Predicted Line Up
1. Valentine Holmes, 2. Kyle Feldt, 3. Tom Opacic, 4. Esan Marsters, 5. Justin O'Neill, 6. Scott Drinkwater, 7. Michael Morgan, 8. Francis Molo, 9. Jake Granville, 10. Jordan McLean, 11. Gavin Cooper,12. Shane Wright, 13. Jason Taumalolo. Interchange: 14. Reece Robson , 15. John Asiata, 16. Coen Hess, 17. Peter Hola.
Relevant Injury/Team news
Justin O'Neill (spleen) has returned to full training and will feature in the trials.
Josh McGuire (meniscus) will miss round 1.
Esan Marsters (ankle), Ben Hampton (bicep) and Mitch Dunn (shoulder) are also set to play in the trials.
Te Maire Martin (brain bleed) has been forced into an early retirement.
Scott Drinkwater will almost certainly beat out Jake Clifford for the starting #6 jersey.
Reece Robson will potentially grab the #9 jersey, pushing Jake Granville to the bench.
Coen Hess has reportedly been “training the house down” and could return to the starting line up in place of Shane Wright.
Peter Hola is pushing for a regular bench spot but will most likely drop to reserve grade once McGuire returns.
One of Murray Taulagi, Tom Opacic or Ben Hampton will be part of the Cowboys backline come round 1. It appears that Taulagi and Opacic are the front runners.
Goal Kickers
1. Valentine Holmes, 2. Kyle Feldt, 3. Jake Clifford
The Guns
Jason Taumalolo ($723,400 | 2RF) – Lolo is undoubtedly the best 2RF in SuperCoach. He has averaged 70+ for 3 seasons running now. Last season, he scored 60+ points in 15/17 games (not including his injury affected round 2 game), and cracked 85+ points in 9/17 games.
The PODs
Josh McGuire ($497,500 | 2RF/FRF) – With the losses of Matt Scott and Scott Bolton, McGuire will start at prop this season. He played at prop 7 times last season for the solid scores of 58, 64, 61, 56, 58, 39 and 54. If McGuire can play around 60 MPG at prop, he should average 55-60 PPG. He will miss round 1 through injury, but could be a trade in option.
Shane Wright ($443,400 | 2RF) – Wright was a quiet achiever last season. In 8 games as an 80 minute backrower (excluding the game where he started in the backrow but moved to centre early on due to injury), Wright averaged 61.8 PPG. He averaged 52.9 PPG in pure base (tackles + hit ups), didn’t score below 52 points in a game, and scored 60+ points in 5/8 games. He’s a define POD if he’s named come round 1.
Kyle Feldt ($481,500| CTW) – Feldt scored 50+ points in 9/15 games last season. He does have a tendency to return a few poor scores (4 scores of <30) due to mediocre base, but his try scoring capabilities mean that he will provide a return more often than not. If he nabs the goal kicking duties, Feldt will be a high upside CTW POD, and his amount of sub-30 scores should reduce.
The Players of Interest
Esan Marsters ($482,900 | CTW) – Marsters increased his try scoring output last season, but his stats in every other area dropped off significantly. He won’t be kicking goals, but if he is given a licence to offload, then Marsters will be an option.
Valentine Holmes ($563,700 | FLB) – Holmes is back in the NRL after a season pursuing an NFL career and will wear the Cowboys #1 jersey this season. Last time he played fullback and kicked goals (2018), he averaged 88.45 PPG over an 11 game period with a low score of 64 and a high score of 131. In 2017 however, he played 19 games at fullback and only averaged 52.9 PPG, although he was without the goal kicking then. It remains to be seen whether Holmes can replicate his 2018 form and for that reason, we’re not classifying him as a ‘gun’ to start the season.
The Cheapies
Murray Taulagi ($276,000 | CTW) – He’s not someone you would want to play in your 17 each week, but if he starts he has try scoring upside and is as close to a CTW cheapie as we’ll get unfortunately.
Francis Molo ($298,600 | FRF) – Molo has an insane PPM of 1.35. With Scott and Bolton retiring, there is an opportunity for increased minutes for Molo this season. Even if he can play 30-35 MPG, Molo can average 40-50 PPG. He’s probably not going to make a mountain of cash, but he’s someone that is reasonably cheap and that you can play in your 17 if need be. It is worth noting that Molo might start to begin the year with McGuire out, but will drop back to the bench when McGuire is fit again.
Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow ($171,900 | CTW/FLB) – The breakout star from the Nines is currently outside the Cowboys top 30 squad, so is not an option. However, there is 1 spot remaining in the squad and HTF could fill that hole. If so, he is an outside chance to nab a wing spot for round 1.
Tom Gilbert ($171,900 | FRF) – The 19 year old won the 2019 Queensland Cup Rookie of the Year and Lock of the Year, as well as Townsville Blackhawks Player of the Year. He’s an outside chance to grab a bench spot.
Avoid/Be wary of
Michael Morgan ($471,600 | 5/8/HFB) – He’s quite cheap and is dual position, but Morgan’s SuperCoach performances over the last couple of seasons have been poor. His floor is low and he ranked 2nd for negative points last season. That’s not a good combo. There will probably be improvement, but there are better options available.
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