said he suspected Carroll might start. "I don't know how Ivan is going to play him, but you would think he would start him," said Price, a former Queensland teammate of Carroll's. "Just to let him get out there and get rid of the nerves straight up, see how long he can go and then replace him."
Warriors winger Manu Vatuvei remains in doubt with a hamstring injury. Coach Ivan Cleary has Patrick Ah Van and Russell Packer on standby.

Both the Roosters and St George Illawarra are expected to be as named for their clash at the Jubilee Stadium tonight.
Souths coach Jason Taylor said hooker Craig Wing was "looking good" to make his return from a hamstring injury against Wests Tigers tomorrow night. The Tigers' English import, Gareth Ellis, has a virus, but he is not considered to be in doubt.

Newcastle's Kurt Gidley and Steve Simpson failed to train yesterday due to a virus, while centre Adam MacDougall (knee) is also in doubt to face Melbourne away tomorrow. Shannon McDonnell trained at fullback, while Cory Paterson is a chance of playing his first match since revealing he has bipolar disorder if Simpson fails to recover in time. Wes Naiqama will start if MacDougall is ruled out. Sione Tovo and Joel Edwards have also been training with the top squad.

Melbourne officials say it is unlikely forward Matt Cross (hamstring) will make his return.
North Queensland trio Matt Bowen (ribs), Luke O'Donnell (knee) and Carl Webb (ankle) are all expected to play against Cronulla after training strongly yesterday. O'Donnell will play his 100th NRL match for the Cowboys if he plays, along with half Johnathan Thurston.
The Sharks are expected to be as named.

Gold Coast have lost both five-eighth Mat Rogers (ribs) and interchange forward Aaron Cannings (hamstring) for their away clash with Canberra on Sunday. Will Zillman will be again promoted to fullback, with Preston Campbell taking Rogers's spot at No.6. David Mead, Sam Tagataese and Bodene Thompson are in line to take the vacant bench positions.

The Raiders are expected to be as named.
Ben Smith has been added to the Parramatta squad as 18th man, although coach Daniel Anderson said there were no injury concerns for the Eels' clash at Penrith. Panthers coach Matthew Elliott said his squad would be "1 to 17".
Manly coach Des Hasler said a number of his players had the flu, however, he expected them to play on Monday night against the Bulldogs. Hasler said fullback Brett Stewart was no chance of making an early return from a knee injury.
Bulldogs coach Kevin Moore said his squad was "all good" for their away clash.

That's the Late Mail for this weekend.

Seeya next week, Wenin.

Player of the Week: Round 16

Welcome to NRL DT Talk, your local source for Courier Mail dream team information as well as general NRL happenings. Each week i'll be covering the Fantasy player of the week from the round just gone highlighting their performance as well as the odd hot tip for trades.

Nathan Hindmarsh

What a week from the big man! Pumping out 45 tackles, 6 offloads, 13 hitups and finishing up on 114 points! This tops his previous best of 98 against the Rabbitohs in Round 11. Definitely would have been to have been instrumental in the victory of any fantasy teams with enough Supercoach running in their veins to pick him as captain for the week.

This big showing followed a solid 83 point performance against the Tigers last week. Definitely good buying for anybody that doesnt have this workhorse in their team. Despite the surge in value of $18k up to $324k this week, Hindy is carrying a 59 in his rolling value so we should see another solid increase next week providing he comes out firing on all cylinders against the Panthers this week.

Special mention: Bronson Harrison - a solid performer all season for many fantasy teams averaging 72, has matched his second best score of the season with 101. He came out firing this season in Round 1 & 2 with 106 and 101 respectively but has not scored above 77 since, he pulled out the 101 in style with try-time in the 80th minute for the Green Machine!

Until next week..

Lote Sacked!

In breaking news just last night, one of Australia's most expensive Rugby players has had his contract torn up. Reasons are yet to be disclosed, however, a breach of conduct is being discussed as a possible explanation.

Lote "ice thrower" Tuqiri only last year was the subject of a bidding war between the ARU and Souths Sydney. On that occasion NRL was unable to match the money which was put in front of Lote. On this occasion however, there will be no million dollar contract waved in his face. It is of this bloggers opinion that following a $300- $400k pay cut he will join the Gold Coast Titans for the 2010 NRL season. The NRL are interested, Gold Coast are interested!

What ramifications will this have for DT? Will he be a bargain buy back? I am not sure what his price will be and how the experts at the Courier Mail may value him but HE WILL score well! You would have to think that he could fit straight into the "massive" hole at full back which will be created due to the retirement of Preston Campbell.

There is no doubt that we will see Lote again, but the only question which remains now is where?
What are you thoughts? Do you think Lote will end up in the NRL next year or will he chase the dosh in Europe?

Have your say..

Tom's Teams Wrap Up - Round 17

Its taken over half the season to kick off, but finally, I am happy to give you NRL DT fanatics something to keep you going throughout the week!

Welcome to the first weekly addition of Tom's Teams wrap-up, bringing you the big in's and out's around the league for the weekend's action. Each Wednesday morning I'll be looking at the team announcements in detail for each upcoming game, with analysis and speculation about the effects on your beloved Fantasy Line-Up.

I'll talk about the teams as they are announced as listed and highlight areas of interest, and from there we can look at the important stuff - while you're sweating on the seemingly ridiculous exclusions and controversial inclusions into the weeks actions from the obviously uninformed head coaches and selection panels, i'll be voicing my thoughts and outrages and hopefully giving some clue-ins about how to fix your team in time for Friday 7.30pm EST. I'll also flag any players who are in doubt or under an injury cloud and may not get up for the weekend's action.

So now you know what I'm about, let's look at the changes for Round 17:

BRONCOS v WARRIORS
Brisbane
A few noteable changes this week, but you cannot look past the centre pairing of Hodges and Folau, as well as the return of the big boss Tonie 'Real Estate Agent' Carroll. Good news for DT'ers who held onto Hodges as he finally returns and is set to have a big score this week. Folau cleared of any injury concern also - still not sure about him though.. DT favourite Nick Kenny appears to be out of the Front Row this week as well...

New Zealand
Only noteable change is the return of Jerome Ropati into the centres. Expect a big defensive effort from him if the Warriors are to be a chance.
No changes to the mighty Warriors forward pack - expect solid numbers from Price and Luck against a desperate Broncos outfit.
Trade tip: bring in Mannering for Israel as he is back in the second row!

Expect big things from the Brisbane based club this week, with a full strength back line for the first time in over a month, they should get the points at home at Suncorp.

DRAGONS v ROOSTERS
St George
With Prop Michael Weyman out of action long term, it opens the door for replacement Jon Green to jump into the Front Row. If he can hold his spot in this powerhouse team, he may be a nice addition to a fantasy team that is lacking depth in the front row. Keep one eye on this guy, he could be a DT bolter. Note also that Neville Costigan is back into the Lock the scrum, and utility Matt Prior moves into the centres which could hinder his DT output.

Sydney
With all the spotlight on Sydney City this week for all the wrong reasons, you would expect a spirited effort this week from the Roosters right? Bad boys Earl and Friend back into the team this week.

Dragons to slay the chooks at home - expect big numbers from playmakers Soward and Hornby, and hope that the Roosters forwards rack up the points in defence.

RABBITOHS v TIGERS
South Sydney
Craig Wing back in the starting line-up at hooker. Expect a solid return.

Wests
Robbie Farah played last week, but in my eyes he has saved his comeback game for this week against the bunnies.

Huge game for both struggling clubs. A loss here will all but seal either clubs fate for 2009. Both clubs will give a big effort this week.

STORM v KNIGHTS
Melbourne
Dallas Johnson returns and are the Storm happy about that. Totally outclassed last week, his return will bolster their forward pack and he will be the difference in this one.

Knights
Expect the same lineup this week from the mighty Novacastrians. The return of the maddog has put them in good stead for the run to the finals.

Should be a close one. Don't expect too much from your Knights players however, Storm will be too strong at home.

COWBOYS v SHARKS
Nth Queensland
Matt Bowen is back!

Cronulla
Paul Gallen will once again sit this one out. The true leader of the club has had a tough time staying on the field this year, and with a bye coming up, he must be traded out of the fantasy world for good. On the bright side, if trades are aplenty, there are many cheap buys out there which, with Gallen's salary off the books, could bolster even the weakest of forward packs.

The Sharks glory month is now done. A poor performance last week will be nothing compared to the toweling they get this week

RAIDERS v TITANS
Canberra
Dugan at the back, Harrison at the front... In the fantasy world, there are no changes.

Gold Coast
In the DT world, injuries to key players spell bargains galore for the replacements! Players coming into the starting lineup from the bench, Rookies coming up into 1st grade, etc. If you missed the boat on David Meyers when Minichiello went down, never mind, there is another steal at the GC. Daniel Conn is in the 13 jersey for at least this week. I'll be watching, because with injuries and possible origin duties on the horizon, a solid performance this week and this guy will be a great buy. TIP: Get on this guy next week if he stays in the team.

Raiders are looking good with Josh Dugan in the team. Expect a good game from him, as well as the Canberra playmakers as they comfortably take care of the underdone Titans.

PANTHERS v EELS
Penrith
DT favourite Petero Civoniceva is out of action for at least a month. Get him out of your team ASAP, and bring in Hindmarsh or Stagg, as their snubbing from Origin is welcomed in this world.
Parramatta
No changes for the Eels this week.

Expect another spirited effort from the Eels pack, and led by the prodigy Hayne, they will upset the Panthers on the road.

SEA EAGLES v BULLDOGS
Manly
Origin players return refreshed from a bye last week. Fan favourite Andrew Suniula dropped!!! Controversial...

Canterbury
Jarryd Hickey is another one of those illustrious front rowers who has become a starter and thus a fantasy bargain thanks to a key injury to the doggies. Let Ben Hannant's 2 month injury work in your favour, pick up this steal! DO IT!

Manly will be refreshed, and they will win this game against the heavily favoured Canterbury outfit.

Thats the news coming out of the lineups this week. Hope this will help you make those tough decisions to trade out your injured stars and pick up those bargain replacements...

Happy DT'ing!!

ps. I'm getting word from my sources that the KHunt from the Broncos has broken down at training and will miss Friday Nights game against the Warriors. Look out for that if you have him, but in my mind, if trades are not an issue, get him out of your team and pick up a youngster like Dugan or Locke, even a warhorse like Patten or Burt as all will not miss a game for the rest of the year.

Wenins Midweek Whispers!

The Chin is back!

That's right, the Chin, TC, The Shoulder etc etc etc....Tony Carroll is back ladies and gentleman!

What ramifications will this have on DT? Well we all know TC is a machine, however, will his old age slow him down?

These are all questions which are sure to be answered this weekend when the Broncos take on the Warriors.

After 3 late nights out, and on the cross Brett Seymour has felt the axe swing on his below par career with the Sharks. Seymour has only played 6 games this year for a total of 208 points at an average of 34.67. Whilst at a relatively cheap $166k it is fair to say his absence will not be felt as hard as the loss of Petero and to a certain extent Gallen over the weekend.