ManlyBacker
Winging it
MANLY rookie Daly Cherry-Evans hasn't only filled Trent Hodkinson's old halfback jumper with aplomb, the Queensland-born No.7 has proved just as huge a hit as his predecessor did for Toyota NRL Dream Team coaches last year.
Last season, Hodkinson, who has made an impressive start to this season with the undefeated Bulldogs, was among fantasy football's genuine cash cows. Astute Dream Team coaches who bought Hodkinson cheap watched their investment soar by thousands thanks to his tremendous workload and point-scoring ability.
Cherry-Evans has had the same impact, and with three tough NRL rounds now completed - which signals the first re-evaluation of each players' market value - it was expected the 21-year-old's worth could increase by $60,000.
Advertisement: Story continues below While it's an enormous spike, Dream Team's resident expert Lone Scout advised coaches to resist the temptation to trade him and to instead ''ride'' the greenhorn's anticipated run of big scores.
''His scores have been 29, 49 and it appears as though he scored 51 in Manly's win over Newcastle, and when you consider Cherry-Evans's starting price was $73,600, it justifies my pre-season calls for everyone to recruit him because he is the competition's ultimate cash cow this year,'' Lone Scout said. ''In the last two weeks, he has lived up to his hype in terms of scoring.
''He is the Trent Hodkinson of 2011 because he started the year as an unknown, he's been slotted straight into halfback, he's a kicker - which means there is extra [Dream Team] value in that he can kick goals - and halfbacks score well.
''He was always a safe buy, and I estimate his value will increase overnight by $50,000 to 60,000.
''Cherry-Evans is the type of player Dream Team coaches dream about. He's scoring points … even if he was scoring 30, he'd still be great value … but the last two weeks have been phenomenal.''
Should Cherry-Evans score at least 30 points in this Friday night's game against Souths at Gosford, it's expected his value will increase by a further $30,000.
''That would mean anyone who selected him before the opening round would gain between $80,000 to $100,000 in their salary cap with just one player,'' Lone Scout said.
The challenge for Dream Team coaches would be to see how far Cherry-Evans could take them. ''We all know he is going to make us money, the question is how long do we ride him,'' Lone Scout said. ''If he's averaging 50 points, he's a keeper. You wouldn't trade him because that is the kind of player you want.
''However, if he starts to drop, there'll be questions that need to be addressed: Do you trade him out? Do you keep him because he might come good? That is the point when your 'guesstimation' comes into play.
''It's when you need to work out whether you trade him for a [Gold Coast halfback] Scott Prince, who has started slowly but should come good, when his price drops below what it should be.
''If he goes down far enough, some coaches will back themselves to trade for Prince, who started the season at a whopping $308,000, just before his run starts.''
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/cherryevans-has-fanatics-feeling-cheery-20110328-1cdic.html
Last season, Hodkinson, who has made an impressive start to this season with the undefeated Bulldogs, was among fantasy football's genuine cash cows. Astute Dream Team coaches who bought Hodkinson cheap watched their investment soar by thousands thanks to his tremendous workload and point-scoring ability.
Cherry-Evans has had the same impact, and with three tough NRL rounds now completed - which signals the first re-evaluation of each players' market value - it was expected the 21-year-old's worth could increase by $60,000.
Advertisement: Story continues below While it's an enormous spike, Dream Team's resident expert Lone Scout advised coaches to resist the temptation to trade him and to instead ''ride'' the greenhorn's anticipated run of big scores.
''His scores have been 29, 49 and it appears as though he scored 51 in Manly's win over Newcastle, and when you consider Cherry-Evans's starting price was $73,600, it justifies my pre-season calls for everyone to recruit him because he is the competition's ultimate cash cow this year,'' Lone Scout said. ''In the last two weeks, he has lived up to his hype in terms of scoring.
''He is the Trent Hodkinson of 2011 because he started the year as an unknown, he's been slotted straight into halfback, he's a kicker - which means there is extra [Dream Team] value in that he can kick goals - and halfbacks score well.
''He was always a safe buy, and I estimate his value will increase overnight by $50,000 to 60,000.
''Cherry-Evans is the type of player Dream Team coaches dream about. He's scoring points … even if he was scoring 30, he'd still be great value … but the last two weeks have been phenomenal.''
Should Cherry-Evans score at least 30 points in this Friday night's game against Souths at Gosford, it's expected his value will increase by a further $30,000.
''That would mean anyone who selected him before the opening round would gain between $80,000 to $100,000 in their salary cap with just one player,'' Lone Scout said.
The challenge for Dream Team coaches would be to see how far Cherry-Evans could take them. ''We all know he is going to make us money, the question is how long do we ride him,'' Lone Scout said. ''If he's averaging 50 points, he's a keeper. You wouldn't trade him because that is the kind of player you want.
''However, if he starts to drop, there'll be questions that need to be addressed: Do you trade him out? Do you keep him because he might come good? That is the point when your 'guesstimation' comes into play.
''It's when you need to work out whether you trade him for a [Gold Coast halfback] Scott Prince, who has started slowly but should come good, when his price drops below what it should be.
''If he goes down far enough, some coaches will back themselves to trade for Prince, who started the season at a whopping $308,000, just before his run starts.''
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/cherryevans-has-fanatics-feeling-cheery-20110328-1cdic.html
