Draft Breakdown: Round 6, waiver-wire targets

I am having one of my better draft seasons in most of my leagues this year and a lot has been down to some of the great waiver options that have been available every round.

Last week I had a few good calls in Drinkwater and Cotter, but had a shocker in Staines. I still think Staines looks a lot better than last year, but when he dropped that ball with the open line, I was having some flashbacks.

Koula was a late withdrawal last week, but he still remains a high priority pickup this week.

We finally have some dry weather predicted for Sydney this weekend and it will be a good test of how valuable those players with high upside, but low base are going to be.

Every week I will be looking at players still available in 65% of leagues. Here are some options for this week.

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Top priority

Blake Taaffe

Latrell is out for eight weeks and Taaffe will not only get the fullback role at Souths, but presumably will also get the kicking duties.

We only have a small sample size, but at fullback Taaffe averaged 40 PPG over three games last year.

Whilst that score is not exactly setting the world on fire, he will get a nice bump from goal kicking and plenty of more opportunities with Souths amazing draw over the next few weeks.

He is also available at key positions of HFB and FLB.

Keenan Palasia

I never thought he would make the top priority picks, but due to the lack of middles at the Broncos, poor FRF choices this year and lack of options, Palasia is a great pickup this round.

Haas, Carrigan and Flegler are all out, so we should see big minutes from Palasia who looks solid and is scoring well at prop for the Broncos.

I expect him to score above 50 against Penrith.

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Value waivers

Taane Milne

Milne has switched to the highly valued left centre spot for Souths and looks a lot more at home in the role than Paulo.

He will be another that benefits from Souths soft upcoming draw and won’t let you down with his high floor. Last week he scored 43 points in pure base.

Tariq Sims

The Dragons are going like a busted, but since moving to the edge Sims is pumping out the base stats.

Last year he averaged 53 PPG in another poor Dragons side and if playing on the edge for 80 mins he should score similarly this year.

If the Dragons show any glimpse of form, Sims will benefit from playing outside of Hunt.

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Kevin Naiqama

I was surprised to see Naiqama’s ownership was so low on the right wing for the Roosters.

He isn’t a game breaker and I think his days are numbered in some SC aspect, but for the moment he is playing outside Joey Manu who is in sensational form and Naiqama will benefit from it.

The Roosters also have a great draw coming up, playing the Warriors, Dragons, Bulldogs and Titans over the next four weeks.

Whilst they aren’t exactly in great form, I think it’s just a matter of time until the Roosters click.

Connor Tracey

Tracey is currently out injured with a groin injury, but he should get the centre spot in the Sharks once he is fit.

He has only played one 80 minute game this year scoring 67 points with a try.

We saw last year how good his work ethic is and the fact he isn’t much of a passer, which is great for SuperCoach.

Importantly, he is available at 5/8 and CTW and will be a good 5/8 option for those struggling in a shallow position.