Whilst the two NRL matchups on Friday night only offer one current top 8 team, these two matchups should be highly entertaining from a Draftstars / fantasy perspective. First up, the Dragons head to Townsville to take on the Cowboys, in a matchup that will all but end the losers season, before the Eels head to Brisbane to take on the hot Broncos, who will be looking for their 6th straight win. With the two highest totalled games of the weekend, there’s plenty of points available here.
Draftstars have several contests on offer for Friday night, including single-match contests, and combined matchups. These include:
NRL $6,000 – Cowboys v Dragons
NRL $6,000 – Broncos v Eels
NRL $3,000 – Friday Night doubleheader
There are plenty of other contests that will tickle your fancy, so get involved and make the greatest game of all even more exciting. And if you're new to the Daily Fantasy scene, simply join Draftstars via this link!
NRL Daily Fantasy Lineup Tips: Round 21 Friday
NRL Friday Round 21: Our Value Fantasy Picks
Joash Papalii ($8,000) has been named to start at fullback this week for the injured Isaiah Iongi, and whilst he hasn’t exactly set the world on fire from a fantasy standpoint this season, it’s hard to knock back a starting fullback at bottom dollar. Papalii has shown flashes of his running game and ball playing ability, and whilst the Eels might struggle to score points against the Broncos, with Mitch Moses back, and his higher floor playing fullback, it’s hard to leave him out of your squad. Keep an eye on final team lists, as if he is named anywhere but starting fullback, he is not a buy for your teams.
Josiah Karapani ($9,960) has had a crash back to earth the past couple of weeks. In his first two games starting on the left wing for the Broncos, Karapani managed two tries in each, with scores of 52.7 and 38.3. A try in each of his next two games left him with scores of 40.2 and 29.9, before his first tryless game last week left him with a score of just 24.9. Whilst this shows Karapani clearly doesn’t have the high upside of some outside backs, I am confident he will score a try or two this week against a woeful Eels’ right edge defence. The Eels right side has conceded 35 tries this season, the fourth most in the NRL, and with the Broncos attacking the left edge so heavily (second most left edge tries of any team), I expect them to attack that side of the field heavily, and for Karapani to feature. A great stack with the likes of Gehamat Shibasaki and Reece Walsh, I love Karapani in this one.
NRL Friday Round 21: Our Mid Price Fantasy Picks
Charlie Guymer ($12,210) is one of two underpriced forwards that I love in this slate. Guymer has taken over as an 80-minute edge back rower at the Eels over the past two weeks and has been named to start again in the back row. In those two weeks, Guymer has averaged 58.3 points per game, and whilst he does have a try in both games, it is his work rate that gets me excited. With tackle totals of 49 and 54 in those two games, Guymer has a terrific base to work with for just over $12k. Whilst I wouldn’t anticipate another try for him, he has shown he is the sort of player that never gives up on a play, and has a knack for being in the right place, at the right time. Pencil him in for 40+, with the upside of 60, a very solid buy.
Griffin Neame ($12,970) like Guymer, has taken over as a starting forward for the Cowboys recently, starting the last five games for the Cowboys. In those five games, Neame has averaged 56 minutes per game, and in that time, he has averaged 38.6 tackles, 114.8 metres per game, whilst averaging a very respectable 47.3 points per game. This is despite only one big attacking stat (1 x line break), showing that he is a work horse who will get the job done for you. Doesn’t have the ceiling of Guymer given his lack of attacking stats, however, will give you the meat and potatoes in big minutes. Mark him down for 40-50 points for under $13k and move onto the rest of your team.
NRL Friday Round 21: Our Premium Fantasy Picks
Jaydn Su’A ($16,610) has had a bit of a down year for his lofty standards, however Su’A has looked back to his best since returning from injury and is proving an absolute handful for most defences. Su’A has always had a knack for scoring tries, however didn’t have any in the opening 12 rounds this season, before scoring one against the Knights in round 13. Sadly, Su’A came out of that game with a syndesmosis injury, missing the next month of football. Upon his return, Su’A has been tremendous, averaging 55.8 points per game, with a high score of 84.8 against the Roosters two weeks ago. With seven scores above 50 this season, and that high of 84.8, he has shown he has a high ceiling at the position and is more than capable of scoring well again against a porous Cowboys’ defence.
Tom Dearden ($16,780) has come back from Origin a new man. Whilst Dearden has always had decent upside in fantasy due to his running ability, he has looked tremendous the past few weeks for the Cowboys with scores of 73.1 and 75.9. The really exciting part of these scores has been the lack of attacking stats, with just the one try being scored and no other attacking stats at all, indicating these scores are more than replicable. Dearden does not shirk his defensive responsibilities and will make 20+ tackles a game. With his long kicking game bumping up his floor and his ability to bust tackles and offload, Dearden is an easy selection here in the halves, despite the return of Mitch Moses for the Eels. Has four scores of 70+ in his last 10 games and has an obvious upside here at the position.
Here’s Our Suggested Draftstars Lineup For NRL Friday Round 21
NRL Betting Markets: Round 21 Friday
Cowboys ($1.58) vs Dragons ($2.40)
Broncos ($1.40) vs Eels ($3.00)
Also, be sure to check out our full NRL Previews and Betting Tips for each match. Our experts break down each individual game and highlight some key bets that you can follow!
