Trade Talk: Keep or Sweep?
Based on my current form, I strongly recommend holding any of my Sweep candidates for one more week. Most seem to have a blinder the minute I recommend dropping them. Thankfully though most come crashing to earth shortly after, giving me a respectable record on the season.
This week’s recap features a few where it is hard to say whether I made a good call or not. My Keep candidates all improved their scoring averages, but some of the Sweep’s look good to go again. In fact one of them I recommend trying to trade in ASAP.
Players to Sweep from 14th April
| Player | Avg pts
2014 |
Avg pts
Rd 1-5 |
Avg pts
Rd 6-9 |
Was I
right? |
Comment |
| Curtis Rona | 5 | 6.6 | 5 | Not sure… | Hard to say on this one. I still think trading Rona whilst his value is high is a good idea, but with Josh Morris and halfback James Graham returning I expect Rona to be improving again. He has averaged fewer points since I said to trade him, but right now I’d want him back. |
| Peta Hiku | 4 | 2.4 | 2.5 | Yep | Hiku has been useless so far in 2015. He is about to pick up in value though as Manly look to get all of their guns back. I think I was right to suggest trading him, but now is a time to consider getting him back before his value rises again. |
| Luke Douglas | 2 | 3.2 | 3.25 | Possibly not | Douglas has missed a couple of workhorses, but has otherwise been chugging along. What I said about Douglas was “(he) still holds value as he won’t play origin and should score big numbers when Myles and Bird leave town for camp. But he does have some risk now that he didn’t look to have a fortnight ago. Consider trading him if you can get a strong return.”
With Bird set for a long stint on the sideline Douglas has value. He is worth 4 points most weeks, but isn’t much of an NRLCEO matchwinner. He is a starting prop in most squads though. |
| Luke Keary | 3 | 2.4 | 3.25 | Nope | Keary’s average points have increased, but that four game sample went 0, 2, 11, 0. He isn’t exactly reliable and I wouldn’t want him as a starter. However he is now dual listed as 5/8-Halfback and has great value as backup coverage that you ideally don’t want to play. |
Players to Keep from 14th April
| Player | Avg pts
2014 |
Avg pts
Rd 1-5 |
Avg pts
Rd 6-9 |
Was I
right? |
Comment |
| Jamie Buhrer | 4 | 1.75 | 5.3 | Yep | Well, what I said was right, but a season ending injury has cruelled Buhrer’s season.
I’ll chalk this one up as a win, cause it really isn’t my week otherwise! |
| Waqa Blake | – | 1 | 2.5 | Nope | Blake might have secured a long term spot in the Panthers side, but he hasn’t set the world alight yet. Hopefully his form picks up but he hasn’t been as good as I expected yet. |
| Lachlan Coote | – | 2 | 4.5 | Yep | Coote has looked much better, as have the Cowboys. This was a great pickup and I’d still love to have him in my squad. |
| Jake Trbojevic | – | 1 | 2.25 | Yep | I’m still happy to have Jake Turbo. He has (at least temporarily) secured a starting position and has passed the ‘eye-test’ with flying colours. If you are thin up front he is still a good option. |
Now on to this week…
Players to Sweep
Justin O’Neill
I like centre/wingers who play on the wing, but they lose value when shifted to centre. Too often he will now be cut out of a backline movement by a roving half or fullback, or hand off only for Wright to score on the wing. O’Neill might go ok, but I’m less excited owning him than I was a fortnight ago.
Dane Gagai
Rick Stone has decided Sione Mata-utai isn’t ready for fullback and has shifted Gagai to the back. Even though they don’t have an attacking relationship like a Gidley/Tahu, I loved Gagai lining up next to Uate. They are both so damaging in their own right and able to back each other up for NRLCEO points. However at fullback, Gagai hasn’t shown anything to keep me excited. With Mullen out a while and Gidley shifted to the halves, the move could be long term. Why Jake Mamo can’t get a run is beyond me.
Mitchell Moses
I’m ready to call it on Mitch Moses: he isn’t an NRL quality half at this point of his career. Three try-assists through nine games sounds bad. Two tackle breaks through nine games is bloody awful. Eight NRLCEO points in nine games is just sad.
Dylan Napa
I was all about Dylan Napa in the preseason, but his numbers have dropped off in the last two weeks. He will come good again during origin, but the strength of the Roosters bench seems to be limiting his NRLCEO impact. Keep him throughout Origin if you are middle of the pack, but trade him if you are up top and can afford to risk some short term losses for long term gain. He may not be all too helpful come finals time.
Players to Keep
Blake Leary
I’ll leave it to Geoff to sell Leary to you in this weeks Workhorse Watch. But I’ll add that he has won a starting spot at Manly and has looked to be the best forward (bar Buhrer) on the roster when he has played. I am honouring Blake by naming him Captain this week in the Champions League.
Peta Hiku
Manly are starting to look good and Hiku has moved back to the wing. I doubt many coaches are going to be holding on to Hiku too hard so you might get him on the cheap. I’ll be trying to get him from unsuspecting coaches in my leagues.
Billy Slater
Slater have a big performance before his injury and an even bigger one on return. He has 18 NRLCEO points in his last two matches and looks to be on the up. Sure, he will miss time due to Origin, but if you can afford to nab him now he could be a match-winner in his own right late in the season.
Gavin Cooper
Cooper is getting bigger numbers and being a more focal point of the Cowboys attack. Through five rounds he had three tackle breaks, and has had ten in the last four. Whilst this doesn’t directly lead to NRLCEO points, an 80 minute workhorse candidate who is repaying his coach’s faith and putting himself in position for linebreaks is someone I’d want in my team. Cooper will go close to Origin selection, so you might want to hold out until teams are announced before making a move.
Ryan
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