Fantasy Q&A: Round 19

Question marks hover over the availability of some of Fantasy's biggest names on the back of the Origin decider, creating a nervous waiting game for coaches this week. 

• NRL Late Mail: Round 19
• NRL Fantasy teams analysis: Round 19

Meanwhile an injury to a popular player has also handed us a potential dream cash down, while there are some good players to target in coming weeks who have now served all three of their byes. 

Fantasy Q&A: Round 19

Who are some good cash downs this week?

New Knights fullback Fletcher Hunt definitely tops the list, given his availability at almost basement price and what looks, for the time being at least, to be decent job security.

At $232k this week, Hunt gives you the opportunity to free up a stack of cash if you move to him, and with Kalyn Ponga – and possibly Fletcher Sharpe – sidelined for the remainder of the season, he could well be a green dot for you every week bar Round 22 (when the Knights have the bye).

He averaged only 18 in four games on the wing this season in the NRL but had a 29 in his lone game at fullback. There's enough there to suggest he could have potential as a short-term WFB cover option or looping candidate.

There's still time to jump on Wests Tigers playmaker Latu Fainu too, with the $380k HLF entering Round 19 on a break even of -5.

While you're not going to net nearly as much cash by going for Fainu, he's probably going to be a better scorer for the rest of the year and someone you can fairly safely have in your scoring side each week.

What's the play when it comes to Cleary and Yeo this week?

Penrith playing in the second to last game of the round could make this a really tricky one to navigate.

'Could' being the key word, because either or both could drop out of the squad when it's cut to 19 at 4.05pm AEST on Saturday, or, in much better news for owners, they could both have been confirmed to play by then.

Where it gets really dicey is if both remain in the 19 up until an hour before kick-off, at which point you'll be left with only Panthers, Eels, Titans or Broncos players to trade them out for if they don't end up taking the field.

The best advice for now is to keep a close eye on ljmpta.com's Late Mail for any indication of what their status might be. If one or both don't make the final 19 then it's a pretty easy trade out scenario to a player featuring in one of the five games that'll still be to come in the round.

If they make the final 19 then my guess is that, barring a late niggle, they play. 

Who is your favourite player available for under $700k?

At this point of the season, unless they're an elite scorer or a cut-price keeper, I really favour players who have already got their bye rounds out of the way.

With that filter applied, Jayden Campbell (HLF/WFB, $644k) has a high ceiling in Fantasy, with six 60+ scores to his name already this year, and right now is underpriced due to a bad Round 14 and a HIA-impacted game in Round 16. 

His DPP status makes him an awesome pickup, especially if you have other WFBs and HLFs with byes still to come.

Storm back-rower Eliesa Katoa (EDG, $698k) is a really safe option whose floor is in the 50s (he's failed to score at least 48 just once all year), with potential to climb to 65+ if he scores a try.

Fellow EDG Beau Fermor ($697k) is also worth looking at. He has a lower floor than Katoa, but is much more likely to hit mid 60s-70s. Fermor also comes with the bonus of DPP status as a CTR, which is huge if you're still battling for depth in that spot.

If you need WFB and CTR cover, which most teams still will at this point, then Mark Nawaqanitawase is an in-form man worth bringing in.

He can't stop scoring tries right now and with a last three game average of 69, he's Fantasy's form WFB and second-best CTR by that metric.