The wraps couldn’t be bigger…
Young Hopgood comes across from Penrith to rivals Parramatta, and Gutherson had this to say – “He works hard. He runs hard. He plays tough and that’s what we need in this team is a tough player to go after the game and I think he is in for a breakthrough season.” Lets explore…
It is easy to see the upside here, with Hopgood registering 42.7 fantasy points in 51.7 minutes in his 3x 40+ minute NRL matches, including a 61 in 67 mins. His reserve grade stats are even better, chalking up 65 points in 69.2 minutes on average in 2022 with a base of 51.6 and over 20 attacking stats per game. His numbers look awfully like 2022 Cam Murray, who put up a 54.1 base and 17.7 in attacking stats.
With Matterson (50-55), Campbell-Gillard (50) and Paulo (45-50) soaking up about 150 minutes per game, Hopgood will need to either force Brad Arthur to give him a consistent 50-55 minutes per game and run a pretty lean other two positions, or spend some time out on the edge to have 10 points value, but given the wraps from his teammates early, including some who have compared him to Murray ,it is easy to see him being a fantasy staple come round 1, with upside to much greater things if he can demand minutes.
Rough projection for Hopgood is 50 minutes, averaging 41-46 points, with upside to 55 minutes and a low 50s average if everything falls his way in 2023. BUY.
AMATEUR MARK
Amateurs Fantasy Sports 