Fantasy Q&A: Round 23

Another injury to a Fantasy big gun means plenty of trades will be burned this week, but it's finding a worthy replacement that's causing the most headaches. 

• NRL Late Mail: Round 23
• NRL Fantasy teams analysis: Round 23

Ahead of Round 23 we also discuss the best captaincy options and what to do with Terrell May while he's out on a bye. 

Fantasy Q&A: Round 23

Who to trade Herbie to?

Having sat in around a fifth of all teams at the end of Round 22, the injured Herbie Farnworth will be the most traded out player this week.

For this question, there are two separate categories to file answers under.

Best trades if you need a CTR...

Jacob Kiraz is the next best available player in this position by average, but I'm not big on him while he's playing fullback.

If anything his involvement probably reduces while in the No.1 jersey, while he misses out on the very good attacking chances that come his way on the edge too. Last week he scored a try there and still only managed 40.

There are higher risk, higher reward options like Kotoni Staggs and Bradman Best, but their bad days could be 30 points or so lower than others in the position. Matthew Timoko would have been at the upper end of that group if not for a bye in Round 24, which deems him useless as a Fantasy player right now unless you think you'll secure a bye in your head-to-head league next week.

Beau Fermor is probably the best top tier option who is fit and doesn't have a bye to come. He is relatively safe given he actually plays in the forwards, with low to mid 50s his expected output, with potential to go above that when he scores.

If you want to go against the pack, I also like the idea of cashing down to the very reasonably priced Kurt Capewell, who like Fermor is CTR eligible while actually playing in the forwards. He had 61 from only base stats last week, and at $371k he will free up $471k in cash for you to spend elsewhere.

Best trades if position doesn't matter...

If you're among the 75-odd percent who don't already have him, then Jayden Campbell is a no-brainer right now who is in excellent form and in a team that's playing carefree and expansive footy. 

Someone with a heap of upside is Knights EDG Kai Pearce-Paul. He's gone under 50 points just once since Round 10 and boasts a last three game average of 64.3.

Currently sitting in under seven percent of teams, he's a point of difference option who can make a real impact. 

Is there a legitimate captaincy option who isn't Cleary this week?

There's been a feeling in the last couple of weeks that the 'big three' captaincy choices have been reduced to two, due to Payne Haas's apparent injury struggles and back-to-back <60 scores, which would leave only Cleary this week while Terrell May is out on a bye.

But I'm not buying it and think Haas is a genuine option to consider for Round 23. Before the aforementioned couple of down weeks, the $805k MID had a 101-point effort that he achieved in only 58 minutes on the field.

He spent time in hospital last week with an infected cut, but he's probably still going to be in better shape thanks to having not played a game.

While I've got Cleary as my No.1 option, Haas is projected to hit a round-high 74 and is someone you can confidently captain.

If you want to go for a real point of difference, then why not Jayden Campbell?

He's Fantasy's form player with a L3 average of 77.7 and has a favourable matchup in Round 23 against a banged-up Rabbitohs team who have leaked at least 30 points in four of their past five games, including 60 last week.  

I'm in a H2H league with finals starting this week, is there any case to hold Terrell May?

If you've qualified high enough that you're guaranteed a second chance then maybe, but if you're facing a sudden death game it's probably a no.

There's an argument to be made to hold May – who you'd definitely want in your ideal best 17 – if you think you can win without him anyway, or if you can afford to lose and still have a path to winning your league.

Otherwise, burn a trade and get rid of him – it's much better to end up losing in Week 2 or Week 3 because you ran out of trades than it is to crash out in Week 1 because you missed the points your May replacement would have got you.

May is even a good enough player that you'd consider burning two trades on from here if you have them.