In this blog we will have a brief look at the previous and upcoming rounds of the NRL. In round 7, who's performances stood out for the right or wrong reasons and which players made the GDS Squad of the round. With round 8 not too far away, who should coaches consider starting and which players have positive matchups. Have a read below and gain an edge over your competition. Let us know your thoughts on who we have down below on all of our social channels: twitter, facebook, instagram, discord.
GDS Squad of the week for round 7
HOK - Jeremy Marshall-King (Dolphins) 58 points
MID - Isaah Yeo (Panthers) 74 points
MID - Patrick Carrigan (Broncos) 74 points
MID - Addin Fonua-Blake (Warriors) 66 points
EDG - John Bateman (Wests Tigers) 72 points
EDG - Eliesa Katoa (Storm) 66 points
HLF - Nicholas Hynes (Sharks) 95 points
HLF - Jahrome Hughes (Storm) 81 points
CTR - Bradman Best (Knights) 66 points
CTR - Will Penisini (Eels) 65 points
WNG - Jack Bostock (Dolphins) 66 points
WNG - Selwyn Cobbo (Broncos) 61 points
FB - Reece Walsh (Broncos) 86 points
BENCH FWD - James Fisher-Harris (Panthers) 65 points
BENCH FWD - Isaiah Papali'i (Wests Tigers) 64 points
BENCH HLF - Max Plath (Dolphins) 78 points
BENCH BACK - Dylan Edwards (Panthers) 80 points
BENCH BACK - Sunia Turuva (Panthers) 59 points
Squad Total 1276 points
How many of these players did you start?
The performance of the week
This award goes to Reece Walsh. Walsh has been flying under the radar this season in my opinion with an average of 50 points. This does count the game against the Panthers when he came off injured only a couple of minutes into the contest. Excluding this game, Walsh would average 62 points and be one of the top three fullbacks this season in GDS. In the wet conditions at Suncorp against the Raiders, Walsh showed his class and scored 2 tries, kicked 5 goals, made 3 line breaks and 6 tackle breaks. This works out to be 65 points through these attacking metrics. With Reynolds side-lined with injury, I believe Walsh can offer GDS coaches an additional 10 points per round without Reynolds in the team. Walsh is one of the best dynasty prospects in GDS across all positions and if you don't have his card, I would look at acquiring one.
Riser
This award goes to Jack Bostock. Bostock is a relatively unknown player in the GDS community and has only played 10 games of first grade. With the injury to the Dolphins new recruit Herbie Farnworth, they have seemed to favour attacking down their left edge and this has been great for Bostock's production. Over the first four rounds, Bostock averaged 39 points and over the last two rounds he has averaged 55 points. At only 20 years old, Bostock has time on his side, and I believe he would be a great depth piece to any GDS coaches' squad. If you don't have him already, now might be the best time to add him to your squad before his price increases. Who knows at this stage how relevant he will be in GDS moving forward but I believe he's worth picking up and taking a chance on.
Faller
This award goes to Greg Marzhew. Marzhew was the best winger in GDS for 2023 with an average of 59 points. A lot of this was to do with his tackle breaking and try scoring ability. He averaged 34 points per game through these two metrics. The Knights were also a very good team last season, and they made the finals. This season Marzhew is only averaging 32 points with 14.5 of these points coming through tries and tackle breaks. The Knights also look a far different team this season and it isn't for the better as they are currently sitting in 15th spot on the ladder. To top this all off, Kayln Ponga will be side-lined for a several weeks and maybe for the season due to a Lisfranc injury picked up against the Bulldogs over the weekend. Taking Marzhew's form, Ponga absence and Knights poor performances into consideration, Marzhew is an avoid for me for the time being.
GDS Team to Beat - Round 8
HOK - Harry Grant (Storm) - GDS average of 51 points & positional rank of 2nd
MID - Isaah Yeo (Panthers) - GDS average of 64 points & positional rank of 2nd
MID - Patrick Carrigan (Broncos) - GDS average of 59 points & positional rank of 3rd
MID - Addin Fonua-Blake (Warriors) - GDS average of 58 points & positional rank of 4th
EDG - David Fifita (Titans) - GDS average of 55 points & positional rank of 2nd
EDG - Eliesa Katoa (Storm) - GDS average of 52 points & positional rank of 3rd
HLF - Shaun Johnson (Warriors) - GDS average of 66 points & positional rank of 2nd
HLF - Nicholas Hynes (Sharks) - GDS average of 66 points & positional rank of 1st
CTR - Joseph Manu (Roosters) - GDS average of 58 points & positional rank of 1st
CTR - Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (Warriors) - GDS average of 44 points & positional rank of 11th
WNG - Dallin Watene-Zelezniak (Warriors) - GDS average of 48 points & positional rank of 5th
WNG - Reuben Garrick (Sea Eagles) - GDS average of 37 points & positional rank of 25th
FB - Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad (Warriors) - GDS average of 62 points & positional rank of 2nd
BENCH FWD - Haumole Olakau'atu (Sea Eagles) - GDS average of 58 points & positional rank of 1st
BENCH FWD - Tohu Harris (Warriors) - GDS average of 55 points & positional rank of 5th
BENCH HLF - Cameron Munster (Storm) - GDS average of 41 points & positional rank of 21st
BENCH BACK - Selwyn Cobbo (Broncos) - GDS average of 52 points & positional rank of 2nd
BENCH BACK - Ryan Papenhuyzen (Storm) - GDS average of 47 points & positional rank of 12th
Players with positive matchups
Cameron Munster
Munster has only played the three games so far this season and has scores of 39 vs Broncos, 57 vs Bulldogs and 28 vs Roosters for an average of 41 points. He may come as a surprise inclusion in this week's team to beat as there are 20 other halves in GDS that average more than him. However, I have my narrative around him this week. He usually puts in very good performances on ANZAC Day and in games against the Rabbitohs. Since 2019 he averages 67 points in ANZAC Day games and in games against the Rabbitohs he averages 62 points. I'm aware that he has underperformed for GDS coaches this season, but I believe he is due for a big score and a game against an out of form Rabbitohs might be just what he needs to kick start his season for GDS coaches.
Dallin Watene-Zelezniak
Last week I mentioned what I thought about the Titans left edge in detail and I believe DWZ has a great match up because of the same reasons. Last week we saw Jason Saab score a try and finish with 45 points in wet conditions against the Titans. This week we see the Warriors take on the Titans for a sold-out ANZAC Day clash at Mt Smart. The Titans are coming off a five-day turnaround and must travel to NZ, while the Warriors are coming off their most disappointing loss of the season. Yes, the Warriors are travelling as well but they are used of it and I see this as non-factor as they are at home. The weather is forecast to be fine and on a fast track I think the Warriors might steam roll the Titans, with DWZ picking 2+ tries. That's my narrative but the fact remains the same as it did last week. The Titans are one of the worst teams at defending against opposing teams' right edge attack and allow an average of 57 points to opposing right wingers.
Eliesa Katoa
Katoa had a breakout season in 2023 after joining the Storm and he has continued to improve his game this season. He is the 3rd ranked edge forward with an average of 52 points and I believe he has a great matchup against the Rabbitohs this week. As we have seen, the Rabbitohs are not the team that they were a couple of seasons ago and I think they are going to find it difficult to handle the Storm on ANZAC Day. In four of the Rabbitohs games this season, they have allowed 50+ points in GDS to be scored by the opposing right edge forward and allow an average of 50 points to this position over the season. Going by this, I believe Katoa has the best matchup of any of the inform edge forwards in GDS and I think we may see him score 60+ points for the third time this season.
