The Panthers surged to the 2021 premiership on the back of arguably the best player in the NRL and unarguably the best player in Fantasy.
Panthers skipper Nathan Cleary produced the most stunning individual season in Fantasy history and despite some rebalancing to Fantasy's scoring, is set to be the game's dominant player once again in 2022.
Big Guns
Never before has there been a player so suited to Fantasy as Cleary ($1.05m). A dominant attacking half who kicks the better part of 600 metres per game, a sharpshooter off the tee, who loves to run the ball and bust tackles and score tries almost at will, who is also an excellent defender who misses few tackles. Cleary averaged an absurd 93 points per game last year; that drops to 81 with the wind-down in kick-metre and tackle-bust scoring but it's still a long way clear of the rest of the field.
His huge price tag factors in the scoring changes so if he produces more of the same this year his price could hover around its current level indefinitely, although be aware he is racing the clock to start the year due to shoulder surgery.
Brian To'o ($713k) and James Fisher-Harris ($683k) are the next best scorers on the Panthers' list.
Rule changes: Kick metres scoring change
Bargain Hunter
There aren't too many steals on the Penrith list. Origin forward Liam Martin ($499k) averaged 58 minutes and could conceivably benefit from Kurt Capewell's departure but there's not much upside there. Jarome Luai ($476k) starts relatively cheap after a drop off in his attacking stats last year.
Cheapies
The Panthers have plenty of good young talent coming through but few that should be expected to play big minutes earlier in the season. With Matt Burton, Paul Momirovski and Brent Naden all leaving there is a centre spot open for the likes of Izack Tago ($334k) or Taylan May ($300k). Spencer Leniu ($322k) could be a very good Fantasy player if and when he gets the minutes to make it count.
Be Wary
Viliame Kikau ($566k) is capable of big scores and is often popular in Fantasy but he just doesn't get the base stats to be consistent and with his minutes fluctuating is even more of a risk than he used to be.
Rule changes: Offloads and tackle breaks
Panthers 2022 NRL Fantasy prices
Nathan Cleary: HLF, $1,050,000
Brian To'o: WFB, $713,000
James Fisher-Harris: MID, $683,000
Isaah Yeo: MID, $660,000
Apisai Koroisau: HOK, $656,000
Sean O'Sullivan: HLF, $575,000
Viliame Kikau: EDG, $566,000
Moses Leota: MID, $515,000
Liam Martin: EDG, $499,000
Dylan Edwards: WFB, $496,000
Mitch Kenny: HOK, $478,000
Jarome Luai: HLF, $476,000
Chris Smith: MID/EDG, $462,000
Scott Sorensen: MID, $446,000
Matthew Eisenhuth: MID, $443,000
Stephen Crichton: CTR/WFB, $350,000
Izack Tago: EDG/CTR, $334,000
Spencer Leniu: MID, $322,000
J'maine Hopgood: EDG, $300,000
Taylan May: CTR, $300,000
Charlie Staines: WFB, $298,000
Lindsay Smith: MID, $270,000
Christian Crichton, WFB, $240,000
Robert Jennings: WFB, $240,000
Jaeman Salmon: HLF, $240,000
Eddie Blacker: MID, $240,000
Kurt Falls: HLF, $220,000
