Draft Breakdown: Round 16, waiver-wire, trade targets

It is kind of a weird week in the draft world.

Because of the rep round last weekend, players have been free agents since the beginning of last week

This means whoever was/is the quickest on the trade button this week will get the better player.

It a bit shitty that whoever reads the team lists first on Tuesday had a big advantage, but at least this is the last year we must deal with it.

This week’s article is focused on free agent players that are worth considering and are owned in less than 35% of leagues.

There are also some trade in and out options worth considering as we come into the home stretch before finals.

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TOP FREE AGENTS

Matt Lodge

Lodge was averaging only 46 PPG this year for the Warriors.

Last year, he averaged 57 PPG in a combination of games for the Broncos and Warriors.

It may take a few games, but I think its reasonable that Lodge could average 53+ with the Roosters, who are desperate for some middles.

He has a great offload and if he is able to get the offload licence for the Roosters, he could even get back to the 57 PPG he was averaging last year.

Dallin Watene-Zelezniak

DWZ is hardly setting the world on fire with a 44 PPG average this year.

He does score decently with some attacking stats. The issue is the Warriors have put on very few attacking plays.

I like DWZ as a pickup and play against the Tigers this week with Warriors returning to New Zealand.

He will plays on the right wing outside SJ and should see a few opportunities against the leaky Tigers left edge.

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VALUE FREE AGENTS

Victor Radley

Radley returns for the Roosters after a syndesmosis sprain.

The NRL Physio typically says that players aren’t impacted by any performance issues when returning from this injury, so there will be limited “easing in” games for Radley.

Radley is averaging 47 PPG this year, but if you take out his two injury affected games where he left the field, he is averaging 55 PPG.

Roosters will need him to play big minutes to secure a spot in the top 8.

Thomas Flegler

Despite Haas being named this week, you’d have to think an ankle injury will influence his minutes or even rule him out entirely.

Flegler should be the main beneficiary of any game if Haas doesn’t play and Flegler will have more minutes to pop his great offload.

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Cody Ramsey

In the four games Ramsey has played at fullback this year, he has averaged 63 PPG.

I would have never thought he was the Dragons best fullback option. He is playing much better than I could ever anticipate and scoring more in SuperCoach than I thought he could achieve.

The Dragons also have a relatively soft draw to finish the year and Ramsey could be a great option against those weaker NRL sides.

James Tamou/Issac Liu

These guys are your meat and potatoes guys you can pick if you need to fill a hole in your team.

They won’t let you down but won’t bring any upside either.

Our teams need a few of these consistent scorers.

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Trade IN Targets

James Tedesco

Teddy being on this list is probably an obvious choice, I mean why wouldn’t you want the second-best fullback option in your draft team.

In my opinion, Teddy is a more obvious choice than what people may initially think for a few reasons.

Teddy is averaging 74 PPG after a tough year and recently against some top opposition including a game against Penrith this weekend.

The inclusions of Matt Lodge, Victor Radley and Sam Verrills are massive for the Roosters and Teddy’s potential ceiling.

After this weekend, the Roosters will play the Dragons, Knights, Manly, Broncos, Cowboys, Tigers, Storm and Souths to finish the season.

The only real game I’d be worried about is the Storm game and to a lesser degree, the Cowboys and Broncos, where he could still score100 points.

And the major reason why Teddy is such a big trade in target is the fact the Roosters sit 9^th on the ladder, and they can’t afford to rest him, like they have in previous years.

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Matt Burton

After struggling in the earlier part of the year, Burton has turned a corner with a 58 PPG average for the year, a handy three round average of 85 PPG and a five-round average of 82 PPG.

This includes a 98-point game against the Panthers and 82 point game against the Eels.

The Bulldogs have a habit of playing well towards the end of the season and it looks like this season will be similar.

Burton has now also turned down the player option for 2024 and is literally playing every week to prove his worth for the next contract.

The Bulldogs also have a relatively soft draw to end the year, with their hardest game against the Cowboys.

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Trade OUT Targets

Xavier Savage

Savage has a three-round average of 76 PPG and if you picked up from the waivers you’d be stoked with his SuperCoach output since playing fullback.

He’s had some errors in his game and I just think with CNK healthy, it’s only a matter of time before the Raiders have a loss and Ricky puts CNK put back in the fullback role.

If you can get something decent for him, I’d sleep better not having that weekly worry if this is the round Ricky Stuart cracks the shits with Savage.