It's time to forgive and forget ahead of picking your captain this week, while a handy cash cow has emerged who is worth considering.
We also look at the strange HOK market right now and find a bargain buy, while there's some chat around Tohu Harris and the dodgy knee which could keep him out, and probably makes him a sell even if it doesn't.
Crucial Fantasy calls for Round 5
Captain Hopgood (2.0)
The Round 3 disaster that was J’maine Hopgood’s 35 points, in a week in which he was an overwhelmingly popular captaincy choice, is burned into the memory of many owners, and understandably almost nobody has captained him since.
'No better feeling': J'maine Hopgood
But there is a real case for captaining him in Round 5 against the Roosters, who he should get through a heap of work in defence against given their tendency to play through the middle. In the three games the Roosters have played this year, the opposition’s starting lock has topped the tackle count on each occasion, with Tom Gilbert (Round 1) and Cameron Murray (Round 3) making 42 and Tohu Harris racking up 60 in Round 2.
Hopgood hit 70 last week in 68 minutes, without scoring a try, making a line break or registering an assist in either of those categories, and well and truly bounced back from his limited-minute stint the week earlier.
He's one of the best captaincy picks around this week, especially if you don't have Nicho Hynes.
The Tohu call
While he was named to start for the Warriors on Tuesday, Tohu Harris remains in real doubt to take the field against the Sharks as he battles a knee injury which restricted him enough for the Warriors to take him from the field four minutes into the second half last week.
Harris injures knee
Given how important he is to the team, the club may wait until an hour before kick-off to rule him in or out, by which point all of your players outside of those playing for the Bulldogs or Cowboys will have already taken the field. So there is real risk in carrying Harris this week.
Even if he does play, the chance of reduced minutes is high. Given we don’t know how long this injury could bother him for, I’m leaning towards the super reliable Kiwi being a trade out this week.
Hands up?
A try-scoring NRL debut last week saw HLF/HOK Brendan Hands score 42 points and set himself up with a -1 break even ahead of Thursday night’s game against the Roosters. He has been named on the bench again, and given the way starting rake Josh Hodgson appears to be struggling with the pace of the game over prolonged periods, Hands should see at least half an hour of game time after managing 34 minutes last week.
Great Hands
He has beaten the experienced Mitch Rein to the job on merit, so Hands would seem to have decent job security for the time being, and even without the 12 points he got from his try and line break last week, he would have scored 30.
If he hits around that mark for the next three weeks he will climb into the mid $300k mark in value. You wouldn’t want him in your playing 17 unless you were desperate, but as a money maker Hands looks a good bet this week.
Brailey bargain
If you don't have your first-choice HOK sorted yet (and if you don't have Harry Grant, Wayde Egan, Reece Robson or Damien Cook you probably don't), or are looking for a good back-up who can sit on your bench and score reliable points, Jayden Brailey is a player of huge interest.
A HIA in the opening 15 minutes in Round 2 set him up for a nice price drop, and this week he's available at $614k, which for a HOK who should average in the low to mid 50s this year, is a steal.
Outside of the elite four mentioned earlier, and even including them in some cases, the HOK position looks like being a volatile one on the scoring front, and you can easily overpay for someone in the position right now. But with Brailey you're going to get second-tier scores for the cost of a third-tier HOK.
Get him in your squad.
Fantasy draft free agent of the week
Hosking grabs one in his new colours
Panthers back-rower Zac Hosking went off last week in his first game of the year, with a 94-point haul which included scoring a try. He's retained his starting spot this week too, and while there's no guarantee that'll be a long term move, he's a great player to have for now and at worst offers you excellent emergency cover at EDG.
