Draftstars preview: Friday NRL fixtures

• CHAMPION PODS: Reshaping your overall strategy
• CAPTAIN’S CHALLENGE: Round 10 skipper options

Draftstars is back for Round 10 of the NRL season and with it comes the chance to back your fantasy knowledge to win some cash.

For those unfamiliar with the concept, you can enter competitions for each game for as little as 50c and win major jackpots.

Let’s take a look into today’s fixtures.

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STORM v TITANS

OVERVIEW

We may have had a huge upset on Thursday night, but this fixture looks extremely one-sided. At least the Titans have ditched the (forced) move to play back-rowers at centre, but in dry conditions in Queensland this should be a mauling. Like most, I’ll be heavily favouring Melbourne players and targeting a few little combinations.

Betting play: Storm -18.5 / Over 43.5 points @ $3.25

Bet here: https://bit.ly/3eBl3Ej

GUNS

Cameron Munster and Cameron Smith

An extremely large amount of Melbourne’s attack will come through this pair. I do think the Titans will be shot on the edges throughout the clash, so Smith will feed his halves plenty of early ball which may restrict his attacking output. But at the same time, he could kick seven or eight goals in the process. These two are must-haves for mine. Munster is back from injury, so it could be a huge differential play to slot Jahrome Hughes in ahead of Munster.

Mo Fotuaika

The Titans may well be doing plenty of defending, and Mo will be at the centre of it. The gun rookie is getting big minutes as a starter in a pack void of depth and will score well.

STARS TO AVOID

Nil

Honestly there’s not too many players at big prices in this game. There’s stacks of value and it’s hard to advise against any specific Storm players, so go for broke…

VALUE

Ryan Papenhuyzen

Lil Papy has hit his straps over the past few weeks and is primed for a big score here. Melbourne have had a greater dependency to utilise him in attack in Munster’s absence, so he may see a bit less ball. However, if the score line is what is expected, he’ll get ample opportunity to accrue attacking stats and looks value at just over $11k.

Josh Addo-Carr

Not a heap to be said here. JAC is accurately priced at just $7,600 as he’s not an overly strong Draftstars player due to lack of work rate. But if Melbourne go big, he naturally can too. I’m hoping he bags a few tries and easily exceeds his value.

COMBINATIONS

Pick an edge

The way to win these contests is to get the combo plays that reward you with the try and try-assist, hopefully on multiple occasions. Note that Draftstars award the try-assist for whoever throws the last pass, whereas SuperCoach is more subjective and is generally based on who has the greatest influence on a play.

The play here is to go heavy on either Melbourne edge, with the left likely being Munster, K.Bromwich, Olam and JAC. The right should line up as Hughes, Kaufusi, Lee and Momirovski.

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TIGERS v BRONCOS

OVERVIEW

Like most Brisbane games, this clash could produce any sort of result. Disregarding last week, I do think that on form the Tigers will have too much class back home at Leichhardt Oval. I’m certainly not convinced, but I will be favouring their attacking players. It’s damp and windy in Sydney, and this contest is stacked with workhorses, so I’ll be paying up big for the middle men.

Betting play: Tigers -6 @ $2

*PlayUp offer $2 lines an hour before kick-off

Bet here: https://bit.ly/3eBl3Ej

GUNS

Harry Grant

Grant is the pick of the hookers by an absolute mile, and with Walters starting in the halves he should play the entire 80. Get him in…

Matt Eisenhuth

Filling in for the injured Alex Twal at lock, Eisenhuth is playing 65-70 minutes and has a seriously impressive work ethic. He’s set for big game time again and is an extremely safe scorer with some attacking upside.

STARS TO AVOID

Payne Haas

A tough omission, particularly as he’s priced as best as he’s been all season at $18,420. However, his minutes have become a little unreliable over the past month for a guy that requires such a huge investment. He reverted back to just 62 last week, while teammate Pat Carrigan played the 80. I’m happy to save cash and go with the likes of Carrigan, Eisenhuth, Leilua.

Tevita Pangai Jnr

TPJ was enormous last week, but he only played 50 minutes. He scored big, but it was aided by a host of attacking stats to his name. At just under $15k I’m keen to avoid due to the minutes and reliance on attacking stats. I’m also tipping he’ll be a popular pick up.

VALUE

Luciano Leilua

Granted he’s since had a switch in edges, but Leilua thrived early in the year with Brooks out of the side. Brooks has been demoted to the bench, so I’m hoping the 80-minute man Leilua can rediscover his attacking mojo with Benji and Walters in the halves.

COMBINATIONS

Adam Doueihi and David Nofoaluma

If you can afford the expensive middle men and Nofoaluma, I think this is your combination. Nofa is in career best form, while the affordable Doueihi is coming into his own at fullback. Hopefully the surface is relatively dry come kick off, and Doueihi finds his flying winger with a few cut out balls for tries.

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Stat	Points value
Try	8
Try-assist	5
Field goal	5
Linebreak	4
Tackle break	3
Goal	2
Linebreak assist	2
Offload	2
Tackle	1
Run metre gained	0.1
Kick metre gained	0.05
Error	-2
Missed tackle	0.05

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