Reuben Cotter (MID): NORTH QLD COWBOYS

For those that remember Cotter played an absolute pivotal role for Queensland in game 1 playing 80 minutes and making 51 tackles. Unfortunately for fantasy, the following game Cotter did his hamstring in the warmup, and we didn’t see him again till RD 20. After the injury he was eased back into the team via the interchange with his minutes slowly increasing. As we now know, he was fortunate enough to be named in the Australian team for the 2021/2022 World Cup.  Let’s see a quick breakdown of his stats before we have a chat about why he should be in your 2023 fantasy team.

	Minutes	Points	Base	Attacking	Negatives	PPM
Career	49.42	43.5	41.7	5.2	– 3.6	0.88
2022	59.41	55.4	50.8	7.7	– 3.4	0.93

Now I don’t know what you’re thinking, but for me they are the type of stats that I like to see. A very solid base in mid range minutes without having to rely on attacking stats. These stats leave plenty of room for improvement/increase in 2023 which is desirable.

Hear me out, let’s remove the 3 games under 50 minutes for Cotter in 2022 ( 2 of these were his return from injury and 1 was the second round of the year).

	Minutes	Points	Base	Attacking	Negatives	PPM
2022 (50+ min)	62.71	58.4	53	8.4	– 3.4	0.93

Now I think this is a way better reflection of Cotter’s 2022 effort. Let’s also note that in the final 3 games in 2022 he played an average of 70.6 minutes (with the final game being a golden point game where he played 83 minutes). This proves that the Cowboys hold Cotter in high regard and is a player they can call on when needed most.

I think we can all agree that the Cowboys will be a competitive team again in 2023. With the only notable changes being Tom Gilbert leaving to the Dolphins and the stand down of Leilua. These two changes leave a bit of a hole in the Cowboys middle and edge to start the season. They have decent depth but unfortunately, they are on the way back from injury (Dunn and Luki). With the only notable addition being James Tamou, who is now 34 with his minutes dwindling. Please also note the Cowboys seem to be taking a cautious approach with Taumalolo constantly fiddling with his minutes to try prolong his career. Cotter is coming back into 2023 after winning a world cup and I’m sure he will want to take the cowboys deep into the finals. The only negative is Cotter will 100% miss time during the Origin period.

To sum it all up, I am very confident Cotter will play 60+ minutes in 2023 averaging between 58 – 64 points per game. Priced at $744k (50 average) As long as he can stay uninjured, he is absolutely a cut-price keeper.

BUY!!!

(INTERN DALE)