The reason we all play Fantasy Footy is because of the unknown. The excitement. Unlocking that diamond in the rough and using him to take us to a title.

So each year it’s not always simple to predict who is going to fly and who is going to fail.

We’ve decided that after 10 Rounds it’s worthwhile reassessing what we’re up to and determining who have been the best value draft picks and who have just been duds.

I love a good spreadsheet, but the formula I’ve used for this is nothing overly complicated.  Ok.  I just came back and reread it.  It’s fairly complicated, but you’ve come this far and opened the article.  So let’s get on with it…

I’ve taken the top 50 drafted players and then compared the difference between their score (in order of their drafting popularity) compared to the scores from highest to lowest total so far.  I’ve then subtracted the difference between these numbers to give a rough estimate of how far above or below the par line each of those players is at this stage of the season.

The result is the drafting evaluation bargains and spuds.

Drafting Bargains

Robbie Farah (90 points)

Mr Double Workhorse himself.  Despite only playing seven of the ten rounds so far he leads the overall points tally.  Only once has he missed scoring a double workhorse (and that was only by one run!).  Four tries and six try assists have helped him streak ahead of the field.  Crazy that he was the eighth most popular pick. It should not have come as a surprise to anyone how dominant this guy could be.  If he stays fit, he should be a shoe in for NRLCEO MVP.

Sam Burgess (75)

In what is possibly his last possible season of NRLCEO ever, Sammy Burgess is showing why is the third most popular forward in the game.  A workhorse in every game, and five of those converted to doubles show his consistency.  Three tries and three line breaks underline his attacking threat close to the line as well.  With no Origin games to worry about, Sammy could possible overtake Robbie at the top of the tree.

Andrew McCullough (71)

What a gem this guy has turned out to be! We all knew of his quality and his consistency in defence, but a few sneaky tries including a double on ANZAC Day leave non-McCullough owners slightly jealous.  With no Origin games to miss, he should creep up the ladder another minimum 12 points.  The 17th most popular player is now the third highest scoring player.

Jarryd Hayne (60)

Over the last few years Hayne may have slipped down NRLCEOs drafting radars, but he’s certainly running red hot at the moment.  Leading a resurgent Parramatta out of a Ricky Stuart dungeon, Hayne has touched down for nine tries so far this season including three doubles.  His form at full back has been so irresistible that Laurie Daley had no other choice but to put him in his favoured position.  His CEO point scoring has been so irresistible that we had no choice but to include him in this list.

Matt Gillett (52)

Whilst technically not the fifth highest scoring player, we have perceived Gillett’s value as much higher due to the fact that he was the 35th most popular draft pick in 2014.  As always he has not been a consistent workhorse, hitting 40+ only 50% of the time but his ability to cross the stripe means his score adds up quickly.  Six tries in ten games is a great result, but he’ll have to play bloody well to keep up that strike rate for a full season.

Drafting Spuds

Sonny Bill Williams (15 points)

Talk about overrated! People were wary about drafting him last year and he went on to make the overall NRLCEO Dream Team.  So this year he was hot property and ended up the seventh most popular draft pick overall.  His performances on the field have been ok, but he has NRLCEOs pulling their hair out.  He wasn’t a consistent workhorse last year so his mixture of workhorses, tries and try assists moved him up the ladder.  This year he has missed three rounds through injury and then in his seven other games has managed just three workhorse.  Very disappointing.

Ben Barba (14)

This was always going to be a big hit or miss when Barba moved back up to Queensland.  It’s not easy pleasing Broncos fans and whilst the knives haven’t come out just yet, the Brisbane faithful would not be stoked with their big name signing just yet.  This guy is just not the same player he was in 2012.  By this same time last year he only had 13 points, so there was plenty of warning for CEOs who gave him a fair bit of credit with an average draft position of around 29th.  I’ve seen CEOs dropping him left, right and centre and unless he fires during Origin while the big boys are away there will be a few more lining up to do the same.

Issac Luke (7)

This one is probably a little unfair considering he has missed the last seven rounds due to injury, but the fact of the matter is you need your big guns to fire and a lot more was expected of Luke this season.  Many predicted with the lower Double Workhorse qualifications that the chunky hooker would start to dominate scoring in a similar way as Robbie Farah but in the three games he did play this season he averaged 39 involvements per game and managed just one workhorse.

Nathan Merritt (8)

Unlike Issac, you can’t blame injury on Merritt’s downfall.  He just simply hasn’t been good enough.  Sure, the Rabbitohs top try scorer curse hovered over his head for a few weeks, but he just hasn’t stepped up all year.  One try in seven games just isn’t good enough for someone with his previous try scoring rate and being on the end of what should be a quality Rabbitohs backline.  Put this into perspective, this time last year he had 11 tries! Now with Origin players on duty he gets given another chance at fullback, so CEOs who held strong when he was dropped will be hoping that he fires once again.

Liam Fulton (8)

Fulton just isn’t in the right head space at the moment.  Plagued by ongoing concussion issues have not helped his point scoring or his ability to play regular games.  He’s already missed 50% of the games this year due to injury compared to last year when he had eight workhorses at this stage.  When the man who is know for simply getting in the way and tackling just can’t get it right, you know you’ve ended up with a dud pick.  It’s sad to see because it’s not a form issue, he just needs some time off to get his head right.

That concludes the highlights and lowlights.  Is there anyone else who has really disappointed you?  Let us know in the comments below. Here is the full top 50:

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JB

A Founder of NRLCEO. Jamie spends far more time on running the site than his own team and is therefore a perennial struggler, much to the delight of his mates. He is a former Bears, now Raiders tragic. A rangy lock who avoided running the ball at all costs, he once tackled (flopped on) John Hopoate. Web geek by day, web geek by night.

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