Each week we will do a deep dive into a player that had a strong performance in the previous round. The player may not have had the top score of the weekend but a solid outing nonetheless. I’ll look to cover the previous rounds performance, outlook for the season ahead, outlook for 2024 and beyond and my recommendation for this player. Let us know your thoughts on who we have down below on all of our social channels: twitter, facebook, instagram, discord.
Player of the Week
Player Name: Tom Trbojevic Age: 26 Club: Manly Sea Eagles Position: Fullback Round 3 Score: 90 2023 Ave Score: 66 2023 Positional Rank: 2nd 2023 Overall Rank: 8th
Round 3 Performance
Turbo is back baby! What a performance! He seemed to have a hand in everything and came away with two tries, one try assist, one line break, one line break assist, one offload and 10 tackle breaks. On top of these attacking stats he only accumulated 21 points in base and this isn’t what we want to see from a WFB. This week it didn’t matter as he put on an attacking masterclass but when he doesn’t, we may become frustrated with the floor that comes with playing Turbo.
2023 Outlook
This season, Turbo appears to be in terrific shape, which suggests that his trip to the US to meet with specialist Bill Knowles was a success. The question on a lot of fantasy coaches’ lips is, will Turbo remain fit for the 2023 season or will his hamstrings become an issue again? I honestly don’t know the answer to this and I don’t think anyone would. Going by his performance last Thursday against the Eels, Turbo will be a starter most weeks for me moving forward. I say most weeks since he could struggle to rack up attacking points against good teams that can shut him down, leaving you to rely on his base points, which aren't the best. To begin the season, I had Turbo projected to rank 6th in the WFB position, he has now moved ahead of Dylan Edwards, Scott Drinkwater and Ryan Papenhuyzen into 3rd in my season projections.
GDS Dynasty Ranking
At only 26 years old there are hopefully many seasons left in the NRL for Turbo. If he stays injury free, he joins the likes of James Tedesco and Latrell Mitchell as the premium WFBs in fantasy. He is on contract with the Sea Eagles until the end of 2026 and with Daly Cherry-Evans contracted until the end of 2025, I think we will see great things from Turbo over the next few years. This ceiling is the best WFB in fantasy.
JT’s Call
This is the ninth season of first grade for Turbo but he has only made 123 appearances. This may be hard to believe but due to injuries he has only managed to play 46 games in the over the last four years. With this being said, he is still one of the best players in the NRL and this was shown in 2021 when he won the prestigious Dally M Medal for the Best and Fairest player in the NRL. I am optimistic that he can return to the form he showed in 2021 and if he does, he will be an auto pick for my squad every week. Turbo does rely heavily on attacking stats to give him big scores in fantasy and this is a slight concern. The fact that he is a problem for any opposition and naturally gifted with the ball in hand wins out for me.
He does have a couple of tough games against the Rabbitohs and Panthers coming up in the next few weeks. If Turbo can show me that he can produce good fantasy scores against these opponents, it’s wheels up for him in my opinion.
I feel like Turbo has only given us a glimpse of what he can do for fantasy coaches this season. If you have his card already, well done. If you don’t, I would be doing what I could to acquire it as soon as possible. This would be a play for this season and your squad’s future.