Sit v start: Who to play in your final 17, Rd 23?

3 rounds to go and squad depth is getting scarcer. Hopefully you still have a few key start/sit decisions to make.

Below are my thoughts for this week, with plays listed in priority order. I’ll let the table speak for itself, but I’ve included ‘key rankings factors’ to explain where I’ve moved a player up or down the rankings.

I’ve left out the super elite types (Hynes, Teddy, Murray etc.), on the assumption that they’re plays every week.

Thanks as always to the legendary nrlsupercoachstats.com, whose website I’ve utilised for position vs team analysis and various stats breakdowns.

A general note to keep an eye on the weather leading into the round and across the weekend. For rain-affected matches I’d slightly favour forwards over backs.

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Start

Ranking	Player	Key ranking factors	Avg	3RA	Base + Power – Negs	PPM	Avg Minutes	Exp Minutes	Ground	Vs	Matchup PPM	Projected score
1	Fifita, D	Matchup, upside	66	64	49	0.91	72	80	Away	Dragons	0.91	73
2	Lane	Matchup, form	68	91	53	0.88	77	80	Home	Bulldogs	0.83	68
3	Cook	Form	76	87	55	0.97	78	80	Home	Panthers	0.81	71
4	Drinkwater	Matchup, form	72	85	31	0.92	78	80	Home	Warriors	0.72	66
5	Brown, D	Matchup	71	78	42	0.89	80	80	Home	Bulldogs	0.66	62
6	Crichton, A	Matchup	61	65	52	0.82	74	80	Home	Tigers	0.87	68
7	Robson	Matchup	63	70	49	0.85	74	80	Home	Warriors	0.83	67
8	Koloamatangi	Form	67	82	53	0.86	78	80	Home	Panthers	0.82	67

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Consider

Ranking	Player	Key ranking factors	Avg	3RA	Base + Power – Negs	PPM	Avg Minutes	Exp Minutes	Ground	Vs	Matchup PPM	Projected score
9	Kikau	Upside	65	52	42	0.86	76	80	Away	Rabbitohs	0.86	69
10	Holmes	Upside	64	54	33	0.8	80	80	Home	Warriors	0.68	59
11	Lomax	Upside	59	40	36	0.74	79	80	Home	Titans	0.71	58
12	Koroisau	Increased role in attack	64	63	44	0.89	72	75	Away	Rabbitohs	0.78	63
13	Haas		65	63	63	1.06	62	65	Home	Storm	0.93	65
14	McInnes	Form	58	71	52	1.04	56	60	Away	Sea Eagles	0.9	58
15	Olakau’atu	Upside but down on form	66	41	51	0.89	74	75	Home	Sharks	0.81	64
16	Matterson		68	59	62	1.18	57	55	Home	Bulldogs	0.96	59
17	Johnston	Form	69	66	27	0.86	81	80	Home	Panthers	0.64	60
18	Douehi		57	80	33	0.83	68	80	Away	Roosters	0.69	61
19	Mulitalo		60	48	32	0.78	78	80	Away	Sea Eagles	0.55	53
20	Tago		61	53	39	0.76	80	80	Away	Rabbitohs	0.64	56
21	Cherry-Evans		64	35	32	0.81	80	80	Home	Sharks	0.53	54
22	To’o		58	42	43	0.75	78	80	Away	Rabbitohs	0.64	56
23	Smith, B		45	69	35	0.92	49	55	Away	Broncos	0.95	51
24	Taumalolo		60	59	53	1.07	56	53	Home	Warriors	0.87	51
25	King		51	49	50	1.12	45	50	Away	Eels	1.08	55

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Sit

Ranking	Player	Key ranking factors	Avg	3RA	Base + Power – Negs	PPM	Avg Minutes	Exp Minutes	Ground	Vs	Matchup PPM	Projected score
26	Tapine	Injury, last game of round	67	71	62	1.31	51	45	Away	Knights	1.03	53
27	Tass	Matchup	53	59	36	0.72	74	80	Home	Panthers	0.55	51
28	Mam	Matchup	60	54	28	0.76	79	80	Home	Storm	0.55	52

*Projected points = ((Player PPM x expected minutes) + (Matchup PPM x expected minutes)