Welcome back to the Such Is Fantasy NRL SuperCoach & Fantasy Podcast. Condensed version this week — the goal is ten minutes, but the Round 5 draft waiver wire is stacked. Brutal injury news, some genuine pickups hiding in plain sight, and a fullback crisis that's going to force interleague trades. Here's every add, every stash and every call from the live pod.
Injury Update
Kyle Colflan — scary scenes on Sunday night. Heavy head clash with his own teammate, reported unconscious for up to five minutes. Expect two to three weeks minimum. Safety first for Kyle. Wait for team lists Tuesday before rushing to add his halves replacement — it's not urgent.
Grant Anderson — sidelined 10 to 12 weeks. (Quick correction from the pod: Grant Anderson is not at the Storm — brain fart. Disregard that chat from the injury top of the show.) Job security for Nick Meany and Moses Leo who were both coming under scrutiny. No new adds out of it.
Isaiah Ayongi — requires surgery for his syndesmosis injury. Nine to twelve weeks. And now you're scrambling for fullbacks. More on that below.
Aaron — rib injury, pain tolerance call. Not relevant. Josh Curran — not relevant anyway. Billy Smith — another knee injury, looks like a meniscus, could be a few weeks. Not relevant unless you're my brother, who picked him up for reasons only known to him.
Adam Doueihi — I gave him zero chance of playing on the weekend. Not only did he play, he played outstandingly well. Pulled up fine by all reports and fit moving forward.
Hooker — Slim Pickings
The hooker position is bleak, so I'm only touching guys slightly outside the 40%-owned threshold. Add Connor Watson — available in 35% of leagues. Double-check he's free in yours. He's going to get minutes at back row and that's nice points from your hooker slot.
Reed Mahoney has been really disappointing at 62% ownership — should be available in plenty of leagues. Jeremy Marshall-King is due back soon — check your waiver. Mitch Kenny suspended a week. Hayley Haywood scored really poorly — probably looking at options.
Jake Simkin has been poor and the Manly situation is chaos with the Seibold exit and Kieran Foran taking over. Does Foz take the axe to the team (#LukeBrooks), or does he roll with the group? Interesting watch.
Add Cheese — he's back this week, named, and only available in 80% of leagues. Go and grab him. He's not going to play the minutes you want right now, but he'll build into them and probably play through the middle at some point. Sneaky grab.
Beyond that it gets bleak — you're stabbing at job-share guys like Brad Schneider, Jacob Little or Peter Mamouzelos.
Front Row — Waiting on Payne & Barnett
With Payne Haas likely missing another week, and Barnett looking cooked, the middle rotation opens up.
Watch Tom Gilbert — still available in 42% of leagues. Jesse Cole Hoon picked up a meat pie but the score wouldn't have been above 45 without it — not rushing to add. Josh King is a solid contributor who might see a minutes uptick at Melbourne with the Kamikameka news.
Add Tanya Lipaseka — really disappointing last week, but as I said on the review show, the Manly middle rotation only had 15 runs. My God. Surely his work rate picks up. Bounce-back week coming.
Add Xavier Willison — if Haas is still out, he's available in 70% of leagues. That is crazy. Check team lists Tuesday, but he should be added if there's no Payne. Licensed scored two nice tries, available in 75% — minutes aren't quite there, but he can produce attack. Don't mind him in deeper leagues.
Stash Thomas Flegler — returned with three offloads on the weekend, only played 35 minutes. I know we've all jumped off him, but by the end of the year he'll get to 50 minutes. If you can afford to stash him (most can't), I don't mind it.
Stash Jason Taumalolo — will probably work into big minutes as the season rolls on. Scored 52, still available in 80% of leagues.
Shoutout Blake Lorry who produced a 55, available in 98% of leagues. Outstanding. Blake Tulte threw an incredible pass — accidentally — that put Reese Weilschüh over for a try. Don't rush to add Tulte. Thomas Hazleton gave us his traditional 16 serviceable minutes.
Second Row — The No. 1 Pick
Liam Martin still available in 55% but only scored 34 — not relevant.
Add Max Plath — what are we waiting for? He's the starting hooker. Yes, James K is going to come back, but he'll play through the middle. Until then, why aren't we adding Plath? Strange one to still be sitting on the waiver.
Watch T. Wilton — meat pie on the weekend elevated his score to 72. Never super relevant, but in deeper leagues probably a pickup. Tyson Frizell — dual position, already covered. Ben Jivoy scored 62 but I don't like the add — don't like anyone at Manly right now.
Watch Sotili Tupanua — a few will rush to add. Just chill. He played inflated minutes due to the Couchman injury. Check team lists Tuesday. If he's named to start at 45–50 minutes his work rate is good and he has attacking upside. Depends on what else is available in your league.
Shoutout Nat Butcher — one of his better games, scored 60. May start for Egan, who knows. Victor Radley still to come back. Jacob Laban looked his best at the Warriors in the loss, scored 74 (try-assisted).
Halfback — Take Your Medicine
Pretty skinny once you get past the big dogs. If you're a Sandwalker owner, I've got concerns about the job share with DC in terms of receipts and running the team.
Add Ethan Sanders — nearly 50% available on the waiver. Guys, come on. Only a 37 last week, but Canberra are going to exploit that kick game at some point.
Tyron Wishart — not an add yet, he's not there. Jerome Hughes — if he's missing any time due to Origin, Kalyn Ponga might... nah, too early to add. Lachlan Elias — no comment.
Five-Eighth — Even Bleaker
5/8 is even more horrible than halfback. Deep breath.
Add Cody Nicarema — still available in 40% of leagues. He's going to go on a run and you'll look up and go wow, Cody Nicarema's doing well. If you're struggling at 5/8, not a bad one.
Watch Jake Clifford — dropped a 92, available in 47% of leagues. He'll have these high scores, but some real lows in him too. Jonah Pezzet — you'll take that 52 against the Panthers. We were all thinking 20.
Add Joey Walsh — sneaky stash. At some point he's going to get thrown into the Manly side. Foz, being a half himself, is the perfect mentor. And look, you don't have to be a brain surgeon to work out that Luke Brooks is a big part of the Manly problem. Get Joey Walsh a week before he makes his debut three or four weeks from now.
Wing & Centre — Sell High on Warbrick?
Way more depth here. The Will Warbrick truth is out there — the guys who brought him in early own him. Sell — I do think there's a sell-high spot. Not to say he won't keep scoring well. But 135 points? There's no better time to test his trade value in your league. He'll still post 70s, 80s, 90s and 100+ through the year as a Storm edge winger — I'm just not sure you get it every week.
Jack Howarth — injured. Looking for a replacement. Leo Hopperwadi — I just don't like Manly. Same Guy Guy — every year he pops up with some relevance, scored 70 on the weekend, available in 44%.
Add Maeve Burns — don't mind him as an add. Cowboys looked really good on the weekend. 110 including the match winner for North Queensland over Melbourne. Available in ~48% of leagues. I like it.
Moses Leo — probably frustrated with him. I don't think you need to hold. Campbell Graham should be back this week — available in 50% of leagues.
Add Tain Toa Picky — love him as a handcuff, but I actually don't think it's long before he's starting at fullback every week. They've got to start the kid. Available at centre too. Could be your fullback ticket.
Add Philip Sami — huge Sami guy. Scored 64, available in 53% of leagues. Moses Suli should return next week, super relevant, available in 55% (maybe because he was dropped). Mark Shibasaki available in 60%, probably back in the Broncos side due to injuries.
Jack Wharton was immense two weeks ago — interesting one. Sean Russell — a lot of preseason buzz, scored an 82, 75% availability, obviously been dropped since so I didn't think he was an ad anyway. Plenty of options here — do your own research.
Fullback — The Scramble
Juicy waiver this week at the most important position on the field. The problem: with 17 fullbacks in the NRL and the handcuffs already stashed, you're going to have to do an interleague trade to land a proper one. Butter up your league mates.
Add Doreen Bulla — available in 30% of leagues.
Add Fletcher Hunt — available in 45% of leagues.
Watch Arndes — available in nearly 50% of leagues. Probably playing centre moving forward, but maybe they move him back to fullback. Interesting one.
Add Tain Toa Picky — already mentioned, but worth the double-mention. Genuine fullback option.
A lot of you are going to be stuck going Will Kennedy. He'll get some attack at times — 80 on the weekend with the Sharks — but there'll be 35-point weeks that frustrate you. Nature of the beast. Outside of that, the wire is gone. You're going to have to get a trade done.
Waiver Wire Priority List
This Round 5 NRL Draft Waiver Wire recap is from the Such Is Fantasy NRL SuperCoach & Fantasy Podcast. Catch every episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and follow Stephen on TikTok. Good luck with your waiver claims on Wednesday morning — and remember, stay patient.