FANTASY
2020 NRL Fantasy guide: Dragons
Author
Lone Scout NRL Fantasy guru
Timestamp
Sun 26 Jan 2020, 07:01 AM
An inspirational leader, a young gun with a new role and a returning one-time Fantasy star headline St George Illawarra's best buys for 2020.
We're previewing the notable NRL Fantasy buys and revealing all player prices for each club as the days tick down towards the start of the new season.
Cameron McInnes
Hooker, $900,000
St George Illawarra's best player last season and their new club captain was also the third-best scorer in NRL Fantasy, with a league-high haul of 49.8 tackles a game plus an underrated running game out of dummy-half.
And yet he was never in many Fantasy teams, giving a real advantage to the 13% of Fantasy coaches who snapped him up.
McInnes was one of three hookers to score 63 points a game (Payne Haas is the only player in the league to score more), and the other two were the always popular Cameron Smith (in 31% of teams) and Damien Cook (37%).
McInnes should be as good a captaincy option as those two, with the likelihood that he keeps an 80-minute role despite the arrival of fellow hooker Issac Luke at the Dragons this season.
Dragons fullback Zac Lomax.
Gregg Porteous/NRL Photos
Zac Lomax
Centre, winger/fullback, $389,000
Still only 20, Lomax is heading into his third year in the NRL with a positional switch presenting a big opportunity.
The Dragons are giving Lomax the
first shot at the fullback spot in 2020 ahead of Matt Dufty, which creates the possibility of a significant lift in Lomax's Fantasy scores.
In 2019, Lomax played three games off the bench (with less than 10 minutes on the field on those occasions) plus four at centre, five on the wing and one at fullback.
He averaged 26 points for the season, a number which was weighed down by his time on the wing (22 points per game) and the bench (13 ppg). He scored 35 in his one game at the back.
Fullbacks generally score better than centres, wingers and interchange backs, so it's easy to see Lomax's scores climbing into the 40s early in the new year.
Trent Merrin
Front-rower, $578,000
Back at the Dragons for what will be his eighth season at the club following a three-year stint at Penrith and a season at Leeds, Merrin could go straight into a starting role in the Red V pack.
Once a Fantasy gun – he scored in the mid-50s in 2015 and 2016 – Merrin's numbers trailed off a little in his time at the Panthers so there is some question whether at the age of 30 he can get back to his best.
Nonetheless, he'll be an affordable option at $578,000, with a break even of 39, and has a better Fantasy pedigree than other forwards at his price range.
Dragons starting prices in 2020
Cameron McInnes $900,000 HOK
Ben Hunt $762,000 HLF
Paul Vaughan $674,000 FRF
James Graham $650,000 FRF
Corey Norman $635,000 HLF
Issac Luke $605,000 HOK
Tariq Sims $589,000 2RF
Tyson Frizell $582,000 2RF
Blake Lawrie $578,000 FRF, 2RF
Trent Merrin $578,000 FRF
Jordan Pereira $565,000 WFB
Euan Aitken $546,000 CTR
Korbin Sims $433,000 FRF
Matthew Dufty $429,000 WFB
Timoteo Lafai $428,000 CTR
Mikaele Ravalawa $401,000 WFB
Jackson Ford $392,000 2RF
Zac Lomax $389,000 CTR, WFB
Jacob Host $379,000 FRF, 2RF
Tristan Sailor $286,000 WFB
Josh Kerr $278,000 FRF
Jason Saab $249,000 WFB
Brayden Wiliame $246,000 WFB
Tyrell Fuimaono $246,000 2RF, CTR
Eddie Blacker $228,000 FRF
Joe Lovodua $228,000 HOK
More NRL Fantasy articles for 2020
https://www.nrl.com/news/2020/01/26/2020-nrl-fantasy-guide-dragons/
