Round 2 saw the successful return from injury for a number of players, we wont delve into to much detail as we have already addressed this during this weeks ‘Casualty Report’.

 However it would be amiss of me not to mention two stand outs in Nehe Milner-Skudder, who scored 79 points and Patrick Tuipulotu who bagged himself 36 points in a 27 minute cameo off the bench.

The Australian outside back stocks are starting to rise thanks to a number of league converts. Two front runners for higher duties are Eto Nabuli (57 points), who is proving a shining light for the hapless Reds and Chance Peni (68 points), who is firing for the current Aussie Conference leaders, the Western Force.

Yep you read that correctly… The Western Force are topping the Aussie Conference.

Things to take out of round 2:

-Check the byes Round 3 marks the start of the byes with both the Bulls and Rebels missing out this week. It isn’t until round 14 before we will again see each of the 18 teams take the field.
This leaves lazy fantasy draft coaches open to some nasty surprises, so don’t forget to do your homework.
Don’t be caught off guard if some weeks you are missing some big names. If you are lucky enough to have the likes of both Nehe Milner-Skudder (HUR) and Damian McKenzie (CHI), it may be worth doing your prep work on a trade now, as both the Hurricanes and Chiefs have byes in round 5.

-Use the socials Social media such as Twitter can be a great source of information, providing you with a heads up on injuries and squad updates before your opponents.
A perfect example of this is Cheslin Kolbe, who recently announced he will be our for 8 weeks via his personal Twitter account.

-Careless tackles are a coach killer Steven Luatua’s careless high shot on Tim Nanai-Williams will see him missing the next four weeks.
If you have Akira Ioane on your team however, this incident could be seen as a win, as it insures him game time over the next month. Something that was under threat with the return of Jerome Kaino.

 -Rebels without a clue In round one it was the Blues who wreaked fantasy havoc during their match up against the Melbourne Rebels, this week it was the Hurricanes. With 18 tries scored by these two teams over their respective match ups, it seems you can’t go wrong when picking up players from which ever team verses the Rebels that week.

This means that you should be loading up with Chiefs for round 4… Don’t make us say we told you so.

Team Of The Week

PROPS:

• Jeffrey Toomaga-Allen (HUR) – 32 points – 5 runs for 25 metres, 1 offload, 1 line break create, 8 tackles, 3 tight heads won
• Ox Nché (CHE) – 30 points – 80 minutes, 1 try assist, 7 runs for 58 metres, 1 offload, 1 linebreak, 9 tackles, 1 pilfer

HOOKERS:

• Josh Mann-Rea (BRU) – 74 points – 1 try, 7 runs for 32 metres, 15 tackles, 15 lineout takes

LOCKS:

• Pieter-Steph du Toit (STO) – 48 points – 9 runs for 59 metres,1 offload, 12 tackles, 6 lineout takes, 3 lineout steals
• Matt Phillip (WFR) – 45 points – 1 try, 6 runs, 1 offload, 7 tackles, 7 lineout takes, 1 lineout steal

BACKROW: 

• Addie Savea (HUR) – 62 points –  1 try,  9 runs for 99 metres, 6 tackle busts, 1 offload, 10 tackles, 1 pilfer, 1 forced turnover
• Warren Whiteley (LIO) – 59 points – 1 try, 7 runs for 44 metres, 3 tackle busts, 3 offloads, 6 tackles, 8 lineout takes
• Brad Shields (HUR) – 56 points – 1 try assist, 8 runs for 46 metres, 2 tackle busts, 2 offloads, 1 ineffective offload, 7 tackles, 4 lineouts, 1 lineout steal

HALFBACKS:

• Ross Cronjé (LIO) – 68 points – 1 try, 10 runs for 75 metres, 6 tackle busts, 1 offload, 2 ineffective offloads, 1 counter ruck turnover, 2 linebreaks, 2 line break creates

FLYHALF: 

• Aaron Cruden (CHI) – 48 points – 2 try assists, 1 last touch try assist, 4/6 conversion, 1/1 penalty goal, 5 runs for 32 metres, 1 offload, 3 linebreak creates, 6 tackles

INSIDE BACKS: 

• Ngani Laumape (HUR) – 101 points – 2 tries, 17 runs for 213 metres, 8 tackle busts, 3 offloads, 1 pilfer
• Seta Tamanivalu (CRU) – 64 points – 1 try, 1 try assist, 10 runs for 98 metres, 3 tackle busts, 4 offloads, 2 linebreaks

OUTSIDE BACKS:

• SP Marais (STO) – 84 points – 1 try, 13 runs for 123 metres, 6 tackle busts, 6 offloads, 2 linebreaks, 2 linebreak create
• Julian Savea (HUR) – 83 points – 1 try, 1 try assist, 1 try save, 10 runs for 161 metres, 7 tackle busts, 4 linebreaks
• Nehe Milner-Skudder (HUR) – 79 points – 3 tries, 13 runs for 119 metres, 4 tackle busts, 1 offload,  2 linebreaks

“Thanks fantasy footy, you have taught me that even in my fantasies, I am a rubbish at sport.” – Anyone who picked up Joaquin Tuculet last week or tried to start Damian De Allende this week.

Written by Nelson Dale