Will Reuben Garrick now remain the Manly fullback with the injury to Tommy Turbo? Will Corey Horsbourgh be selected for origin? If not, should we play him? With the injury to Josh Papali’i does this mean more minutes for Joe Tapine? These are some of the questions that will be answered in the round 18 preview of buy, sell and hold. It’s essential to keep in mind that GameDay Squad is a dynasty fantasy football platform and that will be heavily taken into consideration in this article. Let us know your thoughts on who we have included below on all of our socials - twitter, facebook, instagram, discord.
BUY!
Corey Horsbourgh
Canberra Raiders - Middle-Forward (MID)
With ‘big red’ pumping out 69 minutes and 84 points he is a player you must keep on your radar during origin and beyond. With him unlikely to be selected by Billy Slater for QLD vs NSW game 3 and the Raiders playing the final major bye round (R19), Horse will be a definite play there with all origin stars out. Horse is a very MID cover backup when all the origin middles are back on deck but as we have just seen, they will likely play reduced minutes so keep Horse in your mind and if look to nab him off the Transfer Market is you don’t already own him.
Reuben Garrick
Manly Sea Eagles - Winger/Fullback (WFB)
With Reuben Garrick now cementing his spot as the Sea Eagles fullback and with other fullbacks not performing, Garrick is definitely a strong option to consider at your WFB slots, again through the origin period he will be a handy option also. In a thumping loss to the Storm in round 17 and Manly only mustering 6 points Garrick was the standout which should give you confidence to play him in weeks where Manly have an easier game. Manly's next five games line up like this: Roosters, Cowboys, Sharks, Dragons, Roosters.
SELL
Tom Trbojevic
Manly Sea Eagles - Winger/Fullback (WFB)
In a huge blow for Manly, star fullback Tom Trbojevic was injured in attempting to make a tackle in QLD vs NSW game 2 and has now been ruled out for the season with a torn pectoral muscle. His fullback replacement Reuben Garrick (as mentioned in Buys) is a great replacement.
Josh Papali’I
Canberra Raiders - Middle-Forward (MID)
The big Raiders enforcer has suffered a hamstring injury in Round 17, as of writing it is yet to be confirmed how long he will be out. In season 2023, front row partner Joe Tapine averages 3 minutes more per game and has a slight increase in his average when Papa is not in the side which doesn’t really benefit Tapine, but does make him an option if you need him in the middle of the park over the origin period.
HOLD...
Reece Walsh
Brisbane Broncos - Winger/Fullback (WFB)
With Walshy having a few decent opportunities to post a decent score and the Broncos being beaten by a well gelled Titans outfit, I wouldn’t be stressing about his performance. Being the best scoring winger/fullbacks in GameDay Squad Rugby League and one of the rising dynasty options to have, we need to remember he has had a huge origin series to date and is likely slightly below his best due to fatigue. I wouldn’t be worried but certainly annoyed by his GDS score if you happened to run him in your WFBs this week. Unfortunately even the best fullbacks falter from time to time.
James Tedesco
Sydney Roosters - Winger/Fullback (WFB)
Another fullback in the origin arena, Tedesco has been somewhat under whelming this season averaging only 45.8 GDS fantasy points per game and Sundays performance displayed again that Teddy may need a little rest from your GDS team for a few weeks. The Roosters still don’t look like the team we expected and for me, Teddy really is struggling for confidence which is impacting his ability. There is a risk in not playing Teddy each week however this is a risk I believe is worth taking with other WFBs performing exceptionally well on a week-to-week basis including Drinkwater, Isaako, CNK, Marzhew, Edwards, Gutherson.