Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) is drastically increasing in popularity across Australia and participants are finding different ways to find an edge against the rest of the field.
We have used our knowledge of DFS and came up with a list of basic NRL Daily Fantasy strategies that will help you when you are selecting your team and allow you to not only have the extra enjoyment of competing whilst watching your favourite sporting matches but also earning a nice payday.
Target NRL Players From Specific Teams
In DFS tournaments with one or more NRL matches, the best thing you can do is to look at the head to head matches of each game and decide which match is likely to be a high scoring one and which team will likely score the most points, as this will give you the best chance of acquiring a high score in your DFS team as attacking stats are crucial to success.
In round 10 of the 2016 NRL season, the Sharks defeated the Knights 62-0 and before the match kicked off it was an expected result as Newcastle were sitting on the bottom of the table with the worst defence in the league whilst the Sharks were in the top four.
If you selected players from the Sharks side you were more likely to grab extra points with the big scoring plays such as tries, try assists, line breaks and line break assists.
Meanwhile if you chose players from the Knights you would be relying on base statistics to score points such as tackles and hit ups.
NRL DFS Scoring Potential
As there is a salary cap for DFS tournaments, it is impossible to select all of the best players as you will end up like the 2016 Parramatta Eels and unable to play for points and in this case, money. Every websites cap is different, however the strategy remains the same when attempting to select the best available players.
There are four different categories you will be required to choose your nine players from, these are the hooker position, four forwards, a half and three backs.
When selecting a hooker it is preferable to get a player that will play the full 80-minutes and if you aren’t sure about this then check the team lists and look to see if there is a reserve hooker on the bench. It is also beneficial to grab a creative hooker who is likely to earn attacking stats whilst also making a lot of tackles in the middle of the field.
Similar to the hooker position you will be wanting to pick forwards that will be playing a high amount of minutes and that are capable of crossing for a try or have a bit of creativity. For example, Bryce Cartwright is almost a must have when it comes to the Panthers as he is capable of a massive score in any match.
When it comes to halves you will want to be getting a player that is likely to assist in tries, score a try and if possible a goal kicker. Halves don’t score many points for base stats such as tackles and attacking stats are essential. Anthony Milford is generally the most expensive half on DFS and for good reason as he is an attacking weapon.
In the backs you will want to select a player similar to the halves, someone who is notorious for grabbing a try and having a high workload. A player like Jarrod Croker who has good attacking stats and kicks goals for a high scoring team is a massive bonus.
Finding The Best Cheap NRL Players
It would be nice to choose the best players for each of these positions but as mentioned, the salary cap won’t allow this. This is where your team becomes make or break as you need to include a player or two that isn’t a known DFS must have.
When looking at a cheapie, you are best of selecting a player that is playing in one of their first NRL matches or a player that is replacing an injured player in the starting line up and will receive more minutes than usual.
If you can grab a cheap player or two that will play a lot of minutes or a player on the wing or centres for a team that is likely to score a lot of point, it will substantially improve your team and allow you to remain under the cap.
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Now that you understand some basic NRL Daily Fantasy strategies, it's time to pick which of the best Australian Daily Fantasy sites you want to play at! You can also find out more information about the fantasy revolution on our official Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) page.
