The MUST have players of 2015
These players are some out and out stars that I won’t be able to pass up in the first two rounds this year. Be wary of the kicker points cap in your league however and make sure you don’t leave yourself open to not having a first string goalkicker in your squad by targeting these types.
Jonathan Thurston
Thurston is an absolute NRLCEO star. He is a definite Top-2 talent and there is no justifiable reason to pass on him past the first overall pick.
I’ll leave this list of Pros and Cons for you to decide where you take Thurston in your draft.
Pros:
- JT averaged a whopping seven points per game in 2014
- On seven occasions, Thurston scored more than 10 points
- He scored fewer than 4 on only three occasions (including only one zero)
- JT is a strong goalkicker for a notoriously high scoring team
Cons:
- Plays Origin
If Thurston is on the board, you take him. It really is that simple. He is the best kicker, scores a lot and scores consistently. The only other player in the discussion for the 1st overall pick is Robbie Farah. I won’t judge anyone for picking Farah first, but with Thurston’s goalkicking I’m taking him #1 every time.
Robbie Farah
Farah is one of only two players in conversation for the top pick. He scores a tonne of points and does it consistently. Being a Hooker, regardless of how much of a hiding to nowhere this Tigers side looks to be on Farah will still be able to rack up points. With changes to the interpretation of the ruck, coaches can look forward to many a double workhorse from Farah.
In 2014 with origin and injury, Farah only played 18 games. He scored in double figures on 9 of those occasions! Only once did Farah fail to nab a workhorse, and even in that match he kept coaches excited to the end with 39 involvements. Robbie Farah is the ideal captain candidate in your league. Being a forward his scoring is consistent, but he also doubles as a primary playmaker for a young Tigers team.
Farah will play 80 minutes every week and is a threat for a double workhorse (and more!) every time he steps on to the park. Sure there are other great pointscoring hookers out there, but Farah is so much better than them at NRLCEO football he won’t last past #2 in many leagues.
James Graham
By my count, there are 8 decent props in NRLCEO who you should be able to expect week-in, week-out value from. Just 8. This alone makes these top 8 very valuable and James Graham is the leader of the pack.
The first amazing attribute about James Graham: He is English. No representative duties for him means no missed weeks for his NRLCEO coaches. That can be a huge positive if you are stuck vying for playoff position and scrapping for every win. The second reason to make Graham an early pick is his durability. Graham always plays big minutes and hasn’t missed time due to injuries in years. He is a prop who only once failed to score at least 4 points for his NRLCEO teams.
Graham scores more consistently than just about every other prop in the game, and the ones who scored similarly (McGuire and Parker) face the minutes uncertainty of a coaching change and time off for origin. At a position that looks awful thin this year, getting Graham any time after Round 2 would be an absolute steal.
Boyd Cordner
Cordner is the gun second rower of the NRLCEO universe. Cordner gets a workhorse with amazing consistency and is a try-scoring threat running off of Maloney and Pearce. He crosses the stripe more than Josh Jackson and has more certainty over his role than Matt Gillett this year, giving him the nod as my favoured backrower.
Only once in 2014 did Cordner fail to score 4 or more points, and that was in a game where he had to go off injured. As a comparison, Jackson failed to trouble the NRLCEO scorers 9 times and Gillett 4. These numbers make Cordner one of the most consistent and valuable players in the competition. He is a definite class or two behind Thurston and Farah, but Cordner in the first couple of rounds is still a great pickup.
Ryan
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